Okay, the title is not a fair assessment of this beautiful country. If you are going to Malaysia from Singapore, you will be able to stretch your wallet a little more. Furthermore, Malaysia offers a lot more to do and see compared to the smaller City/State of Singapore; and this is by no means disrespect to Singapore, who boasts a lot to do in that small country.
Kuala Lumpur
After taking a bus from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, I settled in a nice hostel to catch some Zs. The next day, I went on a walking tour of the city. KL is a great city to walk, but their transportation is one of the best in the world and cheap. Transportation is well-connected through the city, and they are planning to expand it further. If you are lazy to walk around KL, jump on their various trains or buses and you will get to your destination pretty quickly.
I had pinpointed certain points to cover before I began my journey. From Kuala Lumpur city gallery to the National Mosque. But one of the key things I want to do was… EAT! And eat I did. With good, cheap meals from $1-$3, there was no shortage of food in the city. Later that evening, I played some Congkak, a traditional Malaysian game and I let the local win ;). The game also introduced me to other travelers and I ended up competing in an all you can drink in the one-hour special; national pride was on the line, and I am happy to say that Canada beat the likes of UK and US 🙂
The next couple of days, recovering from the nice hangover, I explored the big buildings, had some cheap meals, had a nice chat with a fellow commonwealth traveler and went to Batu Caves before I got on a night train to get to Georgetown, Penang.
KL On A Budget
Okay, so as a budget traveler, I limit spending money and limit to visual tourism, unless of course if the excursions are free. Here is a list of things to do in KL that wouldn’t cost you a dime!
- Petronas Twin Tower – The obvious one, the most significant building in Malaysia. The building is a thing of beauty and if you go in the evening, you can also see a water and light show. Cost-free to look from the outside 🙂
- Menara Kuala Lumpur or KL Tower – Another significant building in KL and a pretty one to look at. It resembles the CN tower in Toronto, but with a Malaysian touch (I don’t know what that means). The tower is hard to miss no matter where you are in KL.
- Batu Caves – I highly recommend taking the train to Gombak to get a glimpse of this colorful temple. With the rainbow stairs, a giant statue (Rama I think) and all the magnificent mini temples and sculptures inside the caves, this place is gorgeous. I did pay 7 Ringgits to go to the Ravana cave as well, where you can see beautiful images and statues depicting Ramayana (Hindu Holy Book).
- National Mosque – Although I didn’t go inside, the structure is a beautiful monument to look at from the outside. If you want to go inside the mosque, I recommend looking at the prayer schedule and heading there outside of the time.
- Masjid Jamek – A small cute mosque, another one I missed going inside due to prayer time, but still the charms are displayed from the outside.
- Kuala Lumpur City Gallery – One of the free galleries to visit, I highly recommend visiting it as you will get a good glimpse of the entire city with 3D artworks and a light show giving you the highlight of the city and what the future holds for KL
- China Town – I feel like a trip is not complete if you don’t visit a “China town” in any city that has one. And like any other China town, the KL version didn’t disappoint either. With delicious and cheap meals and cheap souvenirs, you can get whatever you want here.
- Gardens – By the National Mosque, there are many gardens and parks where you can enjoy some nature. A botanical garden, butterfly park, bird park and many more. However, I didn’t go inside any of them because of the price tag attached next to them. I know I promised free excursions but I believe this could be of interest to nature lover with a thicker wallet.
I did see a lot more while I walked around this beautiful city, but these are what I thought were must sees/dos (from budget-friendly standpoint).
Georgetown, Penang – City of (not so hidden) art.
While I was in KL, a lot of other travelers talked about Georgetown, a must visit city in Malaysia. Naturally, I took an overnight train to Georgetown, where I slept in the station for like 3 hours since the train arrived at 3 am and the ferry didn’t run until 6 am. But once I got to the city, oh God wow! Cheap food, a lot of artwork, multiple beaches and a mountain to hike.
What to do in Georgetown, Penang:
- Street Art – Walk around this amazing city and you will find street art at every corner. Honestly, I would say this is the most important (and fun) thing to do in Georgetown. But good luck finding it all. I was able to discover a lot of them, both the well-known and the unknown ones. I eventually gave up as there was no end to it
- Penang Hill – Lies! It’s a fricking mountain! Okay, maybe not that extreme but the elevation was pretty intense and I swear it took these two ladies and I forever to get to the top. But at the top, you will be welcomed with restaurants and a view that is worth the climb. If you don’t want to test your fitness, you can opt-In to take the cable car.
- Cheap Noodles – 2 Ringgit NOODLES y’all! Literally, my diet consisted of noodles because of 1, I love noodles and 2, because they were 2 Ringgits!
As always there are more things to see and do, but these are what I considered were budget friendly highlights of the city.
Malaysian people are also amazingly friendly! Always smile on their face and was happy to help you. I was also lucky to talk to some locals as well, who were much more eager to indulge in conversion even with the language barriers.
Despite some issues and controversies (I mean which country doesn’t have one?), I recommend visiting this beautiful country at least once. I am planning to go back next year to explore a couple more cities in Malaysia, especially Borneo!
