Saturday, October 11, 2014

Memories of Malaysia Day 3 Batu Caves

Our third day was dedicated to going to the Batu Caves. Batu Caves is a limestone hill that has a series of caves and cave temples in the Gombak district, 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of Kuala Lumpur. The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. 

The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old. Some of the cave entrances were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people (a tribe of Orang Asli).

Rising almost 100 m above the ground, the Batu Caves temple complex consists of three main caves and a few smaller ones. The biggest, referred to as Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, has a very high ceiling and features ornate Hindu shrines. To reach it, visitors must climb a steep flight of 272 steps.

Thanks Wikipedia for the explanation!

Following recommendations online, we headed off early as it was getting very hot and humid during the day.  Our AirBnB host, Su-Yi, helped us with directions on how to get there using the train.

We took the monorail into the city and walk to KL Sentral (will be so good when they finish the undercover walkway linking the two stations as it was like walking through a building site). We then caught the train to Batu Caves. The train was cheap, modern and clean. There was even a carriage just for women! It took about 40 minutes through the suburbs to reach the Batu train station and cost about 8 rgt for our family. That is just below $3 AUS, if only our public transport was so cheap!

At the base of the caves, there was this huge monkey statue. You will see me wear this dress ALOT on these holidays, it was great wash and wear and so cool in the humid weather. 

We climbed all these stairs.




And saw this view from the top. 


The best part of the visit for the boys was the monkeys (and especially the monkey bottoms). There were heaps of monkeys watching tourists as they climbed the stairs. The monkeys were always looking around and picking up scraps of paper to check for food.I was a bit worried one was going to pounce on us or grab our bag but we had no food in sight so there was no attempt. One of the monkeys had a baby on her back which was interesting to see.



We climbed the stairs and looked inside the main cave. There was a few ornate temples and statues inside.

 It did stink of bat poo. 



 

At the base of the caves, J enjoyed feeding the pigeons and a lady shared her pigeon food with him to throw to the birds. This was the beginning of J's celebrity status - with his blond hair he was quite popular for photos. We didn't see many Australians around KL.




After cool drink and ice-cream we then headed back to our apartment for a swim and rest before our trip to Night City. 

Tips
* Head out to Batu Caves early. We arrived at the caves at 9.30am and it was already getting hot and humid.

*Take lots of water although there are shops at the base of the caves and markets to buy sweets, fruit and ice-creams.  

*The train is easy, cheap and you get to see more of the city on your journey out to the caves. You can take a tour or hire a guide but if you have the time, take the train and save your $$. For kids, it is another experience to add into their holiday memories.

*Bananas from the stalls at the base of the caves make a quick and easy snack.

*If you are into selfies, here is an idea for you. It is a bit hard to see in the photo but she has her phone attached on the end of a golf club.

 

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