Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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Kuala Lumpur

After our 4 hour ‘luxurious’ bus journey from Penang we finally arrived at the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. The transport in Malaysian is excellent and is something we really weren’t used to travelling around other countries in Asia.

As with the majority of Malaysia you can instantly tell that there is a meeting of cultures here with the mix of races from Indian, Chinese and Malayan decent and this is shown in the varied architecture of Western, Asian and Islamic styles.

After a fair degree of hassle from hotel touts we finally found somewhere to stay in China Town opposite the well known Reggae Bar. That night we checked out the local night life and overall had a great night, however this feeling was short lived when we checked our wallets in the morning. Enjoying yourself in this city is pretty expensive with beers being extremely overpriced. I guess this is down to the Muslim views in the country and that alcohol consumption is frowned upon. That said we only had the one big night out whilst in Malaysia.

The following day we went on the lonely liars walking tour to see a bit of the city, taking in the views of various mosques, the post office and the famous Petronas Towers. The Petronas Towers are used in various films including ‘Entrapment’ and are now said to be the largest twin towers in the world.

Kuala Lumpur is a nice city with its stunning buildings, great markets and friendly people but for me it certainly lacks the vibrant energy that other Asian capitals have like Bangkok and Beijing to name a couple. I’m glad I came but doubt whether I will return - three days here was more than enough.

One word of warning for other travellers coming here - beware of the taxi drivers. They are easily the worst in the world (I would guess!!) and are more than happy to take you the longest way to any destination of choice and will happily admit they are overcharging you whilst smiling. There reason for this is simple - ‘I’m a business man’. From our experience they all have a screw loose in their heads confessing their undying love for their respective favourite English football teams. Admitting that when they’ve ripped enough people off they will spend all this money to watch Liverpool at Anfield or Man United at Old Trafford. All for a good cause...

Next stop, Tanam Negara, jungle trekking in the oldest rain forest in the world...

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