19th March
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
Opened the curtains to blinding sunshine pouring in and a backdrop of dockside cranes! Last night the temperature didn’t drop below 30 degrees.
We docked in a working port called Port Kelang about 1 1/2 hours drive outside Kuala Lumpur on the Malacca Straights. We had booked a transfer with P&O to KL and once there we do our own thing then meet up for our journey back.
Our drop off point was the Petronis Twin Towers and once there we set off to explore and decided on using the free local buses to get to Central Market. Last time we were here we actually walked there but as it was so hot we went on the bus. Now, looking at a map the journey looked very simple and straight forward. Pink bus to China Town then change to Purple bus to Central Market. Wrong ! Once on the bus everything was in Malay with quite a few stops in China Town all looking the same! To make matters worse we had been told that a lot of theft of handbags etc was rife there and to be very careful. So there we were, on a bus to goodness knows where, not knowing where to change buses, squashed in with the locals and clutching onto our bags as if our life depended on it. We eventually decided to get off and try to find out where we were when a very nice Chinese lady who could speak English helped us out. We found the purple bus and arrived at the end of the line which was Central Market. As it’s all inside the air conditioning was very welcome and we browsed around. On one stall they had lots of local hand made things including a huge stuffed tarantula in a picture frame!!!! I mean, I ask you, who on earth would want one of those god awful things stuck on your living room wall???? Needless to say I made a very swift departure.
After a couple of hours looking round and stopping for a cold drink we decided to make our way back to the Petronis Towers but this time we took the train which was so much easier! We wandered through the gardens nearby and stopped again for more cold drinks whilst watching the water fountains dance in the lake. Met up for our trip back to the ship and was back on board by 4.30pm.
Kuala Lumpur is very built up now with huge towering sky scrapers and wide, very busy roads. I was first there in 1999 and a lot has changed since then. It’s not a place I’d rush back to now and I must admit it’s the first place I’ve felt very slightly uncomfortable visiting. That said, we did enjoy ourselves and once again the weather was steaming!