Monday, May 26 – Thursday, May 29, 2014
We’ve got another country with which to mark our map. The flight to Malaysia was three and a half
hours – not too bad – and was all together smooth. We stayed at the Park Royal Hotel which was
in the Golden Triangle and within walking distance to pretty much everything we
wanted to do.
We toured Petronas Twin Towers which was really cool. The sky bridge is on the forty first floor,
and we were able to walk across it. Then
we proceeded to the eighty sixth floor to the observation deck – the eighty
sixth floor…now, that is really high in the sky!
We also went to KL Tower and had dinner. The restaurant is called 360 degrees because
it revolves slowly while you eat (just like the Peachtree Plaza in
Atlanta). The food was delicious, and
the view was incredible…
I guess the highlight of our trip was the tour to the Batu
Caves. The tour bus picked us up at our
hotel – very convenient. Our first stop
was the Royal Pewter Factory. We got to
see craftsmen working on handmade pieces that were absolutely beautiful. It takes a steady hand I can tell you! All of the formula one trophies are made
there, and several were on display. We also got to see the largest pewter tankard in the world...
Our second stop was the Bankit Factory. There we got to see how these silks and
cottens are beautifully hand painted.
They had clothing, scarves, wall hangings. We actually came out of there with a
beautiful silk wall hanging…
Our final stop was the Batu Caves. It is a religious shrine of sorts for the
Hindu religion. People make pilgrimages
there every year. The lime caves were breathtaking
and the gargantuous statue of Lord Murugan was something to see. I have to say, though, that the vendors
selling all kinds of trinkets and toys took away from the reverence of the
scene…
We climbed 272 steps to get to the very top of the shrine. There were monkeys everywhere! Our tour guide told us the monkeys would not
hurt us but not to lay anything down on the ground. Items on the ground are fair game for
them. After looking around the cave and
seeing the main temple we headed back down the stairs. This one monkey was just sitting on the
rail, so I took a picture of him. He
jumped down, and I turned to continue my descent. All of a sudden I felt something on my back
hanging on and…chomp! That monkey had
jumped on my back and bitten me! When he
jumped off, I turned around and looked at him – he was sitting there looking at
me showing his teeth and growling. That
crazy monkey was not finished with me.
When I turned around to get the heck out of there, it jumped me again
and got me right on the bum! The only
thing I could think was ‘I need to get away from this monkey without falling
down these stairs.’
We made it down and I must say I was a bit freaked out and
rubber legged. To celebrate my escape,
we got a fresh coconut from one of the vendors to quench our thirst – it was so
hot! Back on the bus with me still in a
bit of shock we headed back to our hotel. Turns out the bite on my back was
more like a scrape and the bite on my bum was more of a bruise, so I didn’t feel
I was in “rabies” danger.
We did some shopping while in Malaysia. Edi was in absolute heaven in Low Yat, a five
level mall with nothing but technology gadgets.
We also went to Berjaya Times Square, a ten level mall with an indoor
theme park on the 5th – 7th floors. Asia loves their malls!
All in all, a fun trip J Where will we go next?
