Howdy all. Well, it’s time yet again for another challenge! We have been to a few places across Asia mostly on this challenge, and well, today we stick to the continent as we head to the Malaysian capital famous for the Petronas Towers and I think having a pretty cool food scene – Kuala Lumpur.

It’s a bustling fun city to visit, and luckily it’s still quite an affordable place to visit as well considering it’s only a few hours from Singapore which is not so affordable. But I feel confident that a couple of days with $100USD you can have a wonderful time in this city! Remember – we fly in early morning Day One, have one night in a hotel, and then fly out later in the evening of Day Two. Return flights not included, we have $100USD to spend. So let’s see what we can do in Kuala Lumpur!

To get there we are pretty lucky with the options in terms of airlines flying into Kuala Lumpur, from Malaysian Airlines and Air Asia being based in KL, it is well connected to so many cities in the world through countless other airlines too. KLIA 1 is the main airport (KLIA 2 is the budget airline airport) and is one of the world’s best airports in my opinion. KLIA 2 though provides a lot of budget airline options and Air Asia really is one the best budget airlines in the world with a comprehensive range of destinations/connections.

What will cost a bit of money – around $11USD one way, is the KLIA Express which will take you into KL Sentral. However it will be cheaper than a taxi. For return we are talking $22USD which I think is the most I’ve had to allocate for connection to an airport this year on this series. We CAN save money though by taking a bus which is around $4USD. Personally the train is fast, comfortable and efficient and I wouldn’t downgrade to a bus, but why don’t we allocate $15USD to the return journey and come in by train and go back by bus?

Luckily, it look less than a minute on Booking.com to find a great deal on a hotel. The ‘Big M’ Hotel (not related to the drink in Australia I presume) which I found on special for around $21USD. It looks clean and modern and is well located. It was on special though, and is around $30 at full price. So let’s go with that price, and so far we have spent $45USD, nearly half our allocation.

Getting around KL is best done by metro. Taxis are going to cut into the budget and I usually avoid them unless I’m in somewhere like India where they are very cheap. A single journey can be for as little as 50 cents or less, so let’s allocate a healthy $10 to the metro for transport over the two days it will surely be enough as airport transport is already taken care of in the budget.

So now we are down to $45 for things to do and also for food. The good news is that food can be pretty cheap and night markets are the name of the game where you’ll find some great deals and plenty of local cuisine at cheap prices. $20 gives us four meals at $5 each – with a bit of luck we get breakfast at the hotel. If we get dinner on the flight OUT, we only need to pay for three meals. Nearly $7 a meal now! There are a number of markets in Kuala and so I would suggest not just eating at them (try China Town) but spending a bit of time actually exploring them.

The logical thing to do is to head up the Petronas Towers as a starting point, and if you want to adjust the plan to include TWO buses – to and from the airport – we can do that, however there is a cheaper option because that costs 80 Ringgit which is somewhere between $16 and $17. The KL Skydeck is another tower people visit for a view and it’s where I went and that is only 29RM or a touch over 6 bucks and affords some nice KL views which could be the perfect start to your two days in KL!

BUT – do spend time in Petronas Towers because there’s great shopping (even if we’re on a budget and therefore it’s window shopping mostly) and even better air conditioning! For the nature lovers there’s the Perdana Botanical Gardens. It’s fair to say that Kuala is not chock full of things to see and do, but if you can stand the humidity it’s really and interesting place to explore. Some interesting building you can see include KL Sentral Rail Station, not just Metro but intercity trains depart here (including to Singapore) and you can check out some of the mosques too, which probably won’t set you back anything – the Putra Mosque looks stunning with a water setting, and the Blue Mosque is another stand out.

There is a zoo, a bird park and an aquarium but neither of these appeal much to me and they won’t help keep the budget in check. There is the KLCC Park which looks like a fine place to check out (I haven’t been there). I think there’s plenty already for one day, possibly eating into a bit of Day Two.

What I am going to suggest here though is that you take a local bus for a couple of bucks each way to the Batu Caves, which are these amazing tall caves, holy to the Hindus of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. Once a year is Thaipusam and there is a big celebration where you will see a march to the caves and men with lots of hooks in their body which is quite something. I was so lucky it was on when I was there back in 2004, in 2023 it will be in February. Either way, these caves are beautiful and it’s not far out of Kuala Lumpur and makes for an excellent half day trip. And I think on sights and doing things we’ve not spent much money at all.

Kuala Lumpur as I said is not packed with sights, and so perhaps it’s a great city for the ol’ 48-Hour treatment. We’ve come in perhaps 5 – 8 dollars under our $100 which you may use on souvenirs or perhaps bottled water, although I should add that the water in Kuala Lumpur is regarded as safe to drink.

Thanks for joining me today as I explored some interesting Malaysian possibilities with you! Take care wherever you may be in the world, and… May the Journey Never End!