March 4 – Port Klang-Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It's our first time in this port but because we're only here to allow trips into Kuala Lumpur there's not much to say. Port Klang is the main gateway to Malaysia by sea. Colonially known as Port Swettenham, it is the largest port in the country. It is located about 4 miles southwest of the town of Klang, and 24 miles southwest of Kuala Lumpur (some sources spell it Lampur but the buildings downtown use the U). It's the 12th busiest container port in the world and the 17th busiest by total tonnage.
It's another very hot and humid day. We're on a long tour today, scheduled for 8 hours but with traffic and everything the tours here in the Far East have been running about 1 hour overtime. That extra hour is usually spent sitting in an air conditioned bus watching the driver skillfully and insistently negotiate a traffic snarl so it's not really a big deal.
The drive in to town is supposed to take about an hour and a half but it took longer this morning. We have a really good guide. He's a bit older than average and has all the information at his fingertips. On the way into town we passed some very large construction projects and others that were clearly completed and under operation. It seems the economy of this area is progressing nicely.
Evidence of this economic boom is the traffic on the highway. As we approached downtown the traffic slowed and then stopped. We were creeping forward, one car-length at a time. Our driver took things into his own hands and got off on a highway that was going perpendicularly to the one we were on. Traffic was very light and we zoomed along. Soon he turned on a highway that was headed the same way as the first one and we went along very quickly there too. After going a number of miles he turned onto another highway heading back toward our original highway. The true test of his decision came when we got back to that highway do discover that it was moving fairly well at that point. I wonder if a friend called him to warn him about an accident that the longer route bypassed. Whatever the reason it was a genius decision on his part. We hit all the sights for the rest of the day before any of the other buses from the ship.
Before we get to downtown proper we are stopping at the Royal Palace. When the independent entities decided to unite as Malaysia there was some disagreement over the form of government they would have. Some decided to remain sultanates and thus have a sultan others decided to be more like a republic and have governors. The sultanate states outnumber the gubernatorial states about two to one. They decided that they would have a King but his role would be totally ceremonial. How to pick the king was a bit of a problem so they decided that each of the sultans would serve a 2 year term as king in rotation. If a sultan did not want to be king he could turn it down. Our guide says that has not happened yet. The governance of the country is in the hands of an elected parliament based on the British model as you would expect. Initially Singapore was part of Malaysia but they didn't want anything to do with an Islamic form of government so they voted to split off. When that happened many people with money and an education decided to move to Singapore before the split date so there wouldn't be any immigration problems and Singapore has done very well as a result.
The Royal Palace was an impressive place. The main gate is large and is flanked on both sides by a sentry and further out a mounted cavalryman. The palace is about a half mile up the hill from the gate. The wall around the compound is white with gray granite trim. The only other color is gold. All the domes are gold as well as some of the trim on the main gate.
We arrived at the parking lot just before about 4 busses on Chinese tourists. If you've ever been anywhere with a large group of Chinese tourists you know from whence the slang term for chaos, "Chinese Fire Drill", is derived. We were happily taking pictures when they stormed the plaza. Upon spotting the horses they began to go right into the shelter with the mounted guards. The guards did their best to warn them away but it typical fashion they continued up the short ramp into the enclosure at which time the horse definitely took offense and started to rear up. I don't know if the Malaysians train their horses like the old US Cavalry or not, but approaching a military horse from the front is not advisable. Generally they are trained to violently discourage any rapid approach from the front. The horse began to make snorting noises and paw the ground, a sufficient warning for any reasonable person to take pause in their approach. Not so this group. As the cavalryman continued to try to warn the woman away, the horse decided enough was enough and began to rear up, the results of which would have been catastrophic for the Chinese woman. With great determination the soldier controlled the horse as everyone who spoke English yelled at the woman to get away from the sentry's post. Unfortunately those yelling were from our group and the woman still seemed oblivious to her perilous position. Probably didn't speak English. Finally one of the Chinese men, maybe their guide, grabbed her arm and escorted her away.
Photography Etiquette Note: I know that there are many people who will find this hard to believe but not everyone traveling with you wants a picture of your spouse in front of every important site on the trip. For pity's sake, let us get at least one shot before you sent your loved one forward to screw up everyone else's photos. Particularly if you take as long to snap the shutter as it took Rembrandt to paint a portrait. What are you doing all that time? Your cameras are mostly fully automatic. It is a slight source of amusement to look over your shoulder at your camera's screen to see the absolutely terrible photograph that results from your interminable efforts. However, it's not nearly enough to make up for the time wasted waiting for the parade of spouses to the front. Apparently a lot of people think, "Wow that's a good idea, honey you go up too!" You've been seeing my photos for a few weeks now. I can tell you that not one of them took more than 3 seconds to take, unless the lighting was difficult and it took me 2 seconds more to adjust the f-stop.
That was fun. I haven't been using italics nearly enough this trip.
Next fun event was the changing of the horse guards. Three horses came up the drive and began crossing the courtyard toward the main gate, clearly intending to relieve those on duty. Apparently this was misinterpreted by the Chinese as a perfect opportunity to get a frontal shot of the three horse formation. About the time they were ready to press their shutters it finally dawned on them that they were about to be run over, that's when the real fire drill began. It reminded me of the lyrics from 'Stuck in the Middle with You'. "Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you." At this point it was becoming pretty amusing but it was time for us to go. The guardsmen exchanged places and the officer led the two being relieved (in more ways than one) back to the stable. I'd love to have a translated transcript of the conversations that took place there. I do have a few good photographs from what I'm calling the pre-Chinese period.
