KL, that is Kuala Lumpur, is not like any other town. It’s like taking a mixture of all big or notable cities around the world, shake, stir and then spill some on the table while pouring the drink into an old tea mug…
Ehm. Anyway, Kuala Lumpur is huge, and I mean huge area wise (it’s huge in many other aspects too, though). There seems to be no limit on the spreading of the city, and there is also an apparent lack of city planning. Skyscrapers designed by architectural geniuses stand shoulder to shoulder (or rather foot to shoulder) with forgotten construction yards, garbage piles, small mosques or just badly maintained concrete condos. The city core is defined by the Petronas Tower and the line from them to the TV tower, but its hard to really distinguish the city center. You can find enormous skyscrapers far out in the suburbs, and you can walk in the city center in the middle of the day and not really meeting anybody…
Kuala Lumpur is famous for its horrible traffic. The city is heavily polluted and constantly under attack from millions of vehicles – many of them shining SUV:s. Which takes me to the next point – KL is a city of sharp contrast between the rich and the poor. Or rather, most people seem to be quite well off in KL, but in the same time, the poverty is alwaays visible. The really rich ones are nowhere to be seen… The city is no less then five or six commuter systems with include monorails, normal trains and subway, but they don’t seem to make much difference.
Culturally KL is extremely mixed, almost more than Singapore. Malays, Chinese, Indians, Arabs and European ex-pats are side by side. As the country is muslim the city makes a sharp contrast to other Asian sprawls – many buildings are clearly islamic, there are lots of mosques and traditionally dressed muslim women can be seen everywhere, especially in the governmental offices.
Anyway, enough about this city. I will leave it soon in favour of Langkawi, a paradise island up north (unfortunately a quite touristic place). And after that, we will head for the Sarawak state in Borneo for some jungle safari!