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Published: June 24th 2013
The Air Asia flight from Ho Chi Minh to Kuala Lumpar departed half an hour late, which was the last thing I needed after hours of sitting around the airport between flights already. As Air Asia is a budget airline, the plane landed at LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal), which is separate from KLIA (Kuala Lumpar International Airport). LCCT is almost 20klm from KLIA and 65klm from Kuala Lumpar city.
The internet research I did, as to how to get into KL city without spending a fortune, will now stand me in good stead. I caught a transit bus (outside arrivals) which took me to Salak Tinggi Railway Station, the closest, and a 15 minute drive away. From there I caught the express train for the 30 minute trip into KL Sentral, the interchange station in the city. Total cost was 12.50 ringgits or $4.20. Once there I purchased a pre-paid taxi voucher from Budget Taxis (another $4) for the trip to The Nest Guesthouse where I'm staying. All I wanted to do then was have dinner, a hot shower and hit the bed. KL can wait until tomorrow.
The hardest part about coming to a new city, and
The Petrona Towers
.....looking down from 83 storeys up.planning to spend a couple of days sight-seeing, is what attractions do you visit and how do you get there? I wanted to make the most of my time in Kuala Lumpar, and besides the Petrona Twin Towers, which is number one on every visitors list, where do I go next?
Kuala Lumpar is said to be the 4th best shopping city in the world, with three of the largest malls, from the world's top ten, situated here. I guess this makes KL a shopper's paradise - if you want to shop, which I don't!
Over breakfast at the guesthouse on Friday morning, I met a lovely American couple who retired only 3 months ago, and have spent that 3 months in KL. Susan asked me what my plans for the day were, and I said Petrona Towers, to start with. She replied that I could walk there from the guesthouse via an air conditioned covered walkway, and was happy to spend some time with me to show me the way. I was only too pleased to accept her generous offer and half an hour later we were on our way.
It was only a ten minutes
The Petrona Towers
In the walkway connecting the two towers at the 41st floor. stroll to the walkway. It was elevated, so we walked above the streets, and reached Suria KLCC within half an hour. Suria is the 6 storey shopping centre at Petrona Towers, where you can buy anything from a banana to a Gucci handbag. This walkway connected Suria with another shopping centre not far from the guesthouse - Pavilions. The reason for the walkway was to make it easy for shoppers to move between the two centres. We didn't need to enter Pavilions to use it, we entered via steps from the street.
So, the first thing on the agenda was to purchase an admission ticket for entry to the walkway between the towers. This whole experience is carried out with military precision. You can't just press the lift button and wizz up to the 41st floor. After showing me where the tickets were purchased Susan left me to my own devices. I purchased my ticket, with a senior's discount (not sure how I felt about that, it was a first) which cost 40 ringgits, about $13.50. Even though I bought my ticket at 10.00am, I wasn't able to use it until midday. So, I had a couple of hours
Around KL
Just the facade remains of this old building. You can see a modern building behind it. to fill and didn't want to go too far, and this was the perfect excuse to browse some shops. I also needed to buy another USB adaptor, as the one I purchased in Hanoi had a different plug and won't fit the sockets here.
The Petronas Towers are the world's tallest twin towers. Standing 452m high and completed in 1997, they were surpassed by Taipei 101 in 2003. Built of steel-reinforced concrete columns clad in stainless steel and glass, with a design based on geometric patterns originating in ancient Islam, the 88-story buildings are connected at levels 41 and 42 by a double-decker pedestrian skybridge, and each tower is surmounted by a 74 metre high pinnacle.
I think getting into The White House might be easier than getting onto the walkway between the towers. Security is tight, visitors are grouped with coloured lanyards and the visit has a time limit. All bags are put through an x-ray machine, shopping bags have to be checked in, and the groups are ushered in and out of lifts with military efficiency. It certainly controls the crowds and it is nice to be able to walk around, admire the view, and snap
Around KL
A Muslim influence in this building. photos without someone else's elbow in your face.
As usual, when I'm in a new city, I try and use public transport to get around. Not only is it cheaper, but also faster, as taxi's and buses tend to get stuck in traffic. Once I'm at the closest station to where I want to go, I walk or occasionally take a taxi if I'm unsure of which direction to head. KL has the LRT (Light Rail Transit), including the Kelana Jaya Line which is one of the longest automated, driverless, metro systems in the world. In addition to the LRT, there is the monorail, which was the closest public transport to The Nest Guesthouse. All I had to do was catch the monorail to the next station, then it was a 10 minute walk under a covered walkway to Dang Wangi metro station. From there I could ride the trains to wherever I wanted to go.
During the afternoon (Friday) I decided to visit Chinatown, so caught the train from KLCC, under Suria Shopping Centre, to Pasar Seni station. Chinatown was within walking distance, as was Central Market, a huge shopping emporium and the centre for Malaysian arts,
Around KL
Love the copper domes. culture and handicraft.
The market is a major tourist attraction but, after taking a photo of the outside, I moved on. I wasn't in the mood to shop and knew if I ventured inside I would spend the rest of the day there. Running alongside the main building is Kasturi Walk, a covered pedestrian laneway lined with kiosks and stalls. But I think, in the last six months I have visited so many markets and looked at so many stalls, this one held no attraction for me. I walked through it without giving the stands a second glance.
On Saturday morning, I checked out of The Nest Guesthouse but left my suitcase there. Tonight I'm booked into Tune Hotel at LCCT Terminal, as I have a 7.15am flight to Borneo in the morning. I headed to the monorail station, planning to visit the Little India area and Masjid Jamek, one of the oldest mosques in Kuala Lumpar.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get anywhere near Masjid Jamek as the streets were cordoned off, due to some political rally which was expected to take place. So, I jumped in a taxi and asked to be taken to The Islamic Arts
Around KL
Interesting floral street lights. Museum. The driver dropped me as close as he was prepared to go. He didn't want to drive through streets crowded with protesters he said, as the road was all one way past the Museum.
Honestly, I don't know what all the fuss was about. I saw a few men in black and red t-shirts with some slogan on the front, but they were all sitting around or eating and drinking at the stands which had been set up along the street. I did notice there were lots of brightly coloured toy megaphones for sale at some of the street stands in the area, which I thought was rather funny. How serious where those guys?
The Islamic Arts Museuem was a lovely place to spend a few hours, and I enjoyed a browse in the gift shop as well. I like museum gift shops, they always have such lovely products. After leaving there, I hailed another taxi and asked to be dropped at the closest metro station. From there I was able to get myself back to The Nest Guesthouse by 2.00pm, pick up my suitcase and head out again. I feel I haven't covered a lot of
The Islamic Arts Museum
Some beautiful artifacts to admire in this museum. ground in KL, but I saw what I could in the day and a half I had available to me.
I used the monorail to get to KL Sentral, where I boarded a transit bus for the trip to LCCT, and my hotel room for the night. Tune Hotels are owned by Air Asia and are always located as close to the airport as possible, in this case only 300 metres from the terminal. A transit bus ran every 15 minutes, so I knew getting to the terminal for my flight in the morning wouldn't be a problem.
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