Back to Civilization

Some jungle berries

After the rather noisy night we woke up at 6:45 to gather our smelly clothes and to get back to the village before the first bus to Jerantut left. We hadn't forgotten the river and I was pleased to see that it hadn't gone up during the night. This time Inna wanted to cross the river all by herself, with the backpack, and she did amazing job! I thought that it could be difficult for her but it felt like she was able to do it faster than I was :).

On the other side we put on some clothes and checked that we didn't carry any leeches on our legs. The way back wasn't anything special but we smelled horrible after only a day in the jungle! I can only imagine how difficult it might be to stay even relatively fresh on a longer hike there. At some point we saw a small army of leeches on the ground as they approached us with their heads up. We didn't stay there long enough to be eaten alive.

We didn't remember exactly when the bus to Jerantut was supposed to leave so we walked quite fast as we wanted not only to make it to the bus, but to take a shower before that. We walked to the guest house we had used the day before and the owner was kind enough to let us take a shower for 1 ringgit. The owner also told us to hurry because the bus was just about to leave. We were as fast as we could and made it to the bus in time! In the end the bus didn't even leave when it was supposed to, but at least we were there.

Inhabitants of the Jerantut bus station

The bus arrived at Jerantut roughly an hour and a half later and soon we found out that buses to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, leave every hour. We had fifteen minutes before the next bus and I had to find a toilet before that. This time things really didn't go as planned as I walked around the district and couldn't find a toilet. And when I finally found one, it was closed! In the end I walked in KFC and visited the toilet there. The bus had gone already though and we had to wait for another hour.

We caught the next bus without any problems and three hours later we were walking the streets of Kuala Lumpur, searching for an Internet café. Once again it was more difficult than you might think but with some help from the locals we found apparently the only one in the district. We quickly searched for cheap hostels and guest houses in KL and decided to try our luck in China Town. We took the fancy monorail there and almost immediately after stepping out from the station a young chap approached us, telling about a nice hostel just around the corner. At fifty ringgits per night it was a bit pricey for our taste but we went to check it anyway. The hostel was clean, had free Internet and breakfast, warm showers and air conditioner so it was a deal. We figured that we would save money and time because we wouldn't have to search for Internet café every time we wanted to find some new piece of information.

In the evening we checked the central market that was right next to our hostel and ate in a Muslim restaurant. The pepper steak I ate would become my favourite but Inna wasn't as lucky with her rice swimming in soy sauce. Before sleeping we admired the modern, almost sci-fi-like, views of the capital and I was thinking about the huge contrast between the city and the jungle.

A mosque in Kuala Lumpur

One of the numerous minarets in the capital