I regret visiting the BLUE MOSQUE at Shah Alam

Weeks after going back to Manila,I am still trying to evaluate if my decision to visit the BLUE MOSQUE in Shah Alam was a mistake.

The reasons,the KTM Commuter line which took us to Batu Caves is the same line to Shah Alam.I was tempted to take it with the thought that it would be more convenient.More convenient indeed but I never anticipated that the train is soooooo slow.The slowest among all trains in KL I was told by my friend Mark afterwards.20 stations took us around 1.5hours to Shah Alam.Once there,we took the taxi for RM 10 (taxi drivers wouldn't agree to use the meter,to my disappointment coz it should be metered.)

 

the BLUE MOSQUE at Shah Alam

The taxi driver told us that Friday prayers are ongoing so it would be impossible for my wife to get inside the mosque coz she was wearing shorts.We were too excited to go around KL I forgot to tell my wife that I have listed a few mosques in the itinerary.To add to that,Friday prayers are exclusively to men. My wife being new to a Muslim country and who has watched several you tube videos of women being stoned to death by extremist Muslims felt fear and panic.

 

She was therefore uneasy the whole time we were walking around the Mosque Complex to take photos from outside the gate.I reassured her that Malaysia is different and that Muslims in the country are moderate in their practice of Islam and interpretation of the Koran.

She believed me but was still uncomfortable despite that which was aggravated when the prayers ended and we saw men flooding the surrounding streets.All 24,000 of them.Yes,that's the capacity of 24,000 worshipers at a time. It is Malaysia's largest mosque and also the second largest mosque in Southeast Asia after Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia.

 

 

The Blue Mosque is also known as Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque.Its blue and silver dome is 51.2m in diameter and rises up to a height of 106.7m. There are 4 minarets with a height of 142.3m known to be one of the tallest in the world.It's just unfortunate that we were not able to enter even the premises as I didn't want to leave my wife behind.

 

HOW TO GET TO THE BLUE MOSQUE

By BUS

Take RapidKL bus number 63 or 338 from Kuala Lumpur and stop at the bus station near Maybank building in Shah Alam city centre. From here, take a taxi to the mosque area.

By TRAIN

Take KTM Commuter until Shah Alam Station.From there, take the taxi (no other option) to the Blue Mosque which is approximately 5 minutes away.Taxi';s are metered so if you are good at haggling,you can win against the taxi drivers who would ask for a fixed rate of either RM10 or RM15. 10 is reasonable,15 is too much.Good luck.

The total time spent on the train,the taxi,taking photos,taxi back to Shah Alam Station and back to Central Station took almost 4 hours.All for the sake of taking pictures outside its gates.That's the reason why I was wondering if it was all worth it.In my heart,I wished we could have gone south to Putrajaya instead.

And what about the title of this post?Don't mind it. I think it is a rare opportunity to see a Mosque this Grand.I am still to have come as close as I can get to the BLUE MOSQUE of Shah Alam.

This post is part of my Malaysia2.0 Series:Feel free to read the rest of the entries here: http://www.pusangkalye.net/search/label/Malaysia2.0

Malaysia2.0 Series is just heating up!!!!

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