We arrived at Port Kelang Cruise Terminal at 7:00am on March 14, 2011 for our stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This terminal is between 60 to 90 minutes away from the city depending on traffic. By 7:30am we were on our tour bus headed for Kuala Lumpur. Prior to reaching the downtown area we had a brief photo stop at the Blue Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia and which can accommodate 16,000 worshipers. Malaysia is predominately a Muslim country and functions under Shira Law.
Silly us, we chose another walking tour! This one was scheduled to be an all day tour. Our first stop to begin our walking tour was Merdeka Square. It contains the historic colonial buildings within the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Independence Square, the Sessions and Magistrates Court, and the Jamek Mosque. We continued along the Gombak River to Chinatown, a really long walk. Our tour took us through the Guan Di Temple (God of War). Then we were on our own to explore the shops and all the street vendors along Petaling Street. We even went into a local MacDonald’s where the food has been approved by Shira Law for consumption by Muslims. After our free time to explore we visited the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple and then on to the Central Market. What a great place for shoppers and for tired feet. We had to partake of the “Cute Fish Spa”. Yes that’s right, you put your feet into a pool with hundreds of fish that remove the dead skin cells from your feet and ankles. Allegedly, this improves blood circulation, but the strangest thing is how much it tickles. It’s the best 2 dollars ever spent.
We had lunch in a 5 star hotel that served a family style 10 course Chinese meal. It was great and we were really hungry. Our last stop for the day was at the Petronas Twin Towers. These are now the third tallest structures in the world. We didn’t go to the top, but did go inside to see all of the high end shops. After an hour there it was back to the ship and time to cool off. We arrived back onboard a little after 5:00pm just in time for sail away.
Tomorrow is a sea day. We arrive at Andaman Islands, India on Wednesday, March 16, 2011.
