On our 60th day we are in Port Klang (Kuala
Lumpur). Kuala Lampur is considered one of Asia’s most dynamic and fastest-growing
cities of over 1 million residents and home to what used to be the world’s
highest twin towers, the Petronas Towers as well as the Kuala Lampur Tower,
another of the world’s tallest buildings. Developed by a Malay king with the
help of Chinese workers, Kuala Lampur developed as a city in the mid-nineteenth
century. The British made it a base of their Malaysian colonies. Workers from
India migrated here, and the mix of all these cultures led to the development
of a unique multicultural society which can now be seen in the city’s mosques,
temples, neighborhoods such as Chinatown and Little India and its cuisine.
Before I go into our tour of Kaula Lumpur I wanted to make
you all aware of a change in our itinerary. The unrest and recent terrorist
attacks in Egypt have resulted in all our Egyptian ports being cancelled and
Israel and Sicily added. That means Safaga, Sharm el-Sheikh, and
Alexandria are out. Fortunately we are still scheduled for Jordan so we
can make it to Petra.
Our new itinerary:
4/2
Al’Aqabah, Jordan
4/3 At Sea
4/4 Suez
Canal (still daylight transit)
4/5
Ashdod, Israel (new)
4/6 Haifa,
Israel (new)
4/7 At Sea
4/8
Kusadasi, Turkey
4/9 At Sea
4/10 Piraeus, Greece
4/11 Piraeus, Greece
4/12 Katakolon, Greece
4/13 Messina, Sicily,
Italy (new)
Just to round out the day the ship just raised the health
alert status due to an increase in the number of gastrointestinal illness cases
on the ship. That slows down all the meals and any other situation where
people touch things other people touch. So far we are healthy and plan to
stay that way.
Back to our tour yesterday. We first saw a Buddhist
temple. It was only 30 years old, but very beautiful. The main religion in
Kuala Lampur is Moslem, then Buddhist, Hindu and Christian, with Moslem being
about 60%. Our guide said that the Chinese use Buddhist temples more to pray
for material things like good grades for their kids, and are not true Buddhist.
We then visited the war memorial that commemorates the role of South East Asia
in World Wars I and II and in the civil ware against the communists. We had
lunch at Kuala Lumpur Tower (communications tower), in a revolving restaurant
at the top. It was very cloudy and smoggy, so did not see a lot. Food was
delicious. We then went to Independence Square that commemorates their
independence from Britain. There we saw a very large Mosque. The Muslims pray 5
times a day and can do so from home or work except on Fridays when they must go
to the mosque, so cars all over the place. This was followed by a trip to the
Central Market where we bought some t-shirts and then to a National Museum. At
the museum we learned more about the culture and people of Kuala Lumpur.
Here are some of the pictures from the day.
Us in terminal with wreath and necklaces they had made for
us
Apartment building
Temple
Me with stick in my hand (you pick up all sticks and drop
them back in hole; one will stand out and you pick it up and it has a number on
it; you go to drawer with the number and get your fortune). Mine was “every
cloud has a silver lining” and Steve’s was “lost at sea”. They then explain
them.
Steve with Boar – he was born in the year of the Boar
Me with Rooster – I was born in the year of the rooster
Little India – Arches down the side of the street
Flag
War Memorial (dome and tall statues)
Communication Tower (ball on way up)
Twin Towers
Mosque
Independence Square – Old British buildings, pond with
Steve
Market – Fish Spa – you pay to have the fish eat the dead
skin off you feet. Lots tried it and said it was great.
Museum
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