On our tour to Kuala-Lumpur last year, my wife and I had scheduled our visit to the evidently celebrated highlands of Genting. All my acquaintances who had holidayed in KL were bragging about it as a must-see. Genting was all over social media too as one of the best amusement zones. I perused through all of the website searching for the best places to visit in KL, and the highlands were virtually on the top of every list. So it unequivocally made my itinerary.
Heads up, our trip was planned very modestly instead of extravagant spending. We were very conservative on frittering our cash on only the most prized possessions.
We started off at the Gombak metro station from where the direct buses to Genting took off. I bought a couple of supplies just to be safe, just in case Genting turns out to be a posh, well-heeled, big-ticket paradise.
So my wife and I bought our tickets to Genting and boarded one of the multi-axle buses. We propelled for 45 minutes through stunning landscapes and ended up at Awana skyway. For those who might be wondering- No, we weren’t there yet. Awana is the last stop for buses. Genting was yet another two miles uphill. Awana stop is a center with miniature malls and arcades, but mostly, it acts as the launchpad to Genting. Cable-cars were hurled up from the launch platforms, taking tourists to the highlands.
We bought our two-way pass and got into line.
Our turn came up and we climbed onto one of the Gondolas, and then…. Up we went… So high we could see the mist floating around us- a gripping experience.
The cable took us to a soaring height that we could see aerial shots of the landscape we cut across earlier. The ride stopped midway at Chin Swee station for anyone who wanted to get down to see the legendary Chin Swee Caves temple. We didn’t get off as temples were not our thing.
Then the ride continued all the way up to the highlands and we got the in-flight view of all the amusements at Genting from our sky-high position.
The Gondola dropped us off at the end-station. As we de-boarded, we felt the cold chilly wind on our face. The altitude was a big relief as opposed to the sweaty climate of the city. So we were at The GENTING RESORT AND AMUSEMENT WORLD.
We excitingly scoped through the place one by one. But, sooner than later, we realized that the more we saw, the more disappointed we were. We saw a profusion of restaurants, stores, arcades, game-centres and a lot of stuff. But was a ton expensive. The price tags on everything were totally spinning off my budget. To my advantage, the essentials I bought prior came in handy. Additionally, we spent the bare minimum on a snack and a bottle of water.
Walked around the mall areas and took plenty of snaps. Because that’s all we could do. Expensive amusement rides and unaffordable food courts were not in our list. We saw a lot of rich people thwarting all their cash in the casinos and facilities.
There was a highlight for us freebies though. At every one hour interval, there is a light and musical show. We watched starry-eyed and the 10min musical ball-play at the atrium of the main mall was a spectacle.
We tried to explore more but there wasn’t anything more than window shopping. So when we got tired of that, we called it a day and took the next Gondola ride back to Awana and the next bus to KL.
Other than the wonderful show and the Gondola ride, my assessment of the place is as follows- JUST AN EXTREMEYLY GLORIFIED MALL-CASINO-RESORT ZONE that’s made for the affluent. All the facilities are overpriced- a haven for the rich. They have several expensively ticketed evening shows. The roller coaster and other amusement rides are still under construction, but I believe that they too will be overpriced. Genting is not a place for the common folk. It maybe counts as a half-day sightseeing.
I went there because I couldn’t risk someone later telling me that I went through all the hardship to travel to KL and I skipped Genting. But now that I know of it, I warn all Local Guides and cost-effective travellers to totally scratch it off their bucket-list. But, if you really want to throw away some of those excess dollar bills on different frenzies, then Genting is the place for you.