Kuala Lumpur

We have spent the past two days in Kuala Lumpur.  We traveled from Singapore on a 6 hour coach journey to the capital of Malaysia.  As we drove through Malaysia the scenery was beautiful, full of lush rain forest and endless palm trees (although plumber and fuller than usual).  However, 6 hours of trees gets a bit boring, so we slept most of the way.

When arriving in the city it was buzzing, having much more of an atmosphere than Singapore.  It reminded us a lot of Bangkok, although cleaner and no dogs.  The traffic was manic, much worse than Bangkok.  During rush hour it came to a complete standstill.  Traffic lights didn't mean much to drivers as they drove through red lights, nor did pavements as motor bikes drove along the sidewalk.  Like Bangkok KL has a monorail taking you around the city, however, similar to Bangkok stops are few and far between.  KL almost has an American feel as it has Times Square, Wendy Burger Bar and TGI Fridays.  We couldn't resist TGI, especially after 6 weeks of noodles.  On the other hand KL is a very Islamic city, making it a cultural contrast to the other places we have visited in Asia.

On our first night we went to view the Patronas (worlds tallest twin towers).  They looked incredible.  However, their height is deceiving due to its architecture.  As the towers thin out towards the top it makes them look smaller than one that are, especially as they include the spike at the top in the height.  We wanted to go up to the viewing platform which is the floor joining the towers, however, all the tickets had run out.  We found it shocking that they offer free ticket, but only a certain amount per day.  They could make so much money from it.  We was told to return at 6am the following day and que for a ticket.  Luckily at this moment a nice elderly couple offered us their ticket as the wait was too long.  The view was good, although not a great deal to see.  However, it's worth it to say you have done it.  We stayed around until nightfall to see the towers lit up.  They looked amazing, so sural and enchanting.

For the rest of the evening we took the sky train to China town to see the night market which is highly recommended.  It was good to see, although very busy.  However, it is quite out the way and they warn you to watch out for pick pockets.

The following day we visited the KLTower which is the fourth tallest building in the world.  We took the lift to the observation deck and looked over KL.  This was really interesting as we was able to view the many mosques KL has and the rain forest which breaks up the city.  It is very surreal.  Apparently KL is the only city to have a rain forest at its centre.

We visited a few mosques and the square where the British flag was lowered in 1957 and replaced by the Malaysia flag.  We also took a taxi to the butterfly, bird, hibiscus and orchid gardens which was pretty to see.

The hotel was very nice and stylish.  It was in the centre of the city which was very convenient.  That evening we took the bus back to Singapore for our last 2 days.