Tag: <span>monkeys</span>

Date: 2nd October 2010

Today we needed to be out and early as we had to head far out to reach Batu Caves, a famous Hindu temple site — and one of Kuala Lumpur’s must-see sights. Since I was up and ready first, I decided to take a few photos of the place where we were staying.

Irsia, according to the Iranians who run the place, is a fairly new hostel/bed-n-breakfast/budget guesthouse.

Irsia hostel shoes Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — You have to leave your shoes downstairs as no shoes are allowed into rooms

Irsia hostel ground floor rooms Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — The place is quite clean though. These are the rooms downstairs.

Irsia hostel dining room Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — The dining room is downstairs

Irsia hostel kitchen Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — The kitchen is where you can make yourself toast and coffee/tea

As was the norm everywhere we stayed on this trip, once you are done with breakfast, you wash the dishes yourself and keep it back from where you took them.

Irsia hostel bed & breakfast lobby Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — The lobby/reception/living area has books, a TV and two computers with free internet service

Irsia BnB lobby KL Revive Isotonik — They sell bottled water lower than what the 7-Elevens charge

Irsia hostel verandah Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — This is the sit-out area. Smoking is not allowed inside the rooms.

Irsia hostel sit out area Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — This is where we sat yesterday night and had our dinner

Irsia hostel rainbow stairs Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — No elevator. You have take these stairs to go up.

Irsia hostel upstairs rooms Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Upstairs, where our triple room was (Photograph by Loiyumba, taken yesterday)

Irsia BnB F1 triple room Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — How appropriate our room number was ‘F1’ for this ‘F1 trip’ of ours

Irsia hostel upstairs bathrooms Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — These are the bathrooms upstairs

That concludes our tour of Irsia hostel/Bed-n-Breakfast/guesthouse/budget hotel 🙂

Given that our triple room cost us around Rs. 4300 (RM297/$96/€68) for 3 nights, we couldn’t have been more happier with Irsia, given the location. Yes, the walls are a little thin and ventilation isn’t great, but if you are going to be spending more time inside hotel rooms, you best look at proper hotels. By the way, that is Rs. 4300 for all three of us — Rs. 1400 per person, for 3 nights in KL!

Once all three of us were ready and done with breakfast, we stepped out. We decided to take the monorail to get to KL Sentral.

Imbi station monorail Kuala Lumpur — The monorail station in front of Berjaya Times Square is called Imbi

Imbi monorail station Kuala Lumpur morning — At 9:30am, the station wasn’t all that crowded

KL monorail view city river stream — The ride takes around 15-20 minutes with all the stops

Once at KL Sentral, we asked the information desk how to get to Batu Caves and were instructed to head downstairs to the train platforms. We bought our tickets (RM2/Rs. 30/$0.60) and headed down.

KL Sentral train station Batu Caves — There are frequent trains to Batu Caves

Unfortunately, in the confusion of which train to get on, I accidentally stepped into the wrong train but was too late to step out as the doors closed with Ramesh and Loi still on the platform.

Kuala Lumpur city train station — I got down at the old Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, which was the next stop

But by then, Ramesh and Loiyumba were in the right train and already ahead of me.

Kuala Lumpur train station — I soon got the next train and was on my way

The ride took nearly 30 minutes and by the time I arrived at the station (which by the way is the last stop), Ramesh and Loiyumba were already at the temple.

Getting to Batu Caves Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — There is no entry fee for Batu Caves

Batu Caves Hanuman green statue — Hanumanji’s presence isn’t the biggest here

Batu caves Venkatachalapathi temple Kualu Lumpur — Sri Venkatachalapathi temple

Batu Caves Chinese garden Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — This is a Chinese garden; I believe entry wasn’t free

Batu Caves pigeons kid Malaysia — Pigeons must hate kids

Batu Caves adult scaring pigeons KL Malaysia — Scratch that. Pigeons hate humans.

Batu Caves Murugan statue steps Malaysia — It was time for me go up, Ramesh and Loi were already in the cave

Batu Caves steps Murugan statue height — This statue of Lord Murugan is the biggest of its kind in the world

Batu Caves 272 steps hill climb KL Malaysia — 272 steps to climb

Batu Caves monkey stair pillar KL Malaysia — Along the way (as was the norm on this trip), you’ll encounter plenty of monkeys

Batu Caves monkey grabbing banana from tourist — And as usual, monkeys will try and grab stuff from you

Batu Caves monkey silent KL Malaysia — But they are generally well behaved here

Once I reached the top, I met up with Ramesh and Loiyumba who were done and were ready to head back down. They said they would wait for me down below and so, I went in for my photography.

