Our last port of call on this cruise was Port Klang, Malaysia. This is the port for visting Kuala Lumpur. We chose the Celebrity Excursion "Batu Caves and City Experience". We looked up what the Batu Caves were, and thought that would be interesting, even with all the steps up. It proved to be a great tour, with a variety of sights and experiences.
On our way to the Batu Caves, we could see the tall tower buildings of Kuala Lumpur in the distance. Petronas Twin Towers on the left, Kuala Lumpur Tower near the middle and Merdeka 118 Tower on the right.
Many of these dense high-rise clusters along the way.
Off the bus, we were met with the first of many colourful buildings.
I believe most of these decorated buildings are temples or shrines. (We didn't go inside them.)
The view as we approached the stairs to the caves. Wooden steps up to the Temple Cave were built in 1920. In the 1930s, the stairs began to show signs of wear and tear, and were replaced by concrete steps in 1940, just in time for the Thaipusam celebration that year. Currently there are 272 concrete steps. ] [A colossal gold-painted statue of Murugan near the base of a flight of 272 steps, is made from reinforced concrete and stands 140 feet (42.7 metres) in height.
The gateway to the 272 step staircase.
At least the climb up was colourful. We took a few pauses along the way to avoid getting overheated.
Inside the main cave which housed several temples and shrines. On the far end, more steps up to the higher level, which is open to the sky.
This was the highest level, or at least as high as we went.
Several tableaus were dotted around the main cave.
The temples didn't lack for colour.
Making our way down we could see the modern skyline off in the distance.
We had been told about the monkeys, and to be wary of them. They were used to having humans around, and the snacks they often had with them. We didn't have any problem, but then we didn't have any snacks to grab either.
These two large statues were part of the other temples, but we didn't have time to check them out. On the left is... an eagle I guess (couldn't find the significance) and on the right is a 15-metre tall statue of the Hindu monkey god Lord Hanuman.
The Petronas Towers are the world's tallest twin skyscrapers and remained the tallest buildings in Malaysia until 2019, when they were surpassed by newer buildings. They are a major landmark of Kuala Lumpur, and are visible in many places across the city.
Our short visit to the Petronas Towers took us inside - but just to look at the shopping mall on the lower levels, no time to go up the towers for a view.
Luckily we didn't have to climb the stairs. We just had to wait a very long time to access the elevators.
Finally after standing in the long hot lineup the elevator was in sight.
The Merdeka 118 tower, the tallest in Malaysia and the second tallest in the world (after Burj Khalifa). The spire of the building was completed in December 2022, which marked its final height of 678.9 m (2,227 ft).
The Petronas Towers are the tall ones in this view.
The Sultan Abdul Samad Building in the foreground, with the Merdeka 118 Tower in the background. The old building originally housed the offices of the British colonial administration, and was known simply as Government Offices in its early years. In 1974, it was renamed after Sultan Abdul Samad, the reigning sultan of Selangor at the time when construction began.
Penang, Malaysia < Port Klang, Malaysia > [Asia Adventure - Northeast Asia Cruise 2024]
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