Batu Caves, Palaces and shopping

Today we cruised around in our chauffeur driven limousine, for the second day in a row.    Such luxury, but it was worth the money, it was air conditioned, had soft comfortable seats and a driver with great local knowledge.   And very friendly.   I just hope we are not spoiling Scott too much.

The first stop today, was the Batu Caves, on the edge of Kuala Lumpur.    A Hindu place of worship.   Very grubby, but that could have been due to a celebration the previous day.

First we had to face the 250 plus steps up to the caves.    They were very steep, and it was very hot.   But we managed very well.

 There were plenty of monkeys clambering around, and pestering people for food.   One monkey snatched a plastic bag containing two water bottles.    This scared the girl that was carrying them.  I am not keen on monkeys in places such as temples.    They can be very aggressive.   Probably due to all the rubbish food they eat, such as crisps.  This one looked very cute.

 Finally we reached the top of the first set of steps, and I must say we were very impressed with the initial view of the cave.

 Then up the second set of steps, the light shining down through the opening certainly gave the cave plenty of atmosphere.

 We posed for Walter, and tried to avoid the birds flying around, or more likely their droppings.    No bats in this cave, thank goodness.  I like them less than the monkeys.

 Then the driver took us to view the King's new palace.    There are nine Sultans in Malaya, and they take turns in being the King of Malaysia, for a period of five years each, I think.    This sounds a very sensible arrangement.  Perhaps the Royal Family in the United Kingdom could try doing the same thing.     Spread the working load a bit.

 I think Malaysia must have copied the horse guards from the United Kingdom.    Looks very familiar.

 Then we visited the King's old palace, which is open to visitors.    At least three rooms were open.    There was a display about all the recent Kings, but I became very confused by who was who, so no information.    My apologies.

But I did take a picture of the King's throne (and his wife's throne) which are used when the new King is being crowned.

 The view from the front of the palace included the two tallest buildings.    The Petronas Towers are on the right.

 And finally we went to China town to do some more shopping, and bargaining, in order to buy more fake goods.    Luckily we only had an hour, otherwise we would have bought more.    I especially love my new earphones.    I wonder how long they will last.

And tomorrow we reluctantly leave this lovely spacious hotel, with its excellent food, and friendly staff, and set off for Brisbane, Australia.    We have been spoiled here.

However, we are looking forward to seeing Jackie, and spending time on the Gold Coast.