Photos of a few days in Kuala Lumpur in mid-December 2011.
Flying to Sri Lanka from Australia usually involves a stopover in KL, and since I am fond of KL I was happy to spend a few days there. Also, the wonderful people at Hotel Equatorial in KL have been sending me delightful birthday emails since my last visit several years ago, so I thought it was time I repaid their loyalty.
KL is a difficult place to like, but I am fond of it. Just why is difficult to say. It is a place of contrasts, where modernity and progress sit next to urban grunge and tropical vegetation. Seeing a dense and thriving tropical garden in front of an office block, or finding a classic Malaysian hawker centre tucked away, almost hidden, at the side of an office building is typical of KL's character and is part of what makes it so compelling.
I stayed at Hotel Equatorial, in the Bukit Bintang area, and used the monorail to get around. This time I discovered that I could use the monorail to get to Chinatown without needing to change modes of transport. Most of my two days was spent in Bukit Bintang and Chinatown, where I revisited old haunts and marvelled again at the amazing character of the place.