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Published: April 25th 2008
Glimpses of KL Tower
In early morning sunshine.The journey from Kuala Besut to Kuala Lumpur (KL) was great. It was really comfortable, we slept well, and despite it being 5am we were looking forward to seeing the sights KL had to offer. Looking forward so much in fact that I decided picking up my phone from the seat pocket would be far too much of a delay to the days itinerary - so didn't bother. For those of you oblivious to the sarcasm in that last sentence, yes, I have lost my phone. I don't want to turn this into an obituary, but my chunky N93 will be sorely missed! Its loss is the reason I'll probably be at university by the time this, and all future entries get published. This writing by hand gimmick is taking some getting used to - I'm surprised we weren't taught it at school! But as they say, the show must go on. KL (like its coach drivers being chased by someone who has left his phone onboard!) waits for no man.
Still harbouring much frustration at the mental lapse that caused the loss, we found a taxi to take us to Chinatown, where the majority of the budget accommodation in
Petronas from a distance
Finding them was tricky! KL is situated. As has happened several times over the course of the trip so far, Paul and I showed far more composure than other seemingly more experienced travellers. Some Irish people who had been behind us on the coach were duped into paying 75 Ringgit for their taxi ride, while we paid a mere 10. The reason for this was their panicky demeanour, believing they were miles away from the center of KL and thus jumping at the first offer of a lift from an opportunistic taxi driver. Common-sense (and GCSE Geography) suggests that a bus station is never far from a CBD, and also that appearing worried or timid will always put you on a fast-track to getting ripped-off. Perhaps also, my 'raging bull' appearance as a result of losing my phone made the taxi drivers think twice about crossing us!
On arrival in Chinatown it was still far too early to get a room. Therefore, in similar vain to our second arrival in Bangkok, we sought sanctuary in a 24 hour fast food restaurant. On this occasion it was a McDonald's, although at first it could have been confused as KL's seat of learning - the
On the Skybridge
Immense views, despite being only a third of the height of the towers. amount of students that were slumped (some asleep) over books! Like the darkness of the night, my frustration at losing my phone began to fade away, daylight bringing a new sense of contemplation. "We still have our health" you could have heard me say - although with the state of our McDonald's breakfasts it could have been a short lived statement! In all seriousness, taking a peek around the corner and seeing dawn silhouetting the KL tower seemed to blow away all the cobwebs of the night before. As 7am arrived we set out to find a room. It was a simple task as there was a good variety of choice and we were more than happy with the room we ended up with at the "Backpackers Travellers Inn".
Despite having barely slept on the journey over, neither of us felt like going to bed for a nap. We therefore decided to catch the early worms in the form of KL's sights. We had momentarily forgotten what time it was, thus waking up the people in the room next door, so we shuffled out with our tails between our legs.
Top of our list of things to see
Paul beneath the Towers
Couldn't get the top in frame! were the world famous Petronas Towers. The world's tallest buildings until a few years ago, but still number two. As there are two of them, they also have the honour of being the world's tallest twin towers. It is free to access they skybridge that connects the two towers and marvel at the views. However only a certain amount of tickets are made available each day on a first-come-first serve basis. Ideal therefore that we were up and about so early.
As we walked across KL in the morning sunshine we would occasionally get glimpses of the huge structure amongst the skyline. However, like most tall buildings, actually finding our way to its base (with no map) proved tricky! Once we did arrive, the towers didn't fail to dissapoint. Some buildings you have to crane your neck for, but for these it felt like you would need to lie on your back to comfortably see the top. We decided to leave admiring the outside until later, and darted in the foyer in search of the skybridge tour. The airy reception was a hub of businessmen, tourists and ordinary workers. I guess as a tourist, it is easy to forget
that several thousand people actually work there. The skybridge tour section had already built up a queue as we arrived, but it was fast moving and therefore wasn't long before we had our tickets (for 15 minutes later). While we waited we explored the small exhibit about the building of the towers and several of their features - who would have thought lightening induction coils could be so interesting! Right on time we were called through to begin our tour. Firstly it involved donning some 3D glasses and watching a 15 minute film about the towers, or so we thought. It was infact a 15 minute advertisement for Petronas, the oil company who own the towers. Nontheless somewhat entertaining - mainly because of its 'we are not the bad guys' message. Once the brainwashing was complete, it was time to get our brief 10 minutes on the skybridge itself.
