Two stops at a time – Kuala Lumpur

June 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

It took quite a bit of scouting and decisions making to leave Penang for Kuala Lumpur. Train, bus, the location of stations in both places, stairs, uphill, downhill and so on, and on. Every single question had to be researched and answered. No surprises, thank you very much. This time I was not only planing around my suitcase but also around my post-operation condition. I didn’t want to subject myself to anything that could jeopardize my recuperation process.

Eventually, the vote fell on a couch and K-Sentral (the central station). And what a brilliant move it was. Not that I have any experience in the matter but the Central Station in Kuala Lumpur must be the best or one of the best central station in the world. A hub for all public means of transportation that moves on wheels. Changing between buses, trains, airport shuttle, commuting trains, metro, trams, you name it takes only seconds of time and meters in walking. No matter where you want to go you can get there from K-Sentral.

K-Sentral is not only a transport/transit hub but also a mall. You arrive in style and comfort. All amenities you can only think of are at your disposal. Escalators. elevators and smooth shiny floors in case you need to drag your suitcase are all there. Restaurants, cafes, stores, grocery shops, clean bathrooms, benches to rest, food to eat as well as entertainment for those who have time to kill. The icing on the cake are three or four hotels in the mall itself and plenty more around. There is no better location to come to after a long journey.  But if you ever find the time to leave the mall, you’ll find yourself in the middle of Little India full of cheap Indian restaurants and stalls. Quite a contrast from the mall.

Naturally even my hotel was right there and (consequently) the mall became a place where I spend most of my time. After a month of almost total isolation, I appreciated the fuzz and buzz of the mall and the constant flow of people. But what I appreciated and enjoyed the most was the variety of food the mall offered – what a difference from Tesco’s and street hawker’s bad quality and boring food in Penang. The mall became my home and my dining room. 

After 4 days of practically living in the mall, I needed a change. So I took the first best available transport going in direction of Petronas Towers and traveled the mere distance of one stop to check into a hotel located only a few meters away from the station.

A 2-minute ride by public transport or perhaps a 10-15 minute walk from the central station and I found myself in another world. I was no longer in Little India but in China Town famous for its inexpensive restaurants and markets but infamous for its ‘other’ markets. This is where you come to eat ‘real’ Chinese food and this is where you come to shop for ‘real’ fake merchandise. 

One stop or two stops at a time. What a great way to travel. The best. Yes, it requires time, so this is not for people in a hurry. But if you can take or make the time to ‘do the town’ on foot, the rewards are priceless. You get to see the parts of town you’d never see otherwise. You get to feel, smell, hear the town and interact with locals or other slow travelers. You get to be a part of town as opposed to being merely a visitor. But above all – you are free to go wherever you like and turn or cut any/every corner you like – none of which you can ever experience being caged in a tourist bus or a taxi.

‘Walking the streets’ comes with yet another bonus. You have a chance to check out hotels and make sure they really match the fancy pictures you see on booking sites. You can view the room or even book one. Often walk-ins offer better deals than online bookings. 

Walking in Kuala Lumpur is easy. Your only obstacle, as anywhere in Malaysia, is humidity which can be weary. Bring water.

KL, as Kuala Lumpur is called, or rather its city center is quite small, easily walkable and pedestrian friendly (for an Asian town). There are only 5 stations between K-Sentral and Petronas Towers, a stroll that shouldn’t take more than an hour. At the most. But if you can’t or don’t want to walk take Monorail that runs above the ground as taxis won’t get you anywhere. The traffic in central KL stands still, especially at peak hours.

Three days in China Town was more than enough. Conveniently there was a free bus stop right in front of my hotel. I took it.

My next stop was Bukit Bintang. This is where the old meets the new. Asian style on one side of the street and Western style on the other. This is where you find most restaurants, street stalls, pubs, bars, night clubs, malls – both more traditional ones and super fancy depending on which side of the road you are on. Wherever you look there is some sort of eatery within meters and their number only increases as the day progresses. Even wherever you don’t look, as they are not apparent, there may also be few gems in hiding. In fact, KL’s world-renowned eats are ‘hidden’ underground. 

