Travel blog: City break in Kuala Lumpur

Nick Claxton has never ventured outside of Europe before but a combination of too many years in London, a lack of proper responsibilities and an unhealthy admiration for Michael Palin now means he is spending a year travelling the globe. Here is his 15th blog entry:

Sometimes moving on during a trip like this gets pretty difficult. I think I might still be on Tioman Island now if it hadn't been for other more motivated people who were heading the same way.

So after about nine days of bliss, I was enticed onto the ferry, slept through the three-hour crossing (30 Malaysian ringgit - 8RM equals £1) and caught an overnight bus to Kuala Lumpur (25RM).

Happily, Malaysia's capital proved one of the most laid-back cities I've visited. And with the majestic Petronas Towers, dozens of markets and a burgeoning arts scene there was enough going on to make sure I didn't miss the sun and surf too desperately.

Our bus arrived in the early and we were greeted at Puduraya bus station by the usual scrum of taxi drivers and hostel hustlers.

One of the most persistent (a self-styled tourist 'hunter') convinced us to try the new Oasis Guesthouse in Chinatown (single room 20RM/night). Promising the first night free since it was so late didn't hurt his cause any!

By the time the sun was up, Chinatown was in full swing - markets packed the street and the hawkers seemingly never tired of hearing the word 'no'. After a few days this would start to grind, but right then it re-initiated me quickly to big city life.

Outside of the main Petaling Street in Chinatown however, KL's atmosphere never seemed oppressive in comparison to some other capitals I've visited.

A cutting-edge train system lets you zip around in no time, but the city is so small that you can simply stroll between most major sights. And with traffic fairly light outside of the evening rush hour, it's only the sudden downpours that give you much trouble on foot.

Of course, I had the luxury of a week in KL - most holidaymakers whip through the city in a few days as a stopover on their way to other parts of Malaysia. But that shouldn't stop you seeing almost everything.

If you're pushed for time, I'd say you could visit the awe-inspiring Petronas Towers first thing, do some bargain shopping at the underground mall, then immerse yourself in Malaysian culture and nature at the National Museum (2 RM) and the Lake Gardens to the west of the city.

There should be time as the sun sets to wander down the river and the mosques up to the colonial district around Merdeka Square before braving the night markets around Chinatown or Chow Kit.

By the end of the day you might be tired, and there's more to find in KL if you dig deeper, but you'd definitely get the flavour of the place!

One of the most plainly obvious things about the city (and Malaysia as a whole) is that its wide racial mix offers you a huge variety of people, culture and arts. I found you could get a hint of what this mixed-up Malaysia means to those growing up in it at the Annex bar behind the Central Market.

Here youngsters from all ethnicities mingle and drink together, rock out to local punk acts on the weekends and some come back each Sunday to help feed the city's homeless.

You can give something back by lending a hand in the kitchen too - quite how much help my dubious cooking tips were though, I don't know!

Luckily before the likely mass food poisoning outbreak could be traced to me, I was buying a bus ticket (30 RM) and heading north to Kota Bharu - the jumping-off point for the Perhentian Islands. That's right, more islands. Apparently, I hadn't got over leaving Tioman as much as I'd thought.

After a bumpy speed boat ride (70RM return), I found the D'Lagoon resort on Perhentian Kecil was quiet (dorm bed on the beachfront for 15RM/night), the sea was crystal clear and the diving more spectacular than ever (a three-day advanced diving course is about £90 with Turtle Bay Divers).

Two things not to miss are dodging the monitor lizards while jungle trekking over to the tourist-haven of Long Beach and renting a kayak (15RM) to skip over to the deserted white sands on the bigger island of Besar.

But as beautiful as the Perhentians were, they felt like a more Western-themed version of Tioman's island culture. Not only is everything more expensive (despite being much closer to shore), there is just one small Malaysian settlement on the islands.

This means that rather than mixing with the locals, you have to stay at resorts run by ex-pat Europeans or trained-up workers imported from the mainland - making it sometimes quite difficult to tell whether you are in Malaysia at all. The only obvious giveaway in D'Lagoon was a sign asking guests not to offer workers alcohol.

In fact, I was actually more struck with the town of Kota Bharu. To start with, you couldn't ask for a better base than Zeck's Place (single room 15RM/night). Bespectacled, happily rotund and always wrapped in a towel, Zeck keeps his hostel an engaging place to be - and he can set up taxis, tours of the town, jungle treks or onward travel like a seasoned pro.

But force yourself to leave Zeck's to experience small-town Malaysia - especially the street stalls, the lack of bars and the renowned night market with its interestingly textured nasi kerabu (blue rice).

Laughing, pointing and smiling may be the only way to get what you're after in Kota Bharu, but a day or two there showed me that I had more to explore of peninsular Malaysia's complex ethnic and cultural mix.

I had thought of heading up to Thailand straight after the Perhentians, but on Zeck's advice I said goodbye to the east coast and made my next destination Pulau Penang - one of the most Chinese-dominated regions of the country.

Nick Claxton