A little sightseeing outside of KL

On our first full day in Malaysia, we decided to head out of town and see some of the sights in the countryside. We signed up for one of those little organized tours that had a set schedule. Of course it included some shopping stops, which I was not real thrilled with, but it still gave us a chance to get out of town and see some things we couldn't get too on our own.

Our tour guide was a guy named Shaun. The only other folks on the tour besides the three of us were a Dutch couple who were on their way to New Zealand to start a cruise to Australia. As we left town, we got a little history on Malaysia. Tin mining used to be the main industry here in the area, and was the main motivator for the many ethnic Chinese who migrated to the area, seeking employment in the tin mines. Tin was the largest export until the collapse of the industry in the 1980's. Petroleum and natural gas are now the biggest natural resources.

We learned from our tour guide that Kuala Lumper got it's name from the Gombak and Klang Rivers, which met at a confluence (or Kuala). Sungai (River) Gombak was originally known as Sungai Lumpur, which means muddy, so KL means "muddy confluence". Might need to know that for Final Jeopardy or something like that some day.

Our first stop was the Royal Selangor Pewtor Factory located just outside of town. It is the largest supplier of pewter in the world and known as an "Icon of Malaysia". It was founded in 1885 by a Chinese immigrant named Yong Koon. While waiting for our tour to start, we did get a chance to see the largest pewter beer stein in the world. We got to see a little bit about how the pewter is melted and cast, but then were herded off into the gift shops. We did not stay very long and then our driver picked us up and we were on our way to a Batik shop with traditional Malaysian, Indian, and Chinese crafts.

We drove by a brand new Mosque that was gearing up to open on our way further out of town. We stopped briefly at a local park and our driver Shaun gave us demonstration of how you tap a rubber tree. Years ago, rubber tree plantations were also a major industry here. It declined when the British snuck out some rubber tree seeds and took them to Brazil which is now the predominant producer of rubber in the world.

The Batik shop was set off in a warehouse district. I thought most of the stuff was a bit out of my poor blue collar working class price range, but Marty did find a very interesting Batik print.

We then headed out to the Batu caves, the main part of the tour. The caves are actually part of a limestone hill estimated to be over 400 million years old. Inside the hill are a series of caves and cave temples. The Batu Caves draw their name from the Sungai Batu River which flows nearby. The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India and is dedicated to the Hindu icon Murugan. There is a major festival at the caves every year called Thaipusam, attracting scores of people. The large statue outside the main cave is fairly new, having been consecrated in 2006. It is made of concrete with the gold paint having come from Thailand.

The main temple cave has 272 steps from bottom to top. Let me tell you, in the heat of the day, it can really take your breath away climbing those steps to the top. I was caked in sweat about half way up.

The strangest event of the day was when I was on step 160 or so and I looked up and I see this random girl named Emily who I went to school with in Salamanca, Spain back in 1997 during my study abroad term. What are the odds I would run into someone from Utah who I studied with in Europe more than a decade ago, as a tourist site in Malaysia?



After spending some time at the top of the open air caves, looking at the native macaque monkeys that inhabit the caves, we began the trek down the steps, which actually proved harder on the old calf muscles than going up the steps. We still had a bit of time before we were scheduled to leave for the city, so we went to one of the numerous cafes and had some beer. I had a little meltdown because as soon as I took my first sip, I spilled my beer all over my shorts. So while everyone else enjoyed their cool drinks, I sat there and pouted.

We headed back to town later that afternoon, just in time for the afternoon monsoon rains, so we sat in the covered area outside the pool and watched TV, had snacks, and cocktails. While nobody likes to be caught in the rain, it does cut the intense heat of the day, so as long as your covered, it is quite pleasant.