DIAMOND PRINCESS 2: DAY 2--Malaysia

 The Diamond Princess left Singapore yesterday and will take the following route.

Our first stop will be the largest port in Malaysia, Military Port Kelang, also known as Port Klang.  Kuala Lumpur is 24 miles away.

We were here when our Regent Seven Seas Explorer stopped at Port Klang 3 years ago, so we we'll skip the tour and save $500.  These tours are not cheap.  On the Regent, all tours are free.  However, you pay a lot/night.  Click on this and read the details of our previous visit.  I'll show some highlight photos.

The Blue Mosque.

Hindu temple,

Second tallest building in the world, Merdeka 118.

A Kuala Lumpur street scene.

Day 3 means a short stop at Langkawi.

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  We might go on a tour, and maybe not.
• Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 islands
• Was a haven for pirates in the northern part of the Strait of Malacca.
• Ruled by the British until Malaya gained independence in 1957.
• Now gets 3.5 foreign tourists/year.
• I asked Google AI about Langkawi attractions.

Langkawi's highlights include breathtaking views from the SkyCab & Sky Bridge (left), exploring lush nature via Kilim Geoforest Park mangrove tours, relaxing on beautiful beaches like Cenang & Tanjung Rhu, encountering wildlife at Crocodile Adventureland & Wildlife Park, and discovering cultural sites like Eagle Square (Dataran Lang) and the Mahsuri Tomb, offering a mix of adventure, nature, and culture in this Malaysian island paradise. 

Day 4 will find us in Penang.  Again, we were here almost exactly three years ago on our Regent Seven Seas Explorer from Dubai to Singapore.  Two noteworthy topics.

• A matter of red tape and bureaucracy.

So, anyway, every time you left the ship, India had THREE check points in the port before boarding the tour bus.  Then, when you returned to the Explorer, THREE check points to insure that you were you and not a terrorist or something worse.  You have to show the same documents each time.  Thus, if you went on tours in all three cities you went through 18 checks.

Malaysia was totally different.  Each time you left the ship there was no document check.  There was no one even checking your come and go.  Thus, two tours in two cities (Penang and Kuala Lumpur) and ZERO checks.  And Malaysia only ranks in the middle of Asian countries.

• 
  About Penang.

Penang is one of Malaysia's states, and essentially is one island of 113 square miles.  Note that Lanai is 140 square miles.  The big difference is that Penang has 1.8 million people and Lanai has 3100.

• Here are some photos I took of the tour highlight, Entopia.

• In other words, we don't plan to leave the ship when get to Penang.

But about the cruise itself, all is well.  We finally got our Vietnam e-visas, and no ocean storms.  However just when you think the worse is over, here comes a war:  Thailand vs Cambodia.  After Malaysia, we get to Thailand on Day 5.  But this development is nothing new:

• At least 48 people were killed and 300,000 displaced when they recently clashed in July.  Tourist sites away from the border were not affected.
• The two countries have been fighting for more than a century, mostly to do with contesting sovereignty along their 508 mile land border.
• I guess the Trump peace plan failed.

I should indicated that Malaysia is larger than you think.  There is West Malaysia as you known, but there is also an East Malaysia, which is 60% of the country.

Lot of conflicts in this region involving China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and Brunei.  Perhaps the most contentious are the Spratly Islands, which are really reefs of less than 500 total acres.  But the attractions are rich fishing grounds and significant oil and natural gas reserves.  China unilaterally went ahead and built military installations there.

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