← All articles · Malaysia · 13 May 2010

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur in May 2010: the Batu Caves and their golden guardian, cheeky silvered langurs, lorikeets at the Bird Park and a night of Malay dance.

Kuala Lumpur in May 2010 was our first proper taste of Malaysia, and it set the bar high. A week of cave temples, unreasonably confident wildlife and food we still talk about, starting the moment we buckled in.

Inga and Dileep smiling in their seats on the flight out to Malaysia — May 2010, seats assigned, grins already on. Kuala Lumpur, here we come.

Batu Caves

Just north of the city, the Batu Caves announce themselves with a giant golden statue of Lord Murugan and a staircase that looks worse the closer you get. Inside, the limestone caverns are strung with shrines and brightly painted Hindu statues.

Looking up the steep flight of steps at Batu Caves with the golden statue rising on the right — Head down, keep climbing, and mind whatever the monkeys are plotting above you.

Dileep standing by a shrine and painted statues inside a limestone cavern at Batu Caves — Inside the caves, shrines tuck themselves into the limestone wherever the rock allows.

A brightly painted diorama of Hindu deities inside a circular frame in the cave temple at Batu Caves — The cave dioramas do not do subtle, and that is exactly the point.

View from the top of the Batu Caves stairs, looking down past the back of the golden statue to the plaza below — The reward at the top: the view back down over Murugan's shoulder.

The langur welcoming party

On a day out from the city we found a hilltop path completely run by silvered leaf monkeys, silver-grey parents with bright orange babies in tow. They have clearly read the tourism brochures and know exactly who brings the snacks.

Inga and Dileep standing on a paved hilltop path surrounded by a troop of silvered leaf monkeys — Outnumbered and entirely at their mercy. We were fine with it.

Silvered leaf monkeys with a bright orange baby sitting on a black and yellow railing above the town — Silvered langur babies come in factory-fresh orange. Nobody knows why they grow out of it.

Birds, butterflies and one very patient peacock

Back in the city, the Lake Gardens kept us busy for a whole day: a walk-in aviary where the lorikeets treat you as furniture, and a butterfly park where the residents land wherever they please.

Inga laughing with colourful lorikeets perched on her arm and head at the bird park — One on the hand is lunch. One on the head is a hat with opinions.

Inga standing on a wooden bridge next to a peacock perched on the railing — He held the pose longer than we did.

A butterfly perched on Inga's chin in the butterfly park — The butterfly park, where personal space is not a concept.

Temples and a night of dancing

In between, KL kept layering itself: incense at a Chinese temple one afternoon, a Malay cultural show that evening, and the two of us talked into full traditional royal wedding dress before the week was out.

Inga lighting incense at the candle rack of a Chinese temple in Kuala Lumpur — Lighting incense the careful way, with both eyebrows intact afterwards.

Inga and Dileep on stage with a troupe of Malay dancers in traditional costume after the show — The cast photo after the cultural show. Ten professionals, two imposters.

Inga and Dileep dressed in traditional Malay royal wedding costumes in front of wooden kampung houses — Traditional Malay royal wedding dress. We regret nothing.

From KL we headed out to meet some considerably larger locals at the Kuala Gandah elephant sanctuary, then carried on south towards Singapore.