DETOURism is the willingness to travel differently, following the less trodden path, stumbling into unique experiences, and seeing our surroundings with new eyes.

it entails exploring your surroundings, often associated with being a tourist in your own area, and going with the flow, going where the day takes you and opening yourself up to chance encounters. 

Sylvain Venayre, French historian

Our sightseeing road run took me through streets that I normally drive past without a second glance. Running allowed me to immerse myself with my surroundings.

Mostly downhill and flat for the first 4km, we started off at a comfortable pace. To extend mileage, our loop had multiple ‘fingers’ at intersecting junctions, enabling us to check-out potential eateries (coffee stops) for future outings.

Also on the menu were several inclines, a water tank, traffic-light crossings and long stretches of seemingly never ending roads.

Jogging easily along the tree-lined Jalan Kiara, the first of three uphills awaited us at the Jalan Duta Kiara junction. At the top, we detoured right, continuing past Seni Mont’Kiara towards Pavilion Hilltop for our first glimpse of the KL skyline.

Next-up was the detour to Jalan Hartamas cul-de-sac, to the foot of an imposing hill with an ominous gradient. The steep climb was as promised – punishing!

The effort was totally worth it as we had access to unobstructed views of KL City landmarks (l-r) Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower, Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) and Merdeka 118.

Looking back the way we came, one can’t help but be struck by the very striking Arte Mont Kiara.

Back on the road again, we ran past Publika, practiced social distancing at the colourful retaining wall before cruising down to take a right towards Sri Hartamas.

The next section was like an endless stretch of road, taking us past the King’s Palace just before the start of the uphill to Hartamas Shopping Centre. With the sun high up, and temperatures rising, it felt laborious having ran over 10km already.

We stopped at Damas 3 to refuel with a well-deserved brunch before hitting the home trail at walking pace, via Sri Hartamas residential area, across the highway to Desa Sri Hartamas and one last hill ascent back to our Mont’Kiara starting point.

Overall, a fun run and satisfying outing.

So is Detourism for you? Only one way to find out 😉