2006-07-30 - 16:36
When we came back to Kuala Lumpur we stopped at the Batu Caves. 20 years ago it was probably amazing, but now it's easy to get to. There's a parking lot for tour buses and shops at the bottom. I feel bad for those HIndus who go for religious reasons while everyone else buys t-shirts.
There are about 200 steps up into the caves, and it's pretty cool walking up while macaque monkeys sit ont he stair railings eating from the trash (I begin to see them as Malaysian pigeons). The caves are huge and further up there is an opening in the top of the mountain. And the shrines are set inside the cave. Apparently one of the rocks looks like an elephant head, so they set up a shrine to Ganesha there.
In January they have a festival here where people put skewers and hooks through their flesh after fasting but don't bleed and don't scar. It's called Thaipusam so look it up, but the pictures are creepy, I warn you.
