KUALA LUMPUR...NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED

Monday, September 03, 2018
Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Sept. 3 KUALA LUMPUR
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur mid afternoon on Monday and took a cab to our budget hotel near Chinatown.  We got settled into our room then went around the corner to a little local restaurant and had a late lunch of local Malaysian food.  After lunch we walked around the neighborhood, then down to the walkway along the river. 
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Then we walked over to the Central Market, jammed full of vendors hawking their wares and chock full of all types of restaurants.   We spent an hour or so meandering through the aisles of stalls before heading back to the hotel for a little rest, stopping to take photos of the 19th-century Sri Mahamari Amman Hindu Temple, with a fabulous facade of carved Hindu deities, and many other impressive buildings along the waterway.     
According to Will, Chinatown in KL, as the locals call Kuala Lumpur, is a wonderful place to visit a night so, after getting a light dinner at another one of the restaurants near our hotel, we headed out to find Chinatown.  Located on the famous Petaling Street,      the whole area transforms into a lively and vibrant night market after dark, and we could spot the colorful lights and Chinese decorations strung from the tops of the buildings, from blocks away.  The vendor and food stalls went on for blocks and we had a great time spending a few hours wandering through this throng of humanity.   On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a little coffee house for a drink before retiring for the night.
We spent the next day on the Hop On Hop Off bus and, even though much of our time was spent waiting for the next bus at the various stops, we managed to see a number of the tourist spots.  Driving through the different districts of the city, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a city with the density of skyscrapers looming above beautiful historic buildings below.   There were many areas covered with huge building cranes and it seemed like the goal of KL was to cover every inch with high rise structures.  In addition to being its capital, KL is the largest city in Malaysia with an estimated population of 1.73 million as of 2016 and is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in South-East Asia, in both population and economic development. A few other points of interest we learned on the Hop On Hop Off…… Kuala Lumpur is one of the leading cities in the world for tourism and shopping, and is the eighth most visited city in the world.  It’s also home to three of the world's 10 largest malls  
The modern skyline is dominated by the 451 meter-tall Petronas Twin Towers, the world’s tallest twin skyscrapers.  At a cost of 1.8 billion Malaysian Ringetts ($435,000,000 at today’s rate) with glass and steel-clad construction and Islamic motifs, the  Petronas Twin Towers have become an iconic symbol of Malaysia’s futuristic development.  When we arrived at this stop, it was raining but I managed to get a few good shots of this beautiful structure with its public sky bridge. Too bad we didn’t have time to go to the top and take advantage of the observation deck.
We spent a good portion of the day at the National Museum and the Lake Gardens.  The National Museum, built in 1963, with its displays spread out over three floors, is an excellent introduction of Malaysia’s history, economy, geography, arts, crafts and culture.    As our time was limited, we only had a sampling of the museum and, at this point, I wished we had planned for another day or two in this bustling city. The Lake Gardens, located right in the middle of KL, covers an area of 227 acres. We loved walking through the areas of specialized plants     and unusual trees and lush waterways
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We spent a bit of time in the orchid garden  but didn’t have time to visit the butterfly park.
As we crept through the intense traffic, we passed by the Kuala Lumpur railway station, completed in 1910 by the British colonial authorities.   With its beautiful Moorish influenced frontal façade, today, this building is now a railway museum.  One of the brief stops was the national telecommunications and broadcasting…Kuala Lumpur Tower.  Completed in 1996, with its design being inspired by Islamic architecture, it stands at 421 meters high and weighs in at 100,000 tons. We passed by many other historical buildings    as well as wide, commercial boulevards lined with high end, name, American and European exclusive shops, and, of course, a constant stream of skyscrapers.  And, of course, Starbucks.  
The hotel had arranged a taxi to pick us up at 6:30 to take us to the airport for our 8:55 flight to Colombo.   We started getting very concerned that we weren’t going to make it as the bus was barely moving.  We voiced our concerns to the young man who was helping the driver and, since he was getting off at the next stop, he offered to help us get on the train that had a stop close to our hotel.  As we dashed to the train station, got on the train, then ran to our hotel….about 10 blocks from the stop, we arrived there at about 6:20.  The fellow at the desk assured us that the taxi would arrive shortly and that we would make it on time and that it would be better to take the taxi rather than a train….however, with the intense traffic, we weren’t sure.  The taxi didn’t arrive until almost 7 and, I was a nervous wreck as I watched his GPS showing that we wouldn’t arrive until 8:15….and we knew the gate would be closed.  As the traffic finally improved, I kept announcing to Bill each time we picked up a minute or two for our arrival time.  We had resigned ourselves to the fact that we would miss our morning the train to Colombo and would have to find a place to stay in KC for that evening.  Then, a miracle happened….we arrived at the airport at 8 o’clock and the check-in counter was closed but there was a man there who must have felt sorry for us as we were so frantic.  He got us our boarding passes and…..We made it!  So….onto the next country of Sri Lanka with our first stop, the capital, Kandy, after a night in Colombo.

Comments

Amanda Frost
2018-10-11

You have a greater tolerance for big cities than me! I can do a city for a day or two, depending on the city; Frank would rather die! My exception is London. Since I lived there and know the place well and like the culture, I can do a week. Paris, just a couple of days...

Pam
2018-10-11

And the adventure continues. Wouldn’t you have loved to have me on the taxi heading to the airport? Miss you both. See you soon.

Tom & Terri
2018-10-12

Great update. We are in Florence tonight and will taking a train to Lucca tomorrow and then on Cinque Terre for ten days of hiking and eating. Safe travels.

2025-02-10

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