Kuala Lumpur Tour

Hi everyone,
Yesterday we had a great coach tour of Kuala Lumpur.  We left Admiral Marina at 0730 and returned at 2100.  The guide was very knowledgeable.  Sadly he had to cope with a number of fussy yachties who don't seem to understand that tours have itineraries, but he coped with better humour than I would have!  The tour included stops at the Batu Caves, the Royal Selangor Pewter factory, the twin Petronas towers for lunch, the KL tower and at Chinatown for a quick dinner.

Central KL

We certainly enjoyed KL, so much so that we've booked accommodation for three nights from tomorrow so we can see more of the city.  We have plenty of time before Sail Malaysia activities start at  Pangkor Marina Island.

The Batu caves were first documented by an English naturalist in 1878.  Local Hindus then decided it was an ideal site for a temple and it is now looked after by the Hindu community.  It's a good climb from street level up to the cave entrance.  The caves are very large with several chambers.  Each chamber has openings to the hilltop above, so varying amounts of light are let in.

Batu Caves

Batu Caves

Monkeys in the Batu Caves

 The Royal Selangor Pewter factory was very interesting, with demonstrations of various parts of the manufacturing process.  Selangor is the name of the state in which Kuala Lumpur is located.  One interesting thing was the discovery that pewter coins were manufactured and used as money, and were cast on "trees"!

We had a good, cheap lunch in the mall at the foot of the Petronas towers.  We had a look around the mall and bought two pewter tumblers and a pewter tea caddy at the Royal Selangor shop.  Prices were the same at their online store, factory visitor centre and at the mall.  We chose a Japanese themed style which of course compliments our Japanese yacht.

Money growing on trees at the Royal Selangor Pewter Factory

What a tankard!

After lunch we visited the KL tower from where we had a great view of the city, limited a little by smog and haze.

View from KL Tower

KL Tower

We visited the war memorial and Royal palace too.  Both are kept very clean and tidy.  Rain clouds were building and we were lucky not to get wet.

Chinatown was interesting too.  Full of stalls selling "certified original copies" of western brand name goods.  Very stylish, but not particularly cheap.

Chinatown

All in all a fun day.