jalanjalan: January 2014

Taman Botani Negara Shah Alam, or "National Botanical Gardens, Shah Alam", is the latest name in a long series of names for this nature park located in the Selangor State Capital of Shah Alam.

Entrance to the Park from the open car-park.

In the past it has gone by other names. Originally known as "Bukit Cerakah" when it was first opened in 1986; its name was then changed in 1991 to "Bukit Cahaya Alam" and later as the "Malaysian Agricultural Park".

Ticket Counter

Although it is now known as a "Botanical Garden", currently there is no labeling of plants or trees of the jungle, so it is perhaps not a true botanical garden where you can learn about plants. Being a jungle located within the city limits though, it is a popular place for weekend recreation among the locals.

Shuttle bus stop at the Main Entrance.

Bicycle Rental at the Main Entrance.

Consisting of 72 hectares of land, when it was first conceptualised as an agricultural park, in typical Malaysian fashion, various "attractions" were proposed, such as a mini-zoo, a four seasons house, traditional village houses (called "Kampung Idaman"), decorative gardens, amphitheatres, camping grounds and the like.

The Mini-Zoo with its small cages should have no place in a nature park.

Horse stables.

Paddock.

Viewing Tower at C Lake.

Camar Hijau is the camp site and A-frames are available for hire. Even has a swimming pool.

Kampung Idaman is a collection of traditional malay houses.

The traditonal Kelantanese house.

All these traditional houses in Kampung Idaman are available for rent.

Hardly surprising with the maintenance culture of the country, most of these attractions are now run-down or closed. Currently there is renovation work on-going around the area of the rice-fields to upgrade the area, but most of the other sites remain dilapidated.

Construction of Malay, Chinese & Indian pavilions adjacent the rice fields. (Jan'14)

Upgrading work to the Rice Field area (Jan'14).

Let this not discourage you from visiting the park though, as the star attraction here is the jungle. It is a great place to go for short walks or even cycling up and down the hills. Bicycles are available for rental at a nominal price and there are also free bus shuttles within the park.

Within the park, there are also two dams and other smaller lakes. For those who are into flying foxes and other adventure activities there is the skytrex adventure.