Batu Caves

The first thing I wanted to visit in Kuala Lumpur is the Batu Caves. Batu Caves is a limestone hill which is made up of a series of caves and cave temples. Its name was taken from the Batu River which flows past the hill.

We woke up and got out of our guesthouse at around 8am. We then took the KTM Komuter train service from Plaza Rakyat Station  to Batu caves. I cannot remember anymore how much RM we paid to go and back. It was my second out of the country trip and I couldn't figure out trains and their routes yet. After a few mistakes and "deep" thinking (hahaha) we finally figured out what train to ride. It was a  total of 13 kilometer ride with 2 train changes.

Before going down from the train, we were greeted with this view.

We then entered a gate leading us to the grounds. It was a sunny day and it was almost 10am. There were a lot of tourists already ahead of us and so it was getting quite difficult to get photos. There was a huge statue looking like a guard from the gate. Also there was a shrine wherein you have to remove your shoes before you come up to it.

Batu Caves' main attraction is the large statue of the Hindu God at the entrance besides a steep 272 climb. The Hindu God is named as Lord Murugan. It stands proud at a height of  42.7 meters and is made of 250 tonnes of steel bar and 300 liters of gold paint.

There were a lot of pigeons on the grounds. People were feeding them or taking photos of them along with the stunning backdrop. After satisfying ourselves with photos of the view, we then set to climb the stairs. The keeper of the grounds stopped me as I was wearing a dress that did not cover my knees. I had to borrow my friend's scarf to cover my knees.

As we were climbing the steps, my friend was trying to look for fellow Filipinos visiting the place too. He kept on wishing he would hear a Filipino word from someone and meet a "kababayan". We also observed that there were monkeys everywhere. I have read beforehand that these monkeys would try to steal food or drinks from the visitors. We didn't have any but we still tried to get away from them from fear of being bitten. Some monkeys even have their babies with them.

Approaching the caves entrance.

We were able to see limestones and amazing rock formations even at the entrance of the cave. It is said that the limestone which forms the Batu Caves are as old as 400 million years old.

Going further inside, we saw a lot of temples and also stores that sold souvenirs. There was also sound of Hindu music or Hindu prayer all over the place.

The next thing we did was explore the Dark Cave. It was to the left of the larger cave and we found out that there is a Dark Cave Educational Tour.

I forgot how much we each paid for the tour but it was very educational. We had to set our camera to no flash so we can take photos. It really is aptly named as it was so dark inside. I can hear a lot of bats flying somewhere above us. The guide was fantastic and explained well on what species are living and thriving in the cave.

This is the view we were led to at the end of the tour.

After our tour, we went down from the caves and started looking for food. There were a lot of restaurants serving refreshments at the foot of the caves. We chose one establishment that sold pizza and sandwiches. To our surprise, the keeper of the store was a Filipino :) He told us that it was a great time that we visited because it was not the peak season nor the wet season. He also told us that most of the people come to the place to worship and offer to the Lord Murugan as he is famously generous. He asked us if we wished for something when we went up to the caves. Well, coincidence or not, my friend got his wish! 

Thank you and 'til my next blog.