Food, food, food. Malaysians love the food. The choice of dishes is limitless. And so is the choice of eateries. All from the simplest street stalls to the super fancy restaurants. After months of dining out every single day/night, I no longer eat street food in South East Asia. The novelty and fun have worn out already in Vietnam and hygiene issue kicked in. Nor do I eat in expensive restaurants. My preferred eateries these days, in KL, are food courts in fancy malls and occasionally the hidden eats. No, no, no. I do not eat Western type fast food but freshly, hygienically cooked, beautifully smart looking and delicious meals, fusion between East and West. Pleasure for the eye and delight for all other senses.

Wolo Hotel where I was staying (highly recommended) is a perfect platform from which to explore both areas as it is strategically located between the old Bukit Bintang full of budget hotels and cheap eats and the top modern KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Center) packed with luxurious malls, residential towers, and offices including the most famous of them all – Petronas Towers.

My last stop and my home for the last 10 days in KL was KLCC during which I lived a very much European lifestyle in a top modern two-bedroom apartment, eating cheap local food in high-end malls, enjoying lady nights at 5 stars hotels while walking from place to place on properly paved sidewalks or, if it was too humid outside, in air-conditioned pedestrian walkways aboveground. And if I didn’t feel like walking at all, there was always a public bus ready and often waiting to take me around. Free.   

Public transport in Malaysia and particularly in Kuala Lumpur is great – as is. Cheap, efficient and plentiful. But there is still more. Free buses. Five different lines tour central parts of the city from early morning until late at night. These free buses are hugely popular not only with tourists but also with locals. These free buses drive local taxi drivers absolutely nuts. Naturally, presumptive customers travel on a free bus rather than in an expensive taxi. 

Not sure what is going on but there seems to be a lot of bad blood between taxi companies and authorities/government. It isn’t only KL-thing but applies to the whole country. A clean-up of a sort. Nothing wrong with that but the aggravation between the two is clearly felt by regular customers like myself only adding more stress to my already shuttered relationship with taxi drivers.   

Flat rates for airport taxis are imposed. Great. But to book a taxi from hotels was somewhat problematic as though the hotels were trying to discourage guests from traveling by taxi. ‘Sorry, but we don’t have any booking system in place‘, they claimed. Why take an expensive taxi when there is a cheap bus just around the corner?   

What surprised me the most was how old and run down taxi cars were: small, uncomfortable sedans making luggage loading and unloading very difficult and arrogant drivers unwilling to help. The worst cars on the roads. As they all were the same, both in Penang and in KL, I am assuming they were standardized and regulated by the authorities. 

Then the usual Asian stuff … No meter or refusal to put one on. Haggling over the price. Making sure I won’t be taken ‘for a ride’. Leading drivers to a destination I never visited before with a help of my phone-GPS and map as they never know the way.  Malaysian taxi clean up only added fuel to the fire. Thus, today I’d rather take public transport wherever possible than a taxi.  

But when I do take a taxi, I make sure I know which company to use,  where exactly my destination is, how to get there and what is the fare. Needles to say taxi drivers dislike me. 

Two stops at a time is the way to go.  By public transport. Best way to explore any city. But why limit it only to the city? Why not explore what is hiding behind the city lights? Why not spend a few days in a residential area somewhere in the suburbs? Why not indeed?  Suburb, two stops from K-Sentral, was supposed to be my next destination. Unfortunately, bad cold knocked me completely out for a week and I never got a chance to put my idea into practice. But I will.

Once I was back on my feet again, it was time to welcome a friend of mine who came from Sweden to KL to join me for the next leg of my trip. We were to concur the Malaysian Borneo. Was the plan.

Kuala Lumpur in pictures