Kuala Lumpur

(from Mary Bohan)

I went to meet a friend from Duke in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend, and found that to be a very interesting experience. I found it to be very similar to Singapore in terms of the attractions to the city, but overall it was less developed, had more poverty, and not as clean. I was only there for 24 hours so it was very quick but I did make it to one site that was very interesting, it was called the Batu Caves, which is a sacred place for Hindus in Malaysia, and you climb 272 nearly vertical stairs to reach a cave with lots of statues and temples. There were many people who seemed to be sick climbing the stairs, some had their heads shaved and some yellow or orange cream on their heads, we're still not very sure what it was for. I also had to go to the hospital to get information regarding getting vaccines for India and found it to be very efficient, a woman was able to see me right away with no appointment and tell me all of the information I needed, and the payment system seemed very straightforward and fair, unlike lots of the confusion with insurance and everything in the US. Apparently all of the children here are vaccinated from just after birth and every few weeks, so in some ways they're even more advanced than the US.