We first got the idea to visit Kuala Lumpur when we were touring Australia. We had seen the way that Sydney was being prepared for the 2000 Olympics and we thought that it would have been better if we had visited Sydney after the Olympics had taken place. Coincidentally, the day after we left Sydney, the opening ceremony of the1998 Commonwealth Games was held in Kuala Lumpur. This city was already on our short list but it got bumped to the top because we thought that it would already have received a similar treatment to what Sydney was currently undergoing. We found out that a brand new showcase airport had just been opened, the city had a new light rail system to make it easy to get around and it is also the home of the tallest building in the world (see later).

Unfortunately, we were a little late booking this trip and we had problems booking our return flight. We had originally planned on a two week trip finishing on the beach in Penang but the return flights just weren't available and we had to settle for just 7 nights in Kuala Lumpur. We arranged this trip through Travelmood (who we had previously used for our Australia tour). They offer Kuala Lumpur as a stopover en route to Australia but they were more than happy to just arrange a return flight to KL for us. Their price was very competitive too - more than £200 cheaper than Kuoni (who we couldn't get through to anyway as their phones were always engaged).

If you are planning a trip to Kuala Lumpur then you can read the latest advice that the US State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs and the British Foreign Office have for visitors to Malaysia.

Visas: At the time that we travelled, British Citizens did not require a visa to enter Malaysia.

Vaccinations: You should always seek professional advice from your doctor regarding vaccinations when travelling. However, as an indication only, when we went: Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Tetanus & Polio were being prescribed for adult visitors to Kuala Lumpur. Malaria tablets were not required for visitors who just stayed within Kuala Lumpur (our doctor said that visiting the Batu Caves was OK but you should check for yourselves as most rural areas of Malaysia are malarial).