Kuala Lumpur was my first stop in Malaysia. Sure, you should definitely visit the capital. I had booked a direct flight from Bangkok to KL. When I arrived at the airport, I was immediately able to get to know the advantages of an Asian low-cost airline: The flight was canceled. The machine is broken. Haa, of course, that calm me down immediately.

Because the next flights to KL were all fully booked, I was finally taken on a plane to Singapore, got a hostel there for one night and was then allowed to take the bus to KL the following day. Whey!

Briefly about my 1-night-in-Singapore experience: One Night in Singapore sounds cooler than it actually is. I arrived at my hostel at 2am, was allowed to share an 18-bed room with talking enthusiastic Indian tourists and then enjoyed a 6-hour bus ride to KL after three hours of sleep. Could have been better.

Buuuut my monastery mindset from Thailand told me: The main thing is that you will arrive safely in Kuala Lumpur at some point, Fiona.
After the whole trip trouble I arrived safely and can now finally share my personal highlights with you!

Let’s start with my highlight on the first day – bread made from sourdough that comes very close to German bread! After a month in Asia I was so keen on a really delicious bread. You will find it in Kuala Lumpur at LOKL Coffee Co!

The KL Tower is the seventh tallest telecommunications tower in the world with an incredible 421 meters including a 360 degree view. Nice! You have to go up there, Fiona. From the entrance there is a shuttle bus every 15 minutes that takes you directly to the tower. You can just as easily walk the path. Then you have two options to enjoy the view:

Option 1: 52 RM (= approx. 11 euros) for a view of 276 meters – but then you are behind a thick glass.
Option 2: 105 RM (= approx. 22 euros) for a view of 350 meters – this is an open tour around.

To be honest, I did not find a view through the glass pane so great and the entry of 22 euros was too expensive for me in the cloudy weather. Malaysia is generally super cheap, but as a budget traveler I only looked at the tower from below.

However, as an absolute recommendation, I can give you the KL Forest Eco Park, which is located right next to the KL Tower. The small rainforest in the heart of the city is wonderful to explore and even free! There is a 200m long canopy walk (Google translator says: “Tree top path.” Learned something again.). From there you can see the KL Tower really great and at the same time enjoy nature.

If that wasn’t enough nature for you, I definitely recommend the Perdana Botanical Garden. You can spend a whole day here and visit the theater, the large butterfly park or the zoo. If you want to learn something, you can take a tour to the herbarium and should definitely have a look at the Negara planetarium. Everything revolves around all questions of science and astronomy and is really beautifully designed especially for children. I thought it was cool for me, too.

Most of the time I walked through the hibiscus and orchid garden! But a little longer than planned, since most of the gates in the park close at 6pm and I have desperately wandered around to get out somehow. But: The nature was very beautiful, the ways were empty to take beautiful photos – so it could have been worse.

After several hours of loneliness in the botanical garden, I had to see people again. Off to Chinatown! In Petaling Street you will find everything your shopping heart desires: clothes, souvenirs, handbags, watches and Chinese food. You will be cheered on from all sides, even if the store may not suit you at all. For example, for me that was a store with men’s shirts: “Ohh for your Brother!” – No, thank you. “For your boyfriend!” – No, thank you. “For your ex-boyfriend?” – NO! 😀
I definitely had the fun of my life and could have walked there forever.

The Batu Caves are huge limestone caves and are 20-30 minutes away from Kuala Lumpur by KTM (transit system). I had the luxury of being able to go on several day tours with my couch surfing host in his VW bus, so we visited the Batu Caves by car.

There are several Hindu shrines and temples inside the caves – so be sure to wear long clothes or a sarong that you can put on. On the way to the caves you pass a huge golden statue and meet some wild monkeys on the stairs who like to steal the sunglasses of the visitors.

Chemang Waterfall is a 15 minutes drive from Bentong City. If you are in or around Kuala Lumpur and rented a car, be sure to go there! We drove from the Batu Caves for about an hour and the winding route through the huge forest reserves is simply beautiful and absolutely worthwhile.

The waterfall is not a classic Instagram waterfall where you can stand next to for a photo. That would simply be far too dangerous because of the enormous amount of water. However, there is a nice swimming area where you can enjoy the ice-cold water!

A little insider tip that I would never have discovered without my couch surfing host: the TTDI Foodtruck Market in Petaling Jaya. The place can be reached from Kuala Lumpur within 20 minutes with the MRT SBK Line (stop: TTDI). 5 minutes away by foot are the food trucks for every taste. I have eaten the best local and western food here in 40 days in Malaysia: burgers, tacos, Nasi Lemak and Mee Goreng are personally checked and incredibly good!

If you are in Malaysia, try the dessert “Cendol”. This sweet dessert made from shaved ice, coconut milk, pudding-like pasta made from rice flour and pandan leaves, red beans and often a scoop of ice cream can be found everywhere in Malaysia! You can see this great taste experience in the lower left corner of the picture ↓ and it costs on average 5 RM (= approx. 1 euro).

Have you been to Kuala Lumpur (maybe even away from the big city)? What were your personal highlights?

Lots of Love ♥