Leaving India for Malaysia was so bittersweet. I had the most incredible month in India and was beginning to feel so at home in Rishikesh and yet in Malaysia I was going to meet up with friends and most importantly my boyfriend. Kuala Lumpur was hosting its final Formula One Grand Prix and he would be working the race. So with sadness I finally boarded my night flight from Delhi airport, after a 12 hour stop over from an internal Indian flight!
As it was a 5 hour night flight from Delhi to Kuala Lumpur I was determined to sleep for all of it and land in KL in the morning refreshed and ready to spend the day exploring. How wrong I was, that flight was the one with the most announcements in the history of flights, including singing happy birthday to one of the passengers at midnight! Not my plan at all! We landed and I felt like I’d only managed to snatch 20 mins sleep here and there, horrendous. No worries, hopped in a taxi to the the hotel and hoped for an early check in. No such luck, I could drop my bag but couldn’t check in until 2pm, some 5 hours later. But apart from that my week in Kuala Lumpur was incredible. Such an amazing city and surprisingly calm and clean after India!
I had a couple of days to kill before the Formula One got going so went into Kuala Lumpur with the main aim of climbing the Petronas Towers. It was incredible but I’d say if you’re doing it in a larger group than one person make sure you book ahead. This didn’t even occur to me but luckily there were one person spaces for most of the slots. Any more though and people were having to buy for the next day. You visit the bridge linking the two towers on the 41st floor which is impressive enough but then head up to the 86th floor viewing platform and the views are incredible. It was here that I really realised I’d left India behind though, from above KL was planned, gleaming and ordered, none of the Indian cities I’d visited had been anything like that!
I’d done very little research into KL because I wasn’t on this bit of my trip for the city but luckily in the taxi to the Petronas Towers he had a collection of leaflets of things to see. One that really caught my eye was the Orchid and Hibiscus Garden and I can really recommend it as a quiet retreat from sight seeing. I loved it, wandering through a lovely botanic garden seeing orchids growing outside when at home we all struggle to keep them alive! The colours and different varieties were breathtaking!
Having explored KL a little bit I had a couple of pool days at the hotel before meeting up with everyone in the evening for street food. Having steered clear of the street food in India it was so amazing to go and sit on the plastic stools in the street drinking cold beer and wolfing down chicken satay and pork steamed buns.
The main reason for my trip to Malaysia though was the Formula One and that experience did not disappoint. Having connections to one of the teams I had hoped for maybe a garage tour after hours or something but I was so lucky to get the full blown VIP treatment for the entire weekend. Eating in the hospitality unit, wandering through the paddock past TV crews and drivers, walking the pit lane and watching pit stop practices, standing under the podium and most incredibly watching practice sessions, qualifying and some of the race from the garage. Watching Nico Hulkenberg leave for the grid literally next to me was an experience I’ll never forget and such an amazing way to sign off that part of my journey. Thank you so much Renault Sport Racing for your hospitality!
I could wax lyrical about the experience but pictures speak louder than words so here’s a selection from my epic weekend.
My week in Malaysia flew so quickly but it’s definitely a country I’d like to go back to and explore more, everyone was super friendly and the food was amazing. Before I knew it it was time to board another flight, heading to Perth! I’m writing this post on my next flight away from Perth but I’ve just had the most lovely week with an old friend who lives there and will be sure to update you all on that soon!
I hope you’re all enjoying my posts, please let me know if you have any questions or comments!