Lord Murugan statue at Batu Caves        Bustling Pavilion Mall late in the evening   Ostentation abounds in new developments       Temptation on Jalan Alor

What to see. 

KL is an interesting city, which may smack of faint praise, but isn't intended that way. My first trip to a modern Asian capital (I have to say Kathmandu when I visited in 2005 could not be described as modern), I was intrigued that the whole place used to be tropical jungle before urbanisation, and there is plenty of evidence around the outskirts of the city centre of KL's green roots. In the centre it's a different kind of jungle, with four main areas that weekend visitors are likely to explore, and a 45 minute taxi ride to one of its main attractions on the outskirts.

The old town is centred around Merdeka Square, formerly a cricket pitch with pavilion type buildings adorning one side as a reminder of its colonial past, opposite the dramatic Moorish influenced Sultan Abdul Samad building, which used to house the colonial administration before independence. With enormous expanses of road and building construction right now, the whole area could easily be described as a concrete jungle. Yet there are pockets among the dust well worth visiting. 

Such as Chinatown's Petaling Street market, where you'll be greeted by every hawker with an invitation to view his or her 'Best copies' of the luxury brand names that adorn every stall. That they are fakes is so openly acknowledged and done with good humour that it felt like fun, and never degenerated into feeling pestered, as a cheery 'No thanks' in reply was immediately accepted.

The Central Mosque is very impressive and Central Market a good place to see genuine art and craft mostly produced by the vendors themselves.

KLCC by contrast, is unashamedly a jungle of modern glass and steel skyscrapers housing offices, smart restaurants and apartments. The area is dominated of course by the twin Petronas Towers, adjacent to a surprisingly peaceful city park. The Symphony Lake alongside the towers comes into its own at 8pm every night with a dazzling display of fountains 'dancing' in a brightly coloured lightshow set to music.

Bukit Bintang sits between those two areas, and shares the traits of both in its contrast between obvious wealth and obvious poverty in close proximity. Increasing numbers of huge shopping malls such as The Pavilion housing over 550 retail and dining outlets, are stunning in their scale and ostentation. They represent the government goal of KL becoming THE tourist shopping destination in South Asia. From the lack of custom we saw in the uber-smart shops on an otherwise busy Saturday afternoon, I fear that among the seemingly endless developments currently shifting the balance of the area away from traditional towards commercial, there will be plenty of white elephants that could prove counter-productive for that policy's success in the long term.

One draw that is a tourist magnet night after night is at the opposite end of the luxury scale in Bukit Bintang. Jalan Alor is KL's street food centre, with dozens of stalls and open air restaurants vying to attract every passer-by. About as far removed from its posh neighbours as can be in terms of both setting and prices, it's colourful, noisy and chaotic, which makes it a fun place to enjoy cheap, really tasty food from all over the Pacific region. Drinks choices are limited, but substantially less expensive than bars and cafes in the malls. We enjoyed all three evenings of our stopover there.

Perdana Park. Housing a bird park (good if you aren't a conscientious objector to birds in cages), an orchid display (not so good) and ornamental lake within its 225 acres of sculptured parkland, it's a pleasant oasis from the hustle and bustle of the city. As it's also a surprisingly long walk on undulating roads from the nearest metro station (Pasar Seni), take a taxi to get there (but be wary of the taxi tricks I come to in a little while).

Batu Caves are a 30 minute taxi ride north from KL, or a short train journey from Sentral on the KTM Komuter Line. Featuring the world's tallest statue of Hindu deity Lord Murugan, devotees and tourists alike climb 272 steps to view the limestone caves containing a variety of Hindu shrines. We happened to be there during the annual Thaipusam festival, so had the bonus of traipsing round a huge market of stalls selling all things Indian. The thousands of Hindus making the pilgrimage did make getting tickets for the train journey back a bit of a challenge. 

Beware the all-pervasive monkeys. They will grab anything that's going, including handbags, in their apparently non-stop quest for food.

Women visiting Batu caves should ensure their clothing is suitable, which means it should cover shoulders, upper arms and knees. 

