Tour of Putrajaya

I've always wanted to go to Putrajaya for a tour, but I was told the best way to explore the city is via car. Another option is to take the KLIA Transit to Putrajaya, then from there, either take the local buses or contract a taxi to bring you around. I made some more inquiries and was happy to discover that KLIA Transit itself is operating a day tour called "Discover Putrajaya with KLIA Transit". For RM25, you get one return ticket on KLIA Transit and a self-guided tour on a coach. Other tour operators probably do it better, but they also charge easily 4x-5x more.

The tour started at KL Sentral where we boarded the KLIA Transit (at 11:03am) and got off at the Putrajaya station. We have quite a good mix of foreigners - one Aussie (that's me), two Koreans, a Taiwanese couple, another couple from Denmark, and one Indian family. A tour guide rounded up all the tour members and accompanied us to an airconditioned coach. He tells us that the 46-sq. km. Putrajaya is a planned city, much like Canberra. Unlike Canberra, it's not the capital of Malaysia. We passed by some high-rise condominiums, which are for sale to anyone - locals and foreigners alike. (But who would want to live here as no alcohol and night clubs are allowed?) Our first stop is the Putra Bridge, which gave us a good view of the Putra Mosque (Masjid Putra) and the Prime Minister's Office (Perdana Putra) on the right, and the Seri Perdana (PM's Official Residence) on the left. As we're right on the bridge, we're not allowed to get off the bus, so most of us took pictures from the bus windows.

First real stop on our tour is the Istana Melawati (Melawati Palace). According to the tour guide, this is sort of the summer palace of the King. This is where he sometimes hold official functions. We didn't manage to get into the palace grounds. Not sure if they actually allow visitors. Took some pictures at the gates. Next stop is at Taman Putra Perdana, right in front of Shangri-La Putrajaya. Due to time constraint, we didn't explore the park anymore. Even if we had time, I don't think I'd like to be walking around right underneath the hot mid-day sun. From afar, we can see the Putrajaya Landmark (Mercu Tanda), which is said to resemble a wizard's hat made of tinfoil. The conical monument marks the very spot where work on the city first started. Then-PM Dr. Mahathir Mohamad put in a time capsule at the base of the monument, to be opened in 2020.

From Precint 1, we passed by Parcels E, D, C, and B, all of which house the different government ministries: Education; Energy, Telecoms & Multimedia; Health; Housing & Local Gov't; and Unity & Social Dev't. We next reach Dataran Putra (Putra Plaza), which is the centerpiece of Putrajaya. The 300-metre wide plaza is decorated with water fountains and lights and flags and very nice lamp posts. You can't see this from the ground, but the plaza is decorated with three concentric rings of stars - an outermost 11-pointed star to represent the original 11 states of Malaya in 1957, an inner 13-pointed star to represent the 13 states of Malaysia in 1963, and the innermost 14-pointed star to symbolize the inclusion of the Federal Territories from 1974. Looks so-so in daytime, but spectacular at night (based on the brochure). On one side of the plaza is the Putra Mosque, which is built right beside the Putrajaya Lake. On another side is the Perdana Putra, which serves as the Prime Minister's Office. This one looks just majestic because it's built on top of a hill. You had to walk up an incline if you want a closer look.

I didn't get to explore the Putra Plaza much because I opted to join the river cruise called Cruise Tasik Putrajaya. Most of our tour members opted to have lunch. The river cruise costs RM30, but it's definitely worth it. (Doesn't come with lunch, just a bottle of water.) The 76-seater airconditioned cruise boat (called Belimbing) has wraparound glass windows arching from the passenger armrest level to the ceiling, which afford clear and unobstructed views of the shores of the 400-hectare man-made Putrajaya Lake. However, if you intend to take pictures, it's best to head for the open-air rear deck. The leisure cruise passes by most of Putrajaya's landmarks - the Putra Mosque, Istana Selangor, the International Convention Centre, the Millenium Monument, the Ministry of Finance, the numerous imposing bridges, etc. The lake cruise runs for 45 minutes. By the time we got back, the others have had their lunch and the coach is waiting to take us to the next stop. That's no lunch for me, and no up-close-and-personal visit to the Putra Mosque and the Perdana Putra.

We traveled the length of the Boulevard, passing by Putra Bridge, crossing Dataran Wawasan and Dataran Putrajaya, crossing the ceremonial Seri Gemilang Bridge into the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC). The Boulevard itself is a landmark. Four kilometers and 100 meters wide, it serves as the central spine linking the five core districts of Putrajaya. One thing I noticed is that different sections of the Boulevard has different lamppost designs. Those things must be expensive. PICC is where you want to be for panoramic views of Putrajaya. From here, you can see the stretch of the Boulevard all the way to Perdana Putra at the Putra Plaza around 4kms. away. By 3pm, our time is up, so we were brought back to the KLIA station for our trip back to KL Sentral.