After finally getting a refreshing sleep, I was ready for a new day.
We had a great breakfast in the hotel and then caught a cab to see one of the “Must See” locales in KL… the Batu Caves. The limestone pipe that contains the caves is said to be 400 million years old. The caves that developed in it have been inhabited for a very long time. In the late 1800’s, the caves were promoted as a Hindu place of worship.
Our cabbie dropped us off at the Batu Caves entrance and we walked through the gates and up to the foot of the stairs.
The impressive limestone cliffs hang over the park area below the main caves.
The very large golden statue of Lord Murugan shows the way to the shrines in the caves.
The camera angle really doesn’t give you the true steepness of the 272 steps up the caves. At least there were level bits every so often.
Easily jogging up the 272 steps, we nevertheless, did stop a few times to admire the views. The following interlude, while we gasp for breath, is especially for little Ben, who wanted to know “…if I’d seen any monkeys yet?”. Yes, Ben, there are a lot of macaque monkeys hanging around the steps hoping for bananas.
Nearing the top of the stairs, the expanse of the limestone cliffs and cave entrance started to really show itself!
At the top of the 272 stairs, we turned and looked back upon the city. At this point, I reflected upon those immortal words uttered by the intrepid explorer, Dora, who always says “We did it! We did it! We really, really did it!”.
As you walk through the mouth of the cave, it opens up and deepens and you can see the bright open area at the far end where it’s open to the sky.
The way the limestone has been carved over the years is really awesome to see.
After making the walk to the other end and looking at the various shrines inside, we made our way back to the cave entrance and down the 272 steps.
As we neared the bottom of the steps, it looked like the whole clan came out to wish us well and ask us to… “Y’all come back now, ya hear?”
There was a very quiet and reflective spot a little way away from all the hustle and bustle of the main attraction. Looked very nice and calming.
Another of the several temples around the main entrance to the caves. This shows another view of the marvelous limestone cliffs.
This rather imposing statue is of one of the favourite Hindu gods, Hanuman.
After visiting him, we headed back to the main entrance.
We grabbed a cab, after a bit of haggling, and went over to the KL Tower. At 421M tall, no where near as tall as the 553M tall CN Tower, it does, however, give great vistas over the city.
In this view, we could pick out the Sentral station and our hotel, marked with the arrow.
Somehow, the twin Petronas towers looked bigger from this vantage point than they did when were standing at the base of them.
We caught a cab from the KL Tower, rather than walking back, like we did yesterday. But we were so tired from the 272 steps, we were forced to retire to poolside and have a light lunch and iced tea.
That’s it for the day… we’re expecting Andrew to arrive from Singapore around dinner time, so we’ll catch something to eat with him. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we’ll be with clients and another small ‘event’, so the likelyhood of further pics is rather slim.
Missing you all very much! Two weeks is too long away from home.
But, cheers to all!