It’s been a while since I have been planning to write about our short and sudden trip to Kuala Lumpur. All of a sudden, out of the blue, we decided on a fine Wednesday evening, to make a trip to KL for the weekend. Without much planning, we boarded the luxury bus to KL, and reached there by Saturday early morning.
We woke up by around 7 in the morning, had breakfast from the hotel, and started out first day. We had planned to go to Thean Hou Buddhist temple, and had checked which station to get down from the metro. However, just like in all the other trips we pursue, we lost our way, and ended up in another Buddhist temple, near Little India. It was Vesak day, the temple was crowded, and there was a fair at the entrance of the temple. To be frank, it was much similar to the festivals we have in India, when we saw it. However, there was nothing much to see there, we walked back, and got a taxi to Thean Hou temple.
Thean Hou temple was a Chinese Buddhist temple, and it was huge and beautiful. We could go inside the temple, and we really enjoyed every bit of it. It was peaceful and serene. There was a wish tree were Kirti hung her wish of “World Peace” and we moved to the upper storey of the temple. It was again nice, and hosted 3 beautiful sculptures of Buddha.
After spending some time there, we decided to take leave, and on the way back, saw a turtle pond, a small pond with numerous turtles. We were a bit hurt when we saw people taking turtles in their hand and throwing it off. There was also a small park nearby with a few statues of different animals. Since we were kids (!!!), we played there for some time as well before taking leave.
We had planned to catch a train to our next destination for the day, Shah Alam Mosque, but the taxi driver, Stephen, advised us to take a taxi, as it will be a much better option as we had plans of going to Selanggor as well. We decided to take the taxi itself, and it proved to be a good decision, as Selanggor was sparsely crowded, and getting a taxi back to KL was not a very viable option. And, we went to Shah Alam Mosque, the biggest in Malaysia, and the 2nd biggest in South East Asia. We could see the dome from a distance itself, and when we reached there, it was a sight to behold!
A mosque with blue colored dome itself was unique, but the fact that it was so large, and yet beautiful was captivating. Such was the grandeur of the mosque that, it was the highlight of our day. There was a lake near the garden surrounding the mosque, and the entire place was again, so picturesque and serene. We reached there by prayer time, and had to wait before they allowed us inside. In the meantime, we had food from a nearby restaurant, and I had Rojak (a dish with peanut and some sauce, was tasty), and Kirti had rice.
After our lunch, we walked around the mosque, and as the prayer time was over, we were allowed inside.
Kirti had to wear a burqa, a green one, before coming in. We went inside the mosque, and it was an architectural marvel. The walls, and the pillars and everything were grand, and we really had a great time there. We were allowed to go inside the prayer hall, from which we could see the inner side of the dome.
After spending some time inside the mosque, we decided to take leave and move to the next place.
We reached Selanggor river by around 4:30pm, and were just in time for the eagle feeding trip. It was not crowded, and there were only 2 of us. Stephen also accompanied us for the trip. Again, it was my first time that I was taking a boat trip with mangrove forests on the other side of the shore. It hosted a number of species of birds, and of course, eagles being the most famous.
Again, it was well worth a trip, and they say that Selanggor hosts one of the largest firefly colony in the world. It was beautiful to see them glow in the dark, and was again one highlight of the trip. After the firefly tour, we got back on the taxi, and started our trip back to KL.
With the help of Google maps print out (courtesy: Kirti), we walked to the hotel where we had booked our accommodation. The receptionist, Mustafa, a Pakistani, was a nice guy, and by paying 30MYR extra, we were allowed early check in. We checked in, and had a nice sleep.
We woke up by around 7 in the morning, had breakfast from the hotel, and started out first day. We had planned to go to Thean Hou Buddhist temple, and had checked which station to get down from the metro. However, just like in all the other trips we pursue, we lost our way, and ended up in another Buddhist temple, near Little India. It was Vesak day, the temple was crowded, and there was a fair at the entrance of the temple. To be frank, it was much similar to the festivals we have in India, when we saw it. However, there was nothing much to see there, we walked back, and got a taxi to Thean Hou temple.
