Bukit Malawati

Malaysia


It’s a short walk through landscaped parklands to the top of Bukit Malawati, with views across the mangrove-dotted coastline. Once an administrative and military fort, all that remains today are sections of wall, cannons and a well, formerly filled with various poisons and used to torture traitors. At the summit is a picturesque British lighthouse (dating from 1907) and a small museum of local history.

The fort here was briefly conquered by the Dutch when they invaded Selangor in 1784; Sultan Ibrahim took it back a year later. The town later became embroiled in the Selangor Civil War (1867–73), which saw the fort partly destroyed.

The road up Bukit Malawati starts from the edge of town and does a clockwise loop of the hill; you can walk up and around in less than an hour. Further down the hill is the Royal Mausoleum, the burial ground for the first three sultans of Selangor.

Tame silvered leaf monkeys hang out here, but resist feeding them.


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