KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA March 19, 2008Kuala Lumpur entered my consciousness as the home of the twin towers that took the title of the tallest building in the world away from Chicago…unfairly I might add, but that is another story.
The city is the capital and the largest city of Malaysia and commonly referred to as KL. The name Kuala refers to a “confluence” of rivers and the rivers in this town are Klang and Gombak which is where the town is located.
The city is really in a rain forest and there is a hot and humid climate pretty much year round. It is the only city in the world that has a one million year old primary forest within the heart of the city.
As the capital of the country there is the palace of the King of Malaysia, which is a ceremonial position. In the 13 states of the country there are 9 Sultans and these sultans elect one of their number to perform as the king for a 5-year term. Then another one is selected. We visited the palace and got a picture of the guards during the changing.
The country is about 75% Moslem and Islam is the national religion. We visited the national mosque and were allowed to go in with proper head covering and clothing, but with lack of footwear.
I had to take a picture at one intersection of a unique fountain. It was of the carnivorous “pitcher plant” in a huge fountain in the middle of a park intersection. Also observed were the street lights with flowers on them and the lights acting as the stamens.
Finally on the way back to the ship we stopped at a pewter factory Royal Selangor. The metal is hand finished and there craftsman ship is world class. Take a look at www.royalselangor.com.my. We had our picture taken with the Guinness Book of Records holder “Largest Pewter Beer Stein”.
