When we walked the River of Life route recently, we started at the trail head near the Midvalley Megamall and stopped at Chinatown, because we wanted to have a look at the murals there. Click here for a detailed report. So we skipped the part from Chinatown to Masjid Jamek, considered the be the most beautiful part of the route.

As there are LRT stations both at Masjid Jamek and near Midvalley (Abdullah Hukum) , I suggested to Paul that we could walk another time, one way, from Masjid Jamek and going back by train.

We met at the exit of the Masjid Jamek LRT station and started our walk from there. A clear signboard gives information about the River of Life project.

Our walk started in front of the Masjid Jamek, one of the masterworks of Arthur Benison Hubback, built in 1909. Non-Muslims can visit the mosque, but there is a dress code. Left an explanatory signboard, right the mosque as seen from the main entrance.

The route passes the magnificent (old) Supreme Court building, another creation of Hubback (1915). Not in use at the moment and the interior needs urgent repairs. The picture has been taken from the new pedestrian bridge crossing the Gombak river. In the right picture Paul is looking at the mosque, located at the confluence of the Gombak and Klang rivers.

The next few hundred meters are for me the highlight of the River of Life project You pass the back of the former Government Office (1897). The front side, facing Dataran Merdeka, is probably the most photographed building of KL The tranquil , peaceful backside was an unexpected surprise for me

Continuing along the Gombak river, you have nice views of the Mosque and the confluence of the two rivers.

Before you reach the next bridge, there is interesting mural art. These three buildings are still in use, as can be concluded from the numerous aircon’s .

Almost next to it, this building looks vacated, not a good sign . The façade has been used to paint various sketches of Kuala Lumpur’s past

It looks like after the bridge you can continue at the same side of the river, but soon, the raod is blocked (left pic), so you have to cross the bridge here, where you can find a modern work of art. (right pic)

You will pass now the Central market (Art Deco , 1937). The left picture shows a part of its façade, with towering above it the new Merdeka 118 skyscraper, still under construction. It will become the second-tallest skyscraper in the world. I can’t resist the temptation to digress for a while. When I see a photo like this I immediately have the association with a phallic symbol and that these symbols have been constructed since time immemorial. The right pic shows the Asinelli tower in Bologna, built in 1107 😉 .

Left a detail of the Central Market and right one of my favourite buildings in KL, the Dayabumi building. Completed in 1984 and for one year the tallest skyscraper of Malaysia. For me it is a fine example of Islamic Architecture.

Passing the Dayabumi complex (left) we reach the Pasar Seni LRT station (right in the center), where we cross again the river.

From there we followed the same route as during our first trip, so not many photos. It is basically a bicycle lane and we noticed a few cyclists.

Mural art (left) and the Tun Sambanthan monorail station in Brickfields (right)

This time we decided to cross a bridge and continue at the other side of the river, so we didn’t walk through Brickfields. Distance is a bit shorter, but it is not interesting at all.

And there is one part where you have to walk a few meter away from busy, noisy highway traffic. Really to be avoided.

The Kalaimman temple is at the other side of the river. The majestic tree is now even more impressive

As soon as possible we crossed back to the other side of the river, and continued the trail until where we had started during our first trip. There was a sign near the building that it is the Southern Gallery. Completely empty, maybe there are plans to put some exhibits inside.

To reach the Abdullah Hukum LRT station we had to cross the Midvalley complex, where you can get easily get lost. Christmas atmosphere.

To reach the station we had to cross once more the Klang river.

Here is a Google Earth map of our walk, in green. For comparison also the route of the first trip is shown (in yellow) . Notice the part where we walked at the other side of the river, avoiding Brickfields. To be avoided at all costs, Brickfields is much more interesting,

The River of Life (ROL) project was launched in 2011 and aimed at reviving the Klang River and Gombak River within the city of Kuala Lumpur, transforming the banks into waterfront areas with economic , touristic and commercial value through river cleaning and beautification. An ambitious project, here is the masterplan. Click to enlarge. I have put a few markers,the Klang en Gombak rivers, the Friday Mosque , where their confluence is and to the right Midvalley where the City of Kuala Lumpur ends.

In 2017 the first phase of the project was officially opened, the region around the confluence of the two rivers and the historic city center. A pedestrian bridge has been built across the river from where you have a nice view of the Masjid Jamek, and the river banks are brightly lit at night. During the visit of my family in August we took pictures from the bridge. The Friday mosque in the centre, left the Gombak river, right the Klang river. Spectacular, but too blue in my opinion.

Probably it is because of this part of the project that in 2019 the River of Life has been listed in world’s top 10 Waterfront Districts. .

C4 (Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism) is quite negative: River of Life – a vanity project that fails to measure up

Another part of the project is a biking/hiking trail along the Klang river between Masjid Jamek and the Midvalley megamall. My friend Paul had walked this trail and was willing to show it to me. He suggested to start at the Midvalley side,

The start of the trail is marked on Google, close to Midvalley, but we needed Waze to find it, at the end of a minor dead end road (left picture). A signboard River of Life made it clear that we had reached the correct spot. The building behing the signboard looked nice but was unused.

The first part of the trail is very pleasant. It is very wide as it is meant primarily as a bicycle route. The right picture , looking back at the Midvalley complex, shows a group of cyclists

Along the route descriptive panels give information about the history of the Klang river.

We passed building sites, still under construction. A nice sculpture with an unfinished building. A nice flower in front of a fence.

We could have crossed the white bridge in the background to the other side of the Klang river, but decided to follow the bicycle route.

Entering Brickfields. Beautiful trees. We passed the St Teresa school.

In the left picture above you can see a small white building. This is the Sri Poovaadai Kaliamman temple, built around a gigantic banyan tree. An interesting surprise.

After the temple it is not possible to walk along the river, but a blue bicycle ribbon leads you through Brickfields,

It is an interesting part of the walk, Brickfields is very Indian, We passed another temple, the popular Sri Sakthi Karpagar Vinayagar temple.

I walked around in the temple and took pictures.

Left the Tamil Methodist Church (1908), right a Muslim Surau & Mosque. Brickfields is multi-religious 😉

After passing through Brickfields the route joins again the Klang river. In the center the Merdeka 118 building, 679 meter tall, the second-tallest skyscraper in the world.

Murals along the route, at the other side of the river, a homeless person has hung his laundry to dry, and is taking a nap.

We passed the iconic Old Railway Station, a creation of Hubback (1917) and reached the underground MRT Pasar Seni station

Here we decided to leave the last part of the route, to Masjid Jamek, for another walk and instead explored the KL murals in the region around Petaling street in Chinatown,

Lots of murals have been created during the last years, to liven up the neighborhood. Many different styles. Here is a collection, without comments

I like it when there are some 3D elements, like the barber chair and the kids jumping rope.

In another back lane the walls have been painted with scenes of KL’s past. It attracts tourists, but it is not really my favourite

A nice contrast, skyscrapers around Chinatown. Two times Merdeka 118 (why did they not come up with a more interesting name?) and in the center a photo of the attractive Wisma Tun Sambanthan (1988)

We had to go back to our car, near Midvalley but didn’t want to walk all the way. Therefore we walked to the Maharaja Lela station of the Monorail and took it back to Brickfields

We were hungry, but it was too late for Thosai or Roti Chennai. Finally we found a Chinese pork noodle stall. Good quality food and not expensive.

After lunch we walked back the last part. Passing again the temple. Notice how huge the tree is. The last picture is at the empty building, near my car.

Here is the route we followed, the Monorail part in orange. It was an interesting walk, we are planning to walk one more time and then include the part near Masjid Jamek.