Batu Caves inside main cave area — It only got better once inside

Batu Caves roof gaps in rocks — There were gaps in the ceiling through which water was dripping down

Batu Caves inside steps to second temple — There are two temples in side the cave

Batu Caves inside main temple Swami Sannathi — This. apparently, is the ‘main temple’

Batu Caves inside monkey begging food — This monkey was a spoilt one. When this Indian couple gave hims some food, he dropped it and picked up a burger instead.

Batu Caves inside temple vertical shot — I was glad I had my wide angle lens with me

Batu Caves inside temple writings on wall — Apparently they should have also mentioned ‘No Scribbling’

Batu Caves inside temple rock colours — I liked the photos I clicked in here

But even with a wide-angle lens, trying to capture the scale of the caves from the inside (without distortion) was near impossible, so I took a few multiple shots and merged them into one using Photoshop.

Batu Caves vertical panorama — Vertical panorama comprised of 10 shots

Batu Caves steps dark inside vertical panorama — Vertical panorama comprised of 11 shots

Batu Caves stairs inside lighting panorama — Vertical panorama comprised of 8 shots

Batu Caves water dropping on steps — I was trying to capture water dropping on to the steps

Batu Caves steps way out — After nearly 20 minutes inside the cave, it was time for me head down

Batu Caves view of Kuala Lumpur — It was a cloudy day, so I couldn’t see the Petronas Towers from here. Actually, I’m not even sure if they are visible from up here.

Batu Caves large Lord Murugan statue Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Vertical panorama comprised of 5 shots

Once down, I caught up with Loi and Ramesh and we decided to have lunch from here itself.

Batu Caves Dhivya's Cafe jain food Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — This is where we ate. There aren’t too many options actually.

Post lunch, we just sat outside for a while and observed the crowds. We were even approached by some PR team for Sony, and asked to pretend we were using Sony camcorders. In return for doing so, we asked them if we could keep them — but they said no. 🙂

Batu Caves wedding couple photography — Not sure if this couple were shooting for their wedding album or not

Batu Caves large Murugan statue steps Malaysia — I took one last look at Lord Murugan before leaving (This is a single shot)

Batu Caves train Komuter station — This is the Batu Caves train station

Batu Caves inside station — (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Batu Caves train station public sign Malaysia — In case you wanted to know the Malay words for public signs (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Batu Caves Tandas Lelaki — Tandas = toilet (Photograph by Loiyumba)

We bought our tickets (RM2) and boarded our train.

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers from far Malaysia — It was a cloudy day, but we could still see the Petronas Towers from afar

Dynasty Hotel Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — If you were looking for nasty hotel in KL. (J/k, it’s quite fancy: http://www.dynasty.com.my/)

Ramesh Mithun train Kuala Lumpur — (Photograph taken by Loi)

Once we got back to KL Sentral, we decided to head to the IKEA store as Ramesh was keen on picking up some stuff from there. The outlet was located in the area called Mutiara Damansara and we asked around on how to get there by bus. We waited at bus stop outside KL Sentral and hopped on to one that went that way.

The journey took us through a lot of residential areas in Kuala Lumpur.

(These were taken on my Nokia E72)

An hour long journey later, we were in Petaling Jaya. Even though it was a long journey, it was quite a relaxing one for me as I got to see residential areas outside of the CBD (Central Business District), something I wouldn’t have seen given where we were staying.

Ikano Power Centre mall Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — The IKEA store is right adjacent to this

Once we entered the IKEA store, we were hooked! There was soooooo much that we felt like picking up, but just couldn’t, because figuring out how to carry them home was something we couldn’t comprehend.

Regardless, we still picked up quite a bit of stuff and by the time were out, it was well past sunset.

Ikea store Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — Technically, the IKEA store is not in Kuala Lumpur, it’s in neighbouring district

Since we had quite a lot of stuff with us to carry, we decided to just take a cab.

Kuala Lumpur tunnel underpass Malaysia — Though bus only cost us RM2.60 for 3, taxi was much required to save time

And save time it did, the taxi took the highway from the IKEA store into KL and we were back in our rooms in just half-an-hour. (IKEA store directions)

For dinner, we decided to head to Kuala Lumpur’s China Town, which was also accessible via monorail.

From Imbi, the monorail stop for getting to China Town was only two stops away, at Maharajalela.

Jalan Petaling street China town entrance Kuala Lumpur — If you ask locals around for “Chinatown” and they don’t get it, just ask for Petaling street

Once inside, it was a just one street (probably covering two blocks) with a lot of stores and street shops. No vehicles allowed.

