Kuala Lumpur - Tips, Tricks and Things To Do

When we booked and organised our trip to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand we hadn't planned on spending a few days in Malaysia. But, after a couple of very rainy days in Laos, stuck in the hostel, we decided to head somewhere with a bit more sun, enter Kuala Lumpur. We flew from Luang Prabang to Bangkok, and then from Bangkok onto KL.

We landed at about 12am and went down to the ticket office to buy tickets for the KLIA2 Sleeper bus. With our tickets bought we waited on the ground floor for our bus to arrive, which, can I just say, was very nice indeed. By far the best bus we'd taken the entire trip. Anyway, when we arrived we booked a Grab and headed to our hostel in Chinatown. When we arrived to check in, the lady on the desk could not have been more rude and unhelpful. She spent 40 minutes faffing around and telling us we'd made the wrong booking when we very much hadn't and then finally checked us in at about 3am. She took us into our communal room, turned all the lights on, showed us to our beds - waking up all the other people in the room. What a way to make friends on your first night, huh? Sorry fellow hostel dwellers.

The following morning we woke up very leisurely and went for a wander around Chinatown. I had sizzling pork and mushroom noodles for lunch and they were delicious. From there, we walked to the Butterfly Park, had a wander around, and then walked to the Orchid Park - which was kinda disappointing - definitely not a must do! After that, we continued our impromptu walking tour and headed to the National Mosque. After wandering around we then headed to the Jamek Mosque. From there, we took the train to the Petronas Towers. Wow. What a sight. They really really really are impressive. There's even a mall inside one of them which is equally as impressive. It's full of all sorts of shops from Chanel to Gucci and even an M&S! That evening we headed back to Chinatown for dinner before jumping into bed after a very busy day indeed.

After a very uncomfortable night's sleep, we walked to the nearest 7-eleven to grab croissants before catching a train to the Batu Caves. There are lots of stalls on the way to the caves, many of which offer henna. We had ours done for about £3 and then climbed the stairs to the top! The views etc were a little disappointing, but the entrance was free and it was a very very nice escape from the bustling city.

We then went back to the mall and actually had a Nandos for lunch. When in Malaysia, hey? It worked out as about a fiver for a pitta, drink and 2 sides - amazing. After lunch, and another wander of the mall, we went back to the hostel, got all dressed up and headed to the Petronas Towers. But, they were shut. So, we had dinner at the food court in the mall before heading to a skybar for drinks. It was ladies night, which is essentially just free drinks for girls night... Hellooo 7 free tequila cocktails. After an eventful night - more on that another time, maybe - we headed back to the hostel.

For breakfast, we treated ourselves to another 7-eleven croissant and then got a taxi to Sunway Lagoon: a waterpark come theme park. It had a very Disney/Universal feel about it with all the rides and theming and I loved it. We did the 360 degree pirate ship before spending the rest of the day in the waterpark. After an afternoon doing the slides and swimming in the wave pool, we jumped in a taxi back to the hostel. We grabbed our bags and then got back into the taxi and headed to our next hostel - Sky Society. A girl we'd met in Laos had told us all about this hostel and told us that we HAD to visit and she was right.

The hostel itself was within a load of really nice apartments and had an infinity pool on the roof - it was incredible. A little pricier than our other hostels but worth every single penny for those views. We had a swim in the pool on the 37th floor, took some photos, and then got ready for the evening. We attempted to go up the towers once again but, unfortunately, they were sold out... Just our luck. So, out of convenience, we headed back to the food court for dinner and then went to the Helipad Bar for their ladies night. Which, as the name suggests, has a helipad on the roof. We drank free wine and free pineapple and lychee cocktails to our heart's content before heading back to our hostel that didn't look or feel anything like a hostel.

We slept like absolute babies, the beds were AMAZING. If you're ever in KL I'd highly recommend staying at Sky Society, it was fab. We then took the bus back to the airport to continue with our travel plans after an impromptu few days in Kuala Lumpur... Bangkok, you're next.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Incredible modern city with lots to eat, see and do

THINGS TO DO 
- Butterfly Park
- National Mosque
- Petronas Towers
- Wander the mall
- Batu Caves 

- Skybar/Helipad Bar

- Sunway Lagoon (if you fancy a day of slides and swimming)

TIPS AND ADVICE 
- KL was far cheaper than we were expecting - a very nice surprise
- Lot's of the locals kept filming us and trying to take selfies with us... Yeah...
- Take the trains, they're so quick, cheap and go everywhere!

WHERE I STAYED & REVIEW

The Bed Station 

As you can probably already guess, I don't recommend staying here. Even without the checking in palava, the beds were really uncomfortable and you had to walk through the lobby to get to the toilets/shower... 

 

Sky Society

I highly recommend, not only for the incredible pool and views, but the cleanliness, friendly staff and amazing beds. Can you tell we loved it? 

HOW LONG TO STAY?

3/4 days. There's plenty of things to see and do