On Sunday the 10th of March 2019, a very diverse group of International Local Guides from Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and India came together to explore and celebrate the royal town of Klang in Malaysia via a guided tour by the state tourism department of Selangor. It was amazing for each one of us to meet old friends again, and to make new ones. Ultimately, that’s one of the biggest benefit of the Local Guides program for contributors.
Our meet-up RSVP site: https://maps.google.com/localguides/meetup/klang-heritage-photo-walk
[Picture above] Klang is a heritage town about 30km from the heart of Kuala Lumpur and is given the title royal town, because the Sultan of the state lives in the official palace there. This royal Klang Heritage walk is a free guided tour by the state government to celebrate and pay homage to the history and importance of this town and the many important landmarks. And for us Local Guides, it was a privilege to be able to access many locations where is not opened generally to the public, and given a chance to visit, learn about the location, take lots of photos for Google Maps, and share our experiences in reviews.
[Photo above] 7 of us had travel from different parts of the state and country to come together. We had Steve (me) who organized this meet-up. We have @PavelSarwar @Saidulkarim from Bangladesh who work in Malaysia. We had @Saqis9966 @naveed from Pakistan who work in Malaysia as well. We had @promoth who from India who is here, and @Ddimitra from Indonesia who was visiting us.
We all arrived just before 9am at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Royal Gallery for registration and initial briefing by Mr Shaharil who was our esteemed tourist guide for the day, and who will be guiding us through our 11 locations for the walk. [Photo below]
1) The Sultan Abdul Aziz Gallery (Location) - Photo below
This is the royal gallery of the history of the royal family of the state of Selangor. About the Sultan and his extended family and their history. It is a small buy amazing museum where we learnt about how the family had arrived in the state, and visit many of the historical artifacts of the royalty. We weren’t allowed to take photos within the gallery museum though, but it was an amazing experience.
2) Old Chartered Bank / Chennai Silk Sarees (Location) - Photo below
We then walked out of the royal gallery to visit a old heritage building which used to be the Old Chartered Bank, now housed by the Chennai Silk Sarees company. It was interesting to see all the old architecture as explained by our guide. And to also see a traditional saree making machine in the premises.
3) Royal Klang Club (Location) - Photo below
An exclusive access for us, a historical private club which only members could enter. We visited old exhibits, and the famous Smuggler’s Inn club and Pirate’s club within the facility, as our guide explained many of the old artifacts and history of the society. None of us had been here before and it was amazing to be able to enter and visit.
4) Alam Shah Royal Palace (Location) - Photo below
This is the royal palace of the state of Selangor where the Sultan and the royal family resides. This place isn’t accessible by the public, but we got to know about the history and how to read the flags flown as well as took photos of the front gate of the palace.
5) Klang town park (Location) - Photo below
A small green lung in the middle of town. We walked relaxed-ly through the green area to give our legs some rest and to get some reprieve from the hot sun. There was also much to listen when our guide shared about the park.
6,7,8) The Church of Our Lady Lourdes Klang (Location) - Photo below
Klang Convent School (Location) - Photo below
Tengku Kelana Indian Muslim Mosque (Location) - Photo below
Many old buildings were along our walk path. We had walked and taken photos while listening to the history of the locations. It was right around noon and the sun was scorching us. So, just a brisk walk through the area.
9) Little India Klang (Location) - Photo below
We were finally in the shade again as we walked though myriads of Indian shops in the Little India of Klang town. So many nice ornaments on sale and we were taking lots of interesting photos all along the way.
10) Klang Fire Station (Location) - Photo below
Our final stop along the way. The Klang fire station, where we visited the gallery. We learnt about some of the fire fighting gear and vehciles. And then shared also about Local Guides program with all the other participants who were not from our group.
11) Our 3.5 hour walking tour - Photo below
We had walked so much throughout the day, and whilst many of us were just tired, it had been such an amazing meet-up event. A very special thanks to our esteemed guide Mr Shaharil and to all our members who joined us. We are sure that what we learnt and captured today will be a very useful addition to Google Maps.
See everyone again in our next meet-up!
#localguides #letsguide #klang
Note: all photos in this post are self-captured by the author/host.
