We’d only have 36 hours before continuing to Siem Reap for some crazy temple running around Angkor Wat, therefore the next couple of hours would be intense.

Stepping out of KLIA airport immediately made me feel like home (even though home was over 10.000 kilometres way); the people, the language, the vegetation but most of all the air. I can’t quite describe it, yet the smell of Asian air is unique and I’ve always thought so since I can remember. Anyway, the schedule was tight so we took the KLIA Express to Sentral station (28 minutes vs. 60 minutes by taxi) and continued to our hotel in Bukit Bintang.

Bukit Bintang is one of the liveliest places in Kuala Lumpur.

One thing was clear immediately, Kuala Lumpur has tuned into a city under construction; wherever you look, huge buildings wrapped in green and/or blue plastic were characteristic for the cityscape.

We passed through Little India and the Chinese Quarter before arriving at our destination. By now, it was almost 5.30pm – this is the time when our bellies start grumbling – so we quickly took a shower, changes into some shorts and headed out for some traditional Laksa soup. A small street vendor not far from our hotel offered the best Laksa in town for a very affordable price. The best ending to an exhausting travel day…

Laksa soup at a street vendor in Kuala Lumpur.

We started a day with a good cup of coffee and some yummy mangoes, which we bought the evening before.

Destination Nr. 1 would be Chow Kit market, which houses Kuala Lumpur’s largest wet market section. Here you’ll come across some real curiosities and it’s definitely not a place for smell sensitive people.

The meat market section of Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur.

We must have stayed at Chow Kit market for at least two hours before continuing to the shopping centre inside the Petrona Towers. I needed a new camera bag  and I knew that I’d find a suitable one in there (and I did). At the same time, we wanted to buy tickets to up the famous KLCC sky-walk (a real photographers delight), as well as the 82nd floor. But, turned out that all tickets were sold out already. So, here’s a good tip: If you don’t want to wake up at 6.00am to stand in line for one of the very looked after tickets, just go there whenever you want and buy one in advance for the next day or so. Anyway, so this was definitely a bit of a set-back because we really planned on shooting some night-scape photos from up there. We changed our plans and I still got my one-million-dollar photo that same night.

Petrona Towers – KLCC – in Kuala Lumpur.

By now, it was about 1.00pm so we gave ourselves a little break at the pool. By 4.00pm, we were out on the streets again. But not for long as it started raining cats and dogs. But now we at least had a good excuse to spoil ourselves a fantastic massage and a visit to the hairdresser. As it is in Asia, rain comes out of nowhere and it stops just as fast. So we continued our way back to the Petrona Towers for some night-scape photos. As usual, we ended the day with a delicious Laksa soup and some fresh fruits.

Our 36 hours came to an end, the next day would start with a wake-up call at 3.00am…

Markets are the heart of every city. No matter what time of the day, markets are always busy with peak hours early in the morning. They are vibrant, exciting, colourful and full of amazing impressions.

During our 36 hours in Kuala Lumpur, it was clear that the cities biggest market, Chow Kit, was on our agenda. You pretty much find everything you need right here – from household goods to fresh fish. Oh yeah, fresh fish is a good keyword; the wet market section immediately caught our attention. Such market is a rare scene in Kuala Lumpur because of its development.

Be aware!

This is nothing for light hearted, animal loving or smell sensitive people; the wet market section is dirty, humid, packed, smelly and literally wet. I really recommend to directly head towards a hot shower afterwards before continuing with your programme, because at the end of the market, you’ll have picked up an odour of fish, dead chicken, cloves cigarettes with a touch of lime and ginger…

Facts.

• Address: Northern end of Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, 50088 Kuala Lumpur
• Opening hours: Daily from 6.00 am – 5.00 pm
• How to get there: Take the Monorail line and stop at Chow Kit station. Walk for about 5 minutes and voilà.

The fish section at Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur also includes sharks…

Chicken Section at Chow Kit Maket. Step 1: Killing the chicken. Step 2: Boiling the chicken. Step 3: Plucking the chicken. Step 4: Chopping the chicken.

Smiling cow’s head at Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

One of the walkways through Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Fresh squid at Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Dried squid at Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Walking through the meat section at Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Fresh fish at Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

walking through the banana section at Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Fresh lime at Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Colourful head-scarfs can also be found at Chow Kit market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This time, our destination is Southeast Asia; Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia to be exact. 4 weeks on the road. From temple running in Angkor, to shopping sprees in Kuala Lumpur, from a 10-hour-volcano-jungle-trek near Bukittingi to a quite beach holiday on the Mentawai Islands – we’ve got it all planned. We’re leaving today, so our bags are packed and now it’s all down to business!

And here are our travel essentials for a 4-week trip through Southeast Asia.

Starting in China, then flying further South to Malaysia, Christmas on an Indonesian island (á la Robinson Crusoe) and ending the year with a motorbike trip in Laos. Not bad huh? :D

Since we’re really excited about this, and in order to get attuned, we wanted to share these three videos by Vincent Urban & Clemens Krüger with you.