Batu Caves, Malaysia!

I love when (good) unplanned things happen while I travel, for e.g. visiting a place that wasn't on the list. After staying in the clouds at Genting Highlands, we headed to Kuala Lumpur. During our stay at Genting Highlands, our local guide got the news that a huge protest is happening at Dataran Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur. The plan was to visit Dataran Merdeka Square, National Mosque, Cricket Field and High Court Building. The route to all these places went through the city center, where the protest was taking place. Our guide decided to let the protest cool down in some days and visit these places later. Unfortunately, by the evening, we were told, that the protest will go on for next three days. This meant we were not going to visit any of the above-mentioned places during our stay in the country.

So, to compensate the change in the plan, we decided to go to Batu Caves. I had seen a lot of beautiful pictures of Batu caves on Instagram. And I was extremely happy that I am going to visit the beautiful caves and click a picture of the giant statue of Lord Murugan.

On arrival at Batu caves, I was disappointed that the giant statue of Lord Murugan was scaffolded. We saw a long staircase going to the temple of Lord Murugan. However, I decided to climb the stairs to temple. And man-o-man, it was a great workout. There are 272 stairs, which I thought wasn't much, but those were the steepest stairs I climbed in my entire life. My heart was beating so fast, that at a point; I felt it would pop out of my chest. (Bad decision to not to take rest in between).

TIPS:

• If you are planning to climb those stairs and go up to the temple, make sure you take rest in between. It would be highly recommended to breathe properly. Continuously talking while you climb, will tire you quickly. Wear comfortable footwear.
•  One more very very important thing that you must take care of is the monkeys. There are a lot of monkeys up there, who are not much afraid of humans. Take care of your cameras and other belongings. Avoid feeding the monkeys, chances are, too many monkeys would gather around you.
• If you plan to go inside the temple, you will have to take off your shoes. Make your family member/ friend take care of your shoes when you go inside. You don’t want the monkeys to take your footwear with them, do you?
• Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated at Batu caves in  January/ February (Depends on which month the full moon day falls). This place is overcrowded with devotees on these days. (Check the dates and information on Wikipedia Plan your visits accordingly to avoid the crowd.

When I was returning from the temple, I saw another cave which is called as Dark Caves. You can buy tickets for 35 ringgits (that’s what I remember). Those caves have some special species of animals like spiders and bats. These caves are ecologically very rich. However, you cannot go unattended. There are guided tours to these dark caves. I totally missed the tour in the Dark caves, they were closed when we reached there. I am going to provide a link to this gentleman’s blog post HERE, make sure to check out before you go. You also might want to check THIS link to know more before you decide to visit the Dark caves.

Batu caves are made up of Lime stone.

Inside Batu Caves

Enjoy the Beauty Inside the Caves!

Beautiful Cityscape outside Batu Caves

So, that’s it for this post, guys! I hope you enjoyed reading this post and found it helpful to plan your trip. Make sure to press that G+1 button below. And don’t forget to share it with someone you love, because Sharing is Caring! Chao!

Much Love,

Chitra XOXO

Genting Highlands, Malaysia!

After we spent three amazing days in Singapore, it was time for Malaysia. We proceeded to Malaysia by bus from Singapore. It takes approximately 1 and a half to reach Johor which is in Malaysia. Before reaching Johor, we have to get down at the boarder of two countries, for the immigration, security check and board the bus back again.

 Our first stop in Malaysia was Genting Highlands. It takes another 4 and a half hour to reach Genting highlands from Johor. We had to drop our bus and take Asia's longest and fastest Cable car to Genting Highlands. It was quite an experience though! On your way to Genting highlands by Cable car, you will see thick forest below your feet. It is fun to watch those lush green Malayan forests, see a variety of tall trees and monkeys jumping over, from one tree to another! 

As we were travelling further and at higher altitude, everything below and around us started covering up with fog! There was a point where we could not even see where we are headed or where we came from. Any of the cable cars those were ahead or behind us were not visible. And this continued till we reached the cable car station. Cable cars do not come to a complete halt, neither while you board nor when you get off. They only slow down and you will have to get down in that time. So you have to be a little extra careful, in case you have children or senior citizens with you (plus your luggage). There are attendants to help you to get down however, but I had to tell you, so that you’ll be ready.

The cable car doors are not much wide, neither there is a lot of room for your huge bags to fit in, so you might want to pack a separate and smaller bag, wherein you pack a couple of clothes (warm clothes preferably)and your valuables only.(depends how many days you are going to stay at the hotel). So, does that mean, you have to travel in Malaysia with such a small luggage? No! You can keep your entire heavy luggage in the lockers that are provided at the parking lot at the bottom of Genting highland, (just before you get into the cable car), and it is safe! There’s a reason why you should not carry huge bags to Genting Highland, which I will explain to you very soon!

We stayed at the 'First World Hotel'.  It was fun to stay at that hotel because; it has 7351 rooms, which means the hotel rooms are very compact. Bathrooms are not spacious too! There’s reason why the architect had to design the rooms this way! It was originally only casino. 

For your Information, Malaysians love gambling! And this man Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, built a casino and with time, his casino became famous. Soon, there were many people visiting this famous casino from far lands. So, he expanded the casino to a hotel. His major earnings were made from casino and wanted people to spend more time in the casino and not in their rooms. Rooms are only for resting, and that’s the reason the rooms are small in dimension and large in number. There is barely any space for bulky luggage. However, there are Delux and Super Delux rooms available if you need spacious ones. To read and know more about the ‘First world hotel’ and its history; I have put some links below:

First World Hotel

Genting Highlands History

genting highlands information 

Even if you don’t want to gamble, you must visit the casino! The guard at the entrance may ask for your passport. If you are Muslim, you are not allowed to Gamble or even enter. (As told by my local guide) if you are underage, you are not allowed. (You should be 21). So, don’t forget to keep your passport with you. J I did go inside and saw how people can gamble in different ways, and I am sure, you must have seen all types of gambling in the movies.

Apart from Casino there are many Game zones, shops, Live performances in the Restaurants, Starbucks, rides, Snow World and Ripley's Believe it or not and yes an indoor theme park! What is the fun part about staying here you ask? And what did I enjoy the most? Getting lost in this HUGE hotel! But don’t worry! The direction boards will guide you!

I don’t have much photographs from Genting Highlands, however I have some clips taken, so I am putting the video here.

P.S: I have edited a video for the first time and I have put together all the clips I had, long story short, I am not a Pro. (In case you are good video editor, please forgive me).

Hope you enjoyed reading and watching! Please share with someone you care. Because sharing is Caring!

Much love,

Chitra Takle XOXO