Kuala Lumpur, the Muddy Junction

Once again our port-side stateroom gave us a peaceful riverside view (top photo) while docked in Port Klang (pronounced K-lang)--the gateway to Kuala Lumpur.  The Boustead Cruise Center (bottom photo) on our starboard side had a somewhat confusing double-decked walkway to where the buses waited.  

Kuala Lumpur (meaning the muddy confluence of two rivers) was established in 1857 as a supply center for Chinese tin miners.  It is now the capital of Malaysia with a metropolitan population of 7.2 million.  We were in the island of Borneo of Malaysia 25 days ago in Kota Kinabalu, or KK, and now we are in it's Malay Peninsula cousin, KL.  

Malaysia's state religion is Islam, though the multi-ethnic and therefore multi-religious people are very tolerant of one another.  This is the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque in the city of Shah Alam, the capital of the state of Selanglor.  Called "the Blue Mosque", it was completed in 1988.  It has the distinction of having the largest religious dome in the world at 167 ft. in diameter and can accommodate 24,000 worshippers. 

 Just outside of KL is the National Monument.  It commemorates those who died in the struggle for independence, principally during the Japanese occupation of WWII, and the "Malayan Emergency" which followed.  The sculpture is designed by the Austrian sculptor, Felix de Weldon, who also designed the Marine Corp War Memorial (we think of it as the Iwo Jima statue).  The bronze figures symbolise leadership, suffering, unity, vigilance, strength, courage and sacrifice

 One of the landmarks in KL is the Sultan Abdul Samad Building which originally housed the offices of the British colonial administration. Built between 1894-1897 it is described as being in the Neo-Mughal, or Moorish style.  

The 135 ft. tall clock tower is fashioned in a style reminiscent of Big Ben in London, but capped by a copper dome with a chhatri (or canopy) on the top.

Aside the lovely "River of Life" Colonial Walk is the birthplace of Kuala Lumpur.  Here is the confluence of muddy rivers that gave the city its name.  The  Jamek Mosque sits in the triangle formed by the Klang and Gombak rivers.  It too is built in the Mughal or Moorish style with the red brick and white trim sometimes referred to as "blood and bandages".  

I got a kick out of this sign posted on the Colonial Walk.  The prohibition against "indecent behavior" below the bottom left picture is indicative of the muslim influence.   

Our tour didn't include going to the sky bridge of the Petronas Towers, but we got to stop to take pictures.  We're terrible at taking selfies, but one of the younger passengers showed us how to take a "we were here!" photo.  The towers, constructed of reinforced concrete with a steel and glass facade were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998-2004 and remain the tallest twin towers.

However, I did get to go to the observation floor of the KL Tower.  At 1,381 ft. to the top of the antennae of this  communications tower, it is the 7th tallest tower.  There are annual races to climb the 2,058 steps to the top.  The record stands at 10 minutes.  Whew!

Because the KL Tower sits on a hill and is therefore at a higher elevation than the Petronas Towers, you actually look down on them from the observation tower.

The megatall buildings keep going up.  The 118 story Merdeka which is slated to be completed in 2024 will be the tallest building in Malaysia and 4th tallest in the world--for awhile.

Our day long excursion to Kuala Lumpur was a little hampered by rain and bad traffic, but it was fun to see the Petronas Towers in person and learn more about this diverse country.