Port Kelang, largest and busiest Port of Malaysia and without a doubt one of the least attractive ports we have visited during this voyage. But, Kuala Lumpur, the pride of Malaysia and one of it's most cosmopolitan cities is just 60 miles away, one and a half hours drive - if there is no traffic.
But, TRAFFIC is spelled in capital letters here, because Kuala Lumpur is permanent gridlock, despite an extensive subway system and plentyful public transport.
I took a ship's transfer to KL, which is safer than taking a taxi. Not because, KL is a dangerous city, but if a Holland America Tour is delayed in traffic the ship waits beyond "all aboard' time. If one goes it alone, the ship leaves after waiting maybe a few minutes, whether or not one has returned aboard. Missing the ship is not a good idea, catching up at the next port can be a bit of a stretch for organization skills and budget (good reason never to travel without your VISA).
Kuala Lumpur is indeed impressive at first sight: a city of towering sky scrapers, communication towers, lots of overpasses, highways and avenues, parks and greenbelts. Spotlessly clean dowtown, safe - except for pickpockets who hang around markets, crowded shopping centres and densely packed subway stations. Sprinkled amongst the futuristic glass and concrete architectural marvels are remnants of colonial architecture, numerous mosques and sultan's residences, old British cricket clubs, and Hindu temples. A pretty eclectic mix.
The modern skyline reminded me of Toronto, except here everything is a lot higher. Instead of streets lined with Maple and Elm trees, all is planted with hibiscus, frangipani, palms and endemic rainforest specimens. So it is a surprisingly green city, despite it's aura of a world class modern age metropolis with over a million inhabitants.
People are well dressed, cars all seem to be recent models, shops are stacked with international and national goods. A shoppers delight as dozens of sparkling airconditioned shopping centres, malls and towers compete with office towers and financial institutions. Truly a hub of commerce - and high fashion. Many women dress in traditional Muslim garb, at least as far as their heads are concerned (to hide their hair), but the remainder of their outfits looks as chic if not more so than any French couture. Apart from that, KL has not succumbed to the International Desease of obesity, and oversized people are definitely a rarity.
The communication tower dominating the skyline reaches higher into the sky than Toronto's CN Tower. The Twin Petronas Towers look like a elongated version of the twin BCE Towers with a lot of added glamour and glittert, never mind the dizzying height of 1483 feet. Taipei's Taipei 101 Toer outranks these twin towers and holds the global height record at 1670 feet. Needless to say, I did not venture up onto the top floor.
Instead I ventured onto the KL hop-on/hop-off bus, which appeared to be the most convenient and cheapest way to get around downtown and a few of the outlaying must-see-sights. Allegedly a trip taking about 2 1/2 hour of driving time.
Off we went, and first 'hopped off' at the Central Market (Art Deco) for some browsing amongst hundreds of shops on several floors, where individual 'streets' offer art, craft, textiles, curios and ethnic 'service-shops' to make one's head spin. It is rather overwhelming, as there is so much to see and admire. One of the 'ethnic' services consists of a fish spa for foot care. A large concrete tub, filled with cool water and a few hundred little dark fish offers cushioned edges for customers to rest their tired butts. And for a small fee, one inserts ones bare feet into this pond and waits, whilst the many little fish cluster around and nibble away at people's callouses. More laughs than using a pumice stone I suppose.
A little while later we hopped on the famous bus again and continued the hop on/hop off experience. We drove through Lake Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bird Gardens, Deer Gardens, Hibiscus Gardens and Orchid Gardens - unfortunately without any time to enjoy an actual walk around these beauties. Traffic was so atrocious, that it looked more like a four hour ' stay-put' circuit than a two and a half hour on-off one.
We passed and stopped at the downtown building behemoths, the twin towers and communication tower, the moorish looking railway station, and some striking mosques without taking advantage of the hop-off feature.
But, by now I was getting a little concerned that we would miss the return transfer to the ship unless this hop thing would start to fly over the traffic jams.
Made it back by a hair's breadth with just enough time to sweep through a couple of floors of the shopping centre adjacent to the transfer pick up point - lavish stuff on all floors, but did not have time even to spend a single 'Ringgit' (local currency)!
Well, upon pick up we were short about six of the passengers from the number who had taken the transfer into Kuala Lumpur. The bus waited for about 15 minutes, no sign of the missing souls. We HAD to leave, leaving the stragglers to their own devices.
I would have loved to see more of this interesting city, and if I ever come back here, I shall WALK around downtown and linger wherever I want instead of being stuck at dozens of traffic lights in a huge mass beyond imagination of vehicles.
Back at the ship.....casting off was delayed of course, whilst we all waited for the 6 missing stragglers to turn up via taxi, half an hour late, and a couple of minutes before official cast off. Everyone aboard - and we started our overnight passage to Singapore...
