South from Kuala Lumpur to Malacca

Friday September 24

Built by the Dutch when they ruled  Malacca
from 1641 to 1798

Travelled to Kuala Lumpur yesterday after a day in Sandakan. Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia. About a 150 kilometers south, and half way to neighbouring Singapore, is the Malaysian State of Malacca. Malacca is a World Heritage Site, which means it has great importance for the country and the rest of the world.
Apart from the native tribes, the Chinese were the first people from the rest of the world to visit and settle in Malacca. They came to mine tin, a valuable metal long ago. Then came the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch (from the Netherlands). Later the British took control of Malacca. Each of these settler groups built around the port area. To see these buildings was the reason for our visit.
There were churches, temples, mosques, forts, a lighthouse, and streets of houses built hundreds of years ago. Most of the buildings are now used by the Chinese as shops, restaurants, warehouses and as places to live.

On the drive south, we saw hectare after hectare of palm tree plantations. These palm trees produce fruit which is collected and crushed to make palm oil. Palm oil is an important product that Malaysia exports (sells) to other countries. Palm oil plantations are to be found all over Malaysia, including in Sarawak and Sabah. The forests are have been cleared so that palm oil can be produced. This is bad news for the wildlife, their habitat I'd being destroyed and many are becoming endangered. The orang-utan is one species threatened by deforestation.

High rise city buildings: Kuala Lumpar

On the way back, the weather changed and we were caught in a wild, tropical rain storm. One minute the sky was clear, but then suddenly sheets of rain lashed the car and it was like driving in fog. After a few minutes the rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun. The sky cleared and we were driving on dry road.

Kuala Lumpar is a very large, modern, busy city. About 3 million people live and work here. Most people live in high rise apartments, but there are single family houses too. On our trip we saw many new housing estates.