T&J Travels #9: Kuala Lumpur & Melaka 2017 (Part 10)

+ Batu Caves +

We woke up later than usual so we arrived at the station almost 11AM. It's a very convenient tourist spot because once you're out of the station you are literally walking right through the gates.

If you plan on feeding the monkeys now is the best time to buy them bananas

Thankfully the Indian gods made sure we got a cloudy day. Not rainy and no harsh sun like we had our first day.  Walking through the path towards the famous gold Buddha, I really thought there aren't much people. Not until we arrived at the square did we see where all the tourists are.

Because it's almost noon, we decided to eat lunch first. We were joking that we are not going to eat anywhere that only had vegetarian food but since there is no option, I just randomly picked somewhere that had a free table.

The dishes here are of Indian origin, none that I know of (except for the Pratta). I picked a combo meal that looked like the ones the other tables have. I enjoyed the meal but I couldn't finish my plate. The sauces are just too hearty. I wouldn't like to take chances on my digestive system at this point.

I wish I remembered what this was called. All I know is that the tea (without milk) tastes delicious! I also had to experiment which of the ff. are better paired with that sauce.

Tip: Before doing the steps, take a break at the (paid) bathroom near the edge of the restaurants because there isn't any up there as far as I know. Also if you're going to smoke do look for a sign that allows you to do so. 

While the stairs are steep, I like that most are truly intact that it's safe to even walk in barefoot: which I won't but in case you wanted to do it like the Indians do. I took a lot of breaks just to reach the top only to find out that inside of the cave there's even more stairs for the open cavern.

Tip: Come to Batu Caves with covered legs to save some MYR for the leg covering rental if you're going up the stairs. DO NOT BRING FOOD else the monkeys will go for you!

I liked that it's airy inside although I hope that the floor isn't wet. I am not sure where that came from because downstairs it's a bit dry. They are also renovating and probably give a few more years the inside would be filled with more sculptures for the roaming monkeys to play in.

There's a smaller cave on the left that reeks of a smell I don't know where from. It's not free and we're not going to spend the day here anymore (I'm just happy to have achieved all those steps without fainting) so after being scared sh*t of baby monkeys we finally walked downstairs.

Because we booked a night more, we didn't have to worry on going back to our hotel ASAP. What we did next was to buy souvenirs at Central Market. I was so anxious we won't make it to the airport we weren't able to buy Cadbury bars. This is one of the things I regret the most. I hope we would have more time on our next trip. We were able to buy cheap shirts and a selfie stick though!

When we went back to our hotel, a quick shower and last minute checks of our luggage, we just got ourselves a Grab. We were stunned we got a Subaru Forester for not even a 100 PHP ride. Knowing how far the airport is, we opted to take the more expensive KLIA Ekspres (55MYR each) to make it in time (well, our plane was late but I won't allow us to be too).  A quick dinner at Mcdonalds with their exceedingly spicy Prosperity burger and a few hours later we bid KL goodbye.

I have truly underestimated KL. I never thought I'd be impressed on so many aspects of this beautiful country I see no reason why anyone would not like to come back. It's also a bitter sweet feeling for me because it would have been us in the Philippines, if only our leaders loved our country more. I liked how safe we felt walking in the dark on the way back to our hotel. I liked how a Grab booking is so cheap we literally felt bad paying fares that are incomparable to what we normally pay locally. I fell in love with their transport hubs. I enjoyed the monorails where everything works, the light, the aircon. The only thing I would change is I hope I could readily get other forms of meat here too other than chicken. After that KL is now perfect in my eyes.

Hope to see you again KL!