Thinking of having a long weekend budget vacation overseas? Head to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and try this travel itinerary and some tips for smooth and not costly vacation.
*Note: Not all photos are from me. I lost some of my photos in KL, when my device was destroyed and I can’t retrieve them. Thanks to a good friend Briand Lancelot Rubin for letting me use some of his photos. Despensa for the quality of some photos, I am lazy to edit them. 🙂
DAY 1:
PAVILION MALL
This is the first place we visited since it is near our hotel. It is just a 5-10 minutes walk from Bukit Bintang where in we stayed in Al Jafs Hotel. Fahrenheit Mall is also a few steps away from Pavilion but we didn’t visit. What I observe with most malls in Malaysia is that their lower floors are all restaurants, food courts and grocery stores while the upper floors are all clothing stores.
NIGHT WALK TO PETRONAS TOWER, KLCC
Since we stayed in Bukit Bintang going to KLCC, Petronas Tower is just a walk away. There are also Go KL free bus that you can ride until 11 pm.
DAY 2:
BATU CAVES
What gives me interest in Batu caves is the gigantic statue beside the 272 steps. It is also one of the most popular steps in the world that must be stepped on. The inside is also interesting after climbing the steps you can see more statues and more steps to climb until you reach an altar where in you can pray and light some incense. They also play traditional musical instruments there.
NU MALL
Upon reaching KL Sentral from Batu Caves, we went to the nearest mall which is NU mall to have lunch. We got tired on the afternoon so we decided to spend the whole afternoon sightseeing using the GoKL bus. We hopped on and off on different colored buses since it is free and just circling around the city.
Additional Tip: To save on transportation cost, I recommend you use the Go KL bus line. It is free and it runs around the city. You can see the routes of different Go KL buses on the picture above. This serves as our map and guide to where are we going to get off and what color of the bus are we going to take in going to our destination. The buses are color purple with signage in front (if it is color, green, blue, purple and red). It is perfect time to take the bus after rush hour as it is wide with not much people. We experienced to take the bus during rush hour in the afternoon, men, better be ready to stand up and to huddle with lots of people plus the congestion because of the traffic. And oh, there’s free wifi on the bus :-). Take note that these buses are not for tourists, they are for locals who are working specially in KLCC to avoid too much traffic, so the drivers are not responsible to answer any of your questions regarding your destination. So I suggest that u take a picture of the route map of the buses just like what I did for you to know where to get off and where to transfer buses in reaching your destination.
DAY 3:
MERDEKA SQUARE
THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR CITY GALLERY
KUALA LUMPUR BIRD SANCTUARY
KTM BERHAD
TV ALJIRAH
NATIONAL MOSQUE MASJID NEGARA
The mosque has allotted time for non-moslem visitors. In our case we were able to enter the place at 2pm to 3pm only. For women you are required to wear the purple gown and cover you hair. For men it is fine not to wear the gown but if you want to try it that would be fine too. You have to deposit your shoes or footwear in the baggage counter as it is not allowed to enter the mosque with foot wear, socks would be fine. You can go around the vicinity but non-moslem visitors are not allowed to set foot inside their main prayer hall.
MENARA TOWER
There is a free shuttle van that will take you to Menara Tower from the main street every after 30 minutes. It will also gives you a ride down the main road so no need to walk going up and down the tower. 🙂
DAY 4:
LITTLE INDIA
CENTRAL MARKET
KATSURI WALK
SRI MAHAMARIAMNAN TEMPLE
This is a Hindu temple you will be ask to deposit your shoes in the baggage counter, socks are allowed. We experienced some of the Hindu traditional music, we watch as they play traditional musical instrument on the altar. When we were there, it was almost 5pm surprisingly one Indian guy approached us and said that they serve free food for people in the temple including visitors. Wow!
CHINA TOWN (JALAN PETALING)
I highly suggest that you visit this place last. The products here are good and cheap especially when it comes to souvenir items. The first stalls in the entrance are really affordable and has many items to choose from. If you have skills in haggling then prepare for an excess baggage in going home.
ADDITIONAL TIPS:
- As I mentioned earlier to save for transportation cost, use the GoKL bus and other public transportation. Malaysia has good public transportation from buses to train and monorel. I really don’t recommend taking the taxi since in my experience taxi drivers aren’t honest especially for tourists. They don’t use the meter and insist to pay MYR 20-30 even though it is just a short distance. Although it is written on their taxis that they are meter taxis and haggling is prohibited, they still insist on MYR 20, saying it is traffic.I laugh at it actually.
- Book your accommodation in the city center or downtown. I learned from my mistakes in Thailand. Booking your accommodation in the city center gives you easier access to sites. I stayed in Hotel Al Jafs in Bukit Bintang. I was really satisfied because its location is perfect for me, walking distance to malls, clubs, pubs, restaurants, and monorel station. Everything is convenient so I don’t have to struggle in visiting sites and spend lots of cash on transportation. Take note that from the airport to KL Sentral, it takes 1 hour by bus. So it is not advisable to stay in a hotel near the airport if you plan to experience most of the city life in Kuala Lumpur.
- Avoid changing currencies in the airport. When I booked my ticket I started checking the exchange rate of PHP to MYR regularly on the internet. I exchanged my cash in markets in PH (Block Market, Baguio City). I used to haggle with the vendors when I buy their MYR. I was able to buy MYR 1.00 for PHP 12.00 despite the fact that the exchange rate is MYR 1 = PHP 15.00. So, YES! I win. haha. Compared to the airport, exchanging currencies are more exy, especially if you are buying foreign bills. *Overall I enjoyed my stay in Malaysia and looking forward to go back and visit other places like Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Terranganu, Genting Highlands, Langkawi, Sabah etc. *Yes, I really recommend you to travel Malaysia.
