Batu Caves

After being rained out, we went for a second try and went all the way to the end of the LRT line in Gombak and got on a taxi to the caves. Turned out that this trip would become my second favorite adventure! (next to Singapore, of course)

Batu Caves is this spot, kind of like the holy ground for Hindus. Its a hill made of limestone and in order to reach the top, we had to climb 272 steep steps (and more!) There's a giant golden Hindu shrine that overlooks the place. I couldn't look up at it much because every time I tried, I felt like I would topple off the steps and roll all the way down to the bottom. Smells of incense and bat shit filled the place as we trekked through leaky depths. The dripping water helped us keep cool but attracted mosquitoes from what felt like every corner of Malaysia! There was a chapel where Indians prayed barefoot and had red ash marked on their foreheads.

Wild hens, pigeons and dogs roamed the place looking for food, undeterred by the tourists around them. Luckily enough, we went on a quiet day so it wasn't crowded. There are usually several festivals in spring so it was considered off-season by the time we went. We didn't realize that there were hidden trails leading off to other caves but there's no way we could have survived these without a tour guide. Next time, I guess! Even if we didn't get to do that, we were still taken back by the cave's beauty. The details were fantastic-- the age of the place and all the green growing between the crevices. We watched bats fly overhead and then disappear in the darkness. I just absolutely loved it.

The best part? The wild macaque monkeys! I had heard about the monkeys before we went but I had no idea of how many there would be. They were everywhere, hundreds of them. I didn't really think they would approach us but they did. It was nothing like anything you could find in America-- in fact, this kind of thing would probably be illegal! Our first encounter was when a monkey jumped on Melly out of nowhere and grabbed her plastic bag to savor the apple inside. He ran off and chomping on it happily, leaving us in shock. After that, I couldn't resist buying a bag of peanuts to give everybody so we could feed the monkeys. My heart kept pounding because I kept imagining the worst (ten monkeys on me at once fighting over the food-- rabies much!) but it turned out to be wonderful. After all, the monkeys were just there to get food from us and nothing more. There was a king monkey-- slightly bigger than the rest and we could tell that the smaller monkeys were terrified of him but that didn't stop them from trying to beat him to the food. Survival of the fittest! We tried our best and fed as many as we could. They came up to us one by one and took peanuts from us. I can say I never thought I would feel tiny monkey fingers on my hand. This certain monkey kept wrapping his hand around my fingers and holding it as he used his other hand to slowly take the food.

After a hour of entertaining ourselves with the monkeys, we took our leave back to town. We stopped by ABC (Always Best Choice) restaurant for an Indian dinner. Ryan Digovanni is now in Malaysia doing his internship! Its good to have another American around.

Diana and Melly left for Kuantan (far east of Kuala Lumpur) yesterday. I stayed behind to do some observing at a Selangor pre-k class. Yesterday, only one student was present. He was so shy but I was impressed at how well he was able to form letters of the alphabet and some basic signs. There are only four students enrolled in pre-k and most of them often do not show up. Case in point, today no students showed up so my day was cut short. I'll join Sazali later on this afternoon for the four hour drive out to Kuantan to meet up with the two girls. Even if just for one day and half, being alone in a foreign country was quite an experience. I was so lost in my thoughts and actually got several things done (laundry!) Thank god we have a machine in our apartment, but no dryer. Good thing its warm enough in the room so that clothes dry within a hour of being hung up.

So, I'm off for the weekend! I'll be returning this monday alone by bus to continue working at Selangor as the two girls travel up north to another school.