After a twenty-month hiatus, the Gang of Four organized another outing. Here are the earlier trip reports: The Gang of Four at Kampar and The Gang of Four in Janda Baik. This time we decided to visit the Istana Bandar in Jugra.

After the Klang (1867-1874) war, Jugra became the capital of Selangor. Not for very long, the state capital moved to Klang , then to Kuala Lumpur and finally to Shah Alam . The royal capital moved to Klang until now.

Jugra went into decline, overshadowed by nearby Banting. But there still are many historical remains. Left a GE screenshot of the region, right a detail.

On our way to the Istana we passed the Royal Alaeddin Mosque . Unfortunately we could not walk in because Khong and I were not properly dressed (wearing shorts). Pity because it is a real beauty. Wikipedia is wrong in dating the construction of the mosque as 1903-1905, it was much later, 1925-1926, here is a convincing report. After a recent restoration it has been repainted in white, it was yellow before. A major improvement.

The date error may be caused by confusion with the Istana Bandar, situated only a few hundred meters away. That palace was completed in 1905. Both were built by Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, the fifth sultan of Selangor (1898-1938) Although the Royal Town was Klang, the Sultan often resided in the Istana Bandar. After his death the palace was abandoned, it was given a number of other uses.

When I visited the palace with my friends Pat and Roger in 2013, it had recently undergone restoration and was closed, although we managed to get in. Click here for a report. Now it was open to the public, but completely empty inside.

Ther architecture is interesting. We took many pictures.

The interior is empty. It would be a good location for a museum about the history of Selangor.

The only “decoration I found inside.

Opposite of the entrance there is a huge balcony.

Everywhere you see nice ornaments. The Visit Selangor website writes that the design is largely Islamic,  mainly of Indian and Middle-Eastern origin.

There are also nice gardens.

A worthwhile visit. There were no other visitors, many Malaysians don’t know this place. When we left a few men arrived to take photos.

There is a lot more to see in Jugra, but we got hungry. We had a look at a nearby fishing village, Kelanang. Always picturesque.

We had lunch in the Kang Guan Seafood Restaurant, with a nice view of the Langat river.. As usual Khong selected the dishes.

Here is our lunch. Five dishes, fried sotong, mantis prawns, tofu, chicken, meehoon. Total price : RM 110. That’s what the Gang of Four calls VFM (Value For Money) 😉

Nearby is a business district, which explains why there were so many formally dressed customers.

It was a nice trip and we agreed that we should not wait a long time before having another outing.