Diliana Cholakova How did we decid to visit Malaysia? One day we received an email from a friend of ours with attractive offers from Turkish Airlines. There were cheap flights to many European cities and a few flights to Asia. The least known to us was Malaysia and without much thinking we bought two tickets to Kuala Lumpur (KL).
Before departing we talked to a couple of friends who had already been there, and they said that there was nothing interesting to see in KL, except the Petronas Towers. But was it really true?
So here are the top 10 things that we did in Kuala Lumpur
#1 Get the KL HOP-ON HOP-OFF
Usually I don’t like these touristic buses, but in KL it is good to use them if you want to save time and not to miss something interesting. The city is quite large and it’s not so easy to walk from place to place. Using the KL HOP-ON HOP-OFF you can choose from 23 stops which cover more than 70 attractions.
#2 Petronas Twin Towers
The first think you can imagine when somebody says Kuala Lumpur is the Petronas Twin Towers . Built to be the symbol of the city, they had the title of the tallest building in the world till 2004. To this day, they remain the tallest twin towers in the world. The height of Petronas Towers is 451.9 m (1483 ft), and the floor count – 88 – . The towers are connected by a Skybridge on the 41st and 42nd floors. The bridge is open to the public, and you can get a ticket for a mere 85 RM (about 20 USD / 18 EUR). As it is a very popular tourist attraction, I suggest that you buy the tickets at least a few days in advance. Once we tried to buy a ticket only a day in advance, and there weren’t any available.Tower One is fully occupied by the Malaysian state oil company Petronas. Tower Two is mostly taken up by multinational companies.
There is a big shopping mall inside and a spacious and beautifully landscaped KLCC Park outside which features a jogging track, walking paths, a water fountain and a wading pool for children.
#3 The KL tower
KL Tower is located within Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, one of the oldest forest reserves in the country. Standing at 421m, the tower and the area around offer a unique blend of cultural, adventure and nature experiences such as an observation deck, a sky box, a mini zoo…
Don’t forget to try out the Canopy Walk surrounded by a lush tropical rain forest in the heart of a city.
#4 Batu caves
Batu Caves is a limestone hill with a multitude of caves. You can get there via a 25-minute train ride from the KL Central rail-way station. The first thing you are greeted by is the monumental „golden“ statue of – Lord Murugan – a Hindu god of war. It’s better to come early in the morning, because later it starts getting very hot and you have to climb the colossal staircase of 272 steps, which leads to a large cave. Bring some fruits to feed the monkeys so you can make a selfie with them.
#5 Central market
Central market was built in 1888 as a wet market. Now this is the place where you can feel the Malaysian culture and art, and buy presents from the artisans.
We bought beautiful cashmere scarves and some traditional clothes and shoes. I think we are ready to visit India. 🙂
For art lovers there are a lot of things to see and try, such as henna tattooists.
With so many shops, it is easy to spend hours and get hungry. But don’t worry – you can find a variety – of fresh food and fruits.
#6 Bird park
KL Bird Park is the world’s largest free-flight walk-in aviary and my favourite place in KL. It is one of the bus stops of KL HOP-ON HOP-OFF
You can spend half a day walking between free flying exotic birds like peacocks and hornbills, pose with owls and parrots on one’s shoulder and feed parakeets.
You will have an exciting experience of watching colorful and melodic birds perching and winging about freely while relaxing in natural and beautifully landscaped surroundings. Here you can also see unique fruit trees, plants and flowers.
#7 Chine town
The most popular place in KL where you can buy everything you need and a lot of things that you don’t need.
If you stick around Petailing Street in the middle of China Town , you will find out fruits and vegetables you can’t even guess what they are, but this is not the case with one of the busiest streets in Kuala Lumpur. Petailing street is a roaring market, full of sounds and people and smells, fake and replica goods.
We aren’t shoppers so we came here to eat street food like some fried stuff on stick, tripe soup and vegetarian soup for me. For the first time we drank freshly made sugar cane – probably the best drink for hot weather.
#8 Little India
The most colorful and photogenic place in the city. It is very close to KL Sentral station.
We didn’t have enough time to look around, but we spent about 30 minutes walking through a wide street with Indian stores and restaurants and even met an astrologer.
The shops here sell everything from traditional Indian goods such as saris, flower garlands, spices, to Indian jewelry and Bollywood music. You can find most of the goods cheaper than in the Central market.
Don’t miss trying the tasty Indian food.
#9 Shopping malls
KL is a retail paradise, where every second building is a mall or has a mall in it. A shopping and entertainment district, Bukit Bintang offers world-class shopping and gourmet restaurants, trendy bars and busy nightclubs. Here you can see modern architecture and hotels, and fashionable people with expensive cars.
The hot spot is Pavilion KL.
#10 Chow Kit Market
It’s the largest „wet market“ in Kuala Lumpur, selling fruit, vegetables, tofu, spices, meat and fish. There are also food stalls and stalls selling clothes, silk, shoes, cassette tapes and fabrics. Here you can feel the real local life and talk with the people who are doing their daily shopping.
The narrow walkways of the market are mostly covered by canvas to protect you from the sun or the rain. You will meet NO tourists.
At night, Chow Kit is the domain of drug addicts, prostitutes and transvestites.
There were a lot of things that we couldn’t see and a lot of places that we couldn’t visit. But for the first time in KL, I was satisfied.
