Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

We’re spending quite a bit of time on mainland Malaysia this trip (we’ll get to Borneo Malaysia later). From Port Klang, you can visit Putrajaya, the administrative capital of Malaysia, and Kuala Lumpur, the regular capital of Malaysia. Rick saw Putrajaya on his own, while Betsy enjoyed a mild case of something, and then both got to see Kuala Lumpur.  (Note: Rick earlier had the honor of being the ship’s first case of the flu and was in quarantine for a day and a half and Betsy took Tamiflu. So this illness of Betsy’s was indeed minor.)

Putrajaya was built largely between 1995 and 1999 and looks clean and new. It’s one gorgeous building after another (Picture 1) and 7 lovely bridges (Picture 2). While a natural river ran through the location, it has been widened and modified to create a garden-like setting throughout the city.

Picture 3 shows the Putra Mosque and, to the right, the Prime Minister’s Offices. The main hall of the mosque (Picture 4) holds 15,000 worshipers. An additional 20,000 can worship in the courtyard. Picture 5 shows the dome of the mosque and some of the beautiful geometric Islamic architecture.

On our second day we first visited the Batu Caves. This is a series of caves that hold a Hindu temple. The day before our arrival, the Thaipusam festival (Hindu day of atonement) was held, which drew somewhere around 1 million people. When we arrived, the hundreds of vendors who had set up were taking down their stalls and there was garbage everywhere, although the clean-up process had begun.

Picture 6 shows how you get to the caves. After passing some of the vendors and the statue of Shiva, you climb 272 very steep steps to get to the entrance (Picture 7)—devotees on their knees or carrying a pole with two jugs of milk across their shoulders—then you go down some more steps and back up again to get to the main temple (Picture 8). As you climb the stairs you get to visit with the local monkeys (Picture 9). Picture 10 attests to the fact that Rick made the climb. Betsy’s knees said no—besides, she did it 17 or 18 years ago. When she did it there were no vendors, no statues and there was a simple set of concrete stairs. How times have changed.

Then we did a tour of the city. Picture 11 shows the National Monument. This commemorates the lives lost in WWI, WWII and the Communist Insurgency (1948-1960). The statue in the center commemorates that Insurgency, where communists (Chinese) tried to take over the country. Does the statue look familiar? It was designed by Felix de Weldon, who also designed the Iwo Jima statue in Washington DC.

The green area in Picture 12 is Independence Square, where significant national events occur. The building shown was the British government building used prior to independence from the Brits. The green area is actually the old cricket field from the Royal Selangor Club—the equivalent of the British Officers’ Club.

Picture 13 shows the KL Tower, the 4^th highest communications tower in the world at 1381 feet. Picture 14 is the view of the Petronas Towers from the KL Tower.

Picture 15 is a picture of the Petronas Towers from street level. The Malaysians built these between 1995 and 1999, wanting to have something that they could claim for their greatest accomplishment (biggest, tallest, fastest, etc.). Unfortunately, shortly after they were built, someone else built something taller. There goes their claim to fame.

We did a quick double take when we saw the sign in Picture 16. Our guide quickly explained that ISIS is their intelligence agency and government training center and was open long before the other ISIS was known. If only the other ISIS was that easy to find….

Finally, Betsy’s sunset picture (Picture 17).