Day 15

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We got up early to set off and see the sights. Mel went with Lisa to the airport to try to change her flights while I set off with Steve and Jen to visit the National Mosque. It wasn't far to walk although we did have to do a detour to get there because there was no way to cross some of the roads! In order to go into the Mosque we had to remove our shoes ad dress in gowns. Jen and I also had to put on a scarf to cover our heads! Dressed all in blue we looked like Mary from a nativity play!! The mosque itself wasn't that interesting but we had a short walk around and then headed back to the hotel to meet Lisa and Mel.

After lunch we all headed to the national post office on a mission to post several parcels back to England... it took a lot longer than expected and also cost a fair amount!

The afternoon was then spent visiting the towers. First we headed to the KL tower and did the guided audio tour round the observation deck which pointed out all the buildings you could see. We then got a taxi to take all 5 of us (a bit of a squash!) to the Petronus towers. Since 9-11 they are now the tallest twin towers in the world. We walked around the shopping centre for a bit (most of the shops were slightly out of our price range!) before getting the LRT (train) back.

That evening we got on a bus to take us to the Batu Caves so that we could see the celebrations for Thaipusam (a Hindu festival). The bus ride was about 30mins and on the way Steve befriended a man from Melaka who ended up giving us a guided tour and answering all our questions for the night!

The festival was amazing with lots of market stalls and people smashing coconuts, apparently as a sacrifice. We walked up the 272 very steep steps into the caves. On the way up there were people carrying very heavy ornate peacock things (see photos!!). Once inside the caves the celebrations continued and some people were dancing round with hooks in their backs! According to our 'guide' the celebrations the following night (the actual night of the festival) were going to be much more spectacular and it would be so packed with people that you would be unable to move!

We found our way back to the bus and when we got back to KL we went to a reggae bar because it was Mark's birthday. We were all fairly tired though after a hectic day so we didn't stay long.

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