I was keen to scratch a bit more of Asia off my scratchy map… Vietnam and Cambodia first choice, their monsoon season in August led us to decide upon Malaysia for this year’s explorings instead. With an itinerary of 2 and a half days in Kuala Lumpur, 7 days in Langkawi, 2 days in Penang then 3 days in Melaka we had half of this booked before we left and booked the rest as we travelled. Finding other’s blogs the most helpful in planning our journey, it has inspired to rework those blogging fingers that have been resting for far too long…

Our journey begins in Kuala Lumpur. We choose to stay in Chinatown guided by a blog describing different areas to stay in Kuala Lumpur. Our Malaysia book suggests we head to the nearby Merdeka Square. Overseen by the Pitcher Plant fountain and the gaze of officials, the grassy square is surrounded by important buildings. We spent a little time there and then choose to cool down on the hop-on, hop-off bus service which was 45 ringgit. Approx £9. Taking around 2 and a half to three hours to complete the whole route we stayed on until the Petronas Towers stop. It takes a long time to travel through busy city life. Past the National Palace, skyscrapers, parks and peaceful lakes, we climbed the KL Tower to cast our view over the city. Over 100 ringgit, we found this expensive for a tourist attraction (approx £20!). A pretty good view though! A wander round Chinatown found us dinner that night.

If you’ve ever seen Entrapment…

Guided by blogs, our next day’s explorings were the Batu Caves. Easily reached by the KTM Kommuter Train, ferried through a narrow walkway filled with locals selling goods to tourists (they are very good at making use of small spaces to sell items!) we were met by a large green God guarding a temple. Many monkeys! The reviews I had read made the stairs sound quite an effort but it wasn’t as bad as I expected! It was a bit overcast when we were there which probably helped and was very welcome :-). Much to wander around for free we also chose to explore the priced ‘dark cave’. It was cool to see the cave but the ongoing stops to look at insects and cave life got a little annoying. Individual preference though… Great to explore, with the many colourful carvings everywhere, these caves should definitely be added to your KL itinerary. Back by lunchtime, it takes approximately half a day to explore.

Hanuman the green Monkey God

Sri Maha Mariamman Temple and Sze Ya Temple squeezed in, we explored the butterfly garden in the afternoon (good to make some cool macro pictures), we had a peaceful walk through the Botanics, chose dinner in Little India then headed to the towers via the train to catch the last light show. Choosing to sit so I could see the towers in the background, most people were in front of them, with the building’s height behind them. Nice colours, interesting music – it was a great way to end our time in KL.

KL pointers:

• Allow enough time to clear immigration on leaving. It took us an hour.
• The train is inexpensive and easy to travel via. Avoids the taxi meter challenge!
• The gardens beside the Petronas Towers shut at 10pm. If you are watching the light show position yourself somewhere not in it to avoid being hassled!
• There are two Little India’s! We only managed one but there is definite confusion on tripadvisor and guide books!

We stayed:

Geo Hotel
Pretty good location, good A/C and wifi, but same limited choices for breakfast every day!