KL - Wasted Days

I struggled to find the charm of KL. Some of the people were needlessly rude and for a city of such a size there is surprisingly little to commend it. Although we had plenty of nice things happen to us here. We got a massive upgrade for our hotel for one but other things just took the joy out of it, let me explain.

We headed to the Petronas Twin Towers, which the city is rightly proud of, but getting in and out is an exercise in ignorant military precision. You just can’t buy tickets and go, they must be booked in advance in 15 minute lots. There are then many rules read out to you and three lifts must be negotiated before you reach the summit. The view is impressive but even there your time is almost micromanaged.

We also headed to the Batu Caves, which forms the basis of a massive Tamil shrine. To enter you pass a 43 meter statue of Murugan a Hindu Deity and ascend 272 steps. You would have to be without feeling not be impressed. To add even more character to the experience yo are assailed quite literally by cheeky monkeys all looking for food. It was here we got the GRAB ride sharing app working and it was a revelation. It cost us 41 Ringgits for a return trip to the caves and nothing to enter. That equated to about $8. It’s better than public transport and if there’s more than one of you it’s cheaper as well.

We did all the usual tourist Markets such as Chinatown and Little India but in reality we truly struggled to enjoy KL and were happy to wave it goodbye. 

I think the worst part of the trip was complying with the local cultural norms. As a majority Muslim country women are meant to be fully covered and men are meant to be at least in long pants, if you fail to comply the way you are treated is noticeable.

Our next port of call is Siem Reap, gateway to then Angkor Wat temple precinct, so we jumped another GRAB and then the KLIA Express to Kuala Lumpar International Airport to board our Malaysian Airlines Boeing 737 800 flight. Who said travel isn’t dangerous.