Shore Excursion: Batu Caves And Kuala Lumpur City Tour

BATU CAVES IS AN ICONIC AND POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTION IN SELANGOR. SITE OF A HINDU TEMPLE AND SHRINE, BATU CAVES ATTRACTS THOUSANDS OF WORSHIPERS AND TOURISTS. A LIMESTONE OUTCROP LOCATED JUST NORTH OF KUALA LUMPUR, BATU CAVES HAS THREE MAIN CAVES FEATURING TEMPLES AND HINDU SHRINES. ITS MAIN ATTRACTION IS THE LARGE STATUE OF THE HINDU GOD AT THE ENTRANCE, BESIDES A STEEP 272 CLIMB UP ITS STEPS TO FINALLY VIEW THE STUNNING SKYLINE OF THE CITY CENTRE. MONKEYS FROLIC AROUND THE CAVES, AND IT IS A POPULAR SPOT FOR ROCK CLIMBING ENTHUSIASTS. PAINTINGS AND SCENES OF HINDU GODS.

AT A HEIGHT OF 451.9M, THE MAGNIFICENT PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS IS A WORLD-RENOWNED ICON OF MODERN MALAYSIA. IT IS THE CENTRE PIECE OF THE KUALA LUMPUR CITY CENTRE (KLCC) DEVELOPMENT, WHICH COMPRISES LANDMARKS SUCH AS THE KUALA LUMPUR CONVENTION CENTRE, SURIA KLCC SHOPPING MALL, STAR-RATED HOTELS, A MOSQUE AS WELL AS THE IMMACULATELY LANDSCAPED KLCC PARK. VISIT TO THE SKYBRIDGE ON THE 41ST FLOOR AND VIEWING DECK ON THE 86TH FLOOR.

STANDING MAJESTICALLY ATOP BUKIT NANAS AT 421 METERS AND 94 METERS ABOVE SEA LEVEL, KL TOWER IS A PROMINENT FEATURE OF THE CITY’S SKYLINE. ITS ARCHITECTURE REFLECTS THE COUNTRY'S ISLAMIC HERITAGE, WITH THE CONSTRUCTION DETAILING ARABIC SCRIPTS, ISLAMIC TILES, CLASSIC ISLAMIC FLORAL AND ABSTRACT MOTIFS AND SOOTHING COLOUR COMBINATIONS.

1974 IS ONE OF THE OLDEST BATIK AND HANDICRAFTS CENTRE IN KLANG VALLEY. VISIT THE GALLERY AND YOU'D LEARN THAT BATIK IS NOT SIMPLY A CLOTH WITH AN ELABORATE PIECE OF DESIGN. SYARIKA EAST COAST IS THE PLACE YOU NEED TO VISIT IF YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO ENJOY A HOLISTIC EXPERIENCE IN MALAYSIAN BATIK AND HANDICRAFTS.

THE VISITOR CENTRE WILL TAKE YOU BACK OVER A HUNDRED YEARS TO THE FOUNDING OF ROYAL SELANGOR AND ITS INEXTRICABLE LINK TO THE HISTORY OF MALAYSIA. THROUGH COMPLIMENTARY GUIDED TOURS, VISITORS WILL LEARN ABOUT THE REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENT OF TIN MINING IN THE MALAY PENINSULA IN THE 1800S AS WELL AS VIEW TRADITIONAL PEWTERSMITHING TOOLS, ANTIQUE PEWTER AND ANCIENT TIN CURRENCY AT THE CENTRE'S PEWTER MUSEUM.

ISTANA NEGARA OR THE NATIONAL PALACE IS THE OFFICIAL RESIDENCE OF THE KING OF MALAYSIA. THIS MAJESTIC EDIFICE SITUATED AT JALAN DUTA OFFICIALLY BECAME THE NATIONAL PALACE IN NOVEMBER 2011, REPLACING THE OLD PALACE IN JALAN ISTANA. IT HAS 22 DOMES, WITH THE LARGEST DOME REACHING UP TO A HEIGHT OF 40 METRES. NOTE: VISITS ARE LIMITED TO THE OUTSIDE.

THE NATIONAL MONUMENT WAS BUILT TO RECOGNISE AND HONOUR THOSE WHO GAVE UP THEIR LIVES IN THE CAUSE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM, PARTICULARLY DURING THE NATION'S STRUGGLE AGAINST THE THREAT OF COMMUNISM. WITHIN THE NATIONAL MONUMENT GROUNDS IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST FREE-STANDING BRONZE SCULPTURES. IT WAS SCULPTED IN 1966 BY FELIX DE WELDON, WHO WAS ALSO THE CREATOR OF THE FAMOUS IWO JIMA MONUMENT IN WASHINGTON DC.

