Monkey See, Monkey I Like You!
Now that I've been told that I write fascinating blogs (take that English teachers who told me I suck!) the pressure is on to keep doing interesting things so I have something to write about! Although lying by the pool every day and watching Alias every night sounds good to me, I bet an episode summary is not really what you're looking for. So, today I went to KL's famous Batu Caves.
The caves were actually only discovered about 100 years ago, when an American naturalist (as the story goes) stumbled upon them. Now they're one of the biggest tourist attractions in KL. We headed out midmorning (Maria, Radar, Joe, and I) in a cab that took us the 20 minutes to the caves. When we arrived we decided to take the audio tour that was being pressured on us, and we saw our first rabid dog. I'd always heard that there were wild animals in the places I've been visiting, and luckily my rabies vaccine is in full swing, but most of the ones we see just look like strays. However, at the Batu Caves I saw more wild animals than I've ever seen outside of a zoo. The rabid dog drooling blood was just the beginning. We started up the 272 steps that led into the cave, pausing along the way to catch our breath or take pictures of monkeys! They were everywhere, climbing up alongside us, or stopping to pick nits off themselves and have a snack. The monkeys would run up to people and steal their food, or shiny souvenirs. We saw tiny baby monkeys and some hunched over old man monkeys. It was great!
At the top of the millions of stairs was the actual cave. It was huge and gorgeous, with a few small holes that let in sunlight and vegetation. There were stalactites (i think, they hung from the ceiling - stalagmites?) everywhere, and the cave was filled with small scenes with Hindu shrines and gods. It was so cool and peaceful that you could understand why it's an important place for the Hindu religion. In fact, every January or February there is a giant festival in KL called Thaipusam, where Hindu men attach weights to their bodies by piercings, and drag them up the hill or the steps of the temple. We were too late in the year for that, but the pictures are pretty frightening. Remember Red Dragon? Think of that.
All together there were three main caves, and we got to visit them all. One focused mainly on the Hindu artwork of the gods, and explained a lot about the different ones. It's interesting how different Hindu families choose a god to pray to, and there are different gods for different professions and everything. The main cave was attached to another huge cave that had an open top with trees growing around it. It was amazing! Just to see a natural formation that is that huge and overpowering is awesome. The third cave was smaller, and only about 20 feet high as opposed to the hundred feet of the others. It was filled with more Hindu prayers and devotionals, including paintings of the important Hindu gods and goddesses. Overall though, I think my favorite part was the monkeys - they were everywhere!
We could see them scaling the cave walls, and walking around among us. Maria was a little afraid of them after seeing the rabid dog, and when one monkey bared his teeth at us she decided that she was not going to get friendly with them. They loved the garbage, and we got to watch them play and fight over scraps of food and wrappers and bottles of water. Hilariously, there was actually a statue with the classic, "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" in the cave where most of the monkeys were hanging out. It's nice to know that the Hindu people have a sense of humor. We also saw a man with a giant python of some kind, charging 5 ringgit to take a picture with it. Plus, there were wild dogs in the forests around the caves, and you could see them sunning in the afternoon light. I loved the monkeys best of all, and I took some adorable videos of them "fooling around" just like adults...
After this hot day we headed back to central KL to grab some Thai food for dinner before the show. On the way back Radar chatted with our cabdriver, who told us that he had actually lived in the US about 20 years ago. Apparently he lived in the Shenandoah Valley and was trained at some kind of customs center to work with drug dogs - you never know who you're going to meet! After lunch, Joe and I took a dip in the pool - it's my favorite place in the world after a hot day - and now I'm here blogging before I head to the theatre! Now I've got to go because I've got to pop in the shower before the show. Bye!
P.S. Now that we're in Malaysia where people like me (almost) as much as the kids, I'm finally getting reviewed! This appeared in KL's The Star today: "And special mention must go to Mother Abbess (Beth Kirkpatrick) for a powerful rendition of Climb Every Mountain, and all the nuns whose choral renditions of various sacred songs were outstanding." Yippiee!
