One of the most iconic sights in Malaysia, the Petronas Twin Towers are among the most recognisable buildings in the world.
So there was no way I was going to Kuala Lumpur without stepping foot inside the identical 88-storey skyscrapers.
Petronas Twin Towers
Designed by the Argentinian architect César Pelli, the 1,483ft twin towers opened in 1999 and are linked by a skybridge connecting the 41st and 42nd floors.
Tower One houses Petronas, Malaysia’s national oil and petroleum company, while Tower Two is home to a series of businesses, including big names such as Microsoft, Boeing and IBM.
Built on the deepest foundations in the world, the impressive structures are made from reinforced concrete, steel and glass, and topped by a pair of steel pinacles (below).
In 2009 Alain Robert, an urban climber also known as the French Spider-Man, made headlines around the world when he successfully scaled Tower Two in less than two hours after a couple of failed attempts.
Ordinary non-spiderfolk can also visit the skyscrapers, albeit in a less death-defying, more legal way.
For the towers’ skybridge and 86th floor viewing platform are open to visitors and last year, they welcomed some two million people.
We were a little early for our timed visitor slot (I’d bought my ticket online a few days earlier), so we spent some time relaxing in the small square opposite the towers until it was time to go in.
Once inside, we joined the queue and were handed a coloured pass that denoted our time slot (I was handed a green pass), before being ushered through airport-style security.
We were then given a briefing and waited until the green passes were called.
At that point, we were taken inside a lift that took us up to the skybridge on the 41st floor.
At 558ft high, the skybridge is the highest two-storey bridge on Earth.
We had 10 minutes to look around the observation bridge and admire the views over the city and KLCC Park below (above). This turned out to be more than enough time to see everything.
All the green passes were then called again, and we were ushered back in the lift and taken up to the 83rd floor.
There, we were split into smaller groups to take a different lift to the observation deck on the 86th floor.
The observation deck is home to a series of models that depict the towers and the centre of Kuala Lumpur (above), which were interesting enough.
But the highlight was, unsurprisingly, the stunning views over the city.
We could see for miles even though it was cloudy and the views must be even more incredible on a clear, sunny day.
There were lots of vantage points, too, which meant we could look out over KL in almost every direction.
The only downside was the number of people who were blocking the windows by spending ages posing for photos, which was frustrating as we only had 15 minutes to see everything.
When our time was up, we were taken back to the 83rd floor, where we were given 10 minutes to look around the shop, before being taken down to the ground.
The tour was very well organised – the staff were strict and efficient.
But I couldn’t help feeling a little underwhelmed by the experience and it wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be.
Light show at the KLCC Public Park
A short walk from the Petronas Twin Towers lies KLCC Public Park.
The delightful 17-acre park is home to some 1,900 trees, along with a large lake and fountains.
Every evening at 8pm, the park comes alive as the lake plays host to the Lake Symphony, a wonderful synchronised light show.
After having dinner in a nearby restaurant, we sat down to watch the show as the fountains lit up the park in an array of colours and began dancing around to the music that played over the speakers.
The well-known tunes included Celine Dion’s Titanic anthem, ‘My Heart Will Go On’.
The light show was really effective and we spent a fantastic evening in the park enjoying the performance.
It was quite the spectacle and a fun way to end our first day in Kuala Lumpur.
Info
If you’re interested in visiting the Petronas Twin Towers, I’d recommend buying your tickets in advance. You can do so online at the Petronas Twin Towers website.
