Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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Traveling from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur cheaply or at all by land was looking like a nightmare 2 day journey, we took the easier and more expensive 2 hr flight. Arrived at Kuala Lumpur's "Ryanair" version airport so hence got the 1 hour bus to the city and taxi to the hostel.

The first thing you notice is how green Kuala Lumpur is and how good the infrastructure is, not what was expected, also the city has excellent public transport, with a monorail and subway system running. Pretty quickly you spot the KLCC Radio Tower, 4th largest radio tower in the world and the famous Petronas Twin Towers.

Found ourselves a handy guesthouse, where the girl was really helpful, actually it got a bit annoying, you had to report to her everyday what you had done and what the plan was for the next day and then she would add stuff on! Just couldn't avoid her!

First night we dumped our stuff and headed on the monorail to the hussle and bussle of Chinatown, a covered street cramed with market vendors selling copies of everything imaginable. We ate dinner at the side of the road, at a plastic table & chair with plastic plates and cutlery, surprizingly one of the best meal we had all holiday! We discovered we were staying right next to one of the biggest shopping centres in Kuala Lumpur, Times Square, aside from shops and eateries it also included a cinema, hotel and floors 5 to 8 are an indoor amusement park with the longest indoor roller coaster in the Asian Pacific.

The following day we visited the KLCC Tower which sits on a forrested hill in the centre of the city, you take the lift up 276m and have a fab panoramic view of the city, you also get an audio unit that tells you what you can see out of each window, so a tour of the whole city without leaving the building pretty cool for our sore feet.

Kuala Lumpur is a bit unusual as a city. Most of the roads are dual carriageways and the shops are all in huge shopping centres. But it also has loads of green areas like the Lake Gardens which we visited next, passing the National Mosque on the way. Just to do somethng different we visited the bird park which was really good. The birds are kinda free to fly around. There is a huge net really high up so its only the dangerous species are caged in. Some of the birds were so unusual and the parrotts were pretty cool.

The following day we decided to do the sky bridge at the Petronas Twin Towers. A free tourist attraction! Having said that tickets are limited and you can only stay for 15min. You have to queue up early in the morning to get your tickets and allocated your 15min slot. Then whilst waiting for your slot you can wander around the outrageously expensive shops in the towers shopping mall, a scam Allen reckons. Not that most of us can afford much they are all the really expensive brands with security at the door of each shop. Eventually when its your turn to go up the towers, it starts with a 3D movie about how much the Petronas oil company have done for social causes, thats just to make them feel better about the millions they make off a natural resource. The lift takes you up to the 41st floor and then you can walk across the bridge. Its a 2 storey bridge but visitors are only allowed on one part, the top section is for staff movement. Pretty impressive views from the tower, well worth the visit.

That evening treated ourselves to Baskin Robbins ice cream and a spin on the roller coaster as well as a few other stomach churning rides at the indoor amusement park, not great with the ice cream. Then later on back to chinatown for dinner and a few beers in the Reggae Bar.

Kuala Lumpur is a nice city to visit but if you had more time you would probably leave the city and see more of Malaysia.

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