Kuala Lumpur: Caves, temples, and pewter

We had a rather unique half-day trip from the ship’s dock at Port Klang (PK), Malaysia into Kuala Lumpur (KL). PK is the closest deep-water port to KL, but it is located about an hour and a half away from KL,so a lot of any trip to KL is a bus ride both ways. The rest of the morning made up for that long bus ride!

We left the ship and drove to the very northern edge of this huge metropolis. KL is not as sanitized as Singapore and not as gritty as Bangkok or Saigon, but KL is a very modern city with striking architecture and enough attractions to make you want to spend a few days here. Our trip took us to the tiny town of Batuman (NOT Batman…) and the Batu caves.

The caves are famous as the place where a rather obscure sect of Hindus pilgrimage each year and climb the 272 outer steps and 56 inner steps to worship at the Meruman Temple. The unique thing about their form of worship is that they make the climb with various hooks and skewers embedded in their skin (little or no blood!) and pull loads behind them with these appendages as they climb. They are also barefoot during the climb. Once inside the cave, they are blessed by a Sathu, Hindu holy man, and they pray for a good year before them. They then return down the stairs barefoot and unloaded.

This is the statue of Murugan who guards the cave. It is 140' high and is made of reinforced concrete covered in over 4000 liters (about 1000 gallons) of gold paint.

As you approach the base of cave, you look up and say "Huh!, Am I going to climb all the way up there to see more rocks???"

Bonnie and I made the climb all the way to the top at the entrance – no hooks and no loads. We were fortunate that the day began very overcast and threatening rain. The temperature was only about 80-83 degrees. Without the overcast, it would easily have been over 90 degrees. As we climbed, there was a slight breeze the higher we climbed that also helped.

By the time we got to the top (in about 12 minutes of climbing) we were soaking wet and it had not rained a drop! We took a few minutes to recover and roamed the entrance area. We then proceeded to move into the main cave and I took my time going up the second set of stairs to the temple. After watching a rather mundane Hindi ceremony for a few minutes, I went back down to the main floor and joined Bonnie for the trek back down the main staircase. We spent a few minutes wandering the grounds at the base of the caves and as it began to shower, we ran for the bus and our next stop.

Here is a montage of our cave journey. On the top left is the view from the top once you finally make your way up. On the bottom left is the view once you enter the mouth of the cave. On the top right is looking up the interior set of stairs to the main temple site. If you look closely, you can see a small reddish and bluish pair of dots neat the bottom of the steps. That's us! The lower right picture is a view of the temple entrance.

This is what it is all about: the main temple. Since we are not believers, we could not actually enter it, but could watch from the steps as they performed the prayers and rituals.

A view of the gardens at the base of the caves. Very serene with giant Kio and Bass in the pond.

After we were back on the bus, we proceeded to the Royal Selangor Pewter Factory. The factory is located a little closer in to the city center, but is still a ways out of town. Royal Selangor has been around for over 100 years. It began as a small craft shop and has built itself into a high quality master pewter house.

Our tour began with a short review of the history of the business. This was followed by a demonstration of the various steps and operations that go into making high quality pewter ware. Among the interesting information nuggets that we learned is that pewter ware is an excellent conductor of heat or cold. If you put a cold drink into a pewter cup or stein, it will remain cold far longer than in glass or plastic. Likewise with something hot. What is really amazing is that pewter does not impart any “tinny”” taste to the beverage. We know that because they gave us a taste of a lemon-flavored drink (tasted like Sprite to me) and it was icy cold with absolutely no aftertaste.

After the tasting, the tour, and the Q and A session, we were led into the showroom – no mystery there… A short wander about the shop and a question about wine glasses led to a special purchase for Bonnie and me: a pair of pewter white wine goblets. Every time we use these goblets, we will be reminded not so much of Royal Selangor Pewter Factory, but of the Batu Caves and that stair climb!

A short stop in the city center for the obligatory photo op of the Petronas Twin Towers and back to the ship. We didn’t get off the bus to take any pictures since we were here last year and got a ton of pictures at the towers. My favorite picture of the towers this year is the one I took at the Royal Selangor Factory.

It is a model of the towers made of beer stein bodies – all 5412 of them. The Malaysians are very proud of the twin towers because for a time they were the tallest buildings in the world and have won many architecture and engineering awards. They are also a vibrant symbol of a city and a country working its way very diligently out of third-world status.

Tomorrow we are in Penang, Malaysia. We were there last year as well so it may be a very quiet day for us. Stay tuned…