Zip Trip to Malaysia - Photo Trip Report

[Big Boy]

That overhead rack was the top bunk

As it turned out, yes, I could have, but the train was supposed to be fully booked - we were expecting somebody to board the train later.

[PeteC]

No, no...I meant photos 162 & 163....

[Big Boy]

The Malaysian Train had proper storage facilities anyway. Even the suitcase from hell was not a problem on that baby.

[lomuamart]

Good trip report, BB.

I used to take the train quite regularly to Butterworth and then over to Penang for visa runs. I have fond memories of doing so but that was back in the day when the restaurant car sold beer which was stopped a few years ago (I assume it still is a no-no).

And there was one time, for some reason, I stayed the night in Pedang Besar when just doing a 30 day run. That night I went out trying to find where the action was and got nowhere except for a motorcycle taxi dropping me off at a karaoke joint and they got seriously upset with me when I didn't take one of the girls upstairs. I got out quick.

But that was it, that I found, so you're probably quite correct that nothing ever happens there unlike Sungai Kolok on the other side of Thailand which was really good fun - again, back in the day and before I got married!!

[Big Boy]

I think you were probably at the 'other' Padang Besar. The new one seems to be in no man's land. The only building was a temple, which was under renovation. Literally, nothing else.

[lomuamart]

Yes, it was a town.

[migrant]

Thanks!!

[buksida]

Great report, feels like I'm back there again. Have done that train journey several times!

[Big Boy]

It'll be in my conclusion, but while the plane is flying, once is enough. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but 2hrs against 25hrs is a no brainer. Cost is very similar.

[PeteC]

You have to like train journeys and watching the scenery and life going by, and I think most do at least once in a while. If you do it again you could take a day or two in KL then onward to Johor Bharu and over into Singapore. I don't know if you can go by Malaysian train now all the way into Singapore but must be a way to link up with their MRT system on the other side of the bridge if not.

[Big Boy]

Oh yes. I wouldn't have missed the railway journey for anything - it was a great experience. However, a full day's travellin to go next door sounds excessive. Even visiting the outlaws in Isaan these day we tend to fly.

[Big Boy]

Part 3

Exploring

We knew we had to book for the Petronas Towers, and time was limited, so this was our first stop. Our intention was to book for the first tour of the following morning. Yes, I could have booked online, but I heard that on production of our passports, wrinklies can gain admission for half price. Sure enough, when we got to the booking office, the lady at the desk tactfully asked us if we might qualify for the wrinkly concession price (so it must true what they say when I walk down Binthabat, and they shout out for the handsome young man). Well, I was ready, and simply slid my passport across the desk – half price ticket (42RM) was duly issued for 9am the next day.

I'm not sure how long I've been Irish, but that is what she got from my passport.

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I must say. The building itself was amazing – a huge mall at the bottom, and beautiful grounds and fountains outside. Lovely for a city centre. I had always envisaged this building as a dull concrete clad affair. It couldn’t have been further from the truth. It was a beautiful modern building.

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Anyway, that was just a ticket buying exercise. Petronas Towers would be the next day. It was time to continue our exploration.

An early stop on the Forum’s earlier trip report was Merdeka Square to take a photo of quirky flag pole. My preparations told me to take the LRT to Masjid Jamek. It would be a short walk from there (or at least, that was the cunning plan).

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My intention had been to use a downloaded Google Map of Kuala Lumpur to get around. When I tried, the message kept warning me that the walking feature was not available for downloaded maps. OK I think, we’ll just walk where the cars go. I worked out that we needed to turn left out of the station. However, before we set off, we checked with a local – he also confirmed turn left. This guy was the only unhelpful person we’d find during our stay in Malaysia (actually, there was a 2nd at airport security, but more about her later).

So, off we go in search of Merdeka Square. We were walking along the road quite confidently, enjoying the fact that they have pavements in Malaysia. We weren’t as fast as a car, so my satnav was quiet. Then we hear it – in 400 mtrs make a u-turn. We looked at the junction, and concluded it meant turn right i.e. it was like a 2700 turn. We continued for quite a while, and then again - in 400 mtrs make a u-turn. This time warning bells sounded. I zoomed out on the map, and there was Merdeka Square in completely the opposite direction. Then I realised, we were walking along dual carriageways, and we were on the left. Had we crossed the road at any time, the satnav would have taken us in the right direction. An important lesson had been learned, and I then started reading the map as opposed to listening to commands. So the short walk to Merdeka Square (a taxi driver told us better known as Independence Square) became a very long walk. When we eventually got there, I think we were both totally underwhelmed.

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However, there were some very impressive, non-Asian looking buildings in the vicinity, which did impress.

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The theme throughout the day so far had been clean, clean and more clean. Not a bit of litter anywhere, and we were covering a lot of ground on foot – we would have seen it. Just look at the photos, they don’t lie.

……./to be continued.

[Big Boy]

Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park and Bird Park

After the experience of getting to Merdeka Square, we were a bit wary about the ‘short walk up the hill’ to the Butterfly Park. So when you’re not sure, what do you do? You ask a policeman. A couple of policemen had indicated that we had to get off the grass at Merdeka Square, which we duly did when we’d finished taking our photos. We then chased after them to ask for directions. I immediately knew by his reaction that it was more than a ‘short walk’, especially for a couple of wrinklies. Basically, go back to the main road. Turn right and at the 2nd roundabout take the exit at 2 o’clock. Then a ‘long walk’ up the hill, and eventually it would be signposted. The police officers we spoke to were very friendly/helpful – we didn’t get the impression at any time that we were being assessed to work out how much they could scam out of us.

