Kochi, India to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from $286

🌍 About kuala lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is built around the Petronas Twin Towers, but the trip actually worth making is to Batu Caves, 13 km north: a Hindu shrine set inside a limestone cave, reached by 272 rainbow-painted steps under a 43-metre gold statue of Murugan. The city is a genuine three-way mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian, and you eat accordingly — nasi lemak (coconut rice, chili sambal, fried anchovies, egg) for breakfast, then late-night satay and char kway teow along the Jalan Alor food street. Don't skip a mamak stall, the 24-hour Indian-Muslim cafés where teh tarik, "pulled" frothy milk tea, gets poured arm's-length between cups. It's hot and humid year-round (~32°C); May-July is the driest stretch, but August-September often brings haze from Sumatran fires, and October-December is the wettest.