Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur is a city of quite some diversity. The Malaysian population is made up of Malay’s, Chinese and Indians and this is reflected in the city.
The city has a great Chinatown and also there is Little India where those communities congregate. There are also other clusters of these ethnicities throughout the wider city.
KL as it is widely known, is easiest reached from the international airport via the KLIA Express. This runs straight through to KL Sentral station in the heart of the city. There is also another train that makes several stops on the way, but for the tourist heading into the city it makes sense to get the through train.
I stayed in the Brickfields area, or Little India, and my hotel was a cheap but comfortable stay, only £17 a night. It was spotless, had aircon and a fan, was a decent size, had a window, the lift worked, and the Indian guys running it were friendly.
KL Sentral station gives access to the various train options including the monorail and has easy access to the Nu Sentral mall.
Malls play an important role in KL as it is very hot and humid, and after you’ve been walking an hour or two, they are a very welcome place to duck into to cool down in their air conditioning.
They also provide a wide range of eating options, and Malaysian’s themselves often eat in the malls.
Some tourist sites within a few stops of KL Sentral on the train or monorail are Bukit Bintang, the Petronas Towers and KLCC park, Chinatown and the Merdeka Square area.
Bukit Bintang is known for its street life, eating options and nightlife. The Petronas Towers are the iconic image you will see everywhere of Malaysia. They may no longer be the tallest building in the world, but they are still very impressive. KLCC park is a good place to view them from, and has quite a few paths to wander. Some of them through tropical trees and vegetation. Chinatown was one of the best Chinatowns I’ve been to, very colourful, with shopping, markets, food options and beautiful old streets. There is also a great Hindu temple in the Chinatown area. Check out the video below to see footage from it. Well worth a visit.
Merdaka Square is an almost English green park and has a number of interesting buildings and sites within an easy walk. The riverside paths have been renovated to make them a pleasant place to walk and you can easily spend a couple of hours in this area.
There are also a number of parks close to the central area. The closest is Perdana Gardens. I didn’t figure out how to get there as there is a freeway between them and the city, and it may be necessary to take a taxi to an entrance. Let me know in the comments how to get there. There are quite a few things to see in them, including a bird area and butterfly area, and is top of my list for a return visit.
On most lists of things to do, you will see the Batu Caves. This is a cool looking cave system at the end of one of the railway lines. There are monkeys there and many tourists, so check out some pictures and make up your own mind whether you want to go.
I stayed in KL for 4 nights, and I would say that wasn’t enough. There is a lot more I didn’t see that I’d go back for. You may find that due to the heat you don’t do as much as you would in a cooler city. I found I was taking Spanish style siestas between excursions so I didn’t get exhausted.
While I mostly stayed at the cheaper end of accomodation to bring my trip average costs down, you can also do luxury very reasonably in KL. As well as top end hotels, there are many beautiful apartments for rent , and if you’re looking for rooftop bars or swimming pools this may be your thing.
KL was a great part of my Asian trip, and I would definitely recommend a few days there at the very least.