Batu Caves is a limestone hill that has a series of caves and cave temples in Gombak, Selangor, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu, which flows past the hill and also it is the tenth limestone hill from Ampang. – Wikipedia
Batu Caves is the most popular tourist attraction in Selangkor. This serves mainly as a Hindu shrine. Thousands of people gather in Batu Caves in celebration of Thaipusam, a Hindu festival. This is located North of Kuala Lumpur and has 3 main caves. You probably won’t miss it due to the giant Hindu god statue that towers in front of it. And of course, those 272 steps to reach the caves.
We went to Batu Caves early in the morning, hoping to see a beautiful sunrise above. Going to the caves is very easy from Kuala Lumpur Sentral. You just ride the train going to the Batu Caves station. Yes, it has its own train station.
Destination: Batu Caves station. Make sure to check the train schedule ahead of time. Trains arrive on time in Malaysia.
While waiting for the train to arrive. This is in KL Sentral station.
Batu Caves Up Close
Once you reach the station, you won’t miss Batu Cave. You will easily see the beautiful mountain wall to your right. And if you’ve seen the pictures online prior, you are sure you’re in the right place.
The view from the train station
This will be your first sight of the Batu Caves area. When I first saw this, I got excited!
There is no entrance fee to enter Batu Caves. You start in the entrance area from the train, where there’s this giant Hindu god statue of Hanuman. The whole place is so beautiful, especially this early in the morning. The greens around you and the high mountain so close is picture perfect.
Meet my buddy, Hindu god Hanuman
You will see a shrine just a short distance from the giant Hindu god Hanuman statue. There’s a small ceremony when we arrived. It’s amazing to witness other nation’s culture and religion right in front of your very eyes.
The shrine beside Hanuman.
What I love about this shrine is that there are a lot of animals around it. We saw peacocks just around the corner from where the picture above was taken. I so want to have its feather spread out, but we were afraid it’s going to chase us. After passing the shrine, we finally saw the famous Batu Caves and its 272 steps.
Welcome to Batu Caves
I don’t need to climb those steps if I can levitate my way up. The giant statue behind me is Lord Murugan, said to be the tallest Hindu deity statue in Malaysia.
Birds! The girls are scared of these birds. I find them harmless and amazing. Too bad there’s nothing to feed them.
At the bottom of the 272 steps of Batu Caves
Preparing to climb. The 2 girls behind me are scared of the birds.
Since Batu Caves is a Hindu shrine, girls cannot wear shorts or anything that bares too much skin. Bring lots of water, too. One of my friends decided she won’t be climbing because she felt dizzy.
I’m getting higher. Look at the beautiful view!
Climbing the steps can get a little tricky. I noticed that when I focus on my feet, I get dizzy. I suggest you take your time. You can rest in the middle. People afraid of heights will have a tough time climbing the steep steps. Good thing I wore comfortable rubber shoes. Right at the top, you will be welcomed by the mouth of the caves.
Yay, we made it! Look at the beautiful cave.
The inside of the cave is huge. There will be more stair steps inside. On top of that, you will see another shrine. There’s a ceremony going on, so we remain silent and didn’t take much pictures. You can go on guided tour of the caves. We opted not to do it because the girls are scared it’s going to be dark and there will be bats. We just roamed around inside the big cave.
Look at all the beauty that surrounds me
Inside the Batu Caves
The shrine inside Batu Caves
Such natural beauty!
Monkey Attack
We were told that plenty of monkeys frolic around Batu Caves. I even saw an episode of Asia’s Next Top Model filmed here, and the monkeys are very aggressive. Another episode, this time of The Amazing Race, also features the Batu Caves and its monkeys. Surprisingly, we haven’t encountered any monkeys yet… until when we were on our descent. A monkey tried to steal my water bottle poking from my bag. I didn’t see the monkey coming, so it caught me off-guard. Other tourists got scared and screamed. I hold on to the water bottle until the monkey let go of it. I got to the bottom of the steps safely.
Me resting afterwards, but still gazing at the beautiful sight in front of me.
By the way, there’s this garden beside Batu Caves that has this beautiful tree. If you go here, maybe you can take some pictures under the tree. I just find it beautiful.
Stolen shot under “The Tree”
Here are more pictures from our Batu Caves adventure. I’m sorry if some of the picture appear sideways. It’s too big and my gallery is automatically displaying them sideways to not screw the screen resolution. If you’re using a mobile phone, you can just tilt your phone for a better view.
