Malaysia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 423

The Golden Triangle and Aquaria KLCC
KL's fashionable consumer sector is
known as the Golden Triangle . Many of
the city's expensive hotels, nightclubs and
modern malls line the three main
boulevards of Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan
Imbi and Jalan Sultan Ismail, and a visit
here is a must.
Apart from some flash shopping and
dining in the Golden Triangle's many
malls, there's also the impressive Aquaria
KLCC (daily 10.30am-8pm, last admission
7pm; RM50), a state-of-the-art aquarium
showcasing more than 5000 denizens of
the sea, including sharks, a giant octopus
and a touch pool for a closer encounter
with rays; it's situated in the Kuala
Lumpur Convention Centre on the other
side of the park. Highlights include a
moving walkway inside a 90m tunnel,
where you can watch sharks and rays
swimming around, a hidden shipwreck
slowly becoming part of the artificial coral
reef, and feeding time, when divers
hand-feed sharks, turtles and giant catfish.

observation deck (daily 9am-9.30pm;
RM49; W menarakl.com.my) at 276m,
giving you a great overview of the city;
sunset is the best time to visit. he tower is
situated to the west of the Petronas Towers,
on the other side of Jalan Sultan Ismail.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
BY PLANE
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the hub for
international flights and domestic flights with Malaysia
Airlines, is 70km southwest of the centre. The fastest and
most e cient way into the city is by KLIA express trains
(every 20-30min; 30min; RM35), which terminate at
Kuala Lumpur's transportation hub, KL Sentral station,
which conveniently connects with LRT and Monorail lines.
If you want to halve your fare, take the non-express train
(45min) to Putrakaya and then buy a separate ticket to
KL Sentral from there. KLIA express coaches connect the
international airport to Sentral station (every 30min,
3am-midnight; 1hr; RM10). Domestic and low-cost
airlines use the AirAsia-dominated Low Cost Carrier
Terminal (LCCT), 20km from KLIA. Skybus and Aerobus
Airport coaches (6am-midnight, every 30min; RM8-9)
take roughly 1hr 15min to KL Sentral. KLIA and LCCT are
connected by a short shuttle ride (every 20min; RM4).
Flights with the tiny Berjaya Air (for Pulau Tioman, Pulau
Redang, Pulau Langkawi or Pulau Pangkor), Malindo Air
and Firefly Airways depart from KL Subang, 20km west of
the city centre. Taxi is the quickest option (45min; RM50),
or take bus #U81 from outside KL Sentral (hourly,
6am-11pm; 1hr; RM2.50).
Destinations Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei (daily; 2hr
20min); Ipoh (2 daily; 35min); Johor Bahru (4 daily;
45min); Kota Bharu (4 daily; 50min); Kota Kinabalu (10
daily; 1hr 45min); Kuala Terengganu (3 daily; 45min);
Kuantan (4 daily; 40min); Kuching (10 daily; 1hr 45min);
Miri (4 daily; 2hr 15min); Penang (11 daily; 45min); Pulau
Langkawi (4 daily; 55min); Pulau Tioman (daily; 1hr); Sibu
(daily; 2hr); Singapore (10 daily; 55min).

6

The Petronas Towers and the Menara
KL Tower
Among the Golden Triangle's main
landmarks are the lofty Petronas Twin
Towers , which, at just over 452m high,
were the tallest structures in the world until
2004. hey are now the tallest twin
structure in the world (quite a few metres
shy of the world's tallest building - the
830m-high Burj Khalifa in Dubai) and
form part of the KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City
Centre) development on the northeast of
the Golden Triangle. A limited number of
tickets are issued daily for the Skybridge
(170m) connecting the two towers and
observation deck (370m) on the 86th floor
(Tues-Sun 9am-9pm; last entry 8.15pm;
closed 1-2.30pm on Fri; RM80;
W

BY BOAT
The closest port to Kuala Lumpur is Port Klang, 38km
southwest of KL, with ferries to Dumai or Tanjung Balai,
both in Sumatra, Indonesia. Tickets are available at the
jetty, or from Aero Speed (for Tanjung Balai; T 03 3165
2545 or T 03 3165 3073) or Indomal Express (for Dumai;
T 03 3167 1058). You can get a visa on arrival at Dumai, but
you must arrange an Indonesian visa in advance if entering
at Tanjung Balai. The best way to get to Port Klang is by
Komuter train (every 30min; 1hr 10min; RM4.80) from KL's
train station, which stops opposite the main jetty.
Destinations Dumai (10am on Tues, Thurs & Sat; 4hr);
Tanjung Balai (daily except Sun; 3hr 30min).

petronastwintowers.com.my).
Tickets are issued on a first come first
served basis at the counter in the basement
(daily 8.30am-8pm), although the queue
forms well before that at around 6.30am
- particularly on weekends. he easiest
approach is to buy a ticket online
( W petronastwintowers.com.my).
hough 69m shorter than the Petronas
Towers, the Menara KL Tower offers an