Kuala Lumpur

We arrived in the Malaysian Capital on Tuesday afternoon and were greeted by the kind of torrential rain that can only be compared to taking a shower – heavy enough to soak us both in the 5 metre walk from the taxi to the hotel. Needless to say this did have us Googling to ensure that we had indeed chosen to visit during the dry season! Our first evening was uneventful, comprised solely of a short walk to a nearby restaurant and an early night.

Batu Caves

We began the following day by visiting Batu Caves just North of the city centre, and we must acknowledge the fantastic public transport system which took us there. Our train carriage was clean, air conditioned, spacious, punctual and cost a mere 50 pence for the 40 minute journey. Once off the train, a short walk lead us to the 272 steps up to the cave.

To many this is a religious site, honoured by walking barefoot and in some cases bringing various foods as offerings. Which the monkeys tended to appreciate, and would often steal from each other!

Interestingly we both wore knee length shorts, but only Mariya was asked to cover up her knees by renting a scarf at the entrance. Once we’d made it up the steps, certain areas were off limits to those wearing shoes, but the vast majority of the temples were visible to all. It was beautiful to see the colours of the temples against the backdrop of the natural cave.

Back in the city, we sampled some local Malaysian Cuisine for lunch and at roughly £2 per plate, it definitely exceeded our expectations.

Thean Hou Temple

Unfortunately, by the afternoon the rain had returned and continued for the next few hours. Despite this, we were determined to explore on foot as much as possible, so equipped with some very stylish ponchos we walked (only around 1km) to Thean Hou Temple after lunch. This in itself was an interesting experience – it seemed we were the only people to be walking anywhere. Once we arrived we were the only Westerners to be seen, surrounded by hundreds of locals celebrating Chinese New Year (and probably wondering who the idiots in the ponchos were). We enjoyed seeing the festivites and were surprised to learn that Chinese New Year is a 15 day celebration!

Petronas Towers

However, by that point we had become rather wet, so we joyously accepted a local taxi driver’s offer of an overpriced lift to the Petronas Towers (still only £6 in real money). Sadly the tickets to go up the Towers had all sold out for the day, but given the weather we weren’t too disappointed.

Central Market

By then it was late afternoon and jetlag was setting in, so we returned to our hotel for a short nap before venturing to the nearby Central Market for dinner.

Our body clocks weren’t quite up for a full meal, so being the mature adults we are we opted for Japanese ice-cream. The perfect conclusion to a short but sweet trip to Kuala Lumpur!