We woke up slightly disappointed that we had slept until 11am, but hey, that’s the price you pay after your hostel offers you free margaritas. We collected ourselves and set our sights on the day’s destination- the legendary Batu Caves. We traversed the infamous highway system of Kuala Lumpur, with deadlocked traffic and road side stalls set up to pacify the grumpy drivers with delicious street food. Our driver casually offered to pull aside so we can grab lunch off the road (an offer too tantalizing to pass up).
Hopping back in the car, we eventually emerged out of the smoggy haze that one finds in a developing country and arrived at the Batu Caves. Walking to the entrance was no easy task, for there were dozens of side attractions competing for our attention. The first one that hooked us was the towering Hindu statue, over a hundred feet of golden steel that loomed over us with his staff and robe. It was a really incredible sight, a show of power left over from an era long before I ever existed. What we really fell in love with was not the statue, however, but the group of long tailed macaques leaping around and stealing food from tourists. These little guys had a very eerie yet fascinating resemblance to humans. I’ve never been in such close quarters with monkeys before; touching them and standing inches away as they groomed each other or took care of the young. Our group stood out in its fascination with these creatures; most other tourists were simply making their way up the hundred plus steps to reach the caves without paying much attention to the little humans.
Eventually we lost a bit of interest, especially after one aggressive male harassed my friend by tugging at her dress and leaping on her shoulders. Shaking him off, we reached the top of the steps and into Batu’s main cave. It’s massive cavern was a humbling sight, even with the tacky souvenir vendors and picture snapping onlookers everywhere. We spent a good amount of time sitting down and observing a temple within the cave. Unsure of what exactly was taking place, we guessed it was some sort of marriage ceremony considering the worshipper’s attention was focused on one couple. As we made our way out of the temple, we headed to our daily obligation: Indian food. If there was one country I could be a vegetarian in, it would certainty be India. The creative twists that Indians apply to their doughy dosa, naan, and paratha would never bore my taste buds. Take note, hipster west coast restaurants, stop trying to feed me kale infused tofu and serve me this instead.
The Batu caves are one of the more well traveled side trips for those in the KL area, and for good reason. They are a window into Malaysia’s stunning outdoor landscape one would usually find on some of the more sparsely populated islands. This marked our only side trip from the main city, since we were nearing our final hours of our very short stay. To top off the night, we made our way back downtown to a sprawling park overlooking the Petronas Towers. We laughed, fought, and talked the night away over my favorite card game, Mao, as we awaited our sleeper bus back to Singapore. Next time I find myself in Malaysia, I’m busting out of that scenic window into the countryside and actually spending time in it!
Luke Jacobs is an avid traveler and writer for The World Wanderers and for his adventure blog Life’s A Risk!
