30 pictures that will make you want to visit Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia and I have a love hate relationship. Some of my biggest travel disasters have happened there, and from being robbed (passport stolen), falling super sick, to staying in a spooky hotel, this diverse Asian country has not been easy on me. However, I have always kept going back to Malaysia every year since 2009 and have lingered longer than planned. There is some kind of magnetic charm that keeps pulling me back to Malaysia every year, and I have always felt at home in Kuala Lumpur. Large, gritty, and glitzy, Kuala Lumpur is oddly a sort of doppelganger of India, and I can handle its disparity better than the sterile, pure environment of Singapore. Perhaps, it is the dark, grungy side of a glittering jewel like Asian behemoth of a city, which makes me visit Kuala Lumpur so often. I love feeling the city‘s pulse on its streets, inhaling its intoxicating mix of food smells, and listening to the soft, lilting Bahasa Malaysia.

My relationship with Kuala Lumpur over the years

Walking around Kuala Lumpur is like wandering around continents and cultures, and it is interesting to see the controversial, yet tenacious social fabric that holds Malaysia together. This change of cultures can be best felt when you visit Kuala Lumpur, and I love the idea of weaving in and out of them daily. Call me greedy, but it seems to offer the best of all the worlds, and this is one important reason why I visit Kuala Lumpur so often. My first trip to Kuala Lumpur had been confined to a glitzy hotel near Merdeka Square, and I had wined, dined, and played in the popular touristy “Golden Triangle”. My nights were blazing, and I loved the way Merdeka Square was lit in different coloured lights as Malaysia celebrated its Independence Day with a blast. Those were days of a long past and over the years, professional visits toned me down. My perspective broadened as I traveled more, and better-grounded experiential trips taught me to embrace the world from a deeper angle. Thus, my travel focus shifted to exploring rather than hedonistic fun, and Malaysia opened up whole new opportunities. Though I still love visiting the Petronas Twin Towers at night, Kuala Lumpur became more earthly for me, and someday I would love to call it home.

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What makes Kuala Lumpur tick?

After that, I made it a point to revisit Malaysian destinations from my past adventures and see those places with a new set of eyes. In retrospect, this turned out to be a brilliant decision because basic familiarity made those trips seamlessly comfortable, and I could enjoy them in an unguarded manner. Needless to say, Kuala Lumpur ensnared me with its varied charms, and I spent huge amounts of time there. The Malaysian capital intrigued me a lot, and I often asked myself, “What made Kuala Lumpur tick?” Was it the “kopitam”, the neighbourhood watering hole of street cafe which churned out delicious food along with incredible amounts of kapi, te and Milo, or the swish malls housed in glittering skyscrapers and powered by super fast technology, or the pockets of “kampung”(traditional village) which still exist in the heart of Kuala Lumpur? The answer perhaps lies in its festive festivals, which, irrespective of any cultural differences, revolve around making and sharing delicious food with one and all, and the deep-rooted reverence for the traditions of the locals. Quite possibly, it is the mind-boggling diversity that makes one get addicted to visiting Kuala Lumpur often, and the vast teeming, heaving urban space has an incredible skyline, which is a rugged tapestry of minarets, skyscrapers, and sensuous domes. Punctuated with red-roofed colonial buildings, Kuala Lumpur is a city bursting with colours, aromas, and sights. Think traffic gnarled smooth roads, lined with food stalls, a deep emerald canopy of old banyan trees, and slim, busy overhead tracks of the skytrain.

Suggested Read: Wandering through Georgetown

The lush tropical urban jungle, which makes you want to visit Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur struck me as an urban jungle of Asia, even while I was writing this post, and despite the city‘s cutting-edge modernism, it has a laid-back, lush tropical charm. This comes from KL‘s young history, and the lively Asian capital has a very humble origin. What started as a tin mining shanty at the head of the Klang Valley in the 19th century has grown, expanded, and developed into one of Asia‘s power hubs, and this has provided KL it‘s unique non-coherent style. The eclectic melange is visible in every aspect of the Malaysian capital and strikes most travelers hard when they visit Kuala Lumpur for the first time. I have been happily caught in the eclectic fusions of KL for nearly a decade now, and it is this quality that has driven me to spend countless hours exploring the depths of the city.

Recommended Read: The Secret Little Island of Lang Tengah

The addiction of Malaysia‘s truly Asian city

From the kaleidoscope of Little India in Brickfields to the kitschy Chinatown, KL has history and tardiness enmeshed in a very endearing way, and there is an unmistakable rush of life which races through the city. Be it the conversations that you hear in the city streets, the mind-boggling variety of food, the profusion of magnificent mosques, gorgeous temples, Buddhist shrines, or the Indian, Chinese, and Malay faces that make up KL‘s humanity, the Malaysian capital is truly addictive. This photo essay to dedicated to the lovely Asian capital, and portrays the scenes which I found fascinating during my long walks in the city. Colourful, frenetic, charming, bedazzling, and often soulful, these are the reasons why I visit Kuala Lumpur so often. They say that pictures speak louder than words, and these 30 photos are snippets of the city‘s soul, which will tempt you to visit Kuala Lumpur too.

More from Malaysia:  Melaka and Perankan heritage of Malacca Straits

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