So off we go, and we walked, and we walked and we walked.

I’ve already mentioned the cleanliness of this country, but this city is also very green. Not only in the city centre where we were based, but everywhere. When looking out of my hotel window (6th floor), and looking down to the road, I am looking through a canopy of tree tops.

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Well, this walk was every bit as pleasant. Yes, on one side there was a noisy road, but on our other side there was always a huge amount of greenery. The closer we got to the Butterflies and Birds, despite being entrenched in the middle of a capital city, the concrete became less and less and the greenery, sometimes beautifully sculptured and other times very natural (read jungle) just took over. We were a couple of wrinklies doing a long walk in the heat of the tropical midday sun, but it was a very pleasant walk. We were enjoying a stroll through one of the many parks in this city. We stuck to our script – Birds and Butterflies, but we could just as easily have spent several days visiting the many other attractions in this park as well.

Eventually we came to the 2nd roundabout. There were 2 exits at 2 o’clock (either side of a railway track). My map only showed 1 road. We thought about it and decided to go up the first until we could see if there was a bridge of any kind across the track. There wasn’t, so we back-tracked, and took the 2nd road. As we started up the hill a little old lady came past. I stopped her and asked her to confirm we were on the right road to the Butterfly Park. Again, with perfect English, she confirmed we were on the right road, but again, we got this quirky look that told us it was a long way for a couple of wrinklies to walk.

Undeterred, we continued, and we saw something with a sign in Malay, so in we went (satnav was indicating a further 60 mtrs on the left). We basically wandered around the car park, didn’t find an entrance to anything and exited the car park again. Carried on up the hill, and sure enough, 60 mtrs further on was a turning left, but it wasn’t the Butterfly Park. We just kept on walking.

Eventually, we arrived. Now, after reading the previous Forum report, I wasn’t too keen on going in, but my friend loves anything nature. The report had suggested it had gone downhill from a visit a few years before.

We got inside 25RM each, and it was way much better than I had been expecting. I can’t imagine how they could have improved on it. Well established gardens, with numerous water features and of course thousands of beautiful butterflies. We really enjoyed it.

The big problem with butterflies, and there must have been thousands of them, they don’t keep still very long. So when you’re trying to capture them with a point and shoot camera, it is nigh on impossible. Hopefully the gardens impress.

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Now it was a ‘short walk’ to the Bird Park, which took about 30 minutes – so between 1 and 2 miles.

Something I had noticed on our travels was a number of hop on/hop off tourist bus stops. I only spotted one of these buses during our extensive walks, so don’t know their frequency, but I’m sure this could have saved tired feet with a little research had we known previously.

When we arrived, we paid our 63RM each to get in, and started the grand tour. Vast beautiful gardens, with numerous water features again.

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Divided into 4 zones.

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I actually looked at the netted gardens to keep the birds in, and likened what I was seeing to the failed bird project at Hin Lek Fai. It’s a shame that failed as I’d have liked to have compared the 2. I’m actually off the Uthai Thani for a few days at the end of November, so I’ll probably call into the Chainat Bird Park to do a comparison. Kuala Lumpur claims to be the biggest and best, but I have nothing to compare it to. I will report back if I go in.

The birds in the garden were amazing, and generally very friendly. They were clearly used to being around people and showed no fear. It was fantastic to walk amongst the huge storks, etc. and pass as close to them as people in the street.

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There were also some very dangerous birds such as the Cassowaries – the most dangerous birds in the world. Wow!!! That middle claw was so big – it looked really evil. These were obviously caged separately. I did have a name for that huge claw, but I can’t write it here – it isn’t very PC.

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Some of the pigeon breeds – must have be 10x larger than any pigeon I’ve ever seen before. Some of them had really attractive head feathers.

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At various times during the day there are feeding sessions – we walked past a couple, but didn’t stop to watch. Basically, we’d seen it all before. I was very impressed with the stork’s nesting area. We could look over them, and saw young birds in the nests. It was absolutely brilliant.

I don’t know how far it is around the park if you follow the suggested route, but I’d guess at well over 2 miles of pathways.

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We’d done a lot of walking already, and it was time to go back to the hotel to shower and change for the evening. Our feet were quite sore, so we decided to get a taxi back to the hotel – 30RM. We’d been in the taxi a good 10 minutes when we passed Merdeka Square, so that puts the ‘short walk up the hill’ into perspective.

On the way back to the hotel, the taxi driver was pointing out various things to see and do. In my introduction, I say how so many have said how there’s nothing to do in Malaysia. On that taxi ride alone, there was enough to keep a tourist going for a couple of weeks.

……./to be continued.

[caller]

Great report BB but a shame to learn such a beautiful bird as the cassowary has to be caged, rather than having a suitably designed enclosure of their own. I've seen them in a zoo and in the wild and they are majestic.

[buksida]

I guess we're just used to trudging around Asian cities. I think we'd walked to the square from our hotel so the butterfly park was a 'relatively short walk' extra for us!

Glad you made it there anyway and enjoyed it. Walking around KL is so much nicer than Bangkok.