DESTINATION : KUALA LUMPUR
MY TOP 3 THINGS TO DO IN KL
KUALA LUMPUR
My destination, the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, or KL as the locals like to call it, struck me as one of the most “foreign” places I had visited when I first arrived in the city.
I was going to have to adapt quickly to my new environment.
However as I got to know the city it got easier to work out the way of life there.
Travel is all about exploring new places and cultures and with the benefit of hindsight I always look back on my trip to Kuala Lumpur as an interesting adventure with some great highlights.
MY ASIAN ADVENTURES
In November 2019 I embarked on the Asian leg of my midlife gap year adventures.
I would be spending a month, travelling solo, in South Asia.
Already I had visited Singapore for the first time, where my journey began and would eventually end.
From there I had also sailed on a five day cruise through the Straits of Malacca on board Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas.
On this cruise I had my first tastes of Malaysian culture, with ports of call in Klang on the mainland and George Town, on the island of Penang.
After a further stop in Phuket, Thailand, the cruise ended back in Singapore, where I headed straight to the airport.
It was a short 55 minute flight to Kuala Lumpur, my destination for this next part of the trip.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I had chosen to stay at the Grand Millennium Hotel, close to the Bukit Bintang monorail station. My 11th floor room felt relatively low down in a city of high rise buildings.
Even so I could see the tops of the KL Tower and Petronas Twin Towers lit up in the distance.
Despite the fact that Singapore and Malaysia share the southern end of the Malay Peninsula they are culturally quite different.
For starters everyone in Singapore spoke English, so I was coming from somewhere that felt very familiar. Although the national language was Malay, I rarely heard it spoken.
Nextdoor in Malaysia the main language is also Malay. But there is a great mix of cultures and lots of other languages are spoken. English is widely spoken and signs are labelled in English, so I wasn’t going to struggle to understand, or be understood. But for me as a tourist it added to that sense of being in an exotic location hearing all of these different languages.
Bukit Bintang is labelled as the entertainment and shopping district of Kuala Lumpur, so seemed like the perfect destination for a tourist like me.
Its fair to say it is a vibrant area. There is a lot to see and take in.
EXPLORING BUKIT BINTANG
When planning my itinerary I had included three full days to enjoy my destination of Kuala Lumpur, as well as whatever was left of my travel days either side. Plenty of time.
Having checked into my room on arrival, I just set off for a walk in the late afternoon to find my bearings around Bukit Bintang
The hotel was next to the Pavilion Shopping Centre. Very familiar in style to those back home. I had a wander around the shops, not least because the mall was promoting the upcoming “Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalker” film, with an exciting display of the Millennium Falcon and bright red storm troopers that appealed to my inner six year old!
Okay, a novelty at the time of my visit, but KL is clearly a culturally global city too.
I had spotted a nearby exhibition centre, with a Marvel film and costume exhibition showing. That passed a morning at the end of my visit to KL. An unexpected treat. Its one of the reasons I don’t plan my trips too rigidly, then you can adapt them to what you find when you arrive.
There were people everywhere. Tall buildings. The monorail trains rattled past overhead.
As afternoon turned to evening the bright lights came on.
Young street performers blasted out music or sang on street corners. There was life and noise everywhere. Entertainment definitely filled the senses as you wandered along the city’s pavements.
Exciting!
FOOD
Although the area around the hotel was busy it wasn’t obvious where to eat.
So for dinner that first night I stuck to the safety of the hotel restaurant. I have to say I had a delicious meal, even if I wasn’t exactly embracing the local culture at this point!
That couldn’t have contrasted more with the open air food market I found later in the evening. Lit with strings of lanterns and filled with hundreds of people loudly enjoying the vast variety of foods on offer down the length of the street.
It was filled with strange sights, sounds and smells.
The next day, heading in a different direction, I found an alley close to the hotel with a row of much more western style bars, restaurants and food outlets. They offered a chance for local food, but with a western twist.
MY TOP 3 THINGS TO DO IN KL
Going for a walk is always a great way to explore a city.
However I had checked out my KL guide book, which had a list of suggestions of things to do in this city.
These are my Top 3 things to do if Kuala Lumpur is on your destination list.
1 – BATU CAVES
For day one I was going on an expedition.
I had heard that the Batu Caves were a monument to see and I was going by myself. No coaches and tour guides, although that would have been an option.
