November 19-21, 2016

We had read a lot about Kuala Lumpur after we decided to go here. The Petronas Towers were my must see. After watching the movie Entrapment years and years ago, they were always in the back of my mind. We decided on two full days in KL (as the locals call it). When telling people in Thailand we were going there they gave us quizzical looks. It’s not popular among them apparently. They said it was too busy and dirty. After a couple slow days at the beach we looked forward to the hustle and bustle of the city. KL is spread out, but the city has made it easy to get around. Sky way tram, walking, taxi. So here is our itinerary to see as much as we could in two days.

Day 1

Our first stop was the National Mosque.  It was surprising to me that there is a large Muslim community here. The mosque isn’t a highlight but something everyone should see. Exit at the Pensar Seni station. After you exit you will see a pedestrian bridge that will take you across the river. It heads towards Kuala Lumpur KTM station. Don’t enter the ticket booth, keep walking and you will see a parking lot with a door to a tunnel that crosses Jalan Kinabalu. Then you will see signs to the Mosque. Tip: You must be very modestly dressed.  They are very strict.  They will provide women with head coverings and full robes.  You will also be required to take your shoes off.

You will not be able to enter the mosque during prayer and even when you do enter you cannot go into the prayer room. You will not need too much time there. It’s mostly to see a very iconic building in KL.

After the mosque take a short walk to Kasturi walk. It’s a couple blocks of shops, food stalls and fun things to see.

Then a couple blocks down is their China town. It’s a great place to find food. It was almost equal parts Indian to Chinese.

That night I suggest Lot 10 for dinner and nightlife. It’s food stall after food stall and restaurant after restaurant and hundreds of people.

Day 2

We started off the day with finding the brown line, KTM Kommuter to get to Batu Caves. It’s a cheap way to get there but will take about 30+ minutes. It’s the last stop so you can’t miss it. However, on your way back, know that there is a time table for when it heads back to the city so you could be waiting for along time unless you plan.

We read that it was under construction but it was still a site to see. There are multiple caves to see so you can either spend an hour or 4 hours there. One of the caves has a tour that goes quite far under so bring a jacket for that, you will need it even though it’s really hot out.

There were a lot of mixed reviews and after getting there I see why. It was amazing seeing the main cave and walking the steps, but the construction hurt (I am hoping that the construction was to upkeep the area, but it seemed like they were trying to configure to the tourists) and there are monkeys everywhere. These are not nice monkeys either. They will try and steal your stuff and we actually saw one charge a child. The other caves had admission fees and there was one animal and plant area that you can pay to get into. They are not strict on their dress code, so just walk up and if someone says pay here, don’t!

After you walk past the multiple people trying to see you things you will see this. Keep this on your left and keep walking and you will see the main attraction and a ton of the monkeys.

The stairs are steep and no joke.

But if you can make it to the top the view is beautiful.

Then to the inside.

We were there for about an hour and that was enough for us. Getting back on the train was easy and we were lucky enough to only wait for 5 minutes.

When we got back to the hotel we dropped some stuff off and then finally the Petronas Towers! We were able to walk there from the hotel. It was only about 3/4 of a mile. So we went early evening because we wanted to see it during the day and at night. There is also a high end mall and a lot of restaurants there, along with a park that had a walking path, water park for kids and a fountain display.

The towers were as cool as I had hoped. Crowded again, but definitely cool.

We spent the late afternoon walking the park and then checked out the mall when we got too hot.

We had dinner at one of the restaurants that looked out to the fountain and then at night the towers lit up!

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at an English bar to have a beer and snack. It was fun walking the streets at night as they were lit and lively. I am so happy that we took the small detour to check out Kuala Lumpur. We could have used a couple more days, but we felt like we got enough out of our time there. I highly suggest if you are in southeast Asia.

Getting Around

It is really easy to get around. The light rail, taxi, tuk tuk and walking. The only thing that was a negative about walking for us was the incredible heat. We still managed and it was just an excuse to have more drinks! The following is the light rail system. Your hotel should have one that has the light rail system with the main attractions. At the stations you do need cash and it’s easy to figure out how to buy your tickets from the machines and it’s very cheap to get around.

Where to Stay

We stayed at the Sheraton. It was centrally located, easy to walk to a lot and there was a mall across the street. The rooms were a good size and it was very cheap for the location so that is why we stayed there. The service lacked and the walls were paper thin, but the location made up for it. The last note is that this area is just over an hour from the airport.