"KL: Ho hum!!" Kuala Lumpur by Gnome

Kuala Lumpur Travel Guide: 5,929 reviews and 13,249 photos

I hope I don't offend anyone (especially the locals in KL), but KL tends to have more hassles than good points. Saying that, I must admit that the locals are quite friendly for a big city and the food is great, but that is the end of my list of good points about KL - and remember that you can get great food and meet friendly people throughout the rest of Malaysia.

KL is Malaysia's largest city, situated inland on the western side of Malaysia. It has no coast and no beaches, although it does have the heat and humidity of the equatorial tropics. In my humble opinion, KL is just an badly planned city with lots of traffic and pollution with the occasional tower that is worth a glance. It is really difficult to get around KL, and pollution from all the cars tends to lie down in the valleys, so it can be very smoggy. Petronas Towers can be quite impressive, if you can manage to see through the smog - but you have to wonder about the priorities of the people here, as I have been told that they are are still only half occupied - not like the roads. The nightlife tends to be very subdued in comparison to other places in the region - dare I say even Singapore can be more fun (but KL is cheaper). Another sad thing is that even the old nieghbourhoods have not been looked after very well. In a few years, hopefully they will close off the roads and make the older areas more pleasant, but at the moment, you have to negotiate terrible traffic and fumes if you are in the old areas of town.

There are some great restaurants in Bangsar, but once again, you can find this sort of thing in other places as well - so it is not worth going to KL just for that.

Last visit to Kuala Lumpur: Sep 1999
Intro Written Sep 11, 2002
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Reviews (4)

Any five star hotel - KL... Hotels (1)

Any five star hotel - KL hotels are really cheap in comparison to other cities, especially if you do your homework. And... more travel advice

TRAFFIC / SMOG

I guess this... Warnings and Dangers (1)

TRAFFIC / SMOG I guess this is not a danger, but who wants to spend the majority of their holiday stuck in a major... more travel advice

Batu Caves Things to Do (1)

If you happen to be stuck in KL on a weekend, this may be worth a visit. Only if you are really bored.... It is a big... more travel advice

Go to some of the great... Favorites (1)

Go to some of the great restaurants - ask the locals and look for places that are crowded - it is always a good sign... more travel advice

Comments (8)

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po_ning Jan 3, 2001 at 1:26 PM

My experience exactly. I am not going back again.
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AliJoe Dec 2, 2000 at 8:18 AM

Excellent commentry.I had been 7 yrs in S`pore,I know what yo
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LittleWonder Nov 19, 2000 at 12:41 PM

Good info!
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Irwan Sep 23, 2000 at 3:41 AM

Nice.......
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Krystynn Sep 5, 2000 at 12:48 AM

No, they won`t get angry. They`d be VERY angry! Heh! Heh!!!
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mtlim Aug 6, 2000 at 9:01 PM

Fact`s wrong - Batu Caves is within KL
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ijaju Jul 18, 2000 at 12:43 AM

****
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patrickj1 Mar 21, 2000 at 6:00 AM

tell it like it is