Today is Malaysia Independence Day! Because of this holiday, many people have traveled to the capital and will be watching the parade. Due to this holiday, we decided to divert from our original plans and switch some activities around. On our way to a very famous landmark in Malaysia, we got stuck in parade traffic. Once we got around the crowd, we arrived at Batu Caves.
The Batu Caves are a Hindu temple that is situated on a limestone hill with a series of caves. To reach the caves you have to climb 272 colorful steps. After reaching the top quicker than expected we were able to have an amazing view of the city below. Once you reach the top of the initial staircase, there are an additional 100 steps inside the cave. There were two temples inside the cave where Hindus could bring their offerings and be blessed. The line to get blessed was very long and there was music playing. One thing we were warned about before climbing the stairs was that there would be monkeys who would try to steal loose items off of us. Specifically, the monkeys like to target women. Water bottles, umbrellas, and plastic bags are what they tend to steal the most. The monkeys were very comfortable around humans and I did see a monkey take a bag from a woman. As the Batu Caves are in fact caves, the floor inside was wet and there was water dripping from the ceiling and sides. When we descended from Batu Caves, Melissa and Amber purchased a fresh coconut that was cut open in front of us.
Our next stop was Chinatown and Central Market. Chinatown was a long street accessed only by walking. There were hundreds of street vendors on the side selling knock off items for a very cheap price. Central Market was an indoor mall that also sold cheap items and food. My group decided to spend all of our time in Chinatown as it seemed like more of a unique experience to us. I ended up getting a white coffee smoothie and vegetarian fried noodles on the street.
We returned from Chinatown early afternoon and Melissa and I decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing. Soon after we arrived back at our hotel room, it started to rain very heavily. Following this was one of the most intense thunderstorms we had ever seen. We made some of the coffee we picked up in Kuching and sat by the window. It was relaxing to work on our journals while watching the storm.
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