Kuala Lumpur was our next destination after spending three weeks in Indonesia. Back to the city life.
The capital of Malaysia has always been somewhere that I wanted to visit predominantly to see the iconic PETRONAS Twin Towers which dominant the city’s modern skyline.
We landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport essentially ‘winging it’. Normally, we would have an idea of things we wanted to do, but we hadn’t managed to find the time to plan with spending the last two weeks on tour with Wanderlands Travel in Bali, the Gili Islands and Lombok.
To read my blog posts on the incredible time we had in Indonesia on this 13-day tour, click here.
We were lucky enough to have a view of the largest Twin Towers in the world from our 4* hotel room at just £45 p/n in Bukit Bintang – the most popular and central area to stay when visiting KL.
This was after we’d hopped in a 50-minute taxi from the airport using the ‘Grab’ App (similar to Uber) for £12. Malaysia is cheap!
Not wanting to waste anytime, we got Five Guys for tea and then had a look around the Pavillion shopping mall with over 700 shops!
Day One: PETRONAS Twin Towers
Our first full day was spent hanging around in the shopping centre of the PETRONAS Twin Towers waiting to go up to the observation deck at 16:00 PM because we hadn’t pre-booked an earlier time slot.
We’ve been to higher viewing platforms before, but stepping foot on the double-decker Skybridge – the highest two-story bridge in the world on the 41st floor and then going up to the KLCC Observation Deck on the 86th floor at 170m was pretty cool.
I particularly enjoyed marvelling at the close-up view of the towers’ spires as well as looking out to KLCC Park and the King’s Palace.
Tonight, we ordered a dominos and started catching up on the 10 episodes we were behind of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!
Day Two: Batu Caves, Thean Hou Temple & Vertigo Rooftop Bar
This morning, we got another ridiculously cheap taxi seven miles north of the city to visit another of Malaysia’s most popular attractions, the distinctive Batu Caves which is a place of pilgrimage for Tamil Hindus.
I was blown away by the rainbow steps and huge gold-painted statue of Murugan – the Hindu god of war erected at the foot of the mogote. Like when visiting any temple, we were required to wear suitable clothing in order to cover the knee and shoulder areas.
To reach the temple complex, we hiked up 274 steps whilst dodging aggressive long-tailed macaques who were scrounging for food. At one point we saw one put its hand into a lady’s backpack and pull out her belongings. They’re not friendly animals!
After checking out the Batu Caves, we got a taxi to the other side of the city to see the ornate six-tiered Chinese Thean Hou Temple, which is dedicated to the Chinese sea goddess Mazu and the Queen of Heaven – borrowed from Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist traditions.
Like the Batu Caves, we appreciated everything but neither Em or I are religious. Tonight, we ticked off another Hard Rock Cafe – that’s now 11 different restaurants we’ve eaten at.
After, we went to the KL Tower Observation Deck – South East Asia’s tallest tower at 421m before heading to the 59th floor of Vertigo @ Banyan Tree. A trip to a new city wouldn’t be complete without sipping on a cocktail from a rooftop bar.
Day Three – Shipping clothes & Twin Towers Waterfall display
The next morning, we made the decision to post some of our clothes home because we both needed to get our weight down. My 80 litre backpack was now up to 27 kg! In the end, we shipped back just shy of 6.5 kg.
In honesty, we found there wasn’t a great deal else to do in KL. After a chilled afternoon, we headed back to the Twin Towers to watch the waterfall display in the evening.
Day Four: Flying to Langkawi
Continuing our adventures in South East Asia, we spent the next four nights on the island of Langkawi.
I’d never heard of this duty-free island located just 30km off the coast of Malaysia, but our travel agent recommended us spending some time here when originally planning our travelling itinerary because it was only a one-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur. There were only a handful of people on the flight!
When we arrived at our bargain £40 p/n Mercure 4* hotel in Pantai Cenang, we checked out the facilities, walked along the beach and then ambled two miles to Pantai Tengah – the next beach resort along the coast.
Emily questioned why I wanted to walk instead of getting a taxi, but I was trying to find a bar where we could watch the England game tomorrow! There wasn’t a cloud in the sky by the time we got back, so we spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool.
Day Five: Langkawi SkyBridge
The main attraction in Langkawi is undoubtedly getting the SkyCab or gondola/cable car from the Oriental Village at Teluk Burau to the peak of Gunung Machinchang – the second highest mountain in Langkawi’s archipelago of 99 islands to the SkyBridge – the world’s longest suspension bridge.
You might have seen this iconic bridge before on social media before thinking how spectacular it looks wondering where it is (like we did). Well, it turns out, it’s here!
The views from the Middle Station were highly impressive because there were blue skies. However, by the time we eventually got the SkyGlide down to the SkyBridge from the Top Station at an elevation of 708m above sea level, the clouds had descended.
We really can’t complain too much though because we’ve had unbelievable weather almost everywhere we’ve been!
This evening, we roared on the Three Lions from Rockafellers Kitchen & Bar. The time difference is going to be a problem from now on though because all of England’s games will be played at 03:00 AM. I hope there’s avid fans on our tours of the Philippines and Japan who will get up with me!
Day Six – Eagle Square
On our last full day in Langkawi, we got a photo of the huge eagle statue perched over a scenic waterfront plaza at Eagle Square and then spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool.
Like Kuala Lumpur, there isn’t a great else to here other than water sports and enjoying the weather from a pool or golden sandy beach.
With the World Cup now underway, I spent the evening watching the World Cup (to Emily’s delight)! She’s probably already counting down the days until the tournament is over.
Next, we’ll be starting One Life Adventure’s 10-day tour of the Philippines. If the One Life tour we did in Sri Lanka is anything to go by, then we’re in for a bloody good time! To read more about that, click this link.
As always, if you’d like to keep up-to-date with our adventure, you can either enter your email at the bottom of this article to receive instant notifications every time I post a new blog; click the Follow ‘Al’ Around The World link, or drop me a follow on Twitter at @AlecW95 or on Instagram at @AlecW95 or @alatw95.
Alternatively, you can follow Emily on her travelling TikTok account at @emstraveladventure.
Thanks for reading, until the next time…
Al