After all the nature adventures, K.L. (just the initials – that's also how the people who live here say it) was a fitting change. We used a short trip here to do a so-called "visa run". We had already extended our tourist visa once in Bali, but had now booked a trip to West Papua (also Indonesia), one of the supposedly best diving areas in the world, and would have gone beyond our maximum visa date. So we booked a slightly more upmarket hotel in Malaysia to spend a few days mainly in our room and get organisational things done with a good Wi-Fi connection. And afterwards to enter Indonesia again with a new visa and begin our water adventure on the high seas. But that's another story.
K.L. surprised us with more shopping centres than expected. We wandered through a city centre of skyscrapers, between office buildings and malls, and processed the contrast to the last few weeks, when the tallest buildings in the landscape stood on bamboo stilts and had pointed roofs made of rice straw.
We did, however, welcome the new opportunities to restock our travel first-aid kit and toiletries while strolling through an air-conditioned shopping mall in an extremely well-kept setting between the brand-name clothing stores everyone knows from Europe, standing in front of a huge choice of eateries gathered in an enormous food court. Coming from Austria, that probably wouldn't have been so exciting, but at that moment we found it incredibly great and relaxing. When we then found some time to explore the city, we were amazed at how many shopping opportunities there were – and who on earth was supposed to consume all the goods on offer? Step out of one shopping mall and the next, bigger one is already waiting opposite, possibly even connected to yet another mall by an elevated bridge or leading straight into an office building. We even found an IT shopping centre of at least 4 floors devoted solely to electronic devices and multimedia. It, too, stood next to two other department stores on a street full of retail shops. Goods wherever you looked. On top of that, the districts of Chinatown and Bintang consisted mainly of market stalls and restaurants themselves.
To explore the city and get to its sightseeing highlights, we could comfortably take the metro or walk. And all without having to negotiate the price beforehand! What's exciting on a trip around the world like this is that you usually only notice what you've been missing in one country when you suddenly get it somewhere else. Until then, you usually don't miss anything and are happy with what you have. Here we enjoyed being able to pay for almost everything by credit card without having to check whether we'd brought enough cash, as well as being able to speak English with everyone and to walk. If you asked me now which thing I did NOT think I would ever miss, I'd know my answer: pavements. How much I missed pavements! You don't realise how valuable it is to be able to go for a walk in a city. On Bali it had been different: anyone not sitting on a scooter or in a car had practically no right to be on or next to a road. But how is a walking-loving European supposed to get from A to B then – even if it's just for a little grocery shopping? In return, though, the island nation rewards you with plenty of seawater, sun and beach. But now back to K.L.
We took the metro and commuter train to get to the famous 400-year-old Batu Caves, 15 km north of the city. There we found an impressive, sprawling Hindu site laid out across the huge caves.
We marvelled at the many Indian murals, images and statues of Hindu deities. The temples can be reached via many steep, multicoloured steps – 272 to be exact – up to the main cave. The attractions there are that very colourful staircase, the numerous monkeys romping around on the way up, on the rock face and on the huge forecourt, and the caves themselves, whose size and height pay their respects to the skyscrapers in the centre.
In the short space of 4 days, besides the Batu Caves we managed to visit Central Market, Chinatown, Bukit Bintang, the Secret Garden light park and KLCC Park. Our hotel had a squash court, so we were able to try this sport for the first time – we both really liked it. Finally, I can say that our stay in Kuala Lumpur showed me that my fear of heights, or rather of drops, is obviously not skyscraper-compatible, and I was glad we were only on the 17th floor and not on the possible 40th floor of our hotel. With good memories of Malaysia we set off again for KLIA airport, to make it via Kuta, Jakarta and an airport in Sulawesi (Makassar) all the way to Ambon in the Moluccas, where our freediving boat safari was to start.
As always, enjoy our short video summary and the photo gallery: