The best ways to transport in Kuala Lumpur

If you decided to discover Kuala Lumpur by yourself just like what we did so you have to know the ways to transport there and which one will be the best.

you can move here and there in many ways: buses, monorail, LRT/MRT, taxi, and rented cars.

but here are the most two effective ways for you as an explorer:

#1: KL Hop-on Hop-off:

It is a two deck bus with WiFi and English commentary where you can have unlimited rides for 1 or 2 days from 9 am till 8 pm.
its route designed to pass by all attractions inside KL which are 40 and covered by 23 stops.
It is right that it is for 50 RM and 90 RM but you save much time and effort, you can explore the whole city in just 2 days without worrying about how to go, how to read maps, and how to reach your destination without lots of walking or getting lost, the bus drops you at the attraction's door and pick you up again from there.
you can use much cheaper ways to transport but you will need much more time and effort to reach each destination so it is very cost effective.

#2: Monorail:

It is very cheap and with its 11 stations you can get to most of attractions with little walk, just use google maps or any other mapping application to know the nearest station to each attraction.
it costs 1 RM/Station.

Our golden advice:
 The most efficient and cheapest way to explore KL, take the Hop-On Hop-Off bus for just 1 day drop at all stations except the stations that may take long time to explore and leave them to the next days with the monorail.
the attractions that may take much time are:

• KL Tower
• KLCC, Aquaria and Petrosains together in one day
• Bird park, Deer park, Taman  Negara, and lake gardens together in one day.

what about the other options, the buses and taxi?

well, buses are not a good option for tourists compared to other countries,  if you look at the routes map you will not find it easy to move from one attraction to another, and you may find your hotel at a route that do not cover any attractions.
for taxi, it is not a cheap option, and for both bus and taxi you will be stuck in long traffics as  KL is a busy capital.

our adventure in Kuala Lumpur

     One of the most amazing trips we made was to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia; alwayis i see trips everywhere to kuala lumpur for just a day or two but in fact they miss a lot, kuala lumpur needs at least 5 days to enjoy, every piece of Malaysia has a special charm that made us addicted to it.

It is true we went to Malaysia twice but we will visit it more and more in the future.

It is nice to know a little history about your destination to feel its soul.

First people inhabited a town called "Klang" on the western Malaysia living on sea fishing, after a while they were searching for the mud to add agriculture and other means of living to their lives so they discovered Kuala Lumpur which means "muddy river confluence" in Malay, Kuala Lumpur has grown from a small sleepy Chinese tin-mining village to a bustling metropolis of around 6.5 million population.

It has a tropical climate so there is no four seasons, just wet and dry seasons, March is the hottest month in Kuala Lumpur with an average temperature of 28°C (82°F) and the coldest is January at 27°C (81°F) with the most daily sunshine hours at 8 in September. The wettest month is November with an average of 290mm of rain.

Stores close at 8 p.m. so make sure that your day ends at this time and starts early.

here are the attractions we visited:

1- Petronas Twin Towers ( KLCC):

they are twin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur; They were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 and remain the tallest twin towers in the world.

you can enjoy Suria KLCC retail center at the feet of the Towers. It features mostly foreign luxury goods and high-street labels.

and you can go up 558ft (41 floor) to the sky bridge to view the city from above.

2- petrosains:

A modern museum focused on the science & technology of the energy industry in an interactive way, it is perfect for your kids and yourself also.
It is located at Level 4, Suria KLCC, PETRONAS Twin Towers

3- The musical fountain:

out of Suria KLCC there is a large fascinating fountain, you can rest there, take your dinner take away from restaurants inside the shopping center and dine there.

daily at night they have musical  shows in multilingual songs 

where fountains dance with the music.
each time we visit kuala lumpur it is a must to watch. 






4- Taman Negara (National Park):

is a huge park near KLsentral
we went there on foot and spent the whole day.
there you can find wide green area with lakes for free and specialized parks with tickets like deer park and bird park.



and we had lots of other adventures like in:

• The National Museum
• Merdeka Square
• Jalan Petaling ( China Town)
• Sultan Abdul Samad Building
• KL Tower
• aquaria KLCC

for shopping : Kuala Lumpur is rich with shopping malls with great prices like in Berjaya Times Square, KWC, and nu-sentral.


Kuala Lumpur has endless numbers of attractions and shopping malls but these are what we visited ourselves.

