During these Covid 19 times, I have been thinking of my past travels over the years. Seven years exactly to the day, I travelled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for four days before going to Melbourne, Australia. I had never been to Malaysia before and was excited to explore Kuala Lumpur and get a taste of city life and explore!
We arrived to Changi airport and met by our transfer in a VW camper van, it was an experience with the driver and the plethora of mopeds on the route from the airport to the city!
We stayed at Hotel Istana which was located in the city centre, it was so close to Bukit Bintang Monorail Station, the iconic Petronas Towers and the famous Petaling Street Market, it was ideal. The staff were friendly, the breakfasts were lovely and robust,you could have traditional Malaysian breakfast or continental and the rooms were clean and spacious. The lobby was stunning in it’s design, an ideal resting place after touring the city with a glass of wine listening to pianist.
We acclimatised to the area by walking around the streets, dodging mopeds in the hot heat and explored the city.
At the top of our list was to visit iconic Petronas Towers at night which is a sight to behold. The towers were very impressive. It is advisable to visit. You can book tickets online or you can buy tickets from 830am, please note they are closed on a Monday. This is the website https://www.petronastwintowers.com.my/
Closeby there was a massive shopping mall called Pavilion with lots of famous brands and places to eat after the retail therapy! We went shopping and bought some memory cards for our cameras which were much cheaper than the UK. We were visiting when it was Diwali so it was lovely to be part of the festive atmosphere.
We walked through the park which was tropical, it was interesting seeing different plants and flowers.
We went on a tour to visit the famous pewter factory- Royal Senlangor and tried some artisan tools to inscribe a design on the pewter. It is open Monday to Sunday 9am til 5pm. https://visitorcentre.royalselangor.com/
Kuala Lumpur is built from tin mines and is a famous resource as well as rubber which is used in many products. After this we went to a artisan studio and were showed how Batik scarves were handmade and bought some mementos. Our local driver was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed this tour.
After the this tour, we went to the Batu Caves which is a limestone hill that has caves and Hindu temples dedicated to different Gods and deities. This was so impressive!
It is open daily from 7am- 7pm. There are 272 steps up to the cave temples and the views are spectacular. Make sure you wear good sandals/footwear.
This is a statue of Lord Murugan and is so impressive, this is to the right of the stairs. You will see there are temples and holy men taking part in services which you can observe. You can also get a blessing for a donation, which was a wonderful experience.
Walking back down the steps make sure you take in the view. When you get to the bottom, you will see there are flowers you can buy as an offering and can buy refreshments. Do watch out for the monkeys who will take your food or rucksacks and glasses!
After visiting this wonderful site we went back into the city and explored Petaling Street which was part of China Town, there were interesting stalls and lanterns.
There was a monsoon rain which lasted a few minutes which we got caught in and we did laugh as it was warm rain.! We visited Little India as well, there were wonderful stalls selling jade bracelets, flip flops made from Malaysian rubber, all reasonably priced.
We walked to Meredka Square and walked past some of the famous buildings and Mosques in Kuala Lumpur.
We visited the Kuala Lumpur City Gallery and saw the national murals featuring previous leaders.
We ate in Jalan Alor which is known as the restaurant street and there was varied cuisine for all tastes, we went back there twice.
We used the monorail which was so cheap! It cost 20 pence but mainly we walked everywhere apart from going on the escorted tour.
Walking is the best way for exploring the city and to get lost in! I felt three days were enough in KL, I would like to go back to explore other parts of Malaysia too!
