22 days in Kuala Lumpur: now THAT’S slow traveling!

When you’re traveling you have to choose your pace. You can rush around on daily trains and buses and cram in every sight possible – “if it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium”. Or you can go as slowly as possible, picking your way through nearby points on a map until the tourist visa runs out.

You probably would choose somewhere between these extremes.

But Masayo and I found ourselves on the slow end of that spectrum once we returned to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Day 37 of our trip. I was rapidly depleting my savings, and I needed to hole up and do some online work to revitalize my income flow.

And KL is such a nice place to be, why leave?

Having hung out with the crazy wildlife in Kuala Selangor and gorged on Indian food in Klang, we thought it would be ok to hang out here anyway. Our passports were each stamped with a 90-day visa when we arrived. Masayo got here a month after I did so she could stay longer, but traveling as a duo means you have to bow to the shortest passport stamp. In this case, mine!

If you travel slowly, you need to find a good balance of sightseeing and activities, and relaxing and (likely) saving money. For our 22-day stretch in KL, we managed to do this because there are a lot of cool things to see in this city that are free or very cheap.

So if you’re looking to kill some time but also absorb some of Malaysia’s multicultural atmosphere, or if you just want to read about some cool stuff on this website while waiting for your own travels to start, keep reading!

Chinese and Indian temples

On Day 39, while staying at the Backpackers Travelers Inn in Chinatown, we went to a Chinese temple called Guandi Miao and, down the street and culturally incongruous for Chinatown, the impressive Indian complex Sri Maha Mariamman Temple Dhevasthanam.

Guandi Miao

Guandi Temple (関帝廟) is small but stunning. Awash in crimson and enlivened by endless red lanterns and rows of yellow incense coils, you can almost forget the noise and chaos of the surrounding area and feel a genuine sensation of spiritual relaxation here. Crowds shuffle around, and everyone is hot and tired, but who cares – this is another mini-world.

Sri Maha Mariamman Temple Dhevasthanam

The South Indian temple of Sri Maha Mariamman is the real star. It’s a small but absorbing collection of Dravidian buildings established in 1873, notable for its high, figurine-laden blueish-white tower that looms over the entrance. Local Hindus visit often for spiritual reasons, and others (like us) are welcome as visitors, as long as you keep respectfully quiet.

Speaking of respect, visitors are encouraged to buy a clutch of flowers from a vendor near the entrance to earn your way in. Several statues and images of the famously intricate and animal-headed and/or multi-armed Hindu gods adorn the walls and alcoves of the temple; taking pride of place in the temple’s center section is the statue of the deity Sri Maha Mariamman himself. (Or herself. Sorry, I was vague on the details.)

Signs in the temple are written in, from what I could tell, one or more Indian languages, and sometimes in Malaysian and English. The Indian-leaning cultural stew is great; this temple was one of the highlights of the trip so far. There is just something so inviting and reassuringly human about it.

KL Tower

The Kuala Lumpur Tower, or Menara Kuala Lumpur, is a single communications tower near the famous Petronas Twin Towers. Because visitors can only go halfway up the Petronas Towers, I heard that better views (including of Petronas themselves) can be found by going to the top of KL Tower.

So on Day 45 Masayo and I took a train to the KL Tower area and followed the signs. The views from the top were indeed stunning – you can see all of KL and the surrounding countryside, plus of course the huge and distinctive Petronas Towers.

Petronas Towers

You can’t really visit KL and not go see the Petronas Towers, until 2004 the tallest buildings in the world. They may not be number one any more, but they still form a massive structure that can leave little human ants at street level awe-struck.

We took a train to KLCC Station (which stands for the English phrase Kuala Lumpur City Center) on Day 53, and walked around the area of the towers. We didn’t go in, or up; the public can only ascend about halfway. The KL Tower will give you the tall views you need; Petronas Towers are just for eyeing from street level.

Masjid Asy-Syakirin mosque

After gawking at Petronas, we walked around the especially lovely KLCC Park. In one corner there is a mosque, and we weren’t sure if we were allowed to enter it. But it looked inviting. A sign out front said Masjid Asy-Syakirin.

Figuring someone would tell us if we were doing something wrong, we cautiously stepped onto the lovely white and pale green plaza, and sure enough someone approached us very quickly, looking rather disgusted. Masayo was wearing a low-cut shirt and I was wearing shorts, apparently big violations of decorum. The guy gave Masayo a headdress and robe to wear so we could stay without further offense, but it was clear we weren’t especially welcome after all this.

We strolled about a little, peeking into an enclosed area but not entering (Masayo wouldn’t have been allowed anyway) and then made a quick exit back into the park.

So much for international diplomacy.

Indiatown

Although there is a section called Brickfields that is Kuala Lumpur’s “official” Indiatown, there is another nearby area within walking distance from Chinatown. On Day 53, after seeing the Petronas Towers and KLCC area, we visited this Indiatown.

While there, I found a barber shop and got a haircut, and gazed at the mysterious Tamil writing all around. It looks like a fascinating script; I wish I would learn it but I have no real reason to.

Indiatown is a vibrant but somewhat downtrodden area full of busy shops, people in colorful robes, and of course cheap and excellent food. The potent and alluring smells of Indiatown will be in my memory for a long time.

Eating in KL

We had some nice eating experiences in Kuala Lumpur; the restaurants are pretty cheap and, especially in Chinatown and Bukit Bintang, there is such a mix of delicious street food and small shops that we always found a great sampling of things for every meal.

On Jalan Alor in Bukit Bintang, I got to talking with the Chinese woman working at a restaurant where I was eating. She ended up taking Masayo and I out with her boyfriend a few days later for some “authentic” Chinese food, the kind of which I’d never had before. Nothing at all like Chinese food in America!

Conclusion

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is a wonderful city. We managed to kill 22 extra days there and loved all of it. Wish we’d had more time to kill!

Slow travel is not an event or a holiday; it’s a lifestyle. I’m glad we are taking our Southeast Asia trip at this pace. It might be nice to sometimes go a little faster, but having three weeks off and just getting to know a place better is its own reward too.

What’s the longest you’ve ever stayed in a single place while traveling? At what pace do you like to travel?

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