They have an excellent tourist guide with city map for free on the  airport and you can download a pdf version from their official website from here

Langkawi the jewel of kedah

Langkawi is a must place to visit in Malaysia, it has it is own nature charm.

its name has different stories, Langkawi means island of the reddish-brown eagle where the Malay word for eagle is "lang", and kawi is the name of a red stone used as a chalk to mark goods, so it means (Eagle Square).
However, some believed that Langkawi is the same as the Langkapuri mentioned in Indian sources, or to be related to Langkasuka, an old kingdom have links with Kedah, Some also thought that Langkawi means "many beautiful islands", langka meaning "beautiful" while wi means "many".

Langkawi is established 1957 covering an area of 478.5 km, time zone is +8 UTC, located in kingdom  Kedah, and it consists of 99 islands, two-thirds of the islands are dominated by forest-covered mountains, hills and natural vegetation.

Langkawi and all Malaysia is tropical, Langkawi's dry season from December until February while March to November is a long raining season. September is the wettest month, the best time to visit through  the dry season, during wet seasons many attractions will not be available and you may face problems going to or from Langkawi.

On June 2007, Langkawi Island was given a World Geopark status by UNESCO. Tourists can enter the island via ferry from Kuala Kedah, Kuala Perlis and Penang. Or by domestic flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL), or Subang Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (SZB). International connection is available from Singapore, as well as from Guangzhou.

for transportation you can use ferries, taxis, or hire a car with a driver from the airport to guide you all your trip.

Attractions:

1- Kilim Geo Park:

taking a boat there, you will enjoy a nature reserve full of geological formations across 100 square km area. It offers stunning sights of gigantic limestone rocks, millions of years old fossils, mangrove swamps, sights of the islands, beaches and lagoons. you will also see floating fish farms where you can dine there, and experience other spectacular activities like eagle feeding, monkey feeding etc.

2- Langkawi Cable Car and the Langkawi Sky Bridge:

taking you to the top of Mount Mat Cincang over a distance of about 2.1kms and viewing the Andaman sea below along with the scattered islands of Langkawi and the towering peaks

3- Dayang Bunting Island:

it is a wonderful fresh water lake to swim with forests excellent for bird watchers, you can reach it by boat.

4- underwater world:

an aquarium with over 4000 fish and marine creatures, also it have separate sections for wide range of birds and animals as well. There is a 15-meter long tunnel that showcases an array of fish and underwater life in numerous large and small glass tanks that are mostly engraved on the walls. Inside.

5- Eagle square:

 A high sculpture of a reddish brown eagle at the square and looking into the open bay. The eagle symbolizes origin of Langawi's name.

6- pulau payar:

is a must do trip to an island with a ferry, there you can dive or snorkle to see the fishes all around you, and swim with the small sharks, then you get out when they advise you as it is the time when the big sharks come and feed them.

these are the key attractions that we did visit there you can watch the photo gallery n our facebook page 

Travel like an insider

and there are still more to see and do:

for nature lovers:

Bat Cave

Gua Pasir Dagang

Gua Badak

Gua Langsir

Cave of Legends

Gua Dangli 

galeria perdana

langkawi wildlife park

Lake of the pregnant maiden

Lagenda Park

Mardi Agro Technology Park

Telaga Harbour Park

Crocodile Farm

Crocodile Cave

Buffalo Park

Gunung Raya

CHOGM Park

Tiger! Tiger! Gallery & Exhibit

Snake Sanctuary

Laman Padi - Rice Garden & Museum

Field of Burnt Rice

Seven Wells Waterfall

Temurun waterfalls

Durian Perangin Waterfall

Porcupine Cave

for musieum and history lovers:

Al Hana Mosque

makam mahsuri

langkawi craft complex

Anna & The King Gallery

3D Art Museum - Art in Paradise

Atma Alam Batik Art Village

Faizy Crystal Glass Blowing Studio

Ibrahim Hussein Museum & Cultural Foundation

Langkawi Crystal

De'Zone Craft Center

Sunflower Handicraft Shop

for explorers:

Oriental Village

Air Hangat Village

Langkawi International Book Village

Perdana Quay

shopping:

Lagkawi Fair Shopping Mall

Haji Ismail Group

Al Ikhsan

Saga Shopping Center

Jetty Point Shopping Complex

Zeno and Eastern Native

Langkawi Parade Mega Mall

Idaman Suri

The Spa Shop 

All Time Collections 

OIB Utara Enterprise 

Night markets(from 7pm to 10 pm):

1)Sunday Night Market at Padang Matsirat

2)Monday Night Market at Ulu Melaka (Jalan Makam Mahsuri Lama) 

3)Tuesday Night Market at Kedawang 

4)Wednesday Night Market at Kuah Town 

5)Thursday night Market at Temoyong Night Market in Pantai Cenang.

