Drive to Kuala Lumpur via Batu Caves

We really enjoyed the Dim Sum we had for breakfast yesterday, so the plan was to go back to the same place.  We are leaving Kuala Senlangor around 9:30 AM, so we headed out for breakfast at 8 AM.  When we arrived at yesterday's breakfast place, the Dim Sum woman wasn't there yet.  Now what?  

We wondered back to a place that we noticed had many people eating at.  I did not recognize the menu, so I stood and watched the cook placing ingredients into the wok to see what he was cooking.  A gentleman from a table came over and told me that he was cooking Kuey Teow Goring Kerang which fried noodles with eggs, clams, bean sprouts, clams, and shrimp.  It looked and smelled delicious, so I ordered one spicy for myself and one mild for Tim.  This is what was delivered and it was delicious.  You could taste the smokiness of well used wok and the crisp of the bean sprouts with the brininess of the clams and just worked.

After breakfast we headed back to the hotel to finish packing and met Susan and Peter at 9:15 AM in the lobby.

It was only about a one hour drive to Batu Caves and we arrived there before 10:30 AM.  Batu Caves is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India and is dedicated to Murugan.  This particular temple is known for the festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia.  Have you seen on TV or elsewhere where certain Hindu practitiouners pierce the skin, tongue or cheeks with skewers while walking in a pilgrimage such as this?

Well, this ceremony in Malaysia takes place here at Batu Cave.  These pilgrims must climb the stairs as seen below alongside the giant statue of Murugan.  Isn't this site amazing?!?

Well...we aren't going to pierce anything, but we joined the flock of other tourists and headed up the 272 stairs.  Tim stopped here to greet a monkey on the way up, not to catch his breath! ;-)

I rushed up the stairs to get a nice morning workout in and made it to the top.  This was the view from up there...hurry up Tim...almost there.

At the top we were greeted with this amazing looking cave opening.

Inside the cave we saw this...an amazing looking temple.

Murugan loves the peacock which we road in the stories.  Notice Tim's face when he noticed that we still had more stairs to climb that are behind him.  

At the top of the last flight of stairs was another temple and an opening above us to the sky.  I can see why this place is considered sacred to Hindu followers.  It is amazing.

Also up here is a troop of monkeys.  This one found a treat and rushed up to the top of the temple and then to the top of a statue on top of the temple to eat it from his high perch to help watch out for other monkey invaders. Unfortunately he was found and he had to run for it.

OK...time to go back down.

At the bottom, there are other temples and shrines scattered around the grounds.

We kind of liked this statue of the monkey god Hanuman.

It was hot and we were all tired from the walk up and down to the cave, so we headed for the van and completed our journey by returning to the place we started 28 days ago...Kuala Lumpur.  

It has been an amazing journey driving all around Malaysia.  1,317 miles of driving on the left side of the road with scooters swerving in and out of traffic all around me.

It was bittersweet returning the car.  It is nice for me to be able to relax as we plan on taking public transportation for most of the remainder of our travels in Asia, but it is so nice to have a car that allows for flexibly in schedule and travel location.

We are now in our AirBnB in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Susan and Peter have gone their own way for now.  We plan on meeting back up with them for a few days in Tokyo, Japan in 23 days. 

​We will spend 5 nights in Kuala Lumpur before heading south to explore Malacca and Singapore.  From the view out our 34th floor AirBnB, we can't wait to explore what this city has to offer.