Malaysia is one of those countries I’ve always figured I’d stop by at some point. Not as a main destination, but as a part of a trip to somewhere else in Asia. I guess I also knew that this «somewhere else» would be Singapore, a country I saw myself visiting someday anyway. And when that trip to Singapore was finally booked, my next concern was figuring out how to fit an excursion to Kuala Lumpur into that trip. Luckily my travel partner was immediately excited about the suggestion, so all I needed to do was to make it happen.
Getting from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur
Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are no more than 5-6 hours apart by bus, but I still found booking bus tickets in Asia a lot more difficult than in South America. After going back and forth for a while we decided on a bus company called Aeroline. This was the company that seemed to be getting the best reviews, although also slightly more expensive than the other companies. When trying to book a ticket for the following day, we realized that they were all sold out. That meant going through the companies once more, to find the second best option. We went with First Coach to get to KL, and booked our return tickets with Aeroline at the same time.
We were more than satisfied with both companies. They both departed on time, waited for all passengers to get through immigration (I’ve readabout people getting left at the border because immigration took too long) and took us to the point of arrival as promised. They also both made a short stop along the way, which is nice when you prefer actual toilets over bus toilets. Aeroline, is a bit more «luxurious», as the ride includes a meal and they have entertainment on board. Although Aeroline is known to be the most reliable choice, we had no complaints about First Coach, apart from it being very difficult to find out where to pick up our tickets, whichwe had booked online, at Novena Square. Apparently you get them at a travel agency on the top floor of the shopping centre.
Touring and photographing the Petronas Towers
I’m not gonna lie, the main reason why I wanted to visit Kuala Lumpur was to check out the Petronas Towers, so we did this almost immediately upon arrival. I had seen some cool pictures of the towers in social media, and just really wanted some of my own. As with all attractions you visit solely because of social media, the place was packed with people. Therefore getting those cool photos proved to be a challenge, but we certainly gave it our best shot.
We decided that we also wanted to take a tour of the towers, so the following morning we went to get our tickets for later that day. Although they were all sold out online, we had no problem getting tickets when showing up in person. I found the tour to be a bit overrated, but looking back at it I am happy I went. For some reason, I imagine that going up in the Menara KL Tower is a cooler experience, but I have no facts to back up that hypothesis.
A daytrip to the Batu Caves
When visiting KL for a day, you want to do some exploring. I certainly did, anyway, as I didn’t see myself returning anytime soon, and wanted to make the most out of the short stay. A quick google search on what to do in Kuala Lumpur, lead us to the Batu Caves; a Hindu shrine located a bit outside of the city. To get there we took the metro to KL Sentral, and from there we were supposed to catch a train to the caves. Due to maintenance work on the tracks, we had to catch a free bus to get to a different train station instead. A bit confusing, but eventually we made it.
I quite enjoyed visiting this place, which features several different caves, and is also the home of tons of little monkeys. They look cute, but are also known to be sneaky little thieves, so visitors need to watch their belongings carefully. The highlight of the caves, to many, is getting a view of the giant Murugan statue and climbing the stairs up to the Temple cave. At the bottom of the stairs there were buckets of sand lined up, to be used for construction at the top. Everyone climbing the stairs were encouraged to help out by carrying what they could. We took on the challenge, and with one bucket in each hand we climbed the 272 steps to get to the top.
Where to stay and eat in Kuala Lumpur
As we visited KL to see the Petronas Towers, we decided to stay as closely as possible. We found Acapella KLCC Suites at a booking site and were instantly amazed. For less than what we had paid for the quite mediocre hotel room in China Town, we got a two bedroom apartment with impeccable service. The manager of the complex even drove us to our bus at eight in the morning on the day of our departure, completely free of charge. I really felt like the staff made an effort to make our stay as good as possible, and the entire stay stood out as a very positive experience.
As for food, it certainly did not disappoint. Asian food is just so good. On our first night we ended up at a random restaurant, with menus only in the local language and staff that weren’t exactly fluent in English. I tried to explain that I was vegetarian, but had no idea if the waiter understood what I meant. As I was half-expecting to be served some meat or chicken, it was such a pleasant surprise to get served the most amazing vegetarian meal. I ended up getting way too much food (and ate it all), and it cost next to nothing.
While I found that Singapore is pretty expensive, I must say Malaysia is incredibly cheap.
We spent about 48 hours on the Kuala Lumpur excursion altogether, and I was so happy we went. I love visiting new places, and is all for making the most of the time I get to spend abroad. When deciding on making the trip, it was because I was convinced that a full week in Singapore would have been too long. Looking back, I am actually not sure if that would have been the case. There is a lot to do in Singapore, but Kuala Lumpur is a cool place, and I wouldn’t have done this trip in any other way.
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