Magical Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, July, 2010
Kuala
Lumpur or fondly known as KL reminds me of my Malaysian friends who
are quite close to my heart. My premier global destination was Kuala
Lumpur and it was the year 2010 when a night-time Air Asia flight
from Kolkata landed me to Kuala Lumpur in late night. I was all set
to visit the scintillating Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival 2010 on the
invitation of Tourism Malaysia. There were certain thoughts that were
intriguing me since it was my first global trip. On reaching Kuala
Lumpur and after completing my visa formalities, I checked out with
my luggage only to find out that a grand welcome was awaiting me. My
ground handler, Atok Sam was waiting at the airport to receive me. I
greeted him saying “Salamat Petang” (Good Evening in Bahasa
language) and there was no looking back. By the time, I reached my
hotel- The Royale Chulan at Jalan Conlay, it was 2 AM.
The next day, our first
sightseeing destination was Galeria Seri Perdana –the national
archive of Malaysia on Jalan Damansara that serves as a
gallery-cum-museum and boasts of a rich display of contemporary art
of Malaysia. Also not-to-miss is the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, the
largest roof-covered aviary with 3,000 avian species.
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| Statue of Independence, Tugu Negara National Monument |
I had a glimpse
of National Mosque, the premier mosque of the country and Tugu Negara
National Monument in KL Lake Garden that has the War Memorial and the
Statue of Independence carved of bronze. It was built in 1963 to
commemorate the heroes who lost their lives to save the country from
Communist insurgency.
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| Sultan Abdul Samad Building |
We visited Merdeka Square-the venue for
celebrating Malaysia’s Independence Day and it has the world’s
tallest flag pole at 100 metres height. In the vicinity is Sultan
Abdul Samad Building, the 19th century heritage landmark,
Bukit Aman- the police headquarters of Malaysia, Royal Selangor Club
established by the British and Cathedral of Mary Church- the premier
church of the country.
The major attraction of KL is
Petronas Twin Towers- the global iconic landmark soaring at a height
of 451.9 metres, is a gleaming structure of steel and glass that I
could view from my hotel room. Another prominent landmark is Kuala
Lumpur Tower, the fourth tallest tower in the world rising at a
height of 421 metres.
Putrajaya
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| Putrajaya Mosque |
Nearly 50 km from KL is Putrajaya-
the administrative hub of Malaysia that deserves mention. The garden
city spreads over 4,931 sq. hectares has around 23 sprawling gardens,
huge mosques, stunning bridges and arches and is basking in Malay and
Arabic architectural grandeur. For me, the chief attraction of the
city was Putrajaya Mosque with a prominent pink dome on the banks of
Putrajaya Lake that is made of rose-tinted granite on the lines of
King Hassan Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. There is the serene
Putrajaya Lake on 400 hectares of land area covering around 13 per
cent of the city’s total area. The lake is an ideal destination for
water sports activities. One should not miss the stunning
cable-stayed Wawasan Bridge.
Tioman Island- Nature’s
wonderland
Well, I have never dreamed of
cruising in South China Sea earlier but today when I recall my cruise
experience to faraway Pulao Tioman or Tioman Island in South China
Sea, it was a journey of a lifetime. Tioman in Pahang province of
Peninsular Malaysia is one of the world’s ten best beaches and
consists of a group of nine islands that make Tioman Marine Park.
A five-hour drive from KL through
miles of palm trees in rural Malaysia brought us to Kuala Rompin, a
picturesque beach resort where river Andau meets the sea. We soon
headed to Mersing Jetty to have our lunch and being a vegan, it was
quite difficult to get a vegan meal in Mersing.
After an hour cruise, we reached
Tioman Island and availed of Island Transportation Bus service to
halt at Berjaya Tioman Resort at Tekek. We had put up at superior
chalet and had our dinner at Sri Nelayan Coffee House when the sky
had just opened up and torrential rain lashed the island.
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| Renggis Island | |
The next day, we were off to
Renggis Island for snorkeling trip and geared up with life jackets at
Marine Seaport Centre to cruise in glass-bottom boat to explore the
underwater marine life. We came near the Renggis Island, a lonely
island filled with corals and tropical fishes. The sea water is quite
warm and offers visibility up to 30 metres making it a convenient
underwater exploration site. Here we sighted shoals of marine fishes,
fascinating corals species, sponges and sea urchins in variety of
colours and it was really exciting to watch the diversity of marine
fauna in an open sea. After a two-hour cruise, we returned to our
hotel.
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| Golf Course at Tioman Island |
We toured the nine-hole golf
course that offers sweeping views of tropical rainforests. At Sri
Nelayan Coffee House, we had sumptuous Indian dinner and one can get
to feel home away from home. We then embarked on bandit jungle
trekking to Lalang waterfall at 200 metres height. It was a tough
two-hour trek from Challenger Park and we sighted abundant medicinal
flora and spotted chameleons, tiger leech and monkeys in the
rainforests. Very soon, we were near the waterfall that formed
cascades with crystal, clear cool water.
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| Pulao Tioman National Marine Park Centre |
Our last destination was
Tioman Marine Park Centre that has an information kiosk on the
diverse marine lives existing in Tioman Island.
The next day, we headed for our
return cruise in the wee hours of morning and the sea water was
choppy. There was heavy downpour and our fast ferry service was
stranded amidst the sea and co-passengers developed nausea. It was
only after a while that things gradually bounced back to normalcy.
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