Kuala Lumpur isn’t perfect. We’ve had a great time, seen some cool and interesting things, enjoyed excellent cheap and free public transport, eaten some fantastic food and stayed in top-notch accommodation, but all cities have their drawbacks, Kuala Lumpur has some not-so-nice bits, too
We love KL, but just be aware of the following four things if you are planning a visit.
Don’t be put off, read all our posts about how great Kuala Lumpur is, too!
Some days it looks like this.
That’s not low cloud, or haze, or whatever you want to call it, it’s air pollution at about 1pm on a sunny day. They say most of it comes over from Sumatra, a result of all the burning off going on there. On our drive into KL from the airport we saw multiple vegetation fires out of town in the oil palm growing areas, so at least some of it is local. The black smoke belching from the older buses and trucks in town must be a contributing factor, too, it’s really noticeable The air pollution isn’t always this bad, the first week we were here we had rain every afternoon, that did a good job of clearing the air. It’s also seasonal. I would suggest that if you any respiratory issues you check an air pollution website before you come, find an air-conditioned hostel and avoid venturing outside in peak hours.
The traffic is crazy! The noise of engines and beeping, the smoke, the heat of exhaust fumes, all conspire to make walking near busy roads quite unpleasant. Crossing the road takes practice, you have to weave your way between almost stationary vehicles. If in doubt, find a local and stick to them like glue.
It’s much worse at peak hours, but the traffic is pretty full-on all day.
The many, many scooter drivers have an interesting habit of overtaking traffic jams on the pavement. So don’t think you’re completely safe there, either!
I just hold on very tight to the kids, we’ve been fine and we’ve had a good laugh about some of our road crossing adventures, but you have to be very careful.
It was so bad once, trying to cross a main road at peak hour, that we gave up and went somewhere else instead.
I should mention that Bukit Bintang and KLCC have a fantastic network of raised pedestrian footpaths, some with air-con, that make walking around the city center very quick and easy.
We were warned in conversations with three separate ladies to watch out for our bags and cameras while we are walking around some areas. We’ve not had any problems and we haven’t seen any crime, we’ve experienced great kindness and honesty in Kuala Lumpur, but if the locals are warning you, it’s best to take it seriously. One lady told us not to go out after dark. I think, so long as there are plenty of people about, you’d be fine. I’m not sure if these three ladies were referring to pick pockets or snatch-and-run thieves. Just be aware, keep your wits about you.
This isn’t really a big problem for us, I’m just including it to warn people with mobility issues, with babies in strollers or those thinking of bringing suitcases on wheels. Don’t! Central Kuala Lumpur and Bukit Bintang are fine, but in this area the pavements are terrible, although there seems to be a fair bit of repair work going on. Again, I’m holding on tight to the kids if we are around broken drain covers.
My main message here is don’t be put off, at all, Kuala Lumpur is a brilliant city to visit, you should come, I just want to tell it like it is, I always will, that’s a promise. I’ve written five or six aren’t-we-having-a-lovely-time posts. I thought it was time to keep it real, let people know before they come. Now I’m going back to happy-holiday-isn’t-this-great posts.
