Bex Takes On…Kuala Lumpur

Next stop…the capital of Malaysia! My inner F1 geek was excited for this one.

Our first stop was the stunning Batu Caves. A beautiful Hindu temple sits at the bottom of a steep set of stairs that take you into one of the caves.

A second temple lies in the chamber of the cave. We visited the day before a major Hindu festival so there was a buzz in the air as people were preparing. It was amazing to see it so bright, colourful and full of energy!

Luckily, it was a bit overcast and rainy so the climb up the stairs wasn’t too bad. We still had to watch out for cheeky monkeys though. If you stop to watch them for too long they can quite quickly become aggressive so you have to be careful. The stairs themselves are so colourful and it creates a stunning view as you look up from the bottom.

After Batu caves, a local tour guide took us to several main spots in Kuala Lumpur, including the River of Life (a Mosque where the two rivers meet), Merdeka Square Park and the National Mosque.

Inside the Mosque, we spoke to a Muslim volunteer who explained the main beliefs of Islam and how the Mosque had been designed. It was really interesting to learn more about a different religion and understand more about their philosophy. She told us about how she went to New Zealand after the recent terrorist attack to offer support. I liked seeing a different side of Islam to that which is usually portrayed in the news.

The following day (Mum’s birthday!) we had some downtime (I went for a well deserved foot massage – amazing!) before heading to KLCC in the evening. We grabbed a quick dinner from the massive shopping mall. There were so many designer shops there it was unbelievable.

And then the big event. The one I’d been waiting for…the Petronas towers! Inner F1 geek satisfied. Such beautiful buildings, and so hard to get a good photo of yourself in front of them!

After all the mini photo shoots, we headed across the road to Traders Sky Bar. Once we’d passed the temperature test (pesky coronavirus!) they let us up to the 33rd floor. The main part of the floor is taken up by a swimming pool, with the bar along one side and the seating all around the edges of the pool. Definitely the fanciest sky bar I’ve ever been to.

The view of the Petronas towers was absolutely amazing. And I was so pleased that we were there on Mum’s birthday so I could have a celebratory cocktail in an unbelievable location. She might not have been there in person, but Mum was definitely with me in spirit (and my phone because we FaceTimed once I was back at the hotel!).

I’m going to end on a photo taken from the sky bar because it speaks for itself…