Got off to an early start on this Wednesday morning as we packed up and left
Bangkok for the last time. We checked out of our hotel around 5AM and headed to the airport for our last Air Asia flight of the trip. The looming thunder clouds made us very nervous to embark on a budget airline, but our other flights so far had been ok. This flight also took off on time and landed slightly ahead of schedule.
Upon arrival, we changed our money to the Malaysian currency and then we took the KLIA Ekspres from the airport to the KL Sentral station and checked into the Hilton hotel. We pre-booked the KLIA Ekspres tickets and found it pretty easily from the Kuala Lumpur (KL) airport. This train is designed for airport travel, so they have plenty of luggage racks. They also sent me the barcode for our tickets via email, so I was able to save a picture and bring it up on my phone (I also had printed copies just in case).
We picked the
Hilton Kuala Lumpur for 2 reasons. 1. It's within walking distance to KL Sentral which is the main hub for transportation anywhere in the city, and 2. we could use hilton points to stay there. Boy oh boy are we glad we did this. We got to the hotel around 10AM, but thanks to the Hilton Diamond status that J had at the time, the hotel upgraded us to a massive suite (with 2 bathrooms!) and let us check in early. We also got access to the executive lounge on the 33rd floor. The lounge was just as awesome (if not more so) than the lounge in the Bangkok Hilton. We went there several times throughout our short stay. From 2-4, they served cakes and finger sandwiches with tea, and from 6-8 they had canapés for cocktail hour. So yummy!
For sightseeing that day, we went on the commuter line out to the Batu Caves. This place is really neat, pretty easy to find/navigate, and I highly recommend it if you have the stamina to climb a lot of stairs. Hold onto your hats. Literally. The monkeys that are ALL OVER the place are notorious for taking loose items.
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| Approaching the entrance of the Batu Caves - KL, Malaysia |
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| Entrance to the Batu Caves - KL, Malaysia |
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| Monkey at the Batu Caves - KL, Malaysia |
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| Batu Caves - KL, Malaysia |
After the Batu Caves, we decided to try and find the Kuala Lumpur bird park. We planned on doing this the next day, but since we still had a fair amount of day left, and since the bird park wasn't really near anything else we planned on seeing the next day, we took advantage of the daylight. We took the train part of the way there, and then tried to walk the rest of the way. It wasn't terribly easy to find, and we got caught in a pretty big thunderstorm. The worst of the rain started right as we arrived, so we only got a little wet. The storm brought such welcome relief from the heat, but delayed us going into the bird park until about 5pm. The rain kept the other tourists away, so we had the entire bird park to ourselves pretty much. It was also a Wednesday, however, so there were no shows or demonstrations. We didn't mind, but if you're ever traveling with kids or want to make more of a day out of visiting the place, you may want to consider a weekend.
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| Bird Sanctuary - KL, Malaysia |
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| Bird Sanctuary - KL, Malaysia |
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| Bird Sanctuary - KL, Malaysia |
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| Making friends at the bird sanctuary - KL, Malaysia |
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| Bird Sanctuary - KL, Malaysia |
We took a taxi back to the hotel rather than try to navigate on our own. Then we got showers, ate food in the hotel lounge, and walked through the KL Sentral mall. Like everywhere else we've been in Asia, their train stations also double as mini underground shopping/eating complexes. They're so awesome! It's like this entire underground world.
Interestingly, when we got to
Bangkok, we thought that the country was very influenced by
Japanese culture and traditions. Malaysia reminded us more of
Dubai. Perhaps it's the Islamic influence on those two countries. Both
Dubai and Malaysia are still very modern and cosmopolitan. They're definitely considered more liberal Islamic countries with significant western influence. Still, I found it more appropriate to dress more modestly in Malaysia than I did in
Bangkok. (Though the Buddhist temples in
Thailand didn't permit bare knees or shoulders either.) We also noticed that Kuala Lumpur has much more green space than most other cities. The haze in the picture below is unfortunate, but it still gives you a sense for just how green the city is. Similar to
Dubai, KL is also not a very walkable city. But we found taxis to be relatively cheap, and more law-abiding than Bangkok, so they are a good alternative when the train doesn't get you where you need to go.
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| View from our hotel - KL, Malaysia |
Our decision to go to the bird park today made us re-order some of our activities for the next day. But we enjoyed the stay in our giant suite and were in no hurry to get up early. I hope you'll join me for my next blog which features some classic Malaysian sites like the Petronas Towers, the Central Market, and the Berjaya Times Square Mall.
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