exported Western culture at its best

addiction to high-fructose corn syrup, a family affair

During our 2008 trip to Southeast Asia, we spent a short time in Kuala Lumpur and visited Batu Caves. The cave complex, filled with monkeys and tourists alike, has a bit of a tacky tourist trap feel to them, but there's still plenty to explore.

god and moneychanging, a classic pairing

The first thing to confront visitors is a giant gold statue of the Hindu deity Murugan. And then it's up the steep numbered stairs to the cave entrance. During festivals like Thaipusam, devoted pilgrims supposedly crawl up all 272 stairs on their hands and knees. We opted to walk.

hi-ho, hi-ho, it's up the stairs we go

oktapodi is proud to make it to the top

Inside the cave complex are ornate Hindu shrines where worship still takes place. There were a few ceremonies going on while we were there. Mostly, though, the caves are brimming with tourists snapping pictures of and feeding snacks to the abundant monkeys, who know a good gig when they see it.

Batu Caves complex

second set of stairs to the upper chamber

Our visit to KL was one of those "best of times, worst of times" experiences, as you can see if you check out the original blog post (link below). But in retrospect I'm glad we took the time to check out this extraordinary site. It was a bizarre combination of natural wonder and wonderfully cheesy.

For more great travel photos, be sure to visit Delicious Baby's Photo Friday.

RELATED LINKS:
* browse all KL pics
* original KL blog entry
* Indie Travel Podcast has a great "travel talk" episode on Batu Caves and a thorough KL city guide

If you enjoyed this post, please help us spread the word!