Poor walkability and cleanliness but great satay, tourists open up about their experience visiting Malaysia to dutch YouTuber

Batu Caves is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples, in the Gombak district, 13 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill.  The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan.
Batu Caves is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples, in the Gombak district, 13 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill. The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan.

There are many good things to be said about Malaysia when it comes to tourism, millions flock here every year to visit the beautiful twin towers, the islands this country has to offer and of course, the food. 

However, it is not always rainbows and sunshine for these tourists. 

Chai, a travel vlogger from the Netherlands, asked random tourists leaving Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) about their travel experiences in the country in a video posted on YouTube on Mar. 2.

The responses were a mix of good and bad, the bad being Kuala Lumpur’s poor walkability, the safety of its pedestrian crossings, and cleanliness (all the things locals can relate to). 

“People are very friendly, everyone wants to help you, which is good. Food is epic. You’ve got a bit of Indian, a bit of Chinese, [and] a bit of Malay food. It’s really cool,” said Ben, a tourist from the UK who spoke with Chai. 

“The only thing I found difficult in KL was that it’s not easy to get around. For foreigners, walking is not that great.

“So, you’ll be walking for a minute and all of a sudden, there’s no pavement. You have to get a Grab or something,” he shared.

He added that booking a ride can also be tricky as it takes around 20 to 30 minutes to get a car sometimes. 

Meanwhile, Paul and Jen also from the UK told the YouTuber that they noticed the cleanliness at Batu Caves was quite poor. 

They observed trash lying around the temple grounds, which was a common observation among the tourists Chai spoke with.

Paul added that he found it frightening to cross Malaysian roads because motorcycles do not adhere to traffic signals.

“Basically, (you got to) get a local on the other side of you, between you and the cars, and you’d feel a bit safer,” he said while chuckling after commending the country for its friendly citizens and variety of places to explore.

Meanwhile, for a pair of Australians, the satay was what left an impact on them after visiting the country.

The pair praised the friendliness of Malaysians and the sense of safety in the city, adding a wise adage that everyone should “use your brains about it” because every city in the world has unsafe areas.

In a different video, Chai spoke with a Danish couple who were somewhat dissatisfied with Langkawi due to the fact that many restaurants did not serve beer. Other than that, they had also complained about their accommodation in Bukit Bintang being too far from the attractions – although this could have been their own poor choice when it came to choosing the location they were staying at. 

Nicolas, a business traveller from France, praised the country’s diversity, saying, “Nothing is flawless. But it appears that everything is going swimmingly.” 

Have you ever experienced any of the above in Malaysia while visiting here, or what do you like about traveling around Malaysia? Let us know in the comments! 

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