Doing it yourself just adds to the sense of adventure.
Monorail and Trains
The most complicated part of the day was working out the train system.
I headed to the Bukit Bintang MRT station and discovered I needed to catch the monorail to the KL Sentral train station.
This was the first time I rode the monorail, but it was really handy and became much more familiar over the next few days as I jumped on and off.
KL Sentral was a sprawling station. But once you take a breath the map is quite like a map of the London Underground. The various platforms colour coded to the multitude of lines to use. It was just a case of following the signs to find the correct line.
The Batu Caves have their own stop at the end of the KTM Komuter line and once you find that its really quite easy.
I was a bit confused why the ticket machine wasn’t accepting credit cards. Then I realised it was because each journey was so cheap it wouldn’t be worth the card fees. (We were in a pre-covid World when everything hadn’t turned contactless, so things may have changed now).
The 13km journey to Batu Caves cost me around 50p each way when converted to sterling.
And being overground trains, you get to see a bit of life in the wider city suburbs of the greater urban area of Kuala Lumpur as you pass through, a bonus in any destination.
The Life of Rama
At the Batu Caves, which is the end of the line, you walk out of the station and the entrance to the Caves begins.
The Batu Caves are a Hindu holy place and consist of a number of caves and temples.
I started at one depicting scenes from the life of Rama.
Inside tableaux were set up along the walls as you wandered through the caverns of the cave. Each told part of the story of this deity.
Colourful and curious set in the backdrop of an underground cave system.
There was a small fee to enter this cave.
Lord Murugan’s Statue
After walking past a few more temples you reach the main Batu Cave.
This is almost more splendid for its entrance way.
Guarding it is a golden statue of Lord Murugan. At almost 43 metres tall it is the tallest statue in Malaysia. Monumental is the right word.
Behind this is a steep rainbow staircase that climbs up into the cave entrance itself.
The staircase is guarded by the local cheeky monkeys, who do pose for photos. Clearly used to thousands of tourists.
Its a bit of a climb to the top, but worth the effort.
You enter into a cathedral like cavern.
Although there are temples built up here too, they are somewhat overwhelmed by the natural beauty of the cave itself.
As you walk deeper into the complex the top of the cave opens up to the sky. Like a skylight with a beam of sunlight shining down.
You can entirely feel why people wanted to come here to worship their gods.
Back to KL Sentral
The trains were fairly frequent, but its still worth keeping an eye on the train timetable. Of course Batu Caves is the start of the line for the return journey.
I got back to KL Sentral with no difficulty.
This was an inexpensive, but extremely worthwhile place to visit. Its always so much nicer when you can visit by yourself too. Makes you feel like a proper explorer.
As I was in the area I had a wander around the built up area of KL Sentral before getting the monorail back.
I’m not sure if its just November weather or and all year phenomenon, but we had a torrential downpour every afternoon. Not for long. Sometimes with thunder and lightning.
My handy small umbrella came in very useful!
2 – PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS
The landmark in Kuala Lumpur, that made it a must see destination for me, is the Petronas Twin Towers. One of those places I really wanted to see that made it an easy decision to build KL into my trip.
As you’ll know if you read some of my other blog posts I love a tall tower.
These are currently the tallest twin towers in the World.
And of course the other thing I always do with a tall tower is go up it!
Booking
I must admit I hadn’t really thought ahead to how busy this attraction would be. I knew I wanted to see it, but intended to just turn up on the day.
A friend, who had visited before, recommended that I either got there very early, or even better booked online in advance.
It was a great idea as I booked and paid online on my first full morning in the city. I selected a time slot after lunch the next day. The ticket was actually delivered to the hotel reception for me that evening.
Bukit Bintang Walkway
With a bit of help from Google Maps on my phone I set off from my hotel towards KLCC Park, that surrounds the Towers, on a trial run the evening before.
I knew it would take about 20 minutes to walk, but I didn’t want to be late the next day having a timed ticket.
Following the alley where I had found the food places I noticed there were a lot of people just passing through this street.
It turned out this was one of the entry points to the Bukit Bintang walkway.
Its a covered, well lit walkway. Handy when those downpours hit and it felt very safe at night too.
The snaking path had direction arrows pointing towards the KLCC centre and the Towers.
And at the end I walked out to see them in all their splendour.
The Petronas Twin Towers by night
I was so glad I had decided on an evening walk.
