Kuala Lumpur 2014: Batu Caves and Dark Caves Tour

Kuala Lumpur 2014: Batu Caves and Dark Caves Cour

It only takes about 30 minutes from KL sentral. I can take it from Petra but long walk from the main areas of the city. I took the monorail down to KL sentral and got a ticket at the booth. You supposedly cannot get it ahead of time but the day of your departure, which kind of sucks. The trip was only 2 RGD, 4 roundtrip.

The train comes on platform 3/4 to Batu Caves. It is the last stop so can’t miss it.

The train was very clean and modern. No one was really going there this morning so the train was pretty empty. I would expect the weekend to be very crowded.

Caves is a short walk from the train station.

Multiple temples are set up around the caves. There are two inside the cave.

Some restaurants just besides the entrance to the caves.

Its 270 steps to the top. About 200 to dark caves beside it. The stairs face the south. The sun hits the bottom of the stairs around 10am in late February so you can gauge when the sun will cover the entire stairs.

Be careful about bathrooms. There are none in the cave so be prepared once you go up, there are none. I actually walked up twice because I came down before the tour to use the bathroom.

There are two small shops that sell water, drinks, and snacks at the top of the stairs.

Metal gate/fence forms a line to get in. Can get crowded on weekends as this is a religious site for many.

There are monkeys everywhere in the caves, small and big. Be careful, they will go through your belongings if you leave them in the open.

Bathroom is to the right of the cave. You need to pay 5 RGD to use it.

Dark caves open at 10am. If you want to do both, leave later for the caves. I got there around 8:30 and had to wait an hour until the first tour at 10:20am. The tour was totally worth waiting for and a good way to escape the midday sun and heat.

There are rock climbing areas around the caves, mostly on the northern side of the caves away from the sun.

The tour was 35 RGD so pretty inexpensive.

The tour was very good. The caves stay about 70F throughout the day regardless of the sun. There is air circulating inside the caves through the open holes. It is very dark in there so at times, there is absolutely no light.

Insects and bats have adapted to survive completely the dark. Insects tend to have much longer tentacles to feel their way around the caves. Bats have also adapted to rely on sound to navigate into the caves so we were told to keep noise at a minimum.

About 30-50 years ago, the caves were open to the public, so random items, like the bench above was brought in. A footpath was also built right into the middle of the caves. About 30 years ago, the government stopped public access in order to preserve the caves. Beyond the main chamber deep in the caves (as seen below in the area filled with light), there are no more footpaths.

Some restaurants just besides the entrance to the caves. I grabbed a quick dish of noodles to eat. I needed to carb load for my marathon in a few days.