Blog #38 - Kuala Lumpur, the first stop in a month of travel

Kuala Lumpur, the muddy river capital of Malaysia, was never a place I saw as a travel priority or a must-do for me. I simply didn't know much about the place, and besides, I've been to Singapore.... Surely that's enough jungle metropolis for me?

My three-or-so-day stay in the city on the Klang was a last-minute choice. KL was simply meant to be a three-hour stopover on my way to Germany. After some airline dramas, I decided it would just be easier to simply get to the city a couple of days early.

These circumstances and a packed week leading up to my flight meant that I didn't know what I was getting myself into. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.

Kuala Lumpur is a bustling multicultural metropolis on top of a rainforest. There are three main ethnic groups who make up the population of KL. You have the Malay people who originate from Malaysia and the archipelago; you also have the Chinese Malaysians and Indian Malaysians, who all make KL a true international city. All of these groups get along quite peacefully and all worked together to fight for Malaysia's independence.

I only had the pleasure of two and a half days in KL, but I managed to make them pretty jam-packed days full of attractions, city walks, and following whatever looked the most interesting.

Day 1

On my first day, I arrived at around 11 am, but by the time I had gotten to the hotel and changed into some cooler clothing, it was about 3 pm. After navigating through the seven-story shopping center with a roller coaster under my hotel, I made it onto the main street.

Pretty quickly after walking around, it sunk in. I'm far from home in a foreign city, country, and continent, and this is only the first day of my month. As I walked around wide-eyed, I began to fill with energy... I could do whatever I like, go where I want.

The good energy carried me through the rest of the day as I came across a live event put on by Netflix promoting the new Squid Games. I then raced mini electric buggies around the rooftop of another shopping center, got some good food in me, and explored the night markets. My first day was jam-packed and left me exhausted but extremely keen for what was to come.

Day 2

My second day was jam-packed, and whilst I had a blast, I was beat by the end of the day. I didn't try the train network in KL; the monorail seemed impressive, but I was happy walking around as I got to see more and save cash. I first explored the day markets and stumbled across a stunning Hindu temple when walking. I made a donation and went in for a visit; it was such a pleasantly calming part of my trip. I spent quite a bit of time in KL simply slowing down, appreciating the sites, and taking in the history and culture.

Following the Hindu temple, I then made my way over to the national museum. The walk over there was gorgeous; I got to walk along the Klang and really see new sides of the city. The zone the museum was in was home to other museums, galleries, and even parliament house.

I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the botanical gardens and visiting the museum, and I learned a lot about Malaysian history.

That night, I explored some of the bars and was pleasantly surprised to find a really charming Australian and Kiwi expat bar. I ended up staying for hours, making friends with the old Malay girl who ran the bar and the regular expats..

Day 3

My third day was defined by two main activities: the Batu Caves temple and the sky tower.

The Batu Caves Temple is an absolute must-do, and I really recommend it to anyone visiting KL. I was so impressed with the beauty of the site that I spent most of my day just in awe of the temple, monuments, and caves. The site is also full of beautiful birds, monkeys, and even some reptiles.

As the site is still an active temple, it's important to be respectful when visiting, but that's no challenge. Only a 30-minute Uber ride from the city, this place has lots of little snack and food vendors and is completely free to visit. I did pay for access to one of the extra areas and for a 360 video of myself at the site, but probably spent no more than $10 at the temple.

Following the caves, I went back into the city for some urban exploring. I couldn't get a ticket to see the top of the Petronas Towers and heard it was a little underwhelming, so I checked out the floor level and then walked over to the sky tower.

The sky tower had openings to see the top, and I had a great time. I was able to get a 360-degree view of the city at night, and it was a really nice way to end the day.

That night, I had a couple of drinks at the same expat bar and said goodbye to everyone before going to bed and waking up early the next morning for my flight to Munich, Germany.

Thanks for reading. I know it's been a while, and I'm not as active as I was when I started this blog, but I'd love to be. Stay tuned for more travel writings and for some more consistent content when I'm home.