Is Kuala Lumpur as dull as it looks?

Rotty

Rotty

Rotty

Don
Joined
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In a couple of weeks I'm heading out east and as flying Air Malaysia decided on a 3 night stopover in KL

Started looking for a few bits to do and it looks an extremely dull place

Anyone got any suggestions? forget the towers as not keen on heights :D and reviews of the caves are generally awful
 
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I'm not sure I'd call it boring but it's quite sanitised for Asia.

The Batu caves aren't bad so long as you get there super early, I think we got a grab to there at like 6am and it's quite cool being there near enough alone.

I don't mind heights at all and I found the towers pretty dull, being around the base of them though is ok.

We descended into bar hoping pretty quickly and that's great :)

Note.. don't try getting taxis around the centre at night if you can help it, yes they're cheap but the place is gridlocked. We gave up and got out to walk more than once.
 
Depends on what you are after, It was a while ago but I’ve had 2-3 day trips to Ankor Wat and Mt Kinabalu and they were much more memorable than the days I spent in Kuala Lumpur, air Asia has a base there and it’s pretty reasonable to fly in the region.

I’m sure it’s not a fair reflection but I remember nice malls, loads of steps at the batu caves, traffic and taxis with ‘broken’ meters
 
ZeeWrath said:
Depends on what you are after, It was a while ago but I’ve had 2-3 day trips to Ankor Wat and Mt Kinabalu and they were much more memorable than the days I spent in Kuala Lumpur, air Asia has a base there and it’s pretty reasonable to fly in the region.

I’m sure it’s not a fair reflection but I remember nice malls, loads of steps at the batu caves, traffic and taxis with ‘broken’ meters
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Broken meters are standard in a lot of Asia, I use Grab and Bolt where possible
 
ZeeWrath said:
Plenty of places you can fly to 1-2 hours away, personally I’d go to Langkawi
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I mean if we're going mental you could do like me and go to the datai.. but it doesn't stop KL being boring.

I agree with the thrust of the OP tbh... I wasn't feeling Malaysia very much at all, it was fine and we had fun driving around the Cameron highlands, enjoyed georgetown and the datai was.. well it was too expensive for us to do more than 4 nights.. but I couldn't escape the feeling it was like a sanitised version of SE Asia.. which I guess it is being so close to Singapore etc.

If I had to choose now and I was going that far I'd go to Vietnam again.

Having just experienced it however and having fallen deeply and somewhat hopelessly in love with it, I'd go back to Japan in a heartbeat.

For all the madness and beauty that Asia has Malaysia is surprisingly "meh".

Apart from the humidity, there's nothing meh about that.
 
I was there Easter weekend this year. Stayed central, here. Great location, cheap rate and has a wicked pool area on the roof. Didn't do much other than eat and drink. Quite similar to most other big Asian cities I've been to except with a lot more order. Some good bars with a good variety of craft beers if that's your thing. Went to a couple of high level fine dining restaurants and they were great. Price wise I found it comparable with inner Melbourne, although it's expensive here when comparing with most of the UK.
Use Grab, not taxis. It's so ridiculously cheap. So much so that if the price was 10x more I'd still find it reasonable. For that reason we always chose the premium or exec option. Usually one of those cool black Toyota people carriers with the business class seats in the back.
 
matt100 said:
If I had to choose now and I was going that far I'd go to Vietnam again.

Having just experienced it however and having fallen deeply and somewhat hopelessly in love with it, I'd go back to Japan in a heartbeat.
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Been to Vietnam 5 or 6 times and Thailand 10-12

Will have to try Japan sometime, what's put me off is, firstly, it's a bit weird and also I like to spend time with the locals and the Japanese are not exactly sociable, they aren't unpleasant just very reserved from what I have seen
 
Vandle said:
I was there Easter weekend this year. Stayed central, here. Great location, cheap rate and has a wicked pool area on the roof. Didn't do much other than eat and drink. Quite similar to most other big Asian cities I've been to except with a lot more order. Some good bars with a good variety of craft beers if that's your thing. Went to a couple of high level fine dining restaurants and they were great. Price wise I found it comparable with inner Melbourne, although it's expensive here when comparing with most of the UK.
Use Grab, not taxis. It's so ridiculously cheap. So much so that if the price was 10x more I'd still find it reasonable. For that reason we always chose the premium or exec option. Usually one of those cool black Toyota people carriers with the business class seats in the back.
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we have a hotel booked, a junior suite at the Majestic , it's at the side if the big park but with hindsight maybe not the best location

Craft beers are absolutely my thing, any particular area to look at?

I always use Grab and Bolt in Asia rather than regular taxis
 
Vandle said:
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Two that stand out from (hazy) memory.
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Yep, wound up in taps twice :)
 
Rotty said:
Been to Vietnam 5 or 6 times and Thailand 10-12

Will have to try Japan sometime, what's put me off is, firstly, it's a bit weird and also I like to spend time with the locals and the Japanese are not exactly sociable, they aren't unpleasant just very reserved from what I have seen
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10000% don't let that put you off.

Yes it's weird but it's also predictable and the people aren't standoffish, they're polite. There's a big difference, it was probably the nicest easiest but mad weirdest place I've ever been.
 
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