The day started at about 10:30 am (we enjoy not having to wake up for work!). We took a bumpy bus ride to the Batu Caves around 45 minutes outside of the city. At the bus stop we met a cool Brit named Mike. He became our friend for the day :)
At the caves, we saw a gigantic golden statue of Buddha and several hundred steps to climb. We could already see some of the monkeys on the stairs. The monkeys have no natural food in the area and depend completely on tourists or those making the pilgrimage to the temple at the top. We bought a bunch of bananas to feed the monkeys. Almost immediately as we climbed, we were approached by monkeys. They were not shy, and occasionally aggressive. I was frightened at times. We fed them all of our bananas as we climbed, and then some Zec's crackers Nick had in his pocket.
When we got to the top, there were beautiful, immense caves. Some water dripped down. We could hear bats, but not see them. Pigeons were everywhere. The monkeys continued to hound us for more food. We gave them some coconut shavings, and were quite delighted to watch them ask for more. We all decided to buy more peanuts, a bag each. We all fed the monkeys again, the boys now allowing the monkeys to climb on them to get food from their hands. While taking the camera from Nick, I got my peanuts stolen by a cheeky monkey! We went to the end of the caves again, and finished giving away the peanuts. The monkeys were wild. One larger monkey rushed at Mike, causing him to drop his peanuts, and the monkey savored the spoils. All in all this was beyond fantastic. KL could have nothing left to show us, but would still be an ultimate success thanks to Batu Caves. Score one for the monkeys!
After we returned, we went in search of more delicious cheap food. 16 ringgits for two plates and two bottles of water. The beef was fantastic and spicy, although we noticed several cockroaches on the walls. Afterwards, we went on a walk looking for the train station from the movie Entrapment. We walked for a LONG time, with no luck. I ended up getting a bit of heat exhaustion; it was very hot and sunny outside. We found another swanky mall to cool off in. Nick had a coffee, I had a scoop of coconut ice cream. We found wifi – why could we not find the train station? Because in Entrapment, they used a totally different station, and switched the signs to say “Pudu LRT.” Totally uncool. No matter. We headed back at the hotel to rest.
After I cooled down, we had Chinese for dinner. We savored the fried flat noodles with beef, squid and egg. We adored the sizzling chicken in a sweet brown sauce with lots of red onions, corn, carrots, and peas. We loved the savory crispy friend chicken with strips of basil and scallions. Consider dinner INHALED.
Then we had hookah with Mike, it was fun. We had 2 pitchers of Carlsberg, but it took FOREVER to get the beer. It was crowded. We sat inside. Mike got a HUGE red circular chair – he looked like a king. We tried some more double apple hookah. We had lots of fun conversations. We couldn't help but laugh at all of the men belly dancing with each other – no women and no booze, why go to a bar? We also saw a monstrous rat on the way home from hookah. Ew.
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