Trip Report Asia 2013: Day 5: Kuala Lumpur

Back to Cedar on 15 for breakfast again – we swore we would try the Asian Delights breakfast down at ground floor – but the view up here was too nice.

Batu Caves

Today’s destination was the Batu Caves.  The wife and I had been before but we hadn’t been for a few years and thought we would take our friends to check it out. 

Wandered through the KLCC Park towards Suria KLCC.  The plan was to catch the train to the caves, which meant the LRT to KL Sentral then changing over to the KL Kommuter train to the Caves.  It was a glorious day today.  Perfect weather.

The train to the caves takes about 30 minutes from KL Sentral.  The Kommuter trains are really clean and well presented – as well as being quite cheap.  From memory I think it was only about 2-3RM per person on the train.  Great value.

The trains run about every 30 minutes during the day, so you don’t need to worry about being back at a particular time.  They also stop about 200m away from the stairs to the Caves.  I would say this is the easiest way of getting there.  You could grab a taxi but I can promise it won’t be as cheap.  Plus this way you are free to take as long as you want to explore and not worry about where you need to find your taxi etc.

The Batu caves are actually a series of caves within a huge limestone hill.  It is about 150m high.  And you reach the first cave via a lovely 272-steps!  At the foot of the staircase stands a statue of Lord Murugan – I believe it is one of the largest statues of its kind in the world. 

Just as a safety advice – there are stairs, they are steep and it can get busy here.  Please don’t do this if you are not feeling well – you don’t need to be super fit, but there are no lifts or escalators – only one way up or down!

Also there are a large number of Monkeys – they are not dangerous but you need to treat them with respect.  Don’t take food with you, or if you do make sure it is suitably hidden in your bag such that they can’t find it.  As you walk up the stairs you will notice the squeals and screams of the various tourists who have had their possessions stolen by the monkeys.  They are fast little creatures and appear to have unionised – they will work in teams to steal your food or lose items.  I did feel particularly sorry for one little monkey, who thought he had nabbed a great haul – only to open a bottle and realise it was Suntan lotion – his little face when he got a mouthful of that!

Don’t let me put you off – I have been up and down these stairs numerous times now and never once had any problem, they are used to being photographed but just treat them with respect and don’t go annoying them.

You could probably budget to spend an hour or so wandering around.  Depending on when you visit KL if there are any particularly popular Hindu celebrations you may want to give it a wide berth. 

Back in 2007 during the festival of Thaipusam it attracted more than 1.5 million pilgrims from all over the world.  As you can imagine that would have been quite busy!

There are a few little eateries down at the base of the caves, so if you are a bit peckish afterwards you can grab something to eat.  We got a quick Roti and a drink at the nearby Ranj Vegitarian Restaurant – which was quite tasty and reasonably priced. 

Jumped back onto the train and headed back to KL Sentral.

Back at KL Sentral we broke into two teams – the ladies were off to Pavilion for Shopping – because apparently for my wife the last 3 days hadn’t been enough.  While us guys headed off to Low Yat Plaza for some Electronics Shopping – which I will claim is not technically the same as “Shopping” because its Electronics and boys toys etc.

Pavilion

I knew that shopping centre would come to bite me at some point.  I figured since this holiday was partly in celebration of my 8 year wedding anniversary that the wife could buy herself (with my credit card) a gift – which on my part was genius, didn’t need to think of an Anniversary gift – although that bit me.  I will just put up the picture and then we shall speak no more about it…..

So after the shop that shall not be named we headed back to the hotel for a swim and then a nice pre-dinner drink at Cedar on 15.  In the evening it is a nice little bar and restaurant.

The cocktails – nice drinks and great views.

Not as good as the Skybar at Traders for the view, but still not a bad spot to watch the towers light up at night.

For dinner tonight we were all pretty stuffed from a full day so just headed up to Pavilion (that place haunts my dreams) and went down to the Food Republic for a meal.  So many nice eateries, every time I swear I will try something new but always head back to my Claypot Chicken Rice stall – so tasty and only 8RM.

Oh and as another hidden gem, look for a little candy shop called “Sticky” – really tasty hard candy lollies.  They make great gifts (even if you are just buying for yourself!).

Anyway that is it for tonight – tomorrow we make the move to Singapore which is to be our home for the next 6 nights.  Back to the hotel to cram our stuff into our suitcase and pray to the god of overweight luggage that we haven’t already blown the weight limit on day 5 of a 27 day adventure.

As always thanks for reading – let me know what you think of these blogs by posting a comment.  Cheers and see you tomorrow!