Journey to Malaysia

KL- The Garden city of Lights

MALAYSIA | Monday, 23 October 2017 | Views [1135]

KL- The Garden City of Light

Malaysia is my first Foreign country to visit in my 3rd Passport even though my earlier 2 passports for the past 20 years vanished with out any Immigration Stamp or Visa for that matter.

First of all i should be thankful to Mr Tony Fernandez, founder of Air Asia, the best Low Cost Airline of the World for the dam cheap fare provided to the South East Asian countries.

I took a flight from Tiruchirapalli to Kuala Lumpur on 2014 for a 10 day visit combined with Singapore also. Kuala Lumpur is located approximately 2680 km south east of Trichy if a m sure and the flight journey takes around 3.45 hours. During that year the new KLIA2 was not functional and there was a separate Low Cost Terminal was in force.

I already got a 1 year Multiple Entry Visa for Indians with a maximum stay of 30 days at a stretch. The Visa Fee was Rs 1000 and a service charge of Rs 400. But the very next week during my stay at Malaysia it had been raised to Rs 3300 including service Charges. But during 2016 Sep onward it had seen further raise of Rs 5800 if am sure.

The Immigration process in KL was very simple and straight forwarded which took just few minutes, the Immigration Officer just scan my Passport, verify the my Return Air Ticket and the date of return and ask me to put my hand in the bio-metric scanner,....Finished.

KLIA-LCCT Airport was located 65 km from KL City center. There are various transportation facilities available like a Direct High Speed Rail. a bit costly, Taxi, Shuttle Bus operated by some Private, Aerobus which is very famous and cheap & best cost just RM 10 and Sky Bus operated by Air Asia itself which can be booked while you booking Air Asia Flight Ticket itself and cost RM 15, but when you purchase directly cost RM 12 only. Any bus will took around 1 1/2 hrs to KL Central where the buses terminates.

I booked in one of the best backpackers hostel Grid9 in Maharajaleela area near the Monorail station. It cost just RM 35 per night stay in Pod type Bunk with out any Complimentary Breakfast.

I took a KL HOP ON HOP OFF bus to see almost all the important attractions of the city with a 24 hour pass which can be purchased from the bus itself at any boarding point. There is a 48 hour pass also. It covers China Town, Little India, KL Old Railway station, KL Botanical Garden, KL Bird Park which is one of the biggest parks in the world, Butterfly Park, Istana Negra, Lake Titiwangsa, Twin Tower, KL Tower, Bukit Bintang and the Golden Triangle for shopping,etc.

Malaysia is famous for it's food. As the country happens to be the Melting Pot of different communities and cultures like Malays, Indians and Chinese and made up of some smaller segment of people like Indonesians, Filipinos, etc each and every countries food are available here. You need not worry about Vegetarian food here especially South Indian Vegetarian Food are available in abundant here as the Indian community mainly consists of Tamilians around 95% and balance mixed.

After KL City tour which can be finished in a day I visited Batu Caves Murugan Temple, a Hindu God. Before that in the middle of China Town in KL City you can also go for Sri Maha Mariamman Temple. I went there also in the HOP ON HOP OFF BUS itself.

The next day I went to Genting High Land a famous hill station which is just 2 hour journey from KL City located at a height of 1400 msl. There are frequent buses available from PUDURAYA Bus station. The bus stops at the foot hill and from there you can go by the rope way which is one of the highest rope way in Asia. There are quite number of hotels there in the hill station from Budget to Ultra Luxury. There are lot of gambling centers there which are the only permitted gambling area in Malaysia. There are lot of Indoor and Outdoor games, Theme Parks,etc located there.

Shopping is the main attraction of KL and some of the biggest and best awarded malls of the world are located there. Bukit Bintang is one of the important area for shopping. For Electronics, Computers & Branded goods KL is cheaper than Bangkok. But for Street markets, Unorganized sector or items like clothes,etc some what costlier than Bangkok.

For Best & Cheapest Electronics products the Low Yat Plaza, Imbi near Bukit Bintang is famous. You can buy the branded Laptops, Computers, Mobiles & Cameras and Lenses there.

Other than electronics for budgeted and low end but very reliable products and accessories you can go for Sungeiwang Plaza, or BB Plaza and Berjaya Time Square. There are other famous malls for high end products Lot10, Farnheit, the biggest mall of Pavilion which was continuously awarded for best shopping centers in the world. Other than this SURYA KLCC is located in the Twin Tower of Petronas, the Iconic building of Malaysia. Other than this there is also Malaysian Midvalley, KL Central Plaza, One Utama,etc are also available.

More over for street type of specific goods you can go for Pasar Seni, Lebo Ampang,etc and for specific Indian goods you can try various shops located in Brickfield area otherwise called the Little India near KL Central.

The next day i planned for a Putrajaya tour which can be organized by local tour operators where you can have a glimpse of the Government & Administrative city of Malaysia. There is a river cruise also and totally it will take around 8 hours at the maximum. I didn't took that tour due to a tight schedule to Penang that day afternoon.

You can also go for a tour to Melaka heritage site and try for Port Dikinson to have a glimpse of the sea which is approximately 2 hours journey for KL City.

Other than petty crime like Pickpocket, Robbery during night,etc which are very common in any of the world cities KL is relatively a safe city. Always go with a group, return to the hotel or apartment you are staying in appropriate time that is don't wander outside during late night hours or near Midnight and invite problems. Always exercise common sense while inroads or sitting in eateries or when buying products and be careful with valuables.

iAirport to Kualalumpur City