![\"klm.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/klm.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAfter years as a Southeast Asian runner-up, Kuala Lumpur (KL) is on a winning streak. More fun and easier to negotiate than Bangkok, grittier than Singapore and more eclectic than Hanoi, the buzz about KL is as palpable as its intoxicating aromas of sizzling satay, stinky durian, and…<\/p>\n
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After years as a Southeast Asian runner-up, Kuala Lumpur (KL) is on a winning streak. More fun and easier to negotiate than Bangkok, grittier than Singapore and more eclectic than Hanoi, the buzz about KL is as palpable as its intoxicating aromas of sizzling satay, stinky durian, and sweet incense and petrol fumes.It\u2019s curious that a city where you still have to watch your step for pavement cracks and pot-holes can also feel cutting edge, but cast your eyes to the skyline and around the streets and you\u2019ll see what we mean. In just 150 years, KL has gone from a tin prospector\u2019s hovel in the jungle to a thoroughly modern metropolis, home of the shiny Petronas Towers, a design classic and until recently the world\u2019s tallest building. In the rush for the new, much of the old has been (and is being) demolished. Still, some impressive colonial-era buildings remain and the city\u2019s most atmospheric and colorful quarters are Chinatown, Little India and Kampung Baru, the heartlands of KL\u2019s Chinese, Indian and Malay communities.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s this multicultural character that makes KL such a fascinating place \u2013 one moment you could be burning joss sticks at a Chinese temple, the next shedding shoes to enter a mosque or Hindu shrine. Hedonists will also be happy: you can eat and shop like a king in KL and the nightlife is cranking. For all its activity and urban landscapes KL also has its tranquil moments. This is a city where you can chill out in lush parks or escape to the countryside in the surrounding state of Selangor.<\/p>\n
Weather
\nKL\u2019s temperature ranges from 21\u00b0C to 33\u00b0C and the average humidity exceeds 82%. Although there\u2019s rain through the year, March to April and September to November are the wettest months.<\/p>\n
Money
\nYou\u2019ll seldom be far from a bank\/ATM. Moneychangers offer better rates than banks for changing cash and (at times) travelers checks; usually open later hours and on weekends and found in shopping malls.<\/p>\n
Getting around
\nKL Sentral in Brickfields, 1km south of the historic old train station, is the hub of a sophisticated rail-based urban network consisting of the KTM Komuter, KLIA Ekspres, KLIA Transit, LRT and Monorail systems.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately the systems \u2013 all built separately \u2013 remain largely uninterested. Different tickets generally apply for each service, and at stations where there\u2019s an interchange between the services they\u2019re rarely conveniently connected. This said, you can happily get around much of central KL on a combination of rail and monorail services, thus avoiding the traffic jams that plague the inner-city roads. And the Touch & Go stored value card (available at all LRT stations) can be used at the electronic gates to the LRT, train and monorail systems.
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\nBus & tram<\/p>\n
Bus
\nKL has streamlined its confusing bus system. Now you\u2019ll mainly see Rapid KL (1800-388 228; www.rapidkl.com.my) and Metro liner buses. There\u2019s an information booth (7am-9pm) at the Jln Sultan Mohammed bus stop in Chinatown, where you can pick up a route map and information on various season tickets.<\/p>\n
Local buses leave from many of the bus terminals around the city, including the huge Puduraya bus station on Jln Pudu, the Klang bus station, the Jln Sultan Mohammed bus stop, and from along Medan Pasar and Lebuh Ampang near the Masjid Jamek LRT stations. The maximum single fare is usually RM1 for destinations within the city limits. A RM2 ticket allows you one day\u2019s unlimited travel on Rapil KL\u2019s 15 different city routes.<\/p>\n
Since KL\u2019s inexpensive taxis and reliable LRT systems are more efficient, not to mention air-conditioned, there\u2019s little point in using buses unless you\u2019re going to be in KL for some time. You\u2019ll only really need the bus for trips to outlying areas, such as the Batu Caves.<\/p>\n
Local transport<\/p>\n
Taxi
\nKL has plenty of taxis, and fares are cheap, starting at RM2 for the first kilometer, with an additional 10 sen for each 200m. From midnight to 6am there\u2019s a surcharge of 50% on the metered fare, and extra passengers (more than two) are charged 20 sen each. Luggage placed in the boot costs an extra RM1.<\/p>\n
Even though the law mandates the use of the meter, you\u2019ll often find taxi drivers unwilling to use it, citing KL\u2019s traffic or the out-of-the-way location of your destination as a reason. Taxi drivers lingering outside luxury hotels are especially guilty of this behavior. Stand your ground and, if necessary, walk off and hail another taxi. If you choose to bargain, fares around town start at RM5 and it should cost no more than RM10 to go right across the central city area.<\/p>\n
Be aware that taxis will often only stop at the numerous officially signposted taxi stands and although it is possible to wave one down, some drivers are reluctant to stop.<\/p>\n
History<\/p>\n
Kuala Lumpur has its origins in the 1850s, when the Malay Chief of Klang, Raja Abdullah, hired some Chinese laborers to open new and larger tin mines. They landed at the confluence of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang (Klang River) to open mines at Ampang. Sungai Gombak was previously known as Sungai Lumpur, which means muddy river. The Original name for this city was “Pengkalan Lumpur”, which means bundle of mud. As time passes by the name changed to Kuala Lumpur which literally means \u201cmuddy confluence\u201d in Bahasa Melayu. Later, tin mines were opened at Pudu and Batu. Among the early notable pioneers are Hiu Siew and Liu Ngim Kong.<\/p>\n
These mines became a trading post and were considered a frontier town with many problems including the Selangor Civil War; it was also plagued by diseases and constant fires and floods. Around the 1870s, the Chinese Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur, Yap Ah Loy, emerged as leader, and became responsible for the survival and subsequent systematic growth of this town. He is the one who began to develop Kuala Lumpur from a small unknown place into a mining town with economic boom. In 1880, the state capital of Selangor was moved from Klang to the more strategically advantageous Kuala Lumpur.