The two Petronas Towers were lit up and they are certainly one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen.
They look good by day, but lit up at night is something else.
At the base there were fountains with lights and a bit of music. I presume this is a regular show, although I only caught the end of it. Small in comparison to the towers above them.
Even if heights are not your thing I would certainly recommend a visit to look up at the Petronas Twin Towers by night.
Going Up!
Next day I headed back to the Towers in daylight.
I joined the group for my timed tour. It starts and ends next to the gift shop.
For starters we headed up in the lifts to levels 41 and 42 and the Skybridge which links one tower to the other.
We stopped here for the views and of course to walk across from one tower to the other so we got to experience both sides.
Then it was back in the lift to ride up to the 86th floor observation deck in one of the towers. There are 88 floors in total.
From here your destination of Kuala Lumpur sprawls below you.
The joy of twin towers is that you can see the top of one from the top of the other. Helpful for including the landmark in your top down photos of KL.
There is also a small exhibition space up here too.
The tour itself only lasted about 45 minutes, which was a bit short compared to some towers I have visited. However it was worth every minute. I wasn’t disappointed.
3 – KUALA LUMPUR HISTORIC CENTRE
My third top tip is to explore the historic heart of Kuala Lumpur, which has a number of go to destinations that can fill your day or at least an afternoon as I did.
Its a great way to see lots of bits of all the history that makes up the city and country as well.
A very brief history
Malaysia has a long history with influences from the Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic religions.
The peninsula was a source of tin which drove its economic activity.
Then there were political influences from China, colonialism from the British Empire and occupation by Japan during the second world war.
The country is made up of a number of States which have historically been ruled by their own Sultans.
Ultimately though the nation of Malaya declared independence in 1957. Malaysia as we know it today was formed between 1963 and 1965.
Kuala Lumpur, one time capital of the state of Selangor became the country’s capital city and in 1974 became a Federal Territory in its own right.
And then they began building skyscrapers.
When I was there in 2019 the skyline was filled with cranes and new building work. It made me think I’ll need to go back to see how much it has changed in another 10 years.
One thing I really liked about all of the places I visited in Malaysia was that they embrace their history. Its not all convenient, but I certainly came away with the impression that they accept themselves as the country they are today because of all that has gone before.
China Town
My adventure began by catching the monorail to China Town.
Having picked up a free tourist map I vaguely followed a route through this part of the city.
I began with the Chan She Shu Yuen Clan Ancestral Hall. A splendid hall with clear Chinese influences.
Then it was on to Petaling Street Bazaar. This was filled with stalls selling anything you could think of. That helped with my souvenir shopping!
I was a bit wary of some of the food places, but did find something to eat.
River of Life
From China Town I headed to the Klang River waterfront which runs through this part of the city.
The waterfront has itself been turned into a tourist attraction, the River of Life, which I believe lights up at night, although I never saw that.
I did get to look across the water at the Masjid Jamek mosque. The oldest mosque in the city.
Here old and new merge as the small, ornate mosque is given a backdrop of skyscrapers and the KL Tower.
Independence Square
Dataran Merdeka, or Independence Square is the place where independence was declared in 1957.
A large flagpole holds the Malaysian flag at the end of what looks like a large field.
Its a really pleasant green open space again surrounded by modern skyscrapers.
However the Colonial architectural influence is also visible here with buildings such as the Old Post Office and the Royal Selangor Club lining the square in a more historically low rise way.
It was a popular tourist spot.
I got chance for a look around before another of the daily downpours had me running for shelter once more.
A good time to catch the monorail get back to the hotel area to relax with the entertainments of Bukit Bintang once more.
KUALA LUMPUR
I think three full days was a good amount of time to explore a destination like Kuala Lumpur.
In fact I generally think that’s long enough in any city before you get a bit overwhelmed with too much of the same history.
However there was a good mix of alternative entertainment such as shopping malls, open air markets and exhibitions.
I’m not sure I would have travelled across the World just to visit this one city.
But building it into a regional itinerary, such as exploring more of the Malaysian states, is a good idea.
For me it was mixed with visits to Singapore and Thailand on my cruise. There were also convenient air connections as I left Kuala Lumpur for my next destination of Bali.
I’m very happy I visited KL.
And my Top 3 things to do were genuine highlights of my trip. I’d recommend them to anyone visiting Destination : Kuala Lumpur!
