Pictures of Kuala Lumpur and Batu cave

Batu cave is actually I think 5 (or 6?) caves in the same area. I need a new word for this place, this day. How about stupefying!

When you get off the train you don't have to walk very far. This is the first interesting thing that catches your eye. See the monk at the bottom of the statue? Big statue, but a bigger one is around the corner. We were too hot and tired to explore this part of the place on the way back.

Walk a hundred feet or so and turn the corner and you see this! Directly behind it is a waterfall as you walk the stairs.

A picture from Dark Cave. They told us about the centipedes and then we saw one. It was bigger than I had imagined. Totally creep factor. We saw spiders, a rat, and 2 of these guys. And the bats were just starting to wake up and screech. I loved it.

This picture below is when you climb the stairs, catch your breath, and walk through a huge cave. Then there are these other stairs that you see here, which go into a partially open part of the cave. Both separate from Dark Cave. And there are more caves, but only for research. A totally amazing place. I had the time of my life.

There were macaque monkeys all over and unafraid. It added to the already incredible day. The played and jumped and walked the stairs and got up close.

Kuala Lumpur

Day 1 is May 31^st. We arrive at the hotel in the rainy afternoon. The hotel is a trip. It’s a hotel and art gallery. The big lobby is all in black with many sets of crystal pieces hanging from the ceiling. Two of the walls are all glass in a corner building. The stairway and all the halls have a lot of big pieces of art. The elevator is all mirrors, giving the infinity effect that just keeps on going if you are looking at the right angle. The room is grey and there are no windows. There is a bed on the floor, but it’s kind of cool. Walk in the door and you are staring at a small wall, but the entire wall is covered in a picture of a shark head with it’s teeth flashing underwater. I was so amazed by it that I missed the wall I walked by, which had a big whale on it. There were other pictures on other walls with an underwater theme. The door to the bathroom was the sliding kind, floor to ceiling and all mirror on both sides. It was pretty radical. I know many people who would hate this room, but I thought it was cool.

First night we wandered out in the drizzle and found a place to have dinner. Not the nice indoor restaurant, but the one that was outside on a corner with many food stalls. Noisy and lively, where I tried my first chicken tandoori. I was in love. Where had chicken tandoori been my whole life? Great first night. I had no idea Kuala Lumpur would be so big! So many skyscraper buildings. We were a block awya from a mall called Times Square. It was massive, I think seven stories with two Starbucks stores a multi story entertainment park with bowling alley and attached to a monorail station. This mega mall was across the street from several other mega malls!

Day 2   is June! June 1^st. We figured out the monorail and went to see the famous Petronus Towers. Man, they were so cool. We did the tour, and it was outstanding. 42^nd floor was the bridge. 86^th floor was the observation lounge. It was incredible. Then we wandered the mall attached to the towers. The fancy kind with Gucci stores and Prada and all those name brands. 

Day 3   Double decker bus, the hop on and hop off tour with 23 stops. Later we went back to the Petronus towers for sunset and night pictures.

Day 4   Batu caves (hop on the monorail, then the train) with big golden statues, 272 stairs going past a waterfall, and monkeys everywhere. We walked into 3 caves. One was mostly covered (and insanely big) and attached to one that was mostly open (sanely big). The whole thing was covered in statues and things. Then there was the closed cave. It was called Dark Cave, and we paid the $6 for a 45 minute tour. The kind where you are given a hard hat and a flashlight. It was fantastic. I have a new insult: to call someone a cave-dwelling troglobite. I wanted to see caves in Kuching and in Yogyakarta. These caves made up for it all. Epic adventure of gigantic proportions.

Day 5   Go to Klang to visit my friend Shw. I had met her in passing on a short river cruise in Kuching last month. Thanks for Facebook we stayed in touch. It was one of those things where people say: hey if you are ever in _______ come see me! She said if I was ever in Kuala Lumpur to look her up, she had a coffee shop. So I looked her up. We took the monorail to take a train to see her. She picked us up from the train station and brought us to one of her shops. It was packed and we were lucky to get a table. Shw ordered several things for us to try, I was so full! Then we visited her home, and it was very lovely. Then she took us to another coffee shop, this one was smaller and quieter. Then she wanted to take us to eat a traditional dinner. Man, so much food! Her son and a friend came and we talked and ate and talked. It was wonderful. Then back to the train. I was just going to have a short visit, but it was a sweet experience. She gave us several gifts, how sweet!

Day 6   Shawarma is so tasty! We had no real plans, we have been walking at least 5 miles a day, I was ready to take it easy (nope, we walked over 5 miles again). We checked out Chinatown and another big market place. I love this city.

Day 7   is June 6^th. We head to the airport to fly out to Cambodia. Our taxi driver wanted to take us to his favorite place for breakfast, but we didn't have time.



                                                            Petronus towers rock!

                                                        Kuala Lumpur is so massive!