Kuala Lumpur
Those who decide to go for short stopover in Kuala Lumpur should keep in mind that the airport is located far away from the city center. Although the light rail will take you to the central railway station within 30 minutes, it might not be the best idea when you are traveling with the bulky luggage after returning from 2-weeks-holidays like ourselves and you still have to reach your hotel from that station. For this reason, we decided to take the taxi which took us 1h15 as the traffic was heavy.
Therefore, going for a city trip with same day arrival return is manageable but risky. My recommendation would be to go for at least 2 days with a careful planning of what to see and subject to pre-booking of major attractions.
When comparing Kuala Lumpur to other capitals in Far East, it is modern and green like Singapore but much more compact, homely and “easy to manage”. Frequently under appreciated, Kuala Lumpur is ideal for a short stop over on your way home.
We were staying in this city for two nights on our way back from Borneo to Europe. As we did not have time to explore this beautiful city in full, we had to do some research and plan carefully. Moreover, things complicated a bit when I got stomach sick one day before heading for Kuala Lumpur. To sum up, we were left with one full day to get the taste of this beautiful city.
Our initial todos list was ticked off except of one thing which we regret until today. This was a guided Segway tour of 2 hours through the gardens of Kuala Lumpur (price 80 euro per person), which we had to cancel because of my fever. As mentioned above, Kuala Lumpur is a very green city with plenty of parks and Segway is a very good solution to visit them while on the short stay.
First of all we decided to direct our feet to the landmark no. 1 of the Malaysian capital – the Petronas Towers which are located in the strict city centre, adjacent to KLCC shopping mall. Tickets to the observation deck (open Tuesday-Sunday, EUR 25 per person) can be either purchased online or directly on-site. Contrary to many attractions of this type, tickets can be bought on-site for later.
Views from Petronas Towers are amazing. The first thrilling impression comes when walking through the bridge connecting both towers on the height of 170 meters. After arriving on the top of the second tower, the visitors experience breathtaking panorama of the city. Our second thrilling experience came when the thunderstorm started while being on top of the building. Flashing dances of thunders around the building and the clashes of lightning arresters are something we will not forget for sure :-).
The other place we recommend to visit during your short stay in KL is the Central Market. The place is very much different from other market places in the region. Except of the usual cheap stuff “made in China”, there are plenty of stores with the local handicraft of high quality. We spend few hours there and the gifts we brought home for family and friends are the best ones from Asia so far.
ASIA IN A NUTSHELL 