6)Friday Night Market at Air Hangat - Padang Lalang 

7)Saturday Night Market at Kuah Town 

Plan your trip by yourself or by an agency

Are you thinking whether to plan your trip or to go to a travel agency? As everything in life there are pros and cons to each side, for example if you are the person who wants a ready organized trip so the travel agency is your best choice, it will save the effort of planning the trip and booking hotel and tickets, it will process your visa, but it will be costly, and they offer trips to some destinations not to the whole world, and you must obey their plan that contains only the famous attractions which are not necessarily the best attractions.

If the travel agency is the best choice for you, there are two options: you can book a trip in an agency in your country so you will have a full trip plan including booking hotels and visa which will free your mind from details, option two is to book accommodation and air tickets from a travel agency or from the internet in your country but let another travel agency in your destination to pick a full day trip from their trips, that will offer you more flexibility to go to a destination not available in your country’s agencies and to choose where to spend your day according to weather and your mental status.

In the contrary, if you will plan your trip yourself it will be a customized trip to your own thoughts with the lowest possible cost and to any place in the world, and you will discover new things that is not included in the travel agencies trips as you walk in streets, discover how it is to ride a car or take public transportation means, as you are the commander who decides where and when to go, but it will require some effort from you to search, book hotel and air tickets, apply for a visa, decide which attractions to visit and how to go, and there is an adventure spirit in such option to apply your planning on reality, but the surprise is that you will not feel that all these are chores, it will be one of the happiest moments in your life, so follow me to plan the best trip in your life like an expert.

check out Travel Like an Insider ebook for more about trip  planning tips

سافر كمحترف

العالم أصبح قرية صغيرة تتنوع فيه وسائل النقل لتستكشف الأرض من شرقها لغربها فى أقل وقت ممكن وأقصى درجات الراحة والأمان. كما لم يعد السفر مكلف بعد الآن لذا فقضاء اجازة فى مكان جديد شئ متاح لجميع الناس وليس حكراً على فئة معينة من الناس.

سافر كمحترف هو كتاب عن السفر والرحلات.

 ستعرف فى هذا الكتاب ما هى الفوائد السبعة والسفر, كما ستجد فيه المعلومات القيمة عن كيف تحدد أين ستكون اجازتك القادمة, كيف توفرها بأقل تكلفة ممكنة, كيف تحجز الفندق وتحجز تذاكر الطيران بأرخص الأسعار, ماذا تأخذ معك؟ وكيف تجهز حقائبك؟ ولكن ماذا عن كيفية قضاء اجازتك؟ ماذا ستفل وماذا ستشاهد؟ كيف ستحدد ماذا ستفعل كل يوم فى رحلتك؟ لم يغفل الكتاب عن هذا أيضاً وشرح بالتفصيل وبالصور كيف تخطط لرحلتك خطوة بخطوة.

Why to Travel

Traveling  is not for explorers and adventure lovers, but also for everyone from age of month to 500 years old and counting.

Traveling is very healthy and should to be an annual routine for the coming main reasons.

Traveling is a must, so imam el Shafei wrote a poem on the benefits of traveling and called them to be:

1-Get free from bad mood
If you live in one place for long time, you will suffer from routine and boredom; by a holiday you can recreate and get away from such feelings, so you get back home more productive and more open minded.

2- Education and science: 
Every place in the world has its unique tracking science and education, so you can travel to some university or course to get the information that suits your ambition.

3-   Cultures:
Every place has its own cultures and ideas, by exploring and living in new cultures, you can get the best of them to apply in your life, and you will notice that your mind is much free and accepting new ideas than who do not travel, even in the past they were exchanging ideas, for example: that is why the restaurant is French thought but it is now everywhere.

4-   Great Friendships:
In travel you can have great friends.

5-   Praying to Allah:
In Islam you pray to Allah all the time but the most prayer accepting times is the prayer of the oppressed, the traveler, and the parent for his child.

6-   Make living:
You may be not able to find job specifically if you are from a country or even a town of a high unemployment rate, so you have to travel another town or country to where you can find a job.

7-   Visiting Family and friends:

You probably away from your beloved family and friends, may be they traveled or you traveled