On the Top in Kuala Lumpur

I am not sure why I love Kuala Lumpur, maybe because it can be everything, crazy, entertaining, fascinating, dirty and raunchy, modern and clean or traditional… Somehow there is everything….. and I love to be in the middle of it. It must have been 20 years ago when I was there the first time. This time I went there with my missus, who has not that much travel experience. I booked a hotel in Petaling Street (China Town), where each night a rather crazy market awakes. It is also in walking distance to a lot of attractions in Kuala Lumpur (KL).

The Hotel was basic, but had all I need, a bed, air-con, free Wi-Fi, clean and cheap for KL. Who wants to stay his time in a hotel room anyway? While going to other countries (not as a laborer, but for pleasure) is something very special for the average Filipino anyway, I wanted to put the cherry on top of that.

Petronas Twin Towers

After a bit thinking I had an idea which is certainly something special for anybody. We went to the Petronas Twin Towers the very first day of our week-long trip. That whole area drags me there like it is a human magnet. Of course we had to take the obligatory pictures standing in front of that majestic architecture.

My missus was already fascinated when we entered one of the towers. We went to the first level underground, where the visitor center is located. After looking around for 15 minutes I went to the ticket counter to get info about the option of going up. They told us that the next two days are already fully booked, but after that are some options.

A trip to the top of the Petronas Twin Towers is around 80US$ per head. Now for some that might sound expensive, for me it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I purchased two tickets. While buying them I asked the sales-guy what time he would go. “Surely for the sunset” was his answer. So Friday evening sunset it was for us.

We actually left our Hotel really early, that we actually can walk to the KL Twin Towers. The sky was cloudy and it drizzled a little bit, so we flagged down a taxi. While we usually had the best experience with KL traffic and Taxis, today all was against us. Half an hour later we were still not even 250 meters further. Stuck in traffic, the clock was ticking. We moved another hundred meters and were jammed again. Between two skyscrapers we could see the Petronas Towers looming. We got out of the Taxi and started to ruuuuuuun….

We Did It…

About 5 minutes before the time mentioned on the ticket we arrived in the basement of the KL Twin Towers. Soaked with sweat and rain we were standing at the counter catching our breath. However, the blood-pressure got normal again and excitement took over.

Each group is about 30 people or so and after a quick intro we were guided into one of the two elevators, reserved for tourists. The elevators are inside the towers. However the walls are LCD TVs and the ride up to the Skybridge level seemed like a trip outside the towers.

The skybridge is on the 41^st and 42^nd floor, whereas the upper one is for the tenants or business-visitors, I believe. We made it just perfectly timed at sunset. Once again thanks for the great advice of the ticket-guy. The rain and the run were totally forgotten. The view into the sunset from one of the highest buildings in the world is totally breath-taking.

I was standing there with my missus and were just speechless. Maybe after 10 minutes staring fascinated from the skybridge onto the surrounding world we got forced friendly back to another elevator to the observation deck on 370 meters, or so. The sun was gone at that point and the city lights from the top were painting a beautiful, almost surrealistic picture.

Once again, I just catch myself starring speechless out of the glass-front. After 25 minutes it was time to leave the observation deck and get back with our feet on the ground, where we just saw the little ant-like creatures from high above crawling through the streets of Kuala Lumpur. After leaving the Petronas Twin Towers we took some last pictures from the outside and let the day end in a nearby restaurant, before heading back to the hotel.

It is probably one of that “once in a lifetime” experiences for most people. It surely was for me and my missus and I was thrilled myself, seeing her excitement, her glowing eyes, her bright smile is just priceless.