Kuala Lumpur - getting around and first day

As I should have expected, the plan did not go so much... as planned.

The aim of the day was to visit the National Mosque and the Islamic arts Museum Of Malaysia.

Both are located in the same area of the city, short distance from the central train station. I decided to head there walking... which was not a bad idea but the difficulty to reach these places efficiently was doomed by the fact that I was not carrying a good map, just a poorly printed copy displaying only the main roads.

One of the entrance of the National Mosque

For that reason I took several detours around the National Mosque. When I eventually got there I was welcome by a group of devoted Muslims giving free gifts (a piece of cake and a little perfume). The Islamic community is celebrating the birthday of the Prophet, hence the little present to visitors. Unfortunately, no access was granted to me at the Mosque since I arrived during praying hours. 

Islamic arts Museum

Next stop the Museum located 5 minutes walk from the Mosque.

Getting there, the emptiness of the place really surprised me. It would turn out that I arrived after the first round of group visits and left before the second round of group visits. Lunch time IS the perfect time of the day to visit this place, you skip the noisy and not always interested foreigners.

The different exhibits were absolutely wonderful. I got to learn a lot of things about Muhammed, Islam, Prayers, Architecture, Calligraphy ... and Islamic arts in general. A temporary exhibition of Austria and Islam highlighted the influence of the Muslim world to this european nation.

This museum is a must if you are curious and want to learn about another culture. I have to thank Thierry for the tip there. It turned out I spent much more time than expected visiting the collections loosing another opportunity to go to the Mosque (visits in between prayers).

I decided to return and go towards the Twin Towers, walking around the city for a total of 20km according to the activity tracker of my watch. I eventually got back to the park I was running in the same morning... but absolutely crowded. It would have been impossible to run during the day. 

Shopping mall underneath the Petronas Twin Towers facing the KLCC park

Petronas Twin Towers. Once the tallest building in the world.

I returned to the hostel around 5 pm, lied down for a little bit while uploading the pictures on the computer and speaking to other guests. We decided at 6pm to go have a drink at the Heli Bar, a heliport during the day that transforms in a lounge bar in the evening. The view up there is amazing: KL tower on one side, Twin Towers on the other side. The group of people I am with could hardly be more international: an American, a few Brits, an Ukrainian, a Dutch and a Malaysian. 

That's what travelling is all about, meeting different people and sharing experiences.

Photo credit Aizad.

Tomorrow I will be heading to Cameron Highlands, known for its tea plantation and endless hiking possibilities.

And some more photos and curiosities:

KLCC park. Despite being rather small, it is possible to take pictures without humans on it!

Sidewalks with roof are found everywhere in KL.

View from the heli lounge bar before sunset.

Kuala Lumpur - getting in and first night

Here I am!

The journey was long and almost sleepless.

30 minutes in the plane to Istanbul (3 hours total) and twice an hour en route to Malaysia (on a 10 hours flight). As usual I could watch a few movies: the last Bourne, the Intern, Angry Bird, Point Break, Joy.

Arriving in Kuala Lumpur international airport, there are many ways to reach the center of the city. The quickest (and the one that cost more) is the express train that reach the central station in 30 min for 55 MYR (around 12 euros). This is the option I went for. I couldn't be bothered to look for the right bus and spend hours in traffic before eventually getting somewhere in the center where I would have had to find my way to the hostel.

From KL Sentral arriving with the express train, I knew I had to take the Green MonoRail until AsiaAir - Bukit Bintang stop. Easy but it still took me 1h30 to reach the final destination for the day. After a quick check in, a well deserved shower, I went in the surrounding streets to grab water and food. It is quite amazing how the main street (with their McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks and Irish Pubs) can differ from the side street (with a lot of nice local restaurants and their "terrasses" virtually tourist free).

My diner - Pad Thai and a cold Tiger

Soon enough, it was time to go to bed.

The night turned out to be very short. Someone in my dorm got back from partying at 4am. Impossible for me to go back to sleep.  I took the opportunity to make some researches and plan the day, watch the last 30 minutes of PSG against Nice, check out on Saint Etienne results and sports in general (nothing different from my daily routine :D). Outside it is pouring rain, one of these nice and warm tropical rain. I have identify what I want to do/visit during the day... It is naturally time for a run :D.

It felt amazing. There were no one in the city, the skyscrapers for company and the park right below the Petronas Twin Towers for playground. Arriving in the city yesterday I was doubtful it would be a runners friendly city. I was so wrong. The park I went to had a 1 km athletic track making it a perfect place for a little workout. After a few loops I went back towards the hotel trying to run under the Menara Kuala Lumpur - another tower looking like a mix between Vancouver's Lookout and Berlin's TV Tower. I eventually got lost... When I found my way back and got to the hotel, I had ran for 14km approximatively with 410m of ascent Kuala Lumpur is NOT flat at all but the 5.09min/km suggest I am in a decent shape (not sure if it is public data - try to click here to check the workout otherwise see below).

1st morning run including 8 loops around KLCC park

I can't wait for coming races I registered myself into:
- a mini marathon on Xmas in Bangkok (10.5km)
- a half marathon on the 8th of January in Cebu - Philippines.

No more blabla for now.
Time to actually visit the city and try to take some pictures.
The visiting tour should take me to the National Mosque, the Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia, Chinatown and couple of temples (Sin Sze Si Ya and Sri Mahamariamman Temples).