KL Petaling Street shopping handbags — You have the usual gamut of fake goods, pirated CD/DVDs and clothes

Petaling Street Chinatown crowds Kuala Lumpur — But I didn’t really find anything particularly interesting about this ‘Chinatown’

Petaling Street shops Chinatown KL Malaysia — Plus, the prices were quite high considering the stuff they sold weren’t what you would call “genuine”

A lot of the t-shirts were from Thailand and so, cost a lot more than what I saw them for in Bangkok. Yes, you have to haggle, but even when Loi did so for a backpack, the price they came down to was still too high. We soon left Petaling Street.

And just as we left, it began to rain all of a sudden.

Plaza Warisan bricked streets rain night Kuala Lumpur — Fortunately we had umbrellas

We saw an Malay Indian restaurant and jumped in for a quick dinner.

Roti parota beef curry Kuala Lumpur — The place was run by Malay Tamilians; food was simple and decent enough taste-wise

Ramesh didn’t find anything on the menu that was pure veg, so it was just myself & Loi. Once we were done, we headed back to Berjaya Times Square by taxi (cost RM5) as it was still raining.

Berjaya Times Square Krispy Kreme Kuala Lumpur Malaysia — It was dinner at Krispy Kreme for Ramesh

Loiyumba penchant pose Kuala Lumpur night — It stopped raining by midnight

We headed back to Irsia, calculated our daily expenses, sorted out who paid for what, and who owes whom how much — pretty much a daily routine for us on this trip, before hitting the sack.

I was quite happy with some of the photos I took inside Batu Caves and rate the caves highly as one of the “must see” sights in Kuala Lumpur. It only costs RM 2 for the one way journey to Batu Caves by train and is a nice break from the city.

Tomorrow morning, we planned to get up early (again) and head to Petronas Towers to try and get a ticket to visit the observation deck. We only had one more day left in the capital.

Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

Since I’m done with my recent travelogues, I decided to go back through my photo collection and share my older travel experiences. I’ve traveled quite a bit down and around South India, and though I may not be able to recount my experience exactly, I’ll try my best to re-trace the steps.

I’m starting off with Bylakuppe, a Tibetan settlement in Karnataka state and around 3hrs drive from Bangalore city. I’ve been to Bylakuppe twice — first, in 2008, en route to Coorg and the second time, with AOL India’s Shutterbugs group.

First visit to Bylakuppe (October 2008)

It’s kind of weird to be traveling for an hour or two through Karnataka’s smaller towns, seeing the locals and sign boards in Kannada and then suddenly seeing a lot of Tibetans and Buddhist monks in one large piece of land off Mysore road.

We were en route to Coorg and had heard of Bylakuppe from friends, so we decided to make it the lunch stop in our journey. It was noon by the time we arrived and we decided to quickly check out the Namdroling Monastery – also known as the Golden Temple – before having lunch.

Bylakuppe Golden Temple entrance Namdroling Monastery — Namdroling Monastery

I don’t remember which day it exactly was but when we arrived at the Golden Temple, the monks were on a break (I guess) as few were seen inside the temples and halls.

From inside the Golden Temple:

Bylakuppe Golden temple empty Namdroling Monastery — No prayers were happening at Namdroling Monastery at this time

A few from just outside the Golden Temple…

… before lunch.

I forgot the name of the restaurant we had lunch from but it was a garden restaurant on the road that leads to the Golden Temple. Don’t expect anything fancy in Bylakuppe, most restaurants (and there are only a few) serve simple Tibetan dishes. You do get South Indian food just outside the Golden Temple and the standard “fried rice” fare is available at some restaurants. But don’t go asking around for Chinese food! Tibetans hate them!

If you are wondering what we had, it was thukpa (noodle soup; veg & beef) and tingmo (steamed rice bread).

It was shocking how cheap it all was. Three of us ate all that for less than Rs. 100!

On the way out, we checked out the other places of interest in Bylakuppe (or at least the places that looked interesting to us)

Bylakuppe Nalanda Institute gate — Bylakuppe Nalanda International Institute

After this, we headed back to the highway for Coorg.

Second visit to Bylakuppe (March 2009)

My second visit to Bylakuppe was with my office photography club called Shutterbugs. It was a weekend trip, leaving on a Saturday morning, spending the night at Kushal Nagar and heading back the next day. Fortunately, this time, we arrived at the Golden Temple when prayers were in full force.

Since we had all day to spend in Bylakuppe, I got a chance to go around the whole vicinity this time around and explore the place better.

As the day darkened, we headed to Kushal Nagar which is pretty much the largest town in the area and took rooms at a cheap lodge. We set out again the next day, rather early, for Nisargadhama which was fairly close by.

After Nisargadhama, we headed back on to Mysore Road for Bangalore, stopping for lunch at Hotel Mayura River View in Srirangapatna — a very nice (& affordable) restaurant by the river banks.