fri - the 13th! day 28

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Day 2 in Kuala Lumpur started much the same, although this time heading straight to the train station which was easy to see but hard to get to, trying to navigate your way through busy roads, canals etc! Got my ticket to go and see the batu caves which are 20 minutes north of kL. The electronic train board is slightly out of time with the arrival and departure of the trains - making you think you've missed it when it hasn't even arrived yet! The train did arrive and to which it has female only carriages - men strictly not allowed - as they announce every few minutes! The caves are located a 5 minute walk from the train station - they are 400 million yr old Hindu caves in huge limestone hills which were originally used by the orang asli for shelter. Since 1891 they have housed Hindi shrines and are one of the biggest outside India. Outside the caves are a lot of macaque monkeys which aren't afraid of humans, i naively thought i could get some biscuits out my bag without them noticing - wrong! One came and sat right next to me looking expectant - and i hadn't even opened the packet - so not wanting an argument the monkey got the biscuits!! I waited until i was on the train. One of the caves has got 272 steps and huge golden statues to the entrance, one of the Hindu god of war, it was definitely worth losing the biscuits to see the caves! Got the train back to the national mosque and this time i could go in, had to wear a head to toe gown and no shoes were allowed. Its a very modern, angular building - could only look in the prayer room, not allowed in - in there there must of been about 100 children praying. On the way back past merdeka square i found an area called little India , so had a walk around the few streets on the way to the bus station. Bus stations don't always look like bus stations in the uk, i think i walked past this one twice before having to ask someone, and inside it seems more like a market - no buses in sight! Found an information counter and the information i was given was that i needed a different bus station!! Anyway, knowledge is power so i didn't feel like it was a completely wasted journey. I headed back towards china town and stopped off at a market stall for a spot of dinner, the heavens opened again but luckily i wasn't too far from the hotel so made a dash for it! Had a relaxed evening and wrote up my blog.

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