Last Month I visited Cambodia from India and opted for Malindo Airways. My flight was from Delhi to Kualalumpur an then to Phnom Penh (Capital city of Cambodia). When I my plane landed in Kualalumpur, the connecting flight to Phnom Penh had left 5 mins back and that was ridiculous. Malindo staff was equally arrogant about the matter. I was more concerned as my sister and her family was scheduled to fly in same flight 2 days later and then we had travel plan as they land in Phnom Penh. The situation sounded pretty risky and I was very upset. My wife was already in Phnom Penh and both of us had plans to travel from Phnom Penh to other city in Cambodia. So all got ruined at that moment. But this was also a good opportunity to explore Kualalumpur City.
When enquired with Malindo staff if they would be providing 1 day visa for Malaysia or not, they said ’NO’. So I had to stay on the airport for one day and the next flight was next morning, exactly after 23 hrs. That was certainly unacceptable but I had not control over that. I thought of visiting immigration office to figure out the possibility to get one day transit visa and it’s cost. Interesting the officer immediately stamped my passport by looking at US visa. So it seems if you have US visa, you get day visa in Malaysia for free.
That moment of getting day entry into Kualalumpur city brought smile on my face and I immediately started planning the day and now I didn’t really bother if Malindo folks would co-operate or not. Good part was, that Malindo agreed to provide hotel outside the Airport and arranged the drop. Thereon I planned my day.
Hotel staff helped in booking a taxi for whole day and the person asked for 300 ringgit. He committed to take me to some specific places which would take 6/7 hours. Reaching Kualalumpur from my hotel was 1.5 hrs drive. I think 330 was more than genuine charges but I didn’t have time to negotiate or find a better ride. Bus or the metro was not around this hotel and that would have taken more time. Now let's talk about what all we explored in a day and let me also tell you that you can certainly do more than this as we started pretty late in the day and came back before it started getting dark. We got the wrong driver, so had to rush back from the city.
My Hotel was close to Sepang Formula-1 circuit, so we crossed through it. We didn't go inside but took a round around the whole circuit, but it's not very exciting unless there is some event happening at Sepang F1 Circuit.
Now let's talk about 5 must visit places in a day at Kuala Lumpur.
1. Batu Caves : I give first place to Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. This is a grand place with huge limestone hill with multiple caves and gradually these caves are developed into different religious places. Batu Caves also has a huge statute
Above photograph shows one of the ends of Batu caves where you see a temple which resembles a lot with temples you find in South India. In fact, there are lot of folks from South India who have been living in Malaysia for few generations now.
The name Batu has been taken from the word 'Sungai Batu' which means Stone River. There are no entry charges for Batu caves but there is ticket in one of the caves if you want to take a tour with guides and they show some habitants of these caves.
There are lot of monkeys around Batu caves, so it's important to take good care of stuff you are carrying. It's better to carry stuff in a backpack and keep it around your body. Avoid hanging purses, food packets in your hands etc.
Above photograph has been shot from one of the Batu caves which shows the huge statue of Murugan. This is considered as highest Murugan statue in the world which is 42+ meters. We will be writing a separate post with more details around these caves and things to do or avoid.
2. Petronas Twin Towers : This is a hyped place in my opinion but since this is so talked about, it was hard for me to miss. I would not say, it's skippable.
Let's first talk why Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur are famous. Basically these towers were world's tallest towers in the world from 1998 to 2004. As of today, Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building the world.
People usually visit the surrounding park and get a selfie clicked with these Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur. And then if you want, you can go inside the Twin Towers and explore it's showrooms & some of the finest restaurants/cafes. There is also an option to go to the top of the tower and have some wonderful aerial views of the city.
3. Kuala Lumpur City Centre : I personally loved this place because it offers diversified experiences about the Kuala Lumpur city and Malaysia. If you like walking around the cities, this is a wonderful place.
There are some amazing old and new buildings around the city centre. Apart from that, there are plenty of places to enjoy local food, do some shopping and walk around the green landscapes. The places are very well maintained and walking around these streets can be a very enriching experience.
This was the place when I did currency conversion. KLCC is short form of Kuala Lumpur City Center.
4. National Mosque of Malaysia : National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur is very close to the KLCC and it would not be wrong if I say that it's at walkable distance.
Initially we got an impression that only Muslims are allowed inside the Mosque but that's not true. If you want to visit the mosque, your body should be covered properly. If you are wearing shorts, there are cloths to cover the body.
The mosque is beautiful and very photogenic. A detailed post would be published soon.
5. Sultan Abdul Samad Building : This is one of the most beautiful British buildings in Kuala Lumpur. Now this building is being used by Ministry Information & Communication.
Sultan Abdul Samad Building is located in the middle of the city and has beautiful places to walk around. Just behind this building there is a beautiful water body surrounded by well paved path which connect with Metro station on other side. We shall share detailed post about this place, KLCC square, the high flag in front of Sultan Abdul Samad Building and some of the other places worth exploring.
Bonus - Walking around the Kuala lumpur City, especially area around Sultan Abdul Samad Building and the city square will take you closer to the Malaysian culture & lifestyle.
Malaysia has some of the most beautiful mosques, Gurudwaras and temples. Above Mosque was close to our hotel and this photograph was clicked while we were driving back.
Hope this post would be helpful for you to plan a day in Kuala Lumpur. Please drop your comment to ask more specific questions.
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