Kuala Lumpur

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Second stop in Malaysia was its capital, Kuala Lumpur. I was dropped off at the insanely busy main bus station in the centre of town in the sweltering heat (it's like nothing you could ever imagine!) with hordes of people, cars and motorbikes swarming round me, and taxi drivers asking where I wanted to go. I probably did the stupid thing and didn't take a taxi - instead walked quite a way to the nearest train station and eventually made it to my hostel. Phew! Spent the afternoon going to the Kuala Lumpur Tower, seeing all the sights of the city from almost 300 metres. Then it was time to explore some more of the city - ended up at the Petronas Twin Towers where there is an enormous shopping centre. Wandered round there for a bit just to escape the heat and appreciate the greatness of air conditioning!

The next day caught the bus to the Batu Caves, which is a site where many Hindus go towards the end of January/beginning of February for the festival of Thaipusam. The caves are absolutely spectacular with lots of little temples scattered around inside. However, in order to reach them though you have to make your way up the 272 steps that await you at their entrance. Despite the long walk up there though the monkeys were great entertainment. Didn't get too close to them though as apparently they can get a little fierce if you annoy them! I expected my trip to the caves to last most of the day, but this was not the case. Returned to KL for lunch and then headed onto the Central Market - a huge collection of stalls all under one roof selling the usual tacky souvenirs, but some great antiques, food etc. Spent quite a while wandering around there as there was so much to see. All the antique-type things though were a lot more expensive than similar items in Melaka though which was a shame! Ended the day with a bit more culture and learning and made my way to the National History Museum which stands at one end of Merdeka Square (where Malaysian independence from Britain was declared fifty years ago this August).

The following day was as equally educational - visited the National Museum (pretty awful as most of the exhibits weren't there and the building was undergoing extensive renovation), the National Planetarium (a bit out of date with most things space related but the sound and light show was good fun!), and also the Islamic Arts Museum (seemingly impenetrable at first, but an amazing place to visit with incredibly old artefacts). I also managed to look around the market at Chinatown - it's all pedestrianised with loads of stalls selling fake DVDs, fake clothes and tacky souvenir items. Hurrah!

The next morning woke up very early and walked to the Petronas Twin Towers again to queue for a ticket to go up to the Skybridge. Arrived there at half eight when the ticket office opened and there was already a huge long queue snaking its way through the basement floor. Finally made it to the front of the queue and got a ticket. As they're all allocated by time I had to wait around for a couple of hours, but as the KLCC shopping centre was right above me that didn't matter too much. Grabbed a coffee and whiled away the time somehow! Eventually got up to the Skybridge (having watched an apparently 3D video indoctrinating all that watched it about the all amazing Petronas) and was presented with yet more amazing views of the city. Pretty much just took it easy for the rest of the day and got ready to go to the Cameron Highlands...

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Photos

Batu Caves
They're all the way up those steps!

Comments

[Surya]

Wow!
KL looks so exotic!