Alongside my usual breakfast selection I couldn’t resist a bowl of bread and butter pudding and custard, a little heavy for so early in the day but delicious nonetheless. Weighed down with our puddings we took the monorail to KL Sentral to transfer onto a KTM Komuter train to Batu Caves located to the north of Kuala Lumpur. The journey time from KL Sentral to Batu Caves is 35 minutes and costs only RM 2.30 (43p). The 9.36 a.m. was indicated on the board and as a train was sitting on that platform we naturally climbed on board and sat down. There were no announcements but we became suspicious when the train departed five minutes ahead of schedule. We soon realised that we had inadvertently boarded the earlier train to depart from that platform which was delayed but had disappeared from the board.
There was nothing else to do but get off at the next station and wait 30 minutes for a train back to KL Sentral and to then finally board a Batu Caves train one hour later than intended. Other passengers had made the same mistake so do take care if travelling by train from Kuala Lumpur as services do not appear to be tracked.
From Batu Caves station it was just a five minute walk to the holy site of the Hindu temple and shrine set on a limestone outcrop. Stalls line the route stacked high with gaudy trinkets and food. Monkeys are everywhere, some of them carrying their babies and others eating food given to them by visitors. Although few people seemed to have arrived by train, there were coach loads of tourists making the area very crowded.
The cave is one of the most popular Tamil shrines outside of India and is dedicated to Lord Murugan with a huge 140ft (42.7m) statue of the Hindu God dominating the entrance to the cave.
There is no charge to clamber up the 272 brightly painted steep steps to the cave entrance but a strict dress code is in force for females who must have their knees covered. Ladies arriving wearing inappropriate clothing were being ushered to a kiosk where they needed to hire a long scarf to tie around their waists. A nominal charge of RM 5 (93p) was charged for this including a RM 2 (42p) refundable deposit.
Long-tailed macaque monkeys sit on handrails and steps ready to pounce on unsuspecting people and are quick to steal sunglasses, scarves, bottles of water and in fact anything they can get their hands on, so visitors need to hold on tight to their belongings.
It was very hot climbing the long staircase and on reaching the top we entered the largest of the caves, known as the temple or cathedral cave with its very high ceiling. Several smaller caves lead off from the main shrine and after exploring them we made our way back down the steps dodging the monkeys who were still scampering around us.
Back at ground level we viewed the 15m (50ft) statue of Hanuman which stands at the entrance to a smaller cave located on the left, nearer to the railway station. Visiting Batu Caves is certainly an experience but a very touristy one, so although I would recommend going there once, it’s not somewhere I would rush back to.
Leaving the hordes of tourists behind, we took a train back to the city centre alighting at the beautiful old Kuala Lumpur station which is still in use today. From there, we crossed the road via an underpass in order to visit the nearby Islamic Arts Museum which has a standard entrance admission of RM 14 (£2.60).
This absolutely beautiful building features permanent displays over two floors and was so peaceful after the crowded scenes of Batu Caves. We spent the majority of our time in the Architecture Gallery as this contained a collection of scale models conveying the splendour of the Islamic world’s most significant buildings from the Taj Mahal to lesser known but equally beautiful mosques. We found this so interesting as we had enjoyed visiting Doha’s Grand Mosque at the start of our trip.
Other galleries contained examples of Islamic textiles, jewellery, armour, metal, wood and ceramics. From the upper floor there was a tinted window overlooking the roof from where we were able to view the museum’s elaborate dome. The museum has an attractive restaurant where afternoon tea is served on starched tablecloths at only RM 20 (£3.72). All of the artefacts on display in the museum are exquisite and I highly recommend a visit during a stay in Kuala Lumpur as it is easy to get to being near the Perdana Gardens and the old Kuala Lumpur railway station.
We then returned to the hotel on the free GO KL bus service which connected to the monorail at KL Sentral and after a short rest and some tea and biscuits we were suitably revived and ready to venture out once again. This time we weren’t planning on going very far as the KL Menara Tower was located very near our hotel.
The KL Tower is the 7th tallest telecommunications tower in the world and the tallest in South East Asia standing at 421m high. There is an observation deck and revolving restaurant at 300m but we just viewed the tower from ground level. The main reason for our visit was to take a walk in the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve (also referred to as the KL Forest Eco Park), a tropical rainforest reserve covering 9.3 hectares and one of the oldest in Malaysia.
