One more day in KL

At the end of my 3 weeks in Malaysia, I returned to Kuala Lumpur (KL) to catch the long flight to Amsterdam.  Since I only got to see one hornbill in the wild (the rhinoceros hornbill is the state bird of Sarawak, Borneo), I decided that the Bird Park would be a good place to get a look at some of these fabulous creatures up close.  I'm glad I did.  Though pricey, the KL Bird Park is not only "The World's LARGEST free-flight open air aviary", it is beautifully landscaped and houses a great collection of tropical birds.  Here are some highlights:

Yellow-billed stork

Western Crowned Pigeon

Rhinoceros Hornbill on the left 

Parrots

Storks

Black-headed ibis

The National Mosque (Masjid Negara) is not far from the Bird Park.  At various times of the day, when it doesn't interfere with the call to prayer, tourists are allowed to visit.  Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter the main prayer hall, but we were allowed to wander around most of the public areas after being issued head roomy lavender robes (burqas) and head scarves (hijab).

Somehow I look photoshopped, don't I?  The fans were absolutely necessary.  It's freakin' hot in those garments,

The mosque wasn't terrifically beautiful or ornate - in fact, the white tile was a little too public bathroom for my taste, but it was a sort oasis of calm in the middle of the city.

Malaysia was my first predominantly Muslim country and I had been interested or, more accurately, totally fascinated by the different hijab, burqa (head to toe robe) and niqab (facial veil - only seen worn by tourists (from other countries?) at the Bird Park) fashions that I had seen.  I  deemed it unreasonably cruel for these women to subject themselves to so much fabric in temperatures that exceeded 33C/91F and 100 percent humidity.  I could barely stand to wear long shorts and a t-shirt.  Imagine wearing a full-length, black robe with full facial coverage with only your eyes showing in these conditions.  Of course, the guys could wear whatever they wanted - often shorts, sneakers and t-shirts.