Last Day in Kuala Lumpur

Having not learnt by our experiences, Caroline and I decided to trek around some of the historic areas of Kuala Lumpur. So we took a train to KL Sentral which is just a short walk from the Malaysian National Museum. This was a fascinating place for me, mainly because I have such little knowledge of Malaysian and Asian history. Charting history back 200000 years, the museum tells the story of the development of Malaysia through it's various stages. The story is fascinating and whets the appetite for further study.

 Malaysian National Museum

Plenty of interesting exhibits like this fishing boat.
We then walked around the Planetarium towards the National Mosque. Unfortunately the great Mosque was closed to non-Muslims for the day, but there is still a sense of grandeur from the outside. Across from the Mosque is the KTM building and the Old KL Railway Station, both examples of nineteenth century architecture tinged with Middle Eastern and Indian influences. At this point the weather caught up with both Caroline and I and we ducked into Central market for refreshment and a rest.

 Muslim's only at the National Mosque

 The National Mosque is huge.

 KTM Building
After a rest we were able to walk a couple of blocks down to Masjid Jamek with it's amazing Mosque. This was open to the public, but strict islamic dress codes were required for entry. Caroline donned headscarf and gown to cover herself, but I wasn't prepared to do that and stayed outside. That just left us with a quiet evening in Kuala Lumpur before heading back the following day.

 Masjid Jamek

Caroline wears gown and headscarf to enter Masjid Jamek
The trip back to Melbourne was fairly eventful. There were no problems from the hotel to plane, but the fun began as we neared Melbourne. First, the estimated arrival time hadn't taken into account daylight savings time, so instead of landing 11.30pm, we actually landed at 12.30am. Then it took 45 minutes to disembark the plane due to the crew being unable to open the door. There was some talk of sick people needing to be checked upon by Melbourne health staff, but I'm guessing this was a smokescreen for the faulty door. Anyway, after that, things went pretty smoothly but we still didn't get home until well after 2am. Thankfully I didn't start work until 1pm the next day!