An evening at the KL Tower, Malaysia

We were tired after a long journey from the airport to the city and after taking sufficient rest in our serviced apartment which I had written about earlier (you can read it here), we decided to quickly make a dash to the KL tower. This was pretty nearby to the Vortex suites and though it is walkable there is a bit of elevation as you approach the tower and it is not entirely possiblet to climb so much unless you are fit.

Taxi is a better way to reach the top and it should not cost you too much. There are two floors to the tower one being the observation deck only and the other having a restaurant and an open air observation deck from where you can see the city much more freely for photography purposes. The observation deck is fully housed in glass and hence provides for very less photography opportunity in a clarity sense.

The tickets are sold on either individual or combo basis. The observation deck for 2 adults and 2 kids must set you back about 150-170RM (1RM = 17Rs) whereas if you opt for other packages you will end up paying more but get to see other things such as aquarium, upside down house, and mini zoo. There is a normal queue and a priority queue for those who booked using booking sites such as booking.com. We thankfully had a priority queue entry though the number of people in normal queue were not many when we went it. However this number had swelled by the time we finished seeing the tower.

We spent a good hour going around and clicking photos of KL’s landmarks including the Petronas towers which is visible from one of the sides and I somehow found taking a photo of the twin towers from KL tower better than the other way round. It was just a choice between the two keeping costs in mind and I chose the KL tower this time.

Besides the KL tower observation deck, there is information and souveniers available everywhere around and you can buy them if you wish. The latest trick of having your photo taken and processed for you will earn those guys a few ringgits and make you poorer by that much as well. These are not photos that you yourself cannot take or process but remember everyone may not have access to good phones or cameras and for some, the moment captured in a pic is just what they need in return for some cash.

Written with StackEdit.

Travelling to Jog Falls

As part of my previous post I have already written what it takes to go from Bangalore to Jog Falls. We stayed at Sagar in a hotel called Green Embassy, whose review I have given in another blog post. If you wish to know more about the hotel please click here.

Jog Falls tourist attraction

Bus journey from Sagar to Jog Falls is roughly around 25 km plus or minus and it is a treacherous route down the Mountain and up the Mountain again. Since it’s a waterfall you will need to go down the Mountain to some extent to see the falls from the top. There are lot of private buses that operate from areas like Sagar up to Jog Falls in a regular frequency.

The cost of the bus is roughly around 1 Rupee per kilometre so we ended up paying around 20 or 30 rupees for a ticket one way per person. What is more important to note is the time it takes to cover this distance and it is slightly on the higher side due to the terrain. It is quite common that you might feel a bit giddy and may even feel like puking.

Jog Falls pathway

The Jog Falls is a Majestic tourist attraction and has roughly around 1300-1400 steps all the way down. The steps themselves neatly laid out and it gets steeper by the flight as you reach down. It takes roughly about an hour to go down and between an hour and a half or two hours to come back up. We carried only a couple of bottles of water along with our bags down. It is highly recommended that you keep some food like biscuits or the likes while going down. The time when we went was in November and hence the water was pretty less in the falls itself. Like I said earlier in one of my posts this was more of a backpack trip and we had to do it in haste without rhyme or reason.

The best time to go would be between June to August during which time the thunderous falls are a sight to behold.

Safety along the stairs

There would always be a question what happens to you if you go alone all the way down or even with another person all the way down. Would there be somebody who would pickpocket you? Or rob you? Or mug you or even much worse. What is worse is that there are just two security guards at the bottom of the falls. These guys cannot help much and they are just there to control the crowds. Sometimes there could be a set of unruly people who just want to have fun. So far I have not heard of any mishap but there is a genuine risk of something happening. Going down is essentially at your own risk although it is not a very difficult thing and you do not hear incidents happening every other day.

Some things to take care of while going down

take a few bottles of water and something to eat like biscuits
preferably go between 9AM to 11AM or even earlier
as the sun rises it gets pretty difficult to come back up again
safety is at your own risk so be aware of your surroundings
the mobile signals are not available as you go down so be aware of that
preferably go with someone else or as a group of people
time your descent and ascent accordingly
while coming back up again take as much rest as you want wherever you want
do not stress yourself to climb up the stairs fast
ample time to come up give time for others to take rest but at the same time keep looking at your watch in order to come back in a reasonable time
the staircase USA open between 9AM in the morning and 6AM in the evening
if you are going during the monsoon, take an umbrella and use proper clothing like shoes/raincoats etc.
It could also be cold during monsoons, so cover your ears and chest if you can

Food options at Jog Falls

The Options for eating food at Jog Falls are extremely Limited. So you need to be aware of this and plan accordingly. There are a few stores selling frozen paratha or chapati along with some ill made curry.

The shops also stock a lot of ice creams & beverages cold and hot. So you should be able to get your Coke or Fanta or Pepsi easily. Please avoid the rice items here as the rice is not well cooked. Additionally there is also a KSTDC hotel which is only slightly better than the shops around.

Still this restaurant has its own flaws. Not all of the items listed are available at all the times. And if you go somewhere in the afternoon most other items are not available.

The best solution is to pack your own food and take it along with you so that you have something tasty and something made by you that is more edible than the ones available there.

Options to stay near Jog Falls

The couple of hotels that I did notice which is very near to Jog Falls. One of them is the Gerusoppa Maurya by KSTDC. I also noticed Jungle Lodges and resorts nearby. Barring this your nearest best option would be to stay at Sagar or Shimoga.

The total time it took for us to visit Jog Falls and be back is a little more than half a day so you need to plan accordingly if you are going there. This was of course from Sagar so if you are staying at Shimoga it could take much more than that.

Even though it was November it was pretty humid and sweating all the time. The climb down and back up only makes it worse. If you are going between July and August and plan to go down the staircase, don’t forget to take a raincoat or an umbrella and still continue to take water and some food. This should help you to be hydrated as well as mitigate the sweating problem during rainy season.

Conclusion

The Jog Falls is a must visit for everybody at least once in their life. Be careful to choose a place nearby to Jog Falls for your stay. Take care to pack food and water while going down Jog Falls pathway. Try to avoid the food which is available there. Time your visit properly. It would also serve if you can read about Jog Falls and its history before going there to appreciate the place.

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Category: attraction

A visit to the KL tower, Malaysia