Breakfast at the Berjaya was again enjoyable, lingering over our complimentary newspaper and several cups of coffee. We needed to get going, so we took the monorail to KL Sentral followed by a Kommuter train out to Batu Caves which lies 8 miles north of Kuala Lumpur. Batu Caves is one of the most holy Hindu shrines outside India and is set on a limestone cliff, accessed by a long staircase leading to the caves. In front of the limestone cliff stands a huge golden Murugan (Buddha) at a height of 42.7 metres tall. It is one of Kuala Lumpur’s main tourist attractions and there were numerous coaches there when we visited.
Walking up the 272 concrete steps to the caves, monkeys watch sitting on the handrails and steps, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting tourists and steal their water bottles, scarves etc. so beware and hold on tightly to your belongings.
Its free to enter the caves and the huge cavern is known as the Temple Cave because it contains so many Hindu shrines. It is very impressive but considering its significance as a holy shrine, it really needs tidying up. Litter is strewn in corners and pigeon and monkey droppings abound.
At the base of the caves are various souvenir stalls and food outlets some of which are quite tacky for a holy shrine.
The rail station is only a few minutes walk away so it’s easy to access from KL by public transport.
It was back to the hotel for some lunch, and a little window shopping in the Berjaya Times Square mall which is attached to our hotel.
At 3.00 pm we opted for total relaxation as we had booked 90 minute full body aromatherapy massages in the hotel’s Bunga Raya Spa. It was sheer bliss, my therapist from the Philipines applied lemongrass, almond oil and lavender to my skin, relaxing and stretching my aching muscles, applying just the right amount of pressure.
Hotel guests can book 2 for 1 treatments at ‘off peak’ times. Our superb massages cost only RM150 (£22.60) for two. Feeling invigorated, we took a walk to nearby Bukit Bintang, stopping first at the Lot 10 mall which was quite small but with an impressive food court on the lower floor and quite surprisingly a Liverpool FC shop on the upper level. Our stroll took us further along the covered Bukit Bintang walk to the upmarket Pavilion Mall, filled with designer stores and restaurants. After pre dinner drinks, we returned to Jalan Alor opting to eat in one of the larger restaurants and selecting dishes of roasted pork and butter prawns.
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Love the entrance to the caves. So ornate. Nice to have it so close to KL. How were the monkeys at the site? Were they pests. Thanks for sharing Marion. Allan
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The monkeys were awful pests there Allan as people were feeding them, so unlike the ones in Singapore or Gibraltar where feeding is against the law and the monkeys leave you alone!
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Hi, I just came across your post on Malaysia and its well organised.
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Thank you for your kind words about my posts on Kuala Lumpur. I’ll take a look at your blog when I get a few minutes to spare.
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Hi,
I read the “Day 4. Batu Caves and the Bunga Raya Spa”.
Really good one and nice experience. planning to visit the place. Iwould like to share an information.
Gentle Info: you have mentioned Huge Golden Buddha,
It is Huge Golden Murugan.
Warm Regards,
Muthu Subramanian M
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Thank you for your much appreciated comments and information.
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we are going to Batu Caves this June 2017, Is it true that wearing short skirts, short pants and sleeveless blouse not allowed inside the cave?
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No, it’s untrue. We had no problems in shorts and a sleeveless above the knee dress. They ask you to look respectable but it’s not enforced and you don’t need to hire sarongs to cover up. Just beware of the monkeys – they try to steal everything!
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thank you for the information
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Hi! My fiance and I will be visiting Malaysia in August and we plan on taking a day trip to Batu Caves. What part of September did you visit? We are going mid August through first week of September and I’m wondering about how bad the smog will be!
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We were there the second week of September and there was quite a lot of smog then from the Indonesian forest fires but it wasn’t too bad.
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Batu caves really is impressive, love your photos! When I was a child and visited for the first time, there were bats in the caves and the monkeys were really agressive even then, it was a scary experience 😨
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A lovely set of images. What an adventure! Thank you for sharing! 🙂 xx
http://angieisagirl.wordpress.com
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I enjoyed this. It took me back to my time at the Batu caves.
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