Klang
Selangor'S Royal Town And The Port That Kuala Lumpur Was Founded To Serve And The Place Bak Kut Teh Is Generally Agreed To Have Started · Klang, Selangor
KUALA LUMPUR EXISTS BECAUSE OF KLANG. The tin came down the KLANG RIVER to this port, and the settlement at the muddy confluence upstream grew to handle it - KLANG IS THE OLDER PLACE AND THE ROYAL TOWN OF SELANGOR, with the SULTAN'S ISTANA ALAM SHAH and the SULTAN SULEIMAN MOSQUE, an art-deco-influenced building of the 1930s that is genuinely unusual. THE WAR THAT DECIDED WHO CONTROLLED THE RIVER - the Klang War of the 1860s and 70s - is why the British ended up running Selangor at all. TODAY IT IS A WORKING TOWN with a dense LITTLE INDIA, old godowns, Chinese shophouses and PORT KLANG beyond it. AND IT IS WHERE BAK KUT TEH IS GENERALLY AGREED TO HAVE STARTED - pork ribs simmered in herbs and garlic, fed to Chinese dock coolies, and now eaten across the country. People come from Kuala Lumpur just for that. Take the commuter train rather than driving, eat before noon because the famous shops sell out, and leave Little India for the late afternoon when it comes alive.
Klang, Selangor, Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
KLANG IS ABOUT FORTY-FIVE MINUTES FROM CENTRAL KUALA LUMPUR AND IS ON THE KTM COMMUTER LINE, which terminates at Port Klang - the train is by far the easiest way and avoids the traffic entirely. THE SULTAN SULEIMAN MOSQUE welcomes visitors OUTSIDE PRAYER TIMES with modest dress; Friday midday is prayers. THE ISTANA ALAM SHAH IS A WORKING ROYAL RESIDENCE AND IS NOT OPEN. LITTLE INDIA AND THE OLD SHOPHOUSE STREETS are open always and are busiest in the late afternoon and around DEEPAVALI, when the area is extraordinary. THE BAK KUT TEH SHOPS ARE MOSTLY BREAKFAST AND LUNCH PLACES and the famous ones sell out - go before noon. THE GALLERY AND MUSEUM keep daytime hours. It is hot, flat and industrial in places; mornings are best.