The boat was fully laden when we left Port Dickson. Like everything
else at Admiral Marina the fuel dock was excellent with lots of space so easy to
moor up, we filled our main tank and jerry cans with diesel. Our water tanks
were filled and provisioning complete, the fishing line might provide something
extra but despite the prolific fish counters in Malaysia, we hardly ever catch
anything here.
We sailed for a wonderful 2 hours then as usual had to start motoring
when the wind died. We were aiming for Port Klang, the biggest cargo port in
Malaysia and very busy. There is a marina not quite en route and far from the
town or anything else so we decided to go up river and take a mooring at the
Royal Selangor Yacht Club on one of their mid-river pontoons. Later, when we met
up with fellow yachters who had gone into the marina, we were glad of our choice
as when they were trying to get out the 5 knot current that lashes through
caused mayhem. All the yachts had problems but one yacht was whipped around when
leaving its mooring, it ripped out 3 finger pontoons and the crew only just
managed to get on board. Sail Malaysia is now trying to help them in their
negotiations with the marina.
Chugging through the Port Klang docks area Chris counted at least 65
giant cranes and ships were constantly arriving or leaving. There were container
ships, tankers, barges, coasters, re-fuelling vessels and colourful tugs (some
pink) hovering for miles up the estuary. As the docks petered out the river
narrowed and we soon had a place on a mid-river pontoon. This proved very
successful as it included a water taxi ashore to a really palatial and
well-staffed yacht club just 20 minutes’ walk from the town. The only drawback
here is the rubbish which comes down from Kuala Lumpur swamping the whole river.
Men in dinghies go out with nets stretched across the flow catching tons of the
stuff, taking it to the river bank and bagging it. Why poor old Port Klang has
to pay for the management of Kuala Lumpur’s rubbish in this way just beggars
belief.
After a calm night mid river we took the water taxi ashore and
checked in at the yacht club and met a friendly girl from the Netherlands doing
voluntary work there for the imminent Selangor Regatta. A walk into Port Klang
town brought us to the railway station where we took a train, much like the
London Underground trains, to get to Klang.
The town of Klang was once the royal capital of Selangor and is where
the British had their first residency in 1874. Now this small town is more
famous for its food, especially in little India where restaurants abound.
We toured the streets and found pavement fortune tellers who use
parrots to pick out cards which are said to foretell the future. The parrots
seemed to be enjoying themselves so we left them to it and hunted out a likely
restaurant. We had an interesting meal with a Lazy Susan of sauces and pickles,
such an array but we tried them all. Interesting and not too hot.
Little India, Klang
To find out more about the area we visited Galeri Diraja Sultan Abdul
Aziz, the royal gallery of the sultanate of Selangor dating back to 1766.This
was fascinating and demonstrated the paternal nature of the sultanate and the
royal enthusiasm for education of the people, for sport and family life. The
crown jewels (or copies) glittered with precious stones mined in Indonesia; the
whole place was full of sparkling regalia, jewels, medals, chains of office and
clothes pressed with patterns of gold leaf. More fascinating were the personal
artefacts of the sultans such as a bicycle woven all over with pandanus leaves
and used for visiting villages, the family photographs and those of the sultans
out and about in Selangor. We had enough of royalty by this time so didn’t trek
uphill to see the old palace, we took the train then walked back through the
puddles from the morning’s rain for another night amid a river of rubbish – one
problem the sultans haven’t solved.
