Malaysia - Day 3

Today was an early start and last day in KL with a goal to reach Batu Caves via public transportation. We ate breakfast and set off to find which public transportation to use. In Malaysia, there are many different agencies that manage similar transportation which makes it a bit confusing on how we should pay for fares. We couldn't get the ticket machine to work for some reason and the card system was also confusing but ultimately we were able to figure out which line to take. We hopped on a subway and transferred onto a train to take us to Batu Caves. The train was extremely late so transferring was thankfully not too worrisome as we had to also take time to purchase train tickets.

Batu Caves

We got to Batu Caves just before the crowds from tour busses arrived so the plaza was somewhat 'quiet' with a large flock of pigeons milling about as pigeons would. I had to use the bathroom which costed maybe 10 MYR and thankfully the bathrooms were clean but wet. In the bathroom, I saw a cute floofy dog in the bathroom lying on the ground. When I came out, it was perched on the sink ledge looking curiously at the windows. It was a funny sight to see! Too bad I could go pet the dog as it was verrry cute and verrry fluffy.

Murugan and rainbow steps

On the steps

At the entrance of Batu Caves stands a large statue Murugan and rainbow steps leading up to the cave. I had thought the statue was a Buddha but that was totally incorrect and Murugan is a deity of Hinduism. Pictures probably don't do much justice but the statue is larger than life and I wonder how statues this large are created.

The colorful steps to the left are 272 steps that make for great Instagram photo ops but Jon and I the worst at it. By the time we started up the steps, the tour busses had started coming in and filling up the plaza. We trudged up the steps, checking out the monkeys and bypassing all the others. For healthy people, the steps are totally doable, maybe a tad steep especially when there's a lot of people on the steps going up and down or stopped.

Did I mention there were monkeys? These monkeys at Batu Caves are notorious for targeting people for their food and will grab stuff out of your bags or hands with no hesitations. While walking up the steps, we stopped to look at something and a monkey on the side snatched my bundled up yellow rain cover thinking it was food. Thankfully I was alerted immediately and grabbed it back from an upset monkey. A random guy in front of us started hissing at the monkey and telling it to stop. Not sure if he thought he was helpful or was doing it for fun.

Many of the monkeys had a baby tightly grasping the mom and they were cute! Look at how long the tail is!

The day was already hot and humid in the morning but the cave was cool a nice reprieve. The cave itself is very cavernous, with high ceilings and water dripping down. Never have I been to such large caves but it was ultimately a religious site so there were temples and other structures built within. It does put into prospective on how large this cave is to have so many structures and steps. Again, my pictures don't do just and probably make it look worse than it actually is.

Monkeys filled the caves, taking fruit from the offerings and throwing empty coconut shells from coconut stands to crack them. We saw a monkey try to steal an older couple's bag of food as they sat to repack their bags. There was another couple that was being harassed by a monkey as they were holding bananas and they ultimately caved and threw the monkey the banana. Bad choice.

Ramayana Caves

The crowds and monkeys were in full force when we exited Batu Caves and we quickly climbed down. It was hot and humid as usual. As we were walking back to the train station, we saw a sign for Ramayana Caves with little people around it. Not knowing what it was and the price looked cheap (10 RM), I thought why not and also cool down. Well, we were the only ones inside which made it a bit awkward as the staff was just looking at us. The cave was set like a museum and had somewhat tacky neon lights, not like a religious landmark like Batu Caves was.

The statues were depicting the story of Lord Rama who is another Hindu deity. The signs had brief English descriptions but not really enough to understand the story in depth.

We quickly walked through the exhibits and reached a set of very very very steep stairs that climbed up the side of the cave. Pictures do not do just at how steep these stairs are and they are also not evenly built stairs so you have to be very careful.

At the top was a large stalagmite and a lady that spoke very little English. She did tell us if I remember correctly that it took millions of years to form and maybe a form of energy. Online tells me that this is a lingam which is a phallic symbol that symbolizes generative energy. I'm not sure if it's true but I'll leave it up to you to decide what it looks like.

At the end before the exit, there was a mysterious gap in the cave wall that looked interesting though it wasn't clear if we were able to go in. I asked the staff if we could, and he said yes, turned on some lights and moving laser points to light up the cave. The cave does open up and the lights does make for some cool photo ops but it's unclear how this relates to Lord Rama.

Jalan Alor Food Street

Probably the most famous street in KL, we had to go check it out for dinner. It was honestly quite overwhelming with all the people and vendors calling you to sit down and so many different restaurants on the street. I had imagined it was like a night market where there are stands for people to grab quick bites but Jalan Alor was more like a street lined with restaurants where people sit outside and eat.

We did not know where to eat but online had recommended a restaurant for chicken wings where we ultimately tried and thought it was so so. I agree with online opinions saying it's a bit overrated and would rather go somewhere else for food but it does seem to be nice if you wanted to eat outside.

Final words

KL was an interesting experience with the little time we had to explore in. People were kind and usually could speak at least one of the languages we could. If we had more time, we definitely would have traveled further out from downtown to find durian stands and more local spots. Or next time we visit another city in Malaysia as often opinions say KL is not a great city to visit and there are much better cities for tourists. I leave you with a final video of a pedestrian crossing in Bukit Bintang where people take it into their own hands to cross because the pedestrian cross countdowns are way too short.

Malaysia - Day 1
Malaysia - Day 2