Getting around.

The metro and monorail are efficient, although there is no day pass, so you must buy single or return tickets for each journey at the time you take it.

Taxis. Every guide you read about KL will warn you about taxis and the importance of using registered and metered vehicles, preferably where the fee can be advised in advance from a managed service. Not as straightforward as it sounds. 

We had drivers 'forget' to turn on their meter, only to say the fare is usually a certain amount. The only certain bit is that the fare the driver tries to collect will be substantially higher than the fare that had been quoted by the management. We heard of drivers threatening passengers who questioned such tactics, but didn't experience that ourselves in the most obvious instance we encountered.

A common taxi trick is for the driver to take a very circuitous route. We were very tired after our walk in Perdana Park on a steaming hot afternoon, so decided on a cab for the short hop back into the city. Rather than those touting on the street outside, we took one from the official stand at the bird park, who advised us to expect a fare of 10-14 Ringgit (only £1.80 to £2.50) in addition to the small booking fee. I was sitting with a map on my knee so perfectly able to track the roundabout route, but still the driver - who had also forgotten to turn on his meter - insisted that the route he was taking was because of roadworks and recently introduced changes to rights of way that meant going round in circles. He assured us the normal fare for the journey was 25-30 Ringgit.

Because taxi fares are pretty cheap, it may not bother you that a driver is trying to double the normal price, but tourist complaints about taxis causes the KL authorities great concern. For me it's a matter of principle. I don't mind paying a fair rate for any service, but if there's a law that defines a process and meter rate that's what should be adhered to. I paid him just the maximum 14 Ringgits I'd been told when booking, with a tip that he'd have been much better off not trying to con tourists, as I would probably have told him to keep the change from a 20 Ringgit note had he done what was expected.

Where the fee is standardised and paid in advance, such as at the main destination for the airport link train, Sentral station, there can be no arguing by the taxi driver. It's a little more expensive that way, but in the context of the cost of getting to KL, the 17 Ringgit (£3.06) fare to reach our hotel was peanuts anyway. That driver got a decent tip.

Walkways. Make use of the many aerial walkways to avoid having to cross roads either teeming with traffic or beset by roadworks, or both.

Travel Facts

We flew to KL with British Airways. Their planning tool on the website is brilliant for organising and pricing multi-stop trips like ours. The only downside is you can't save it online, so take a screenshot of your final itinerary to save you having to go through the whole process again if like me you want to show it to somebody to get their approval too - 'She-who-must-be-obeyed' in my case. In the end, we booked through DialAFlight for the reason that when I did get to show my wife the next morning, the price had risen by £500. DialAFlight managed to get the whole itinerary cheaper.than directly with BA. Another good reason for using DialAFlight is their customer service. Of the four flights we ostensibly booked through BA, two were actually operated by Malaysian Airlines and Cathay Pacific. I know from past experience that if something goes wrong DialAFlight are quick to act, and the single point of contact is considerably better than trying to deal with individual airlines.

We stayed at The Pullman City Centre hotel on Jalan Conley (rooms from around £80 per night), on the border between Bukit Bintang and KLCC. It's supposedly a 5* hotel. Certainly the public areas and facilities support that claim, especially the 10^th floor outdoor swimming pool area complete with palm trees, although our comfortable room felt a little tired décor wise. The buffet breakfast offered every conceivable western and oriental dish to start your day, including what quickly became my favourite, traditional Malaysian Nasi Lemak- rice cooked in coconut milk, with hot and sour sambal sauce, a curry of some kind (it varied each day), topped with peanuts, dried anchovy and boiled egg, all wrapped in a pandan leaf.

And the shower was good.

PS: Another bathroom feature I encountered for the first time in KL is the hand held hose that almost every WC has. It makes cleaning bits and bum much more hygienic than paper alone after using the loo, and there's no need for a separate bidet. I hope the idea spreads everywhere.

The KLIA express from the airport is the quickest way to transfer. You can buy a return ticket to Sentral station in the city, then get a fixed price taxi to your hotel at the official desk near the station exit.

Useful links

DialAFlight.