The Kuala Lumpur Batu Caves

We finally acted like a tourist in our new home country and made time to head to the famed Batu Caves Temple just on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur this past Saturday. There are many ways to get to the Batu Caves Temple- via taxi, LRT (light rail transit), bus, or by car. Since we had a car loaned to us, we decided to be adventurous and drive there. Wow…what an experience. Due to some traffic, accidents, and just plain old not knowing….it took us over an hour to get there (GPS told us only 20 minutes- ha!). In any event, it was well worth the trip, plus getting home only took 25 minutes- a small victory for the new expats- woohoo:)!

The Batu Caves Temple is a Hindu temple that was discovered over 120 years ago. The actual temple at the top is guarded by the monkey god Hanuman. Visitors and worshipers must climb the (very steep) 272 steps it takes to get to the top, which is guarded at the base by the huge & breathtaking statue of Lord Murugan. We ventured out in the afternoon so it wasn’t too crowded due to the fact that it was the hottest part of the day…but we did that on purpose to both escape the crowds as well as try to acclimate to the intense heat & humidity while being active. Word to the wise- if you have bad knees or struggle being active, you will have a very hard time climbing these 200+ steps!

The colors of the statues & steps are so very vibrant and are a wonderful backdrop to the natural beauty of the rock & greenery both inside & outside the caves. On your way to the top, watch out for the wild monkeys swinging about the trees, lamp posts, and steps- and beware…they are NOT shy and will grab your water bottles, food, etc.- HA.

Once at the top of the steps, the cavernous sight is so breathtaking. The rain from the previous storm provides wet droplets that would fall between the cracks in the rock, and as you look upwards, the natural breaks in the cave provided for some great views of the sky!

Our only complaint was the amount of litter/trash that we found in the caves. It truly was a sad sight to see how disrepectful vistors are when enjoying such a historic & religious sight…..hopefully at some point the government will realize this and a group will form to keep the caves clean.

Another great sight is once at the top, you can look back and see the back end of the statue as well as the breathtaking sight of the Kuala Lumpur skyline….I can only imagine how awesome that looks at night!

Until next time, happy & safe travels!

Kimbra