Kuala Lumpur - Day 4

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The last day of our trip was to visit areas around KL. First stop: Batu Caves. I skipped breakfast in favor of sleeping in a little and taking a nice long shower. Then we got a taxi ride to KL Sentral Station. This place was huge! This is where you catch all the various train lines, including the KLIA Express Train, which I booked for that evening. We took the Kommuter train to the Batu Caves, last stop on the line and about 7 stations between. The train stops you right at the entrance to the park. When we got off, we went a little to the left, seeing monkeys the whole way. There was a giant statue and an old man collecting two ringetts at the entrance, with a brand new statue of horses and chariot at the front of the cave. Unfortunately, this area was a tourist trap, basically. We went in the cave and saw a bunch of brightly lit interiors and statues - I guess these were devotions to Hindu gods, but there was no information. We climbed up a steep flight of stairs.... to come upon nothing. I guess it was a decent view to the bottom, and the rushing water through the cave was pretty cool...

We went back outside, passing a monkey carrying a tiny baby monkey (I'm not a monkey person, at all, but this was pretty cute). Then we proceeded to the main portion - the three hundred steps to the main temples. We started up and were immediately stopped because we are not allowed to wear shorts. Let me clarify: women are not allowed to wear shorts. Probably half the men were wearing shorts. And women wearing short dresses are ok. Whatever - somehow, I still don't get used to that mentality even living in the Middle East for more than two years... So the woman showed us how to use our pashminas to make skirts - which came down about an inch below our shorts... Anyway, we climbed up, and up, and up! Great view! Lots of people huffing and puffing, but it was pretty worth it. It was free, after all. You get to the top and enter a huge cavern, with the main temple toward the back, and of course lots of little tourist stands. In the far back, the cavern opens up to the sky. It really was a beautiful complex, but there was trash everywhere. I don't blame the area for not moving the trash down, more like the individuals for not taking their trash with them. Monkeys were all over the place, stealing whatever food stuffs they could find. It was kind of sad.

We took the train back, taking the ladies only coach. I absolutely love this, and on this train system especially. The two entire middle cars of a six car train were devoted only to women and, unlike the Dubai metro, there was plenty of seating and space. The train looks very new and clean, efficient.

After arriving back at KL Sentral, we were attempting to get transportation to the Petronas Towers area, but the station had turned into a madhouse. There were lines everywhere, and once we figured out which train we needed and where we were going, only then did we get into line and realized it would be a long wait. We had previously tried to get tickets to the towers, through the hotel, but because of the holiday, the towers were actually closed. Therefore, we would not have been able to do anything except look and explore the area around. So, we decided to just go back to the hotel. Bummer - but I am pretty sure I'll be back here one day - I like Malaysia! (Would like to come back for Borneo)

We got back to the hotel, starving, so went down to get some lunch at the Italian restaurant. This was really such a joke. They tried so hard, they really did, but it was not Italian food to start out - the bread was raisin and walnut, which they also used for the bruscetta. Ha! The pasta we ordered was actually pretty good (I got aglio e olio - hard to screw up!) Then I printed my boarding pass and went to my room for a nap while Jamie did some work. I packed up my stuff and it was time to go. I get to see Jamie in Dubai in a couple of weeks, so I got a taxi to KL Sentral. The KLIA Express Train was perfect. 35 rigetts for 35 minute ride - remember it was over an hour when we took the taxi and twice the price.

The airport part was easy; I already had my boarding pass and checked in, so proceeded straight though customs and took the mini-train to the terminal. There were a few things to do, but I just wound up sitting at my gate and doing some work (yes, I'm sad). I always try to pay attention to airports - I'm at #59 now and rank them - yes I have a spreadsheet (as I just said, I'm sad). So, KL airport ranks in the middle of the pack - loses points due to the distance from the city mostly and that there is lots of high end shopping but little to do.

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Photos

Batu Caves
No exercise!

Batu Caves
litter...