TRAVEL: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - feasts, feathers and fountains

Flying into Kuala Lumpur airport, it appears as if you're about to land into a sea of palm trees, before the greenery opens up to reveal an airstrip as if out of nowhere. KL is very much a mix of green and grey, moving from jungle to city in a matter of moments. Leaving the airport, we were hit by a strong aroma of spicy food - one which you can smell everywhere you go - hopefully a good sign of a city with good food. 

The drive to the centre of KL takes about an hour, but before two long you can begin to see the famous Petronas Towers appearing on the horizon. Our hotel was located right next to the towers at the Madarin Oriental, a hotel which doesn't look like much from the outside, but very much makes up for that on the inside with it's plush rooms and excellent amenities.

After a quick rest to recover from the long flight, we made our way out into the city, which looks very modern and new with a plethora of skyscrapers dominating the skyline. A long walkway took us over the busy highways direct from the plaza behind our hotel to the Bukit Bintang district. Walking through a very upmarket indoor shopping centre, we headed out on the street, where we were confronted with a beautiful waterfountain in the shape of a tower of cups, and right next to it, a giant statue of Spider-Man in promotion of the upcoming blockbuster. A juxtaposition of two worlds and two cultures. 

This area was slightly different from the highly manicured central district, and it was out here that we saw more beggars and street hawkers. I must say, I was appalled when I saw a Western twenty-something year old woman sitting on the street begging, with a sign in front of her saying something along the lines of "I've been travelling the world for 6 months now and loving it. Your money will help me continue to follow my dreams and visit more countries!" Really, when you have people begging for subsistence right beside you, you beg to continue with the pleasurable lifestyle you've become accustomed to? 

Further along the road, we came to the street market we'd been searching for - a street filled with new sights, smells and sounds. I was surprised to find that most of the stalls were selling not Malay cuisine, but Thai, Vietnamese or Chinese; which are clearly significant influences here. Apart from this, there were only a few stalls that sold fresh fruit, and I was tempted to try Durian, the world's smelliest fruit which has been banned on airlines, but thought they might serve it at breakfast instead. We settled for some dim-sum, which in total probably cost about 20p for 5 pieces. Not quite a taste of Malaysia, but yummy nonetheless. 

We raced back to the plaza in front of the Petronas Towers to catch the dancing fountains, which changed colour and moved along to music, before heading back to the hotel (I love it when you get chocolates on your pillow) to recharge for the next day. 

The Madarin Oriental's breakfast was very expansive, featuring Chinese, American, Malaysian and Indian cuisines, along with the usual pastries, cereals and yogurts. After filling ourselves up for the day, we caught a taxi from outside the hotel to the Batu caves, at a cost of only about $7. In front of the caves was a large golden statue of a Hindu god, around which monkeys roamed. Climbing up over two hundred steps took us to the main cave, filled with more monkeys and a small colourful temple. 

Whilst the temple was beautiful, most people seemed to be paying attention to the monkeys, but I was appalled by how some of the tourists were acting around them - trying to pet them, feed them Pringles(?!), and even throwing water bottles at them. It's no wonder some of the female monkeys were hostile towards some humans, especially since some were carrying around babies. 

Heading back down, we stopped into the Dark Cave which offers 45 minute educational tours of the cave. Unfortunately, they were booked out for the time we would be around, so we went back down to the bottom of the steps and made towards the train station. En route, we passed Rama's Cave, based on the story of Rama & Sita, which for 5 ringgit we were able to visit. Inside the cave was very interesting, with statues along the walls outlining Rama's life. It was almost Disneylandish in the way it was lit up with the figures, but definitely a place that I would recommend taking a look at. 

We caught the commuter train to the Botanical Gardens, and walked to the Butterfly Park. This was a great way to pass the time, walking around the enclosure and looking at the colourful butterflies. Again, I was upset by how visitors were treating the animals, with one man snatching a butterfly off a leaf by it's wing to show his wife. Particularly in a place like this, you'd expect people to show more respect. I, however, could have spent hours in the park, as each time you'd walk round it would be different, with new butterflies to admire.

Our next stop was the Bird Park, the world's largest free-flight bird enclosure. This was definitely my favourite park of our time in KL, as from the moment you walked in, you were surrounded by birds roaming around next to you. All around the park, we walked past hundreds of Milky Storks and Cattle Egret, and each 'zone' had new birds, ranging from parrots and emus to cassowary and peacocks. Again, this was a great way to pass the time, even though we had missed the feedings and shows which had occurred earlier in the day. 

We also saw some non-birds which I'm pretty sure weren't necessarily meant to be in the park, including an adorable stoat-like animal, and a very surprising encounter with a large dragon-like reptile. I'm not one hundred percent sure what species it was, but it held a resemblance to the Komodo Dragon (although of course we were not on Komodo), but that didn't stop the family behind us from turning back in fear so they wouldn't cross it's path. 

After a successful day, we made for the train station once again. Walking around the city, it was very humid and though not particularly sunny, the sun felt strong, so it wouldn't have been a good idea to stick around for long. Following a quick stop in the Central Market near Chinatown to buy another snow globe for the collection, we caught the KL Rapid to KLCC near to our hotel. 

Showers were much needed after walking around in the heat all day, and at 7:30 I went down to watch the light show at the fountains again. There are a lot of things in KL that I could spent hours doing, as clear from the day's events, and the light show is certainly another one. 

Dinner that evening was in the KLCC shopping centre at Madam Kwan's 'Truly Malaysian Food', an establishment so heaving with people at the time we arrived that we were placed on a waiting list, which offered an opportunity to have a quick look around the shopping centre. Once in, we ordered a mixed starter platter, followed by Nasi Lemak, Malaysia's most famous dish, Beef Rendang, deep fried bean curd, and a cendol dessert to finish, which is a coconut milk based dessert with red beans and a sweet syrup. It was particularly enjoyable to watch how quick the table turnover was, with people barely just having left before a new group was brought over, sometimes still whilst the table was being cleared. Not a bad price either, as the whole meal cost around $18 for 3 of us. After that, it was back to the hotel to admire the fountains and Petronas Towers from our bedroom windows for the final time. 

My advice for Kuala Lumpur: the weather is very variable - one minute you're in humid sunshine, and the next a thunderstorm might hit. Along with your shorts and t-shirt, make sure to pack a raincoat! Speaking of clothing, KL and other cities in this region are quite conservative, so if you have strappy tops, it's best to throw a scarf over your shoulders to cover up. For temples in particular, clothing should cover shoulders and knees, so wear trousers or again bring a scarf to turn into a makeshift skirt. Absolutely visit the Bird and Butterfly Parks, and if you have the time, take a look around the Botanical Gardens too - they are majorly expansive and something that we didn't even have time to look at!

What did you think of this blog post? Let me know by dropping me a message on Twitter  @CiarasCountry and be sure to follow as there's many more travel blogs on their way! If you've been to KL or other parts of Malaysia, I'd love to know what you enjoyed or didn't so feel free to leave a comment below!