Several trails run through the park with a tree top canopy walkway starting from near the car park entrance. It was approaching 5.00 p.m. as we strolled along the raised walkways, the sounds of crickets deafening our ears. The walkway is constructed in several sections with connecting towers allowing access from numerous points. It provides good views over the forest floor and also of the cityscape surrounding it. Just as we were nearing the end of the trail it started to rain and we needed to make use of our umbrellas for the first time in the holiday.
As on previous evenings, we ate dinner along the Jalan Alor food street staring two dishes and a large bottle of Tiger beer, total cost approximately RM 100 (£18.60).
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We went to Batu Caves in 2018 and they were under refurbishment and so none of the brilliant colours were there. Guess we will have to go back.
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Oh dear, that was a pity! Still maintenance is necessary. Hope you are able to return at some point and thanks for taking an interest in my blog.
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I always wanted to visit Batu Caves, reading your article gave me a good experience, till I can visit it.Thank You!
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Its my pleasure Manisha, it’s so nice to read that you enjoyed this post and I hope you are able to visit Batu Caves before too long.
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An enjoyable read!
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Thank you, I’m pleased you enjoyed it!
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🙂
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Visiting Malaysia next month, great read!
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Thanks for your kind words. It’s good to read that you enjoyed these posts – do have a good time in Malaysia, I’m certain you will enjoy it!
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I love the new stairs of Batu Caves. However I have avoided the place when I’ve been back to KL (which is not often) because I got a bit of a trauma with the caves and monkeys when I was a child. Combined with watching Passage to India at a too young age, where there is a scary cave scene!! I would like to see it now, I guess enough time has passed 😅 x
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It’s very touristy and not one of my favourite places but certainly worth seeing again if it’s ages since you were last there. The monkeys are just as bad as ever!
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Have you been to Penang and Langkawi ?should go there when you visiting Malaysia
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I’ve visited both Penang and Langkawi a long time ago, before I started my blog so need to return and enjoy another visit and write about these lovely places. Thank you Faith for taking an interest in my blog.
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I love reading other people blog to get my next inspired travel but working in develop country may take longer to save up for my next travel .Hope you enjoyed my home country .
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Thank you Faith, I enjoyed visiting Malaysia very much and hope it will not be too long until you have saved up to enable you to visit more places yourself.
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Incredible. I would love to visit these places one day
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Thank you. I do hope you have an opportunity to visit these places sometime too!
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It is an informative post and nice photos. Thanks for sharing it Nepal Kailash Trekking
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It’s my pleasure, I’m glad you enjoyed reading it.
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The walk way looks magical! Keep in the great content 😍
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Thank you for your kind words, it’s so nice to read that you are enjoying my posts.
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Beautiful
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Thank you x
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That dome is absolutely stunning Marion – and no way could I walk across that bridge!!
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The entire Islamic Arts Museum was stunning Sue, thanks for your much appreciated thoughts.
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I’ve been to the Batu caves a long time ago. I loved this post as it took me back! Great photos, thank for sharing 💕 x
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Thank you for your welcome thoughts which are much appreciated.
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What an incredible trip!
I can’t get over how beautiful their buildings are, they really are masterpieces!
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Thank you Kristen, the historic buildings are all beautiful and I especially liked the old KL railway station.
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Wherever you find a statue of Hanuman in Asia you’ll find hoards of monkeys. 🙂 Interesting that in Indonesia which is also a Moslem country they named their airline Garuda also a key player in Hindu epic literature. That dome is spectacular isn’t it?
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The dome in the Islamic Arts Museum was exquisite as was its artefacts. It’s interesting to read that there are always monkeys around those statues in Asia. I do wish people wouldn’t keep feeding them.
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Beautiful colours on the stairs to the cave. Thanks for sharing. Allan
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It’s my pleasure Allan, so pleased to read you liked my photos of the caves.
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I love the multi-coloured steps up to the cave… When I was there in 2017, they were rather more boring: shades of grey and red allover. They have clearly given the area a revamp.
Lieve
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Yes they seem to have brightened it up quite a bit and the different colours make it seem a more interesting climb.
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The place was crowded even when I visited twelve years ago. Interesting place. What was even more interesting was the huge green Hanuman. In India, Hanuman is always saffron. Good pictures and great article.
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Thank you for your welcome thoughts. It’s good to read that you enjoyed this post and to learn that Hanuman is always saffron in India. I’ve not visited India yet but would love to do so.
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