Despite the skybridge being only a third of the way up the total height of the towers it was as high as I have ever been up in a building (a record that would last merely a few hours). The views over KL were fantastic, but I think I enjoyed
View from KL Tower
Looking at the Worlds tallest twin towers from the equally impressive KL Tower. looking at the towers themselves the most. Seeing people inside their offices - what a place to work! After the obligitory photos from every angle our time was soon up and it wasn't long before we were back at street level. Just as a side note, the Petronas towers formed the basis of much of the blockbuster film Entrapment. So we can add that to our list of movie sights visited!
As our skybridge visit was over, we could now stand back and admire the towers from the outside. By lying down in sorts of positions we managed to get some good shots before heading off for a walk. The towers weren't built on their own, but as a complete development of the local area. Therefore as well as the nice mall at their base, the surrounding land is landscaped. Featuring waterfalls, paddling pools, play areas and grassy open spaces the park on the one side of the buildings framed the towers beautifully. It was here that as I walked over a bridge a Muslim family called me over, motioning to their camera. I immediately assumed they wanted me to take a picture for them, so I went straight
View from Merdeka Square
Moorish Architecture (apparantly!). over. It turned out that they didn't want me to take it, but for me to join them in it! I asked them to take the shot on my camera also, and it has now made for one of the more interesting pictures in my collection!
Once we had, had our fill of the towers we moved on towards KL's upmarket shopping district. Populated by bars with extortionate prices and the sort of shops that have bouncers, it wasn't long before we moved on down the road and enjoyed a variety of more standard shopping centres! As the weather was turning a bit grey we decided to make a move to the KL tower. Although not as high as the Petronas, this communications tower allows you to get an even loftier view of Kuala Lumpur. It was a shame the city was now shaded by some ominous looking rain clouds, but despite this, the view was even better than from the Petronas skybridge. From it, we picked out the famous Merdaka Square (next on our list of sights!) and worked out a route.
Its one thing working out a route from several hundred metres in the air, but
Merdeka (Cricket) Square!
Cricket square in the middle, worlds tallest flagpole behind! at ground level following such a route is always difficult. We did however, after quite a walk, find the square. Merdaka Square was the sight where the Union Jack was lowered when Malaysia gained its independance, but it still retains a very British feel. Small tea house line the one side of the square, while a cricket pitch is in the middle. Opposite is a very grand building (whose name escapes me, but I am told it is of Moorish architecture - whatever that stands for) which with the KL tower and the Petronas towers is one of Kuala Lumpur's most famous buildings. It was great therefore to see them all line up in perspective over the KL skyline.
By this time it was late afternoon (I am sorry if the blog doesn't reflect that timescale), and we had walked at least 6 or 7 miles. As we wearily headed back to Chinatown we were greeted with an extremely large market. Walking through it was like being transported back to Bangkok, with every stall owner touting their goods. It was great fun and took us quite by surprise. We had thought the mad days of running a gauntlet of
Kl's 3 Famous Buildings
All (just about) in 1 shot! touts had been over! Once we arrived back at the guesthouse we got our bearings and decided we should sort out a ticket to Singapore for the next day. By getting a night bus we would still be able to have a full day in KL, save on accommodation, and also be in Singapore with enough time to see everything it had to offer. Once the ticket was secured, we had some dinner and settled down to watch a film from the selection they had in the guesthouse reception. It had been a long and productive day, about as long and productive as we had, had on the trip so far.
After a well-earned lie-in, the plan for the next day was to see KL's national stadium complex. Built for the Commonwealth Games it houses the Malaysian national stadium (100,000+ seats) as well as all the other event areans. Getting there was a breeze on KL's transit system and we enjoyed several hours browsing the arenas. After getting our shots in front of the national stadium (now 3 countries, 3 national stadiums!) and being removed from both the swimming and ice skating arenas, by suspicious team coaches and Disney
Mad Chinatown Markets
Touting Bangkok style! on Ice organisers respectively, it was time to head back to Chinatown.
Prior to the bus leaving that evening we treated ourselves to a Nandos meal. Our table looked out on the KL tower and the Petronas, both of which looked fabulous by night. Had we been staying longer I would have loved to have gotten some pictures of the Petronas lit up. But I won't lose any sleep over it! As 10pm approached, we picked our bags up from our guesthouse and headed for the bus station, next stop Singapore!
We had a great time in Kuala Lumpur, and gladly, didn't spend too much either. I think our guesthouse was glad to see the back of us, bearing in mind we had used their facilities for nearly 48hours, despite only actually having a single night there (the benefit of checking it at 7am one day, and leaving 10pm the next!). As a city, it probably doesn't have the intensity or excitement of Bangkok, but despite this, is still packed full of things worth seeing. To have seen the Petronas towers is almost reason enough to make a visit worthwhile. With Singapore just to come, our Asian adventure
is reaching its finale....
Tom
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