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\nIn 1881, a flood swept through the town following a fire which engulfed it earlier. These successive problems destroyed the town’s structures of wood and atap (thatching). As a response, Frank Swettenham, the British Resident of Selangor, required that buildings be constructed of brick and tile. Many of the new brick buildings mirrored that of shop houses in southern China, with “five foot ways” as well as skilled Chinese carpentry. This resulted in distinct eclectic shop house architecture typical to this region. A railway line increased accessibility into this town. Development intensified in the 1890s, leading to the creation of a Sanitary Board. In 1896, Kuala Lumpur was chosen as the capital of the newly formed Federated Malay States.<\/p>\n
A mixture of different communities settled in various sections of Kuala Lumpur. The Chinese mainly settled around the commercial centre of Market Square, east of Klang River, and towards Chinatown. The Malays, Indian Chettiars, and Indian Muslims resided along Java Street (now Jalan Tun Perak). The Padang, now known as Merdeka Square, was the center of the British administrative offices.<\/p>\n
During World War II, Kuala Lumpur was captured by the Japanese army on January 11, 1942. They remained in occupation until August 15, 1945, when the commander in chief of the Japanese Seventh Area Army in Singapore and Malaya, Seishir\u014d Itagaki, surrendered to the British administration following the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Kuala Lumpur grew through the war, the rubber and tin commodity crashes and the Malayan Emergency, during which Malaya was preoccupied with the communist insurgency. In 1957, the Federation of Malaya gained its independence from British rule. Kuala Lumpur remained the capital through the formation of Malaysia on September 16, 1963.<\/p>\n
On May 13, 1969, one of the worst race riots in Malaysia took place in Kuala Lumpur. The May 13 Incident was a riot between the Malays and the Chinese who were dissatisfied with the socio-political situation at the time. The riot resulted in the deaths of 196 people, and led to a major reform in the country’s economic policy.<\/p>\n
Kuala Lumpur later achieved city status in 1972, becoming the first settlement in Malaysia to be granted the status after independence. Later, on February 1, 1974, Kuala Lumpur became a Federal Territory. Kuala Lumpur ceased to be the capital of Selangor in 1978 after the city of Shah Alam was declared as the new state capital.<\/p>\n
On 14 May 1990, Kuala Lumpur was celebrated 100 years of local authority. The new federal territory of Kuala Lumpur flag and anthem were introduced.<\/p>\n
In 1998, another political movement known as Reformasi took place mainly in this city. The movement was a result of the sacking of former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, and resulted in a chain of protests until 1999, where supporters of Anwar Ibrahim took to the streets to demand reforms in the government’s administration, among others.<\/p>\n
On February 1, 2001, Putrajaya was declared a Federal Territory, as well as the seat of the federal government. The administrative and judicial functions of the government were shifted from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya. Kuala Lumpur however still retained its legislative function, and remained the home of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King).<\/p>\n
In November 2007, two of the largest political rallies since 1998 took place in the city\u2014the Bersih rally on November 10 and the HINDRAF rally on November 25. The Bersih rally was organized by a number of non-governmental organizations and opposition political parties to demand electoral reform in the country with about 50,000 people taking to the streets. The HINDRAF rally was organized by HINDRAF (Hindu Rights Action Front) and was attended by at least 30,000 mainly ethnic Indian protesters demanding equal social and economic rights from the Bumiputras<\/p>\n
Source: http:\/\/www.lonelyplanet.com\/malaysia\/kuala-lumpur<\/a> , After years as a Southeast Asian runner-up, Kuala Lumpur (KL) is on a winning streak. More fun and easier to negotiate than Bangkok, grittier than Singapore and more eclectic than Hanoi, the buzz about KL is as palpable as its intoxicating aromas of sizzling satay, stinky durian, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plan-your-vacation-to-asia-with-our-traveling-information"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nhttp:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kuala_Lumpur,_Malaysia<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"