DAY 1 - February 10, Wednesday.

We reached Kuala Lumpur at 5.15 AM, 40 minutes  ahead of schedule.  

Behind Putra Palace

After immigration and customs we freshened up at the refreshment zone at KL Airport. Nice facilities at the zone. Our guide Mr. Ravi with the bus and driver were waiting for us outside the airport. We first drove to Putrajaya and had a sumptuous Indian Breakfast at the Putra Palace. There was one Malaysian item of rice in coconut milk which resembled the South Indian pongal. After breakfast we walked around the hotel and enjoyed the scenic beauty of the place. Putrajaya is a quiet city situated to the south of KL.

On our way from Putrajaya to KL our first photo stop was at the Wawesan (meaning "Vision") Bridge.

And then drove past the Pink Mosque (whose design resembles the Blue Mosque at Istanbul).

Pink Mosque

 Our next stop was at the Prime Minister's office (where we took a group photo)

A group photo with the Prime Minister's Office in the back ground

Continuing our journey we enjoyed a panoramic view from the convention centre (the roof of which looks like a magician's hat).

The convention centre

View across the convention centre

At the King's Palace (Istana Negaria) - there was a horse and horseman on either side of the main gate of the Palace and our guide Mr Ravi advised us to be careful as we went near the horses for a photo shot.

At the left hand side gate of the main entrance of Istana  Negaria

Entrance to the Istana Negaria

We then drove past the ASEAN Gardens and reached the War Memorial (built in 1963). The area around the War Memorial was really beautiful and everyone was busy clicking their cameras. A Lot of tourists from different parts of the world were there apart from our group.

War Memorial

War Memorial

Then as we drove through the centre of the old city, the Independent Square, we came to a small muddy pool. Our guide explained to us that this was the confluence of two muddy rivers from where Kuala Lumpur got its name.
Next we stopped at the National Textile Museum and the city gallery for a photo session.

We continued our sightseeing driving  past the cricket club, The National Mosque (the dome in the shape of a half folded umbrella and the minaret like a closed umbrella are its unique features),

The National Mosque

The Police Head Quarters, the KL Bird Park, the Butterfly park, Islamic Art Museum (it's huge with a library and extensive galleries ...depicting a lot about Islamic culture). We also saw the KL Monorail and overhead walkways which looked beautiful. 

Beware of Fraud 

Our guide warned us of three possible types of fraud prevelant in KL and advised us to be careful when we walk alone.  

The first type could be posing as a decent couple with a baby in their hand.  Knowing that we are tourists they may approach us and start conversation, asking us whether we came from India (naturally! We do look like Indians). Ask us about our country and our currency. The husband might ask us whether we mind showing Indian currency as his wife has not seen them.  Innocently we take out our wallet and immediately get looted. They walk off with our money and there's little we would be able to do.
The second would be some one posing as officers from the Narcotics Dept. asking us our identity document. Not suspecting we pull out our wallet and then they run away with the wallet.
The third type are chain/hand bag  snatchers from ladies walking on foot paths. Our guide told us "beware of motor cyclists".
That was a bit of info we got from our guide Mr. Ravi. 

At 1 PM we reached  Olive Tree restaurnt  and had an Indian lunch.  After lunch we checked into our hotel Ibis Styles at 2 PM.  The room was not bad. However the faucet in our bathroom was broken. We informed the reception and it was immediately replaced. But for the low water pressure of the wash basin everything else was ok. The shower was excellent with hot and cold water.  The room had a mini fridge and a locker.  Also tea/coffee making facility.  We were to stay here only for the night and hence this was more than OK for us.  We  took rest for 2 hours and then set out again to continue our sight seeing of KL. 

Our first stop in the evening was the 1500 ft high Petronas Towers which is one of the tallest buildings in the world.  Admission is at MYR 85 but entry is restricted to a limited number of visitors per day. Since we reached late we could not go up. Whatsoever the place is worth a visit.

At the base of Petronas Twin Towers

We were told that a bird's eye view from the top of the observation deck at KL towers is more fascinating than from the Petronas Towers. Moreover entrance to KL Towers is free.
Our next stop was KL Towers  driving past a Buddhist Temple and Suria KLCC ( an upmarket mall)
  It takes exactly one minute to go up and one minute to come down.....by the lift. 

  Our guide explained that the cut glass ceiling represents the 7 layers of the sky and that craftsmen were brought from Iran to do the work. It looked really beautiful.  We went  round the revolving restaurant on the top and a  souvenir shop, bought some souvenirs from the souveir shop and left the KL Towers.

View fro KL towers

  A chocolate shop " Cocoa Boutique" was where we halted next. There were wide varieties of chocolates and we were first given a 5 minute introduction by a staff member on the variety of chocolates after which we all purchased some.
Dinner was at  Jaipur Mahal which and was not that great.  We returned to our hotel after dinner for the night.

Everywhere  we could see red hibiscus flowers which looked really beautiful and our guide told us that it was the National flower of Malaysia.
Malaysia is a country of beautiful green landscapes,  forests and lovely beaches.  The main ethnic groups are the Malays, Indians and Chinese. The weather is mostly hot through out the year.

The first day was indeed great.  Our tour Manager Mr. Shinu Poulose was a bit worried as most of us were 50+ of age except for two young couples. Yes it was hectic, however all of us were in high spirits and enjoyed every moment of the Day.

Please look out for our post on Day 2  at Genting Highlands through the link below.

Day 2 - Genting Highlands