Our tour in Richards Bay was to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Wildlife Park. It was a wonderful day safari where we saw a lot of African Bush Elephants, Plains Zebras, African Buffalo, White Rhinoceros, Impalas and Warthogs. Very fun day!
.jpg "African Bush Elephants")
.jpg "Plains Zebras")
.jpg "African Buffalo")
.jpg "White Rhinoceros")
.jpg "St. Francis CSI Church")
.jpg "Carving at the top of Mattancherry Palace Museum")
.jpg "Chinese fishing nets at Fort Kochi Beach")
.jpg "Paradesi Synagogue")
It was very hot and humid in Phuket, so we didn't do much. Wonderful people, nice little town. We did have lunch at a wonderful Thai restaurant - Patong Thai Bistro. We then did a little shopping and back to the air-conditioned ship!
.jpg "Rodney at Patong Thai Bistro")
.JPG "View from ship")
.JPG "YONA Floating Beach Club")
Today we took a great city tour that included stops at the Railway Station, Masjid Negara (National Mosque of Malaysia), Merdeka Square, Muzium Negara, Tugu Peringatan Negara National Monument, and the highlight - Petronas Twin Towers.
Anyone who has seen Entrapment has seen the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. And if you haven't seen Entrapment, we highly recommend it (as old a movie as it may be 😉). The towers also appear in several other movies and various television series episodes. They truly are epic and it was wonderful to have the opportunity to see them up close!
A few tidbits we learned about the Petronas Twin Towers: They are an interlinked pair of 88-story supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing at 451.9 m (1,483 ft) and built on the world's deepest foundations - 104 concrete piles, ranging from 60 to 114 m (197 to 374 ft) deep bored into the ground. From 1998 to 2004, they were officially designated as the tallest buildings in the world until they were surpassed by the completion of the Taipei 101 in Taiwan. The Malaysian government specified that the construction of the towers be completed in six years. To meet the deadline, two building consortiums were hired – one South Korean, and one Japanese – with each responsible for one of the two identical towers. The first to finish would win the right to build the skybridge that would link the towers. Tower 1, the west tower (left when facing the front of the buildings) was built by a Japanese company. Tower 2, the east tower (right when facing the front of the buildings) was built by a South Korean company. The South Korean company completed its tower first, thus receiving the contract to build the skybridge linking the two. It connects the two towers on the 41st and 42nd floors and holds the record for the highest 2-story bridge in the world. The skybridge also functions as a crucial design feature facilitating movement between the two towers during high winds. The bridge is 170 m (558 ft) above the ground and 58.4 m (192 ft) long, weighing 750 tons. It took three days and two attempts to lift it to its present location due to wind. Truly a fascinating architectural marvel!
.JPG "Kuala Lumpur Railway Station")
.JPG "Masjid Negara, National Mosque of Malaysia")
.JPG "Merdeka Square")
.JPG "Rodney at Muzium Negara")
.JPG "Tugu Peringatan Negara National Monument")
.jpg "Us at Petronas Twin Towers")
