4. KL local hiking life





Day two was a hike in the jungle with Tracy, a lovely KL-based play therapist friend that Pippa had introduced me to. I was very excited about this, as a) Pippa is an excellent human so its a pleasure to meet any of her friends, and b) it meant getting some insight into what actually living in this city might be like. 

We arranged to meet on the other side of the city, a 20 min car journey from my hostel. Getting there turned out to be an adventure in itself, as I'd decided I was going to take the local bus, which would take over an hour, taking a circuitous round-the-houses route... and I had no internet outside of wifi zones. I had to get up extra early... did some early-morning roaming of the streets, discovered you need a special pay-per-use card to get on a bus, and couldn't get on the bus I needed to take to get me there on time. Then I had to retreat back to the hostel's wifi to order an uber, which ultimately got me there 30 mins early. Oof! Slightly stressful start. Looking forward to having a sim card in New Zealand. On the plus side I picked up a hot tasty roti for breakfast for about 25 pence while figuring everything out.   

The taxi took me out of the city centre and up into a verdant green land of smart cars an expensive gated condos. 'Inside or outside?' the taxi driver asked as we pulled up to Kiaramas Ayuria. 'Oh, outside I suppose' I sighed. Beyond the manned gates I could see a lush garden, and hear the soft plink plink of badminton courts, plus the refreshing splashes of people diving into swimming pools. Outside the gates lycra-clad fit-looking people of all ages and nationalities were jogging or walking their dogs along the steep sweltering streets, holding conversations through earbuds.

Tracy arrived, with homemade insect repellent, and we stepped into Bukit Kiara, a jungly hiking area full of incredibly friendly walkers and cyclists... everyone we passed politely said good morning to my surprise. Earlier in the city-centre a man had said 'Good morning, welcome to Malaysia' to me, but i'd just ignored him fearing some kind of unwanted hassle or sales-interaction... maybe it was just a welcome after all! I felt a bit embarrassed about this on reflection. Tracy has made loads of great friends just from regularly hiking and getting chatting to others doing the same. Hmm.. Maybe all urban hiking or dog-walking communities are like this and I just haven't experienced it yet. Tracy turned out to be in training for a hilly jungle ultra-marathon and set a decent (read: challenging) pace, we were both instantly drenched in sweat! But being prepared for this she had special plastic bags on hand to protect her car seats from our sweaty asses. 

We went back to her lovely apartment in a nearby towerblock and Tracy invited me to shower, cooked me lunch, and invited her friend over to come and play music with us for an hour. Christian Palencia turned out to be an amazing guitarist singer-songwriter, a bona-fide musician on spotify! (OK so apparently 'anyone' can get a spotify listing, but it still impresses me.) And Tracy sings, plays piano and guitar too! I felt surrounded by skills and totally spoiled by the whole day. After Christian went home, Tracy and I sat out the afternoon thunderstorm and fell into such easy interesting conversation that I felt genuinely sad that we live in different countries.

I took the Metro back to Chinatown and prepared for half a night's sleep, with a 4am start to catch my flight on to Auckland.


  


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