Advertisement
Published: January 24th 2014
Edit Blog Post
Steel Twin Towers
At night they are all lit up and look magical with all the stainless steel Hello again!! All went well on our 5 hour bus ride to the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. The buses are sure great here and have our S.T.C. buses beat. Wide reclining seats, feet rests and colourfully decorated with fancy curtains! We quickly went through immigration, cleared customs and were back on the bus at the Malaysian border. The countryside was quite nice with rolling hills of dense palm trees as far as the eye can see with mountains in the distance.
We quickly got a cab from the station and with a little searching our cabbie finally found our hotel - Victory Street Boutique Hotel. Things are sure cheap around here . . . $25 for our hotel which was clean, tiny but comfortable, free Wifi, close to the city centre and the staff are so friendly and helpful.
We scouted around and had a bite to eat (Cantonese noodles with chicken and shrimp). After getting settled in our hotel we headed out to check out the city centre. Later we had supper at a Chinese Restaurant with delicious food. After we ate we walked only a block and found ourselves at a huge impressive shopping mall all
decked out for Chinese New Year which is Jan. 31st. We couldn't believe all the classy stores, lights and lanterns!! I think it is one of the most beautiful malls I have ever seen. It was almost like another world. There must be lots of people with money here with all the high end shops.
Next morning we headed out for a private city tour with a nice young Chinese man named Gary who was an excellent tour guide and a wealth of information. We stopped at the King and Queen's original palace where we actually got to go in and see the rooms. So luxurious with pictures of famous people who have visited such as Queen Elizabeth, Nelson Mandella and Princess Di.
We visited historical museums, world war memorials, the Kuala Lumpur Tower and the astonishing stainless steal Twin Towers and Independence Square. Our last top was the Batu Caves. These limestone caves were home to some of the first people of Malaysia. We climbed a million stairs beside a gigantic Hindu gold statue and entered the caves. However, there was a lot of garbage around and lots of pigeons, monkeys and chickens which wasn't that great
but still quite the place to see. This is the first thing we have come across that was not clean.
While on tour with Gary, we learned many interesting things about life in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia:
- Kuala Lumpur - population 3 million Malaysia - 11 million
- Religion - Muslim, Hindu, Bhuddist, and Christian with Muslim being dominant and privileged in K.L. The reason Muslim is very prevalent is because the original kind converted to Islam after discovering the Arabs who had gold to trade were Muslim. You see many women wearing veils and some full burkas.
- there are many Filipinos and Indonesians here working; Chinese and Indians immigrated here many years ago.
- a 1000 sq. foot apartment costs around $300,000 U.S.
-Malaysia gained independence in 1945 and fought in both world wars.
- the true Malaysians are descendants from the aboriginal people who made their home first in the jungle
- the country is governed by a king and a democratic government
We enjoy talking the the taxi drivers. Most are very friendly and are willing to tell you about their country. Had another Cantonese meal
for supper and headed out the next morning on the bus for the island of Penang. The weather is very hot but we enjoy it! Thanks for reading.
Mallory and Warren
Advertisement
Tot: 0.059s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0313s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
KL
The road less traveled. Looks great