After the most amazing two weeks in Thailand, both Char and I were incredibly sad to be leaving, and also very apprehensive as to whether our next destination would continue to live up to our expectations. Kuala Lumpur was one of those places we were using as a stop off between destinations because it made our journey to Singapore cheaper. Once we’d looked into it, the city seemed like a pretty cool place and we were more than happy to factor a couple of days there into our plan. What a city it turned out to be!
Getting there…
The easiest way of getting to Kuala Lumpur is to fly there. We got there pretty quickly from Chiang Mai. Then to get to the city from the airport we ended up booking a Grab (seriously guys, download this app!), which cost us around £1 each for an hour journey! Easy peasy.
What to do?
Our first pleasant surprise was how cheap this city is! We were expecting that because it was closer to Singapore (renowned for being expensive) and because it was so Westernised that the prices would be a shock compared to how inexpensive Thailand was. Oh, how wrong we were. You can fully explore the city on a backpacker budget!
The Infamous Batu Caves
Reading online about what there is to do in Kuala Lumpur, the thing that comes up time and time again is visit the Batu Caves. You will often see the iconic photo of the massive Lord Morugan Statue overlooking a whopping 272 step staircase that you must climb to get to the caves. Let me tell you, it is far more impressive in person.
The staircase has now been painted in an array of bright colours and is quite a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, the Batu Caves themselves, not so much. We were quite honestly completely underwhelmed. I found the brightly coloured, in your face, Hindu temples that were set in the caves a massive eyesore. They just didn’t fit in very well with the limestone caverns they sat in.
Dark Cave
Luckily, another cave lies near the top of the staircase. The Dark Cave is on the left-hand side of the stairs as you are going up. This set of caverns is protected by conservationists as a number of rare species live there that are unique to the cave itself. There are two types of tour available that will allow you to see many of these species in person.
We opted for the hour tour as opposed to the longer and muddier adventure tour (it required a change of clothes which we didn’t bring along!). Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and guided us around the habitat of a variety of species including fruit bats, long legged centipedes and the elusive trap door spider.
Both myself and Char thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Dark Cave. I am genuinely surprised that I only found a few mentions of it on Pinterest. It’s well worth taking the time to visit.
Ramayana Cave
One more cave lies just around the corner from the Batu Caves. The Ramayana cave depicts the story of Lord Rama with bright colours and LED lights. Although I found it interesting, the story was pretty hard to follow. The Dark Cave is definitely a better option for those who have limited time to spend here!
Temple Hopping
Being a cultural melting pot, Kuala Lumpur is home to a variety of temples that accommodate the needs of the many religions in the city. With so many to choose from, we opted to visit the ones that appeared the most on Pinterest (a solid way to make decisions).
My personal favourite was the Thean Hou Temple. Although it’s a little way out of the city I would still recommend that you take the time to visit. It was vastly different to the temples we had become accustomed to in Thailand, but still absolutely beautiful. The view of the city from the top wasn’t too bad either! I could have spent all day here. It was peaceful and relaxing, and not overrun by tourists. Winner!
The other temples we visited were conveniently located less than two minutes from our hostel. The Sri Mahamariamman Temple and the Sin Sze Ye Temple are both gorgeous, inside and out. They contrast so starkly, even though they are pretty much opposite each other, that they really highlight the cultural diversity in the city.
Kuala Lumpur Bird Park
If by this point you are itching to get back to nature then fear not. One of the reasons I really fell in love with Kuala Lumpur is because of how green it is! Our first taste of nature in the big city was KL Bird Park. There is also a deer park and a butterfly park nearby, but Char is a bird lover so our choice was obvious.
We spent hours here wandering through the worlds largest free flight aviary. With over 3,000 birds to see, Char was most definitely in her element. She became enamoured by a set of Jays and her inner birdwatcher couldn’t help but come out. Despite not being a bird enthusiast myself, I soon realised that I had wandered off and had lost Char and her Jays. I was following the most amazing Crowned Pigeon along the path to try and get a picture. There really is something for everybody here!
Rainforest Canopy Walk
For those of you who still feel like you want to escape the hustle and bustle of city life then I would encourage you to head towards Menara KL. It is quite literally in the middle of a rainforest. Eco Park is the only rainforest in the middle of a city in the world. Take your time here and make sure to head along the canopy walkway. The stark contrast between towering skyscrapers in the background and the dense green of the forest in front of you is truly unforgettable.
Menara KL
When Char and I finally arrived at Menara KL, after being distracted running around in the rainforest below, it had started raining. This meant that we had to wait inside the observation deck because the Sky Deck cannot open when there is a risk of lightening. It was a fairly surreal experience to be sitting in a cloud in the middle of a thunder storm. On first glance we both thought the glass was frosted. It was only when we got closer that we realised that we were actually in the thunder cloud itself. Wow!
Being the stubborn Brits that we are, we took a pew and waited out the storm. We’d paid to go up onto the Sky Deck and we were bloody well going to do it! Annoyingly, once the rain had stopped it took us 45 minutes to convince the stewards that the rain had stopped, despite the bright sunshine outside. Our persistence paid off though. We finally made it outside to the Sky Deck and were rewarded with the most phenomenal view of the Petronas Towers and the city below.
Petronas Towers
Seeing the Petronas Towers is probably the most iconic thing to do in Kuala Lumpur. Although we got a pretty awesome view from Menara KL we wanted a closer view too. Head to KLCC Park for around sunset to see them both during the day and lit up at night! There is also a light show that takes place at the lake in front of the towers every evening which we planned to go to. Unfortunately, we had to bail on the show as we got caught in another thunderstorm with no waterproofs!
Swimming in an Infinity Pool
By the time we made it back to out hotel we were soaked through to our underwear. For one night only we’d splashed out (a whole £6 each) to stay in WP Hotel, and seeing as we were already drenched we thought we may as well take a dip in the infinity pool!
The staff and fellow guests watched in horror as we jumped right in and swam in the monsoon rains looking out at the glorious city skyline. This has got to be one of the craziest moments of our entire trip, but boy was it worth it.
Where to eat?
We quickly discovered that food in Kuala Lumpur is very cheap. Less than £3 per person if you get the right street food. How ace is that?! Street food is where it’s at in this city.
#TopTip – Petaling Street Market and Jalan Alor are the two best and cheapest places for street food. They have such a wide variety of food you really can’t go wrong!
Kuala Lumpur really impressed me, considering it was originally just an add on in our grand plan. It was cheap, eco-friendly, welcoming and had a brilliant atmosphere throughout the city. I would encourage you all to give it the chance that it deserves!