THE MERDEKA SQUARE IS LOCATED EXACTLY OPPOSITE THE SULTAN ABDUL SAMAD BUILDING AND RIGHT BESIDE THE ROYAL SELANGOR CLUB. THIS IS THE HISTORICAL PLACE WHERE THE UNION FLAG WAS LOWERED AND THE MALAYAN FLAG WAS RAISED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME AT THE STRUCK OF MIDNIGHT OF 31ST AUGUST 1957. FROM THEN ON, MERDEKA SQUARE HAS BEEN THE VENUE FOR THE ANNUAL MERDEKA PARADE.

THE ICONIC SULTAN ABDUL SAMAD BUILDING IS LOCATED IN FRONT OF DATARAN MERDEKA. THIS HISTORICAL BUILDING HOUSES THE SUPREME AND HIGH COURTS. THE BUILDING WITH UNIQUE MOORISH DESIGNS AND CLOCK TOWER IS WIDELY PHOTOGRAPHED BY VISITORS TO THE CITY CENTRE.

MASJID NEGARA IS ONE OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED LANDMARKS IN THE CITY. IT HAS A UNIQUE STAR-SHAPED DOME AND A 73M HIGH MINARET. THE NATIONAL MOSQUE IS SITUATED FRINGING THE KL LAKE GARDENS. VISITORS ARE ADVISED TO DRESS APPROPRIATELY WHEN VISITING THE MOSQUE. WOMEN WILL BE REQUIRED TO WEAR HEADSCARVES.

ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OLD BUILDINGS OF MALAYSIA, RAILWAY STATION AND ADMINISTRATION BUILDING IS A GREAT PIECE OF MOORISH ARCHITECTURE.

BRICKFIELDS BEGAN AS THE CENTRE OF BRICK-MAKING IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, AFTER A HUGE FIRE AND FLOOD SWEPT THROUGH KUALA LUMPUR IN 1881. THE DOUBLE DISASTERS TOOK TURNS DESTROYING THE TOWN’S WOODEN AND THATCHED STRUCTURES. SIR FRANK SWETTENHAM, BRITISH RESIDENT AT THAT TIME, RESPONDED BY ORDERING THE USE OF BRICK AND TILE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS, THUS SUMMONING THE TOWN’S PURPOSE INTO BEING.

THEAN HOU TEMPLE IS NOT OLD, HAVING BEEN BUILT BETWEEN 1981 AND 1987. UP CLOSE, YOU CAN TELL THAT UNDERNEATH THE TRADITIONAL ORNATE DECORATIVE FACADE IT IS A MODERN STRUCTURE. THE TEMPLE IS CERTAINLY LARGE, SPREADING OVER SIX TIERS. IT IS MANAGED BY MALAYSIA'S HAINANESE COMMUNITY WHO DESCENDED FROM SEA-FARING FISHER FOLK FROM THE ISLAND OF HAINAN, CHINA.

THIS STUNNING HINDU TEMPLE IS ONE OF THE OLDEST AND MAGNIFICIENT 22-METRE-HIGH GATE TOWER AND PORTICO ARE ADORNED WITH INTRICATELY CARVED IMAGES OF HINDU DEITIES. LOCATED WITHIN ARE THE DEITIES OF THE HINDU GODDESS MAHA MARIAMMAN EMBELLISHED WITH GOLD AND PRECIOUS STONES. TAKE IN THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS FROM PEDDLERS SELLING STRINGS OF JASMINE GARLANDS TO AROMATIC INCENSE FILLING THE AIR.

MUZIUM NEGARA USED TO BE THE SITE OF THE SELANGOR MUSEUM, ESTABLISHED IN 1898. AFTER THE COUNTRY'S INDEPENDENCE IN 1957, THE NEW FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BUILT A NEWER, LARGER MUSEUM ON THE SAME SPOT. THE MUSEUM HOUSES VARIOUS EXHIBITS DEPICTING THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE COUNTRY. THE EXHIBITS ARE ON A ROTATIONAL BASIS, SO IT IS BEST TO CALL THE MUSEUM AHEAD TO CHECK OUT WHAT THEIR EXHIBITS ARE AT THE TIME.