Don & Kully's World Cruise on Viking Neptune

Kuala Lumpur is the impressive capital of Malaysia. The city was originally built by Chinese tin prospectors in the mid-1800s. They had come here in search of a fortune and found it by clearing wide swaths of jungle for a new mining town. The tin also caught the attention of the British who colonized Malaysia in the late-1800’s for access to the vast number of tin mines and for the natural rubber trees. The tin mining died off in the mid-1900’s but Malaysia is still one of the leading countries in natural rubber production. Malaysia received their independence from the United Kingdon in 1957.

Today, Malaysia is major financial center and is host to a large number of multi-national companies’ regional offices or support centers, particularly for finance and accounting and information technology services. Additionally, most of the country’s major companies are headquartered here. The city has also a leader in Rubber and Forest Research.

We took the Viking included tour today, “A Glimpse of Kuala Lumpur.” We had a very knowledgeable guide, Deanna, who provided an excellent overview of Malaysian history and culture as we drove from the port into the city. As mentioned above the city owes its beginnings to the tin mining and latter rubber production, but has evolved into a major financial hub of Southeast Asia. As we approached our first stop of the day at the National Museum, we were struck by the modern city skyline intermixed with older colonial era dwellings and small businesses. There’s a clear picture of opulent wealth and abject poverty almost side by side.

The museum houses a fascinating collection that succinctly chronicles the nation’s past from prehistory through the Malacca Sultantate (Conversion to Islam), colonial era and present day.

We made photo stops at the historic 1910 Kuala Lumpur Railway Station and the National Mosque of Malaysia.

We moved on to Independence Square to admire the old British cricket green and the British-style Sultan Abdul Samad Building which formerly housed various colonial era administrative offices.

We then drove through the beautiful botanical garden for a stop at the National Monument, a huge bronze monument built in tribute to soldiers who gave their lives during the Communist Insurgency of the 1950’s. The monument was inspired by the Iwo Jima Monument in Arlington, Virginia and was sculpted by the same artist. While at the monument, Kully met a local artist’s wife who was displaying her husbands work and bought one of his paintings.

Our final stop was at the Petronas Towers, resembling a pair of steel rocket ships linked by a towering sky bridge. The structures are the tallest pair of towers in the world, and third tallest building overall. the architectural wonder is the pride of Malaysia.

Tomorrow we will visit Langkawi, Malysia.