Kuala Lumpur – towers, tours and pause. 

The Petronas Towers are a breathtaking sight and we were lucky enough to be staying in an Airbnb that was close enough that if you opened the window (not advisable on the 32nd floor!) you felt you could almost touch them. They are very reminiscent of a pair of Chrysler buildings. We had a tour inside which included walking across the sky bridge, we decided to stay inside rather than attempt the Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones (Entrapment) method of crossing. 
Having the apartment for a week gave us a bit of space and time to relax. We still explored the city but also had a bit of down time. 

We did the ‘hop on hop off’ bus tour route 3 times in the 24 hours. By the final time we realised that the tour was, necessarily, taking us round in circles at times, so the city wasn’t as big as we first thought and several of the sights were actually quite close together. 

We probably had a bit of nature fatigue by this point, especially after our time in Borneo, so the Botanical Gardens, Butterfly Park and Bird Park didn’t have the same attraction as they might have done earlier in the trip. However we did go to see the indoor amusement park complete with rollercoaster!

KL is a typically SE Asian city. It had some stunning sights, new shopping malls and an obvious ambition to be western. From what we’ve seen on this trip the idea of a great city seems to be one that has a skyline to rival New York, and a plethora of Starbucks, McDonalds and KFCs. Often in trying to realise this ambition they overlook their own culture and their priorities in planning and building go awry. 

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