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| Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. |
Train from Woodlands check-point on the north tip of Singapore to KL, 2nd Class. Surprisingly cheap ( £12 ) for a 6 hour journey including a 50% discount, without being asked ( I must be looking old ), for those over 60. Even 1st class would only have cost S$50 ( about £25 ), but that was full up. The Malaysian KTMB train ( 2nd Class ) was fairly basic and had probably seen better days, but had good air-con and comfortable enough seats. A little old lady wandered through the carriages selling what turned out to be rather tasty meat and potato ‘pasties’ of some sort and plastic bags of fruit, and there was a buffet car. There were absolutely no tiresome and irritating announcements which was like a breath of fresh air and, incredible though it might seem to Oz ( and Brit ) train management, we all survived more than happily despite the fact that most of the outside doors between carriages were left wide open. I did not notice any plummeting passengers. Left to their own devices most human beings, believe it or not, are quite adept at looking after themselves.
Left: A door open to the elements while on the move. Most of them were. It provided a pleasant breeze. I didn't see, or hear, anyone fall out, and certainly nobody was complaining.
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| A minor station. Pletfum No. 2 |
Lots of stops at minor station stops and into KL at 1530hrs. There were two things immediately apparent about this place. Firstly, everyone I spoke to was extremely charming, polite and helpful; all delightfully smiley. Secondly, the whole place seemed a mass of confusion. The city transit system consisting of several unconnected and differently named metro style train lines, including a mono-rail, plus buses was, to a novice, almost impossible to fathom. This was compounded by severely disfunctional signage. In fact the whole city is a ramshackle hotchpotch of architecture. It is a fusion of high-rise, traditional Muslim, Chinese, Indian and kampong which is the result of scant urban planning; it has just ‘happened’. Tourist maps are confusing and different maps showed somewhat different city layouts. This, combined with few signs pointing the way to the major tourist attractions, resulted in little groups of tourists huddled at street corners consulting several maps and scratching their heads. I bumped into a couple from Bournemouth who were clearly at an entirely different place to where I thought I was. We parted not much the wiser, except to agree we were lost. It makes for interesting and quite a lot of wandering ( and wondering ).
Left: The main square, Merdeka Square, in the city. If there is a city centre then this place is it.
Everything is relatively cheap as you might expect. I booked into a modest, but perfectly clean with all mod cons including TV with BBC 24 and, of course, free wifi, hotel near the central station. It cost RM ( ringit ) 80 per night; that is about US$25. The confusing ‘metro’ systems were equally cheap with most one way journeys costing about RM1 ( 20p ). They made it complicated by fares varying by about RM.10 ( 1 or 2p ) either way so you were always fiddling with very tiny change. Lots of ladies in headscarves serving at ticket kiosks and various other staff as well as many modern ticket machines. It is not efficient, but a system that keeps people employed, and they smile a lot when confronted by a confused tourist.
I set off on foot across the Lake Gardens. My first port of call was the National Museum. I hadn’t planned to go there, and no signs advertised it, but it just appeared as I crossed a busy main road. It was quite interesting with sections on pre-history, pre-colonial, colonial and contemporary. I hadn’t realised that the Portugese ( in 1511 ) followed by the Dutch ( 1641 ) had colonised parts of the area and for longer periods than the Brits who first gained a foot-hold here, in Penang, in 1786. They ( the Brits ) then gained effective control of most of the Malay states by one treaty or another in 1895 and the whole ‘colony’ of Malaya, including the states on Borneo, not until 1930. It was British, with a brief period of enforced ownership by the Japanese, until Independence in 1957. Malayan wealth came originally from tin mining, then also rubber. ( Malaya produced 55% of the world’s tin at the end of the 19th century, and 30% as recently as 1979 ).
Left: Outside the museum, a 1930s fire engine, made in Britain and still in service until the late 1960s. I was tempted to ring the bell.
Right: An original rickshaw. Those were the days, eh? Not only did the idle colonial passenger travel in style and comfort, but the 'driver' kept fit and made money into the bargain; something modern-day fitness fanatics pay fortunes to join vastly expensive 'gyms' to achieve, and then don't even earn money for their pains. Bring back the rickshaw, I say. Charge people to pull the thing!
...and while on the subject of transport, this ( left ) is an original Japanese army bicycle. The sort they pedalled over the causeway on in 1942 to visit Singapore.
Right: An example of some Arabic/Moorish/Muslim architecture. Lots of buildings like this stand alongside high-rise and Malay Kampong styles.
I wandered on in search of the National Monument ( not sign-posted ) and after much quartering the area eventually found it north of the Lake Gardens. I again passed several lost souls poring over misleading maps. It was amusing to compare ideas with people of various nationalities on where we thought we were.
The National Monument ( left ) commemorates all military and police, mainly British but also Commonwealth ( Aussies, Kiwis and Indian predominantly ) and Malayan, of course, who died in WW2 and subsequent conflicts. My interest was locating the plaque in honour of my old army Regiment, the 15th/19th Hussars, which had served here during the ‘emergency’ from 1954-57. Well before my time, I hasten to add.
The inscription on the pedestal of the 'soldiers' statue reads "May the blessings of Allah be upon them".
The colonade behind the statue had 191 ( yes, I counted them ) plaques of predominantly British regimental and battalion army badges and RAF crests fixed to the ceiling. They were all in surprisingly good nick.
This ( left ) is ours. It will bring back memories to some. 'Merebimur' indeed!
Then on to the KL Tower. This is visible from just about everywhere, until you get close to it. It stands in the middle of a ‘rain forest’ park and zoo smack in the centre, if there is a centre, of the city and then it seems to disappear. I must have walked most of the way around the outside of this park, blinking miles, before I didn’t see where the entrance was and it started to thunder and lightening and rain, heavily. I took refuge in a hotel and watched a rugger match between Ulster and Connaught ( what?! ). Ulster won. The rain stopped eventually and there was just enough daylight left when I eventually found the entrance to the park and tower. A free minibus ride takes people up the last bit of road in the park, all of half a mile; a mere nothing to the distance I had slogged, mostly in the wrong direction, previously.
Right: The KL Tower in Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve Park. It affords excellent views of the city, on the few occasions when the visibility is good. It had just stopped raining when I got there but there was some residual mist and haze.
Right: View to the east over the City airport.
Left: View to the west towards the Lake Gardens and National Monument from where I had walked, and then around the park, amongst other unknown places.
Right: The Malaysian flag. This was an enormous one flying in Merdeka Square ( the one in the sort of centre ).
Next stop will be up north at Ipoh and Taiping on further Regimental pilgrimage. This may be of interest to a few old soldiers. Must dash.