Thean Hou temple was a Chinese Buddhist temple, and it was huge and beautiful. We could go inside the temple, and we really enjoyed every bit of it. It was peaceful and serene. There was a wish tree were Kirti hung her wish of “World Peace” and we moved to the upper storey of the temple. It was again nice, and hosted 3 beautiful sculptures of Buddha.
A mosque with blue colored dome itself was unique, but the fact that it was so large, and yet beautiful was captivating. Such was the grandeur of the mosque that, it was the highlight of our day. There was a lake near the garden surrounding the mosque, and the entire place was again, so picturesque and serene. We reached there by prayer time, and had to wait before they allowed us inside. In the meantime, we had food from a nearby restaurant, and I had Rojak (a dish with peanut and some sauce, was tasty), and Kirti had rice. 
After our lunch, we walked around the mosque, and as the prayer time was over, we were allowed inside.
Kirti had to wear a burqa, a green one, before coming in. We went inside the mosque, and it was an architectural marvel. The walls, and the pillars and everything were grand, and we really had a great time there. We were allowed to go inside the prayer hall, from which we could see the inner side of the dome.
We had to go to Selanggor, which was quite far away from KL. The drive was nice, with good scenery around. There were quite a few palm estates, and we could see the remote villages outside KL. We also saw a few Chinese cemeteries uphill, and Stephen told us that they believed that higher the place they are buried, more closer they will be to God, it seems. Meanwhile, he also advised us to take the eagle feeding trip in Selanggor.
We reached Selanggor river by around 4:30pm, and were just in time for the eagle feeding trip. It was not crowded, and there were only 2 of us. Stephen also accompanied us for the trip. Again, it was my first time that I was taking a boat trip with mangrove forests on the other side of the shore. It hosted a number of species of birds, and of course, eagles being the most famous. 
The speed boat driver put some food in the water, and we waited patiently. In around 1 minute, we could see a number of eagles flying, swooping majestically, and picking up the meat. Time and again, I was reminded, eagles are majestic! We watched that for around 20-30 minutes, and on paying some extra tips to the driver, he took us some more inside the river, almost till it joined the mouth of the sea (Malacca Strait), and we headed back.
The journey back in the boat was also nice, as we came back near the other shore of the river, the mangrove forests being close to us. Again, we spotted a number of river birds, and the place would have been a real heaven for an ornithologist.
After the eagle trip, we headed to fort Altingsburg up in Buki Melawati. We had to take a tram up and there was a small museum there. We could view Strait of Malacca from the top, and after spending some time there in the museum, and with the monkeys outside, we came back down in the tram. We had tea from a local Malay restaurant (interestingly run by Keralites!), and then headed to Selanggor river again for the famous firefly tour.
After the eagle trip, we headed to fort Altingsburg up in Buki Melawati. We had to take a tram up and there was a small museum there. We could view Strait of Malacca from the top, and after spending some time there in the museum, and with the monkeys outside, we came back down in the tram. We had tea from a local Malay restaurant (interestingly run by Keralites!), and then headed to Selanggor river again for the famous firefly tour.
Again, it was well worth a trip, and they say that Selanggor hosts one of the largest firefly colony in the world. It was beautiful to see them glow in the dark, and was again one highlight of the trip. After the firefly tour, we got back on the taxi, and started our trip back to KL.
However, there was some procession going on in KL as it was Vesak day, and since it was crowded, we asked Stephen to drop us near the Petronas twin tower. We spent some time outside the Petronas tower taking the “most wanted photo” there, and then spent some time in Suria KLCC mall. Later, we decided to walk back to our hotel, as it was nearby the Petronas towers.
On the way back, we brought food from the Punjabi restaurant near our hotel, and had a little chit chat with Mustafa, the receptionist and went back to sleep after the hectic first day.
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