Meandering in Malaysia: Merdeka Square

The last place I have visited before leaving Kuala Lumpur was Merdeka Square. Actually, I was here twice: the first time was during the night I arrived. My Couchsurfing host and I took a walk around downtown, and eventually we ended up here before finding some place to eat. But I didn't have my camera at the time, as I didn't feel like taking pictures immediately after touchdown. So the last day I was there, I opted to visit it again.

Meandering in Malaysia: Thean Hou Temple

As much as I am against religion, I also recognize the fact that religion is one of humankind's driving force when it comes to cultural development. This means that whenever I am in a new place, a place of worship tends to be a good place to go to in order to check out cultural practices of the local land. And since Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country, I found myself visiting several different places of worship during my short stay. First, I visited Batu Caves, which was holy to Hindus. Then I visited the Masjid Negara, which was holy for Muslims. And now, I visited the Thean Hou Temple, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the Heavenly Mother.

Meandering in Malaysia: National Mosque of Malaysia (Masjid Negara)

As I said before, Malaysia is the first Muslim country I have properly visited, and therefore I wanted to check out a mosque. So I went to the Natonal Mosque, the Masjid Negara. This is a modern structure in the middle of Kuala Lumpur, in the leafy neighborhood just across the old railway station.

Meandering in Malaysia: Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia

Since this is actually the first time I have been to a Muslim country properly (my brief visit to Qatar in 2005 was accidental and too short), I figured I'd take the chance to learn more about Muslim culture, by visiting a couple of Islamic sites in Kuala Lumpur. The first one I checked out was the Islamic Arts Museum. Located in a green and leafy part of the city, it was away from the hustle and bustle of traffic and wet market stalls that otherwise characterize Kuala Lumpur.

Meandering in Malaysia: Batu Caves

As I have mentioned in a previous post, while I had Myanmar as my main destination, for economic reasons, I opted to add some stops in other countries. So instead of flying directly from Berlin to Yangon, I opted to fly to Kuala Lumpur instead, as fares were cheaper that way, even if I factored in the extra flight connecting Kuala Lumpur and Yangon. And since I haven't been to Malaysia before, I opted to spend 3 nights in the city and check it out as well. I arrived on December 14 in the evening, and the next day, I set off to explore Batu Caves, easily reached by the commuter train from where I was staying.

Meandering in Myanmar (with Stops in Malaysia, Thailand, and Hungary)

So, it's been a while since I have taken a long trip (by long, I mean a trip more than a weekend, lasting between two to three weeks, as we both know that as much as I would love to travel over an extended period of time, I also love the routine I have, plus the familiarity of my own personal surroundings). The last one I had was Boston and New York City, but that was just 9 days of visiting friends and family. Before that, I cavorted with the companion in Italy, San Marino, and the United Kingdom, and I also meandered in Malta. While these trips were utterly enjoyable on their own, I was searching and longing for a particular type of trip, one that involved a significant amount of culture shock, as well as a dose of adventure. And the last time I had one such trip was when I cavorted in the Caucasus. So I figured it was about time.