I thought Batu
Caves would take the entire day, but it turns out I only needed an hour or so
to tour the whole area. This, however, is only for the big golden guy and the
steps. If you also want to see the Dark Cave and the Villa, then you might want to
allot another hour. I did not see any of those anymore, so I am actually wondering what I missed.
The steps were more than enough for me, though, as it was the exercise that I badly
needed.
The caves are
located at Selangor, in Gombak district, to be specific. There is a Gombak
station in the KTM line and I almost ended up going there. Friendly reminder:
Batu Caves is on the other end of the Klang line of the KTM Komuter. Take this
line and you end up directly at the entrance of Batu Caves. This line has a lot
of quirks and I honestly think that the Malaysian government should retire those trains.
The trip was so slow it was as if we were following a funeral procession.
What should you
expect upon arrival? Monkeys, lots of them! No, this is not a code name I
invented for tourists. I am talking about real monkeys here, those that eat
bananas. They roam around free along with those pigeons that only come to you
for food. Ungrateful bastards. The monkeys seem to be revered, though. By the entrance
is a giant green sculpture with the body and face of a man but with a nose and
mouth of a monkey. Weird combination. Sorry, I really do not get Hinduism; maybe
I should read more about the topic. You could feed the monkeys and take
pictures with them. The question is : would they want to take a picture
with you?
The place is like
Ngong Ping for Hinduism. I do not know which has more steps, but for some
reason I find Batu Caves to be the easier climb. The place is not boring
because of the many adornments everywhere. You know how Hindu temples are so
elaborately designed? Even the sculptures seem real because of the painstaking
attention given to minute details. On top of the hill is the entrance to a cave. The
floor has been paved with cement while the wall remains natural and embellished
with more sculptures that seem to serve like altars. The cave is not that big.
After the first large chamber are more steps leading to a smaller chamber with
a mini temple in it. End of tour! It is not that dark inside because there are
enough artificial lighting and openings for sunlight to come in.
The entrance to
the Dark Cave is to the right of the steps going down. I did not inquire if
there is an entrance fee; neither do I know what is inside, but outside there
were more monkeys just playing around. All in all it took me less than an hour
and a half. As mentioned, it was a good exercise as well as a visual feast. The trip back to KL Sentral was marred with frequent stops and change of
trains thanks to the very old KTM Komuter line. I would have reached KL Sentral
faster if I ran.
4 creature/s gave a damn:
nakaka-ilang out of the country ka this year ah, monthly away ata, hehehe !!
@andie - kung hanggang saan umabot ang laman ng saving account, go ako! hahaha. Taipei ako sunod. =)
i think mas interesting ang batu cave kay sa giant buddha sa lantau.kahit walang laman yung cave na yun papasukin ko kasi namamangha ako sa laki nya.
@melvin - somehow I agree. Kasi medyo common ang mga Buddhist temples and statues e. For Hinduism, I think ito ang una kong nakita na giant statue, although sa Malaysia and Singapore marami rami ring Hindu temples.
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