KL

It's time for another "visa run", this time to the capital city of Thailand's neighbor to the south: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

welcome to Malaysia!

I flew out on an Air Asia flight very early in the morning. After leaving Bangkok, we had incredible views as the plane flew over the clear blue waters of the Andaman Sea down towards the Straits of Melakka.

in the air

I arrived in KL, bought a round trip ticket for the KLIA Ekspress train that runs between the city and the airport, and soon I was at KL Sentral Station.

KLIA Ekspress ticket

My first day was my "museum day". I started my morning at the National Museum. The museum building is built in the style of Malaysian royal architecture, and holds an impressive collection of cultural and historical artifacts from Malaysia's history. 

National Museum

Among the collection are items from ancient Malaysia; the various Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial periods; and cultural artifacts from throughout Malaysia.

Malaysian shadow puppets

Malaysia has an interesting government system. In fact, the country is a federation of several states and sultanates, each one with its own hereditary monarch. 

royal headdresses of the Malaysian sultans

The country itself has a king, called the  Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who is elected for a five year term among and by the other sultans. The position of head of state rotates among the various Malaysian sultans.

the sultan's throne

The National Museum itself is in a beautiful building, which shows off various aspects of Malaysian royal architecture. The windows are reminiscent of Islamic architecture, and the blue and white marble tiles on the floor were gifted to the museum by the Embassy of Pakistan.

inside the National Museum

outside the Museum of Ethnography

The outside of the museum holds some interesting artifacts too, including a wooden house in the traditinoal roayl Malaysian style that was constructed at the orders of one of the 19th century sultans.

an old wooden house at the Museum of Ethnography

Leaving the National Museum, I walked a short distance across the street to the National Planetarium.

KL National Planetarium

The building, which includes a space museum and observatory, actually looked something like a mosque. It's built in a sort of futuristic-Islamic architectural style. 

the planetarium

The planetarium was pretty crowded when I visited, so I didn't get to go in. They were having a sci-fi convention, and there were a lot of stormtroopers walking around.

national planetarium

Instead, I walked the trail that circles the planetarium. The trail passes the offices of the Malaysian Space Agency, and has several signs that tell about the planets of the solar system.

Malaysian Space Agency observatory

There's even a mini Stonehenge hidden in the jungle along the trail!

the Mini Stonehenge

Shortly, I stumbled upon a tiny hidden museum: the Malaysian Police Museum. Curious, I stepped inside.

I was immediately greeted by several friendly police officers who shook my hand and asked where I was from. The museum isn't well known, and maybe they don't get many foreign visitors. 

the Malaysian Police Museum

As it turned out, the museum was amazing! The collection was excellent, and told the history of the Malaysian police force, from its ancient roots to the colonial period, to the present.

uniforms of British Malaya

royal police uniforms

Finally, I walked to the most famous and iconic landmark in all of KL: the Petronas Twin Towers. The towers, which stand a dazzling 1,483 ft tall, were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998-2004, and are still the tallest twin towers in the world.

the iconic Petronas Towers