The caves were actually only discovered about 100 years ago, when an American naturalist (as the story goes) stumbled upon them. Now they're one of the biggest tourist attractions in KL. We headed out midmorning (Maria, Radar, Joe, and I) in a cab that took us the 20 minutes to the caves. When we arrived we decided to take the audio tour that was being pressured on us, and we saw our first rabid dog. I'd always heard that there were wild animals in the places I've been visiting, and luckily my rabies vaccine is in full swing, but most of the ones we see just look like strays. However, at the Batu Caves I saw more wild animals than I've ever seen outside of a zoo. The rabid dog drooling blood was just the beginning. We started up the 272 steps that led into the cave, pausing along the way to catch our breath or take pictures of monkeys! They were everywhere, climbing up alongside us, or stopping to pick nits off themselves and have a snack. The monkeys would run up to people and steal their food, or shiny souvenirs. We saw tiny baby monkeys and some hunched over old man monkeys. It was great!
At the top of the millions of stairs was the actual cave. It was huge and gorgeous, with a few small holes that let in sunlight and vegetation. There were stalactites (i think, they hung from the ceiling - stalagmites?) everywhere, and the cave was filled with small scenes with Hindu shrines and gods. It was so cool and peaceful that you could understand why it's an important place for the Hindu religion. In fact, every January or February there is a giant festival in KL called Thaipusam, where Hindu men attach weights to their bodies by piercings, and drag them up the hill or the steps of the temple. We were too late in the year for that, but the pictures are pretty frightening. Remember Red Dragon? Think of that.
All together there were three main caves, and we got to visit them all. One focused mainly on the Hindu artwork of the gods, and explained a lot about the different ones. It's interesting how different Hindu families choose a god to pray to, and there are different gods for different professions and everything. The main cave was attached to another huge cave that had an open top with trees growing around it. It was amazing! Just to see a natural formation that is that huge and overpowering is awesome. The third cave was smaller, and only about 20 feet high as opposed to the hundred feet of the others. It was filled with more Hindu prayers and devotionals, including paintings of the important Hindu gods and goddesses. Overall though, I think my favorite part was the monkeys - they were everywhere!
We could see them scaling the cave walls, and walking around among us. Maria was a little afraid of them after seeing the rabid dog, and when one monkey bared his teeth at us she decided that she was not going to get friendly with them. They loved the garbage, and we got to watch them play and fight over scraps of food and wrappers and bottles of water. Hilariously, there was actually a statue with the classic, "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" in the cave where most of the monkeys were hanging out. It's nice to know that the Hindu people have a sense of humor. We also saw a man with a giant python of some kind, charging 5 ringgit to take a picture with it. Plus, there were wild dogs in the forests around the caves, and you could see them sunning in the afternoon light. I loved the monkeys best of all, and I took some adorable videos of them "fooling around" just like adults...
After this hot day we headed back to central KL to grab some Thai food for dinner before the show. On the way back Radar chatted with our cabdriver, who told us that he had actually lived in the US about 20 years ago. Apparently he lived in the Shenandoah Valley and was trained at some kind of customs center to work with drug dogs - you never know who you're going to meet! After lunch, Joe and I took a dip in the pool - it's my favorite place in the world after a hot day - and now I'm here blogging before I head to the theatre! Now I've got to go because I've got to pop in the shower before the show. Bye!
P.S. Now that we're in Malaysia where people like me (almost) as much as the kids, I'm finally getting reviewed! This appeared in KL's The Star today: "And special mention must go to Mother Abbess (Beth Kirkpatrick) for a powerful rendition of Climb Every Mountain, and all the nuns whose choral renditions of various sacred songs were outstanding." Yippiee!
posted by Beth at 6:22 PM
5 Comments:
Beth, you do waaay more interesting things than I do. I have to spout random factoids about Scotland to make my blog interesting. I'm jealous of your Asian exploration! Ha ha, but at least I have girl scout cookies :)
how did a nice girl from Cincinnati end up in Malaysia with wild dogs, monkeys and singing Climb Every Mountain every day. Life is amazing, isn't it!
the wild dogs should help prepare you for your return to New York! ha ha!
Your cave description is correct. The easy way to remember: Stalactites (note the "C") come from the ceiling. Stalagmites (note the "G") come from the ground.
Cool story - BEWARE THE MONKEYS!
:-) DLADK
Don't worry, girl scout cookies are on there way to you from your girl scout cousin. Enjoy..
e,c,e,p,& w
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