Kuala Lumpur

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I woke up very early in order to beat the queues to get up the Petronas towers. A limited number of people are allowed to visit every day, so I left the hostel at 7am. Reception told me it was within walking distance, but I set off without a map presuming it would be very easy to find - how hard can it be to see the tallest building in KL?

How wrong I was. I finally managed to hail a taxi at about 7.45, getting me there in time to get up the tower at 9.45 (Yes, a two hour queue had already formed!).

Visitors are only permitted to go up to floor 21 - where the walkways between the towers are located. For anyone else planning on visiting KL it's a nice view, but not really worth the long wait.

I retuned to my hostel again in a taxi as I had no idea which way to walk. When I returned I had breakfast and happened to meet Nick (A friend from Koh Tao) while I was brushing my teeth! It turned out he had arrived that morning, and done exactly the same as me (Not had any room booked and walked up the street looking for somewhere). This hostel must do lots of business from lazy travellers!

We decided to walk to the Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens (Taman Tasik Perdana), and on the way we spotted a large amount of monkeys crossing the road. They climbed down a lamppost next to their tree, sliding down as if it was a fireman's pole. They then ran across the road right in front of us, and scrambled up the next lamppost and jumped into the tree. I was surprised they found this easier than using the tree trunk! They also seemed unperturbed by us being there, and came very close to us.

The lake gardens were very nice, and surprisingly quiet. After drink and a break from the heat we walked over to the Malaysian national monument, Tugu Negara. This monument was designed by the Austrian sculptor Felix de Weldon who is famous for the USMC War memorial in the USA (US Soldiers hoisting the flag).

On the way back into town we get some local food and go on the internet, before heading over to Chinatown where I buy some cheap (fake) clothes. I get a 'Ralph Lauren' polo for just over £2. It's actually quite convincing!

After dinner we decide to go and see the KL Tower. The tower was built for communications around the city, so was placed on a hill. This makes it appear taller than the Petronas towers, and since the observation deck is almost at the top it makes for great views over the city. Or it would, if it wasn't covered in cloud like it was when we went up! The storm was quite fun to watch from the top though, kept hoping the Petronas lightning conductor would get struck while we were watching!

We went back to the hostel and watched some tennis and then I caught the midnight bus to Singapore.

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Photos

Petronas towers
Back down on the ground again

Early morning streets
Below a train station

Petronas towers
The view from the skywalk on level 41 of 88 floors

Petronas towers
The view from the skywalk looking up the tower

Petronas towers
Trying to be arty here...

Monkeys!
Sitting on a lamppost, not a tree...?

Monkey
Coming down fireman pole style

Monkey
Contemplating going up again

Tugu Negara
The Malaysian national monument

KL and Petronas towers
The KL tower looks taller as it is built on a hill, so actually is higher (above sea level) than the Petronas towers

The cloud clears around the Petronas towers
The view from the top of the KL tower is a must, as long as it isn't cloudy!!

The Petronas towers
Lighting up the night skyline