Our next stop is pretty much downtown. In fact it's a bit across town and the traffic was bad but this time there was no avoiding it. In due time we arrived at the National Museum of Malaysia. It was founded in 1963 at the direction of (I rarely put full names in my journal, the two previous exceptions are Admiral Viscount Lord Nelson and Queen Elisabeth II of England. Both of them have three line names. This King's name deserves to be listed) His Majesty, the third Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Syed Putra Ibni Al-Marhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail. Not quite a three-liner but still a great name.
The museum has several buildings dedicated to specific arts but we are going in the History Building. In the margin of the parking lot and in the courtyard they have several historical vehicles on display, two locomotives, one steam one diesel, several military vehicles, some automobiles and a fairly modern helicopter.
Inside the History Museum there are four sections on two floors, Prehistory, Cultural, Colonial History and Modern. We have limited time so I set my agenda to include the Cultural and Colonial sections. I barely got through those two before time ran out.
The Cultural section was the best. They had excellent artifacts indicative of unique to the Malay culture. My favorites were some of the ceramics, carvings and weapons. They had some wonderfully carved jade objects. My favorite was described as a white jade brush pot although its color is a light green. It looks like a small tumbler with little men climbing on the sides and rim. There were ceramics, porcelain, wood carvings and weapons. The Malaysian kris is a very nasty looking dagger. It is usually carried in a carved wooden scabbard that has a large top to protect the hilt. The blades come in a variety of shapes but my favorite is the wavy bladed kris. They have mannequins dressed in the traditional garb of various ethnic groups. One display showed the distinctive styles of men's headgear for each state. Behind each hat was a picture of the state's ruler, usually a sultan. Apparently each area has its distinctive style and within each area there are variations of style and color to indicate the wearer's status or the event he is attending.
They have a very small but exquisite display of shadow puppets. There are only four of them but they are of very high quality and quite old.
In the courtyard we paused to take D's picture with the helicopter. They also had a light tank and armored personnel carrier on the grounds. Both appear to be British in design and our guide confirmed that they did indeed get them from the UK.
From the museum we drove to the heart of the city, Independence Square in the Colonial District. The collection of colonial buildings is absolutely outstanding. The Post Office looks like a Moorish palace. Right across the street is the cricket ground. What could be more British? The Malaysians love cricket so matches are still held here. The colonial playhouse is still a playhouse. Everywhere you look there's a beautiful building.
From Independence Square we drove a few blocks to the Golden Triangle. This is the financial heart of Malaysia. The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world when they were completed. While no longer the tallest they are still a very impressive sight. The twin towers joined at the 44th and 45th floors by a walkway connecting the two. It makes it possible for the residents of one tower to visit the residents of the other tower without riding all the way down to the lobby. The sun was in exactly the wrong place for a good picture but I found a location where I could both see up through the trees and have one of the towers blocking the direct sun. It worked fairly well but still a little washed out at the top of the towers.
Next stop lunch. We ate in a restaurant in the Malaysia Tourist Center named Saloma. We were in a large room with a stage at one end. Lunch was a buffet and it was excellent. When I eat at a buffet I usually go down the line and take a very small serving of anything that looks good. With me that often winds up being everything. I avoid boring stuff you can get anywhere like salad or potatoes, etc. One dish in particular was just labeled 'Curry Chicken' but looked and smelled delicious. I took a small portion. Everything I took was good but the 'Curry Chicken' dish was Chicken Vindaloo and it was about the best vindaloo I've ever tasted. I hope I'm spelling that right! A vindaloo is made with curry and yogurt and it should be spicy and hot. This one was perfect. The chicken was tasty but the sauce was flavorful and hot. Not blazing hot, but it did put a little buzz on your lips and tongue. I finished my sampler place and since everyone had gone through the line, I went back for some rice and more of that zesty chicken. They probably thought that if they listed the specific name of the type of curry dish it was, there might have been a lot of questions.
While we were eating a five piece band took the stage, two guitars, a bass, a drummer and a lead singer. They played all types of music from mariachi tunes to rock and roll. They had a nice sound and their voices were good. An excellent meal under very comfortable circumstances.
Our last stop of the day was the old Central Market. It opened in 1888 and was originally a fish market but as things around it improved the building was not ventilated enough to get rid of the fish smell and the shoppers were going home smelling like fishermen. They move the fish market to a more suitable building and now the market is given over to jewelry, fabrics, clothing, carvings, art and handicrafts. If they make it in Malaysia you can get it here.
After that is was off to the port. Going out we made the drive in about 40 minutes less than it took us to get in. Work had not yet let out so traffic was way down.
The pier at Port Klang is a bit unusual. It's fairly new and has very modern gangways that are covered and move like those at the airport. But the channel in the river is only dredged at the center so the edge of the river is very shallow. Klang has a very large and well-designed port terminal but it's a long walk on a covered span to get to it.
This was a great port and a very enjoyable tour.
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