Wednesday, Day 67 - Mar 14 - 10am to 8pm, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur is often referred to as the Garden City. This is a cosmopolitan city with many cultural levels, from the very modern high rise office buildings, including the soaring Petronas Towers, to a Royal Palace, Gothic churches, lovely Colonial remnants and a restored Malay timber house, once the residence of a local headman. The Central Market is a touristy but fun place in the heart of the city near China Town. It used to be the wet market, built in 1888, but now it is a destination for tourists. The pastel blue art deco building houses more than 300 shops and restaurants, with plenty of interesting merchandise and food offerings,  a place to experience the true Malaysian culture. There are also a variety of art galleries in the annexes behind the main building. We have not been here before so we are going to be a real tourist and do the all day bus tour to see as much as we can.

Kuala Lumpur Exploration is an eight hour tour . We meet in the theater a 9:30AM and head for the bus after a short delay. By 10AM we are on the 65KM drive, on a modern highway, to Kuala Lumpur. Once in Kuala Lumpur, we do an orientation tour of the city with a photo stop at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque or the Blue Mosque, one of the country's most beautiful structures. Its 470-foot minarets are the world's tallest. This mosque is set in a lovely garden setting.

Then we make a photo stop at the King's Palace, or Istana Negara. Of course, we have to look though the gates as it is only open to the public two or three days a year, but even so it is a nice picture. Yellow is the royal color and we will see a lot of it today.

Next we visit  the National Museum, the country's principal museum. The unique design of this palatial building is based upon classic Malay architecture. We have 45 minutes to see the four diverse galleries offering insights into the nation's history, politics, culture, economy, arts, and flora and fauna.Some of this building has minimal AC while other parts have none and the valuable displays are sweltering in the heat and humidity right along with us!

We go to the National Monument next, designed by acclaimed sculptor Felix De Weldon. It is a 50-foot-tall bronze monument, constructed in1966, honoring the war dead in the two world wars and the long civil war that followed. It is set in a pretty garden on a hillside. At this point, Dick and Carolyn stay on the bus and take a picture through the window! It is terribly hot! 

We also make photo stop at the 88-story Petronas Twin Towers, the centerpiece of Kuala Lumpur's city center. Petronas is currently the world's tallest pair of freestanding towers, which rise 1,482 feet above the skyline. This is one impressive building in a large city with many impressive buildings. In fact the whole city is impressive! We are surprised at what we see...the mixture of green space and high rises mixed with areas of traditional architecture is very interesting.

After this whirlwind morning we stop to catch our breath at the Seasons Avenue Hotel with a wonderful Indian-Malaysian buffet lunch. We are given an hour to eat and most of us fill our plates several times. The setting is nice and food is very tasty.

From there it is on to Independence Square, where we see the 328-foot flagpole marking the spot where the Malaysian flag was hoisted on August 31, 1957 to commemorate the country's independence from British rule. We stay on the bus again along with several others.

The small Jame Mosque is our next stop. Built in 1909, it is the oldest mosque in Kuala Lumpur, and features graceful arches and domes that are reminiscent of Moorish architecture made even more attractive due to its setting along the River of Life and surrounded by other traditional colonial architecture.

We wrap up the day with a stroll through what was once the busy wet market, now a heritage building filled with antique clocks, jewelry, gems, woodcarvings, batik, and pewter. Carolyn is in hog heaven; finally a shopping stop with plenty of time to actually shop. Dick stays with her until she hits a fabric stall. He quits and goes to find a place to sit down after giving her all his ringets, of course. She later gives the money back to him. But the roll is much smaller!

After the shopping fix we board the bus and take a drive through China Town. Then we read all the way back to the ship. An interesting, but long day! Thankfully, the bus was comfortable and the A/C was cold! The guide was very aware of our needs as far as the heat and humidity. She did talk a lot but was mostly interesting. It was a good tour.

We arrive back at the ship a little after 6PM and the block party is just starting. We say “Hi” to our new neighbors and head for the shower. We only thought we got sweaty yesterday!!
By 7PM we are cooled down and cleaned up so we head for dinner in the Compass Rose. They have herb crusted rack of lamb and a great spinach salad. This and apple streusel for dessert hit the spot. Another tour day again tomorrow so it is off to bed!