As I promised last week, here’s my post about my weekend in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
My friend Wilko and I left for Malaysia on Saturday morning, and returned on Monday, which is more than enough time to check out everything that KL has to offer. After getting off the plane, we had to take a train downtown since the airport is conveniently *sarcasm* located about 35 miles south of the city. After a pretty drive through the Malaysian countryside, we arrived at KL Station, which is the main gate for all local trains. Being tourists and also a little naive, Wilko and I decided to walk to Chinatown, instead of taking a taxi. Not knowing where we were going, we aimlessly walked around the southern part of the city while getting to see a couple attractions that we probably would not have seen without taking our walk. Malaysia is similar to Singapore in weather, so once we arrived to Chinatown, we were both covered in sweat.
Chinatown was really cool for me, mainly because I had never been to a market that sold counterfeit items. There are endless outdoor shops to visit in Chinatown, and sellers will not stop haggling you until you enter their shop.
Chinatown.
Wilko and I did buy a few things at these shops, and I thought that negotiating was pretty fun, so we found ourselves returning to Chinatown multiple times during the trip. After walking around Chinatown for a bit, we agreed that wandering around KL wasn’t the best idea, so we decided to buy tickets for a sightseeing tour. The tour (which only costs $12), is a must if you’re touring KL, because it takes you around to most of the main sights, while being much cheaper than relying on a taxi everywhere you go.
One of the stops along the tour, the Malaysian National Palace.
The Ministry of Information building, which was erected in 1897.
The tallest twin towers in the world, the Petronas Towers.
After riding the bus around town for a while, Wilko and I visited the observation deck at the Kuala Lumpur Tower.
KL Tower.
View of KL from the top of the tower.
After visiting the tower we checked into the hotel, went to grab dinner, then called a night.
We started our next day with a visit to Little India.
Little India.
Little India in KL was rather small, and didn’t compare to Singapore’s Little India. I was told that it was recently relocated which explains the size, but I was still unimpressed. After Little India, we visited arguably the most popular attraction in Malaysia, the Batu Caves.
At the base of the 140 foot tall statue.
The surrounding mountain is filled with these macaques.
Inside the caves.
I also made a new friend on the way down.
The caves themselves were awesome. They’re believed to have formed more than 400 million years ago, and was definitely the coolest cave I’ve ever been in (Sorry Cave of the Winds). We were visiting during Thaipusam, which is a large Hindu festival that takes place every year. There were people in abundance in and around the cave, so it was extremely dirty when we were there, which definitely took away some of the sanctity of the temple. But overall the caves were incredible, and you have to see them for yourself while in KL.
After the caves we went back to the Petronas Towers to see them at night, and they are beautiful.
On our final day, we got to visit the Thean Hou Temple, Buddhist Temple, located on the outskirts of KL. It was not one of the stops along the bus tour, but it was more than worth it to take a car to get there.
Thean Hou Temple.
Inside the prayer room.
Ceiling art inside the prayer room.
The fortune that I received. Sorry Mckenna, looks like we need to find other people…
View from the temple.
Last picture of the temple I promise.
Visiting this temple was probably my favorite part of the trip. It was so peaceful, well-maintained, and so intricate that it definitely was the coolest temple I’ve seen in Asia. After the temple we went back to Chinatown to pass the time, then we headed to the airport to fly back to Singapore. The trip was awesome, partly because it was the first place outside of Singapore that I have visited so far, and it was all about $200 total (including airfare and accommodation).
Farewell KL.
Chinese New Year and my spring break are coming up, so Mckenna and I are taking a week long trip to Bali, Indonesia which we leave for in a couple days. I will post about that of course once I get back, but this is all I have for now.
Thanks for reading!
Alex Abroad 