Klang

I took the train to Klang which is about halfway between Shah Alam and the coast of the Straits of Malacca. It was a charming little town. It was an interesting mixture of peaceful, tree-lined roads curving gently through beautiful neighborhoods and parks and busy, narrow ship-lined city streets bustling with activity.

I walked up to see the former palace of the Sultan of Selangor. Selangor is the state where I am staying. Malaysia is made up of 13 states. Nine of the 13 states have hereditary rulers (sultans), and the others have governors. In a pre-established order, each of the sultans takes his turn as King. The Sultan of Selangor was the previous King. His term ended in 2006. The new palace of the Sultan is now in Shah Alam. Now, back to the former palace. It was beautiful. The landscape was quite elaborate but not ostentatious, and the palace itself was of course

lovely. The front gate was locked so I couldn't go

onto the grounds, but I could see plenty from

the street and the park across the street.

On my way up to the palace, I had made a friend named Divi. She worked as a guard at the Royal Selangor Club which is like a country club. I had heard that Klang had a great Little India. I asked Divi how to get there and managed to stumble upon it with little difficulty. It was very interesting. It was, as many things in Malaysi have been, a feast for all of the senses.

I don't know that much about the Hindu religion, but it seems as though flowers play a major role in their prayers. The first thing I came to was a small flower market selling different wreaths, strings, and assortments of flowers. All along the sidewalk of the main street, men and women both were sitting and stringing together

flowers that looked like large Lily of the Valley. I had noticed these flowers hanging from the rearview mirrors of taxi drivers. I really wanted to take a picture of them, but I felt so invasive and rude. Then I remembered: That never stopped me before. Luckily, everyone I asked very generously agred to have their pictures taken.

The main street was lined with stores selling sarongs & traditional Indian dress, lots of Indian restaurants, Indian grocers, and jewelry stores. Some of the stores had Indian music playing loudly into the street. At one point, I was stainding on a corner and just took a few minutes to absorb everything. That corner captured the diversity and beauty that is characteristic of all areas of Malaysia that I have visited. Behind me were the crowded, noisy, aromatic streets of Little India. To my right, was a city street which transformed into a tranquil tree-lined street. To my left was a large, colorful, and ornate Hindu temple. In front of me was an Islamic Mosque with the afternoon prayers streaming out of the loudspeakers at the top. It was Hindu blending with Muslim. It was tranquility joining city bustle. It was a melding of different worlds and customs combining to create a harmonious balance of respect and acceptance. I think the world could learn a lot from this proud and unique corner of the world.

Not to leave things on too serious a note, I decided not to return to the train station the way I had come. Instead I ended up on a very empty, local street where everyone did their proper duty of staring at me as though I had just walked out of a space ship. If I could only have gotten back into my space-ship and ordered it to take me the three blocks to the train station. I managed to walk those three blocks on my accord though. And all was well.