Friday, March 17th, 2023 Queen Victoria, Port Kelang (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia
Updated: Jul 3, 2023
Yesterday we steamed through the Singapore Straits, catching site of the Queen Elizabeth docked near the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, before turning northwest to enter the Straits of Malacca between the island of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. This morning the Queen Victoria coasted into the large bay at Port Kelang, Malaysia, and docked opposite a large mangrove swamp. Off in the distance, through the morning mist, I could see a host of massive cranes rising up in the busy commercial port. Today we went on a ship’s excursion to Kuala Lumpur, about an hour’s ride from the port. Our guide, a local Malaysian lady called Julie, greeted us and as we settled in, she was already going through her speech before we’d left the port area. Julie was soft spoken, a blessing on these excursions, and a font of knowledge for all things Malaysian. We learned the usual history of the region and as she progressed, her microphone suddenly cut out - I thought at first it was a connection or battery issue, but then I realized that all of the electrical systems in the bus had failed, and the bus glided to stop at the side of the busy freeway. Within a couple of minutes the temperature inside the bus soared and people began to suffer. The bus doors were opened and most of the guests got off and stood between the bus and the guardrail, we learned that a “rescue bus was on its way with an ETA of about 15 minutes. The temperature outside was only marginally lower than inside the bus, especially standing next to the large, black, rubber tires. Fifteen minutes passed, no sign of the rescue bus, and a man from the group climbed the guardrail, crossed the motorbike lane adjacent to the freeway, and disappeared into the jungle-like bushes – obviously needing to relieve himself. I wondered if he knew about the deadly snakes in Malaysia, but he returned safely. Soon another male passenger followed the first and then a lady did the same, only she didn’t bother to go all the way into the privacy of the bushes, creating quite an eyeopener for the rest of the passengers – I was instructed not to turnaround and look, I’m glad I followed my instructions. After 30 minutes the rescue bus arrived, and we were back on our way. Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital of Malaysia, is a massive, sprawling city covering 94 square miles and with a population of 2 million people. The city serves as the cultural, financial, and economic center of Malaysia. It is also home to the Parliament and is the official residence of the king. Our first stop took us to the National War Memorial gardens consisting of three structures. Leaving the bus felt a bit like stepping into a hot oven, we followed our guide to the first structure – a large obelisk with a lower water feature which was unfortunately being repaired; in addition to the two world wars, Malaysians also commemorate those involved in the 1948 to 1960 “emergency period” when the government fought communist insurgents. Across an open courtyard we next came to a covered semicircular walkway topped with three gold-colored domes, enclosing a large water feature – again it was being repaired. Beyond the walkway was the main memorial feature, a large bronze sculpture of several soldiers raising the Malaysian flag – it was very reminiscent of the US Marines Memorial in Washington DC, hardly surprising as it was designed by the same artist. The sculpture was really amazing, it’s imposing size and the stance of the soldiers – from the topmost holding the flag to those depicted in battle and, at the bottom, those who had fallen – created a strong emotional effect causing visitors to be respectful and quiet. A short bus ride away we arrived at the Petronas Towers, the highlight of the tour. The 88 story twin towers stand 1483 feet tall and are the tallest twin towers in the world and were completed in 1996. Walking to the towers we were “welcomed” by a few “professional” photographers; these guys, armed only with iPhones and a host of extra lenses and tripods, have figured out the right locations and angles to get the best pictures – it’s a tough way to make a living. We took “selfies” and many pictures of the towers – it’s hard to get the structures framed correctly as they as SO big and, as it was approaching noon, the sun was almost directly overhead. The ground level of the towers houses a massive high-end shopping mall, with a model of a Mercedes F1 car hanging above the walkway (Petronas is the major sponsor for Mercedes), and as we had about an hour before our timed-ticket entry for the towers, we decided to look for a nice spot for lunch. There were many options for eating, but after looking at many of them we concluded that “mall food” is not so good in any country, despite how many fashionable stores the mall hosts. We settled for coffee and snacks at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, a chain store that we’ve visited many times on other visits to Malaysia – they also have outlets in the US. The coffee was good, but the less said about the snacks the better. Our visit to tower 2 of the Petronas Towers was amazing. Visitors are divided into small groups of about 20 and ushered through the whole experience. The first elevator smoothly brought us up to the sky bridge, the walkway connecting the two towers, on level 41. Exiting the elevator, into a series of darkened connecting rooms only enhanced the impact of walking out onto the brightly lit skybridge. The skybridge is 2 stories high with glass walls on either side; large metal tubes at ceiling level carry through the theme of the vertical tubing that supports the towers. We expected the skybridge to be packed with sightseers, but because of the way that visitors are divided into small groups, it was quite empty – which was great. The views from the side windows were amazing; the huge city with its many skyscrapers, parks and waterfalls was arrayed beneath us. Back in the elevator we were whisked up to level 83 where we were escorted straight to a smaller elevator that brought us up to level 86, the highest observation deck. The view from the 86th floor was breathtaking, it almost felt like we were in the clouds. In addition to the city, we could also get a great close-up view of Tower 1 – felt a bit giddy! We stayed for about 20 minutes and took about a million pictures. Descending to level 83 we were escorted to a lounge area, basically another observation deck, with a small gift shop and espresso bar. We were able to buy postcards and stamps and post them in a mailbox right there on level 83 – great! To compensate us for the bus breakdown the guide organized an unscheduled stop at Independence Square, which was nice. The square comprises a large grass area, with a cricket pitch and a large flagpole; one side is entirely filled by a grand Victorian era building that housed the government offices during the British period. We struggled through the intense heat to walk through the grassy square and round behind the former government building to the Klang River. The river flows through the center of KL and we walked along a nice embankment with great views of old and new buildings. Our final stop was at the memorial and residence of Malaysia’s 2nd prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein – who is revered for setting the country on the path of economic expansion. Half the passengers were exhausted and stayed on the bus, but I followed the guide into the compound – only to find that this late in the day it was closed. The guide scurried around to find anyone who could let us in and after about 10 minutes she came back and informed our group that we could not get into the memorial (his tomb) but we could visit the residence. Razak served as prime minister from 1970 until his death in 1976; the interior of the residence looked like it had been untouched since the mid-seventies – I found it quite fascinating. Despite the heat and the bus breakdown, we had a great day in KL – it is a modern capital with strong historical ties and some fascinating architecture.
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