Batu Caves
Jan. 22nd, 2015 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranToday's adventure was a drive to Batu Caves, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
Batu Caves is best known as the site of a Hindu temple, with a famous procession each Thaipusam where devotees bring offerings of milk. Some devotees carry heavy metal frames called "kawadis" on their backs supported by metal hooks which dig into their skin.
Today, Thaipusam is still a few weeks away and there are more tourists than devotees. It's still a strenuous climb, even without a kawadi or jug of milk to carry.
After his grounding in Hindu mythology in Siem Reap, Liem can now easily recognise Ganesha.
Lots of monkeys watch as the tourists make their climb.
Reaching the mouth of the Temple Cave.
Inside you can see the barriers in place to manage the crowds. During Thaipusam, up to one million devotees will visit over the course of a few days. I've been here before during the festival and it can be a huge crush.
The floor has been replaced by concrete, but that's actually a step forward. Once these caves were filled with bat guano that was subsequently mined out.
At the end of the Temple Cave, the light pours in from a gaping hole far above.
Under the opening, the light shines down on a small shrine.
It must have been amazing to discover this natural cathedral for the first time.
Next to the Temple Cave is the Dark Cave, which has only just been re-opened for guided tours. (Here a monkey with a stolen bottle tries to work out which end gives the water...)
The tour lasts forty-five minutes and includes lots of information about the cave's fascinating ecology. Not much of it photographed very well though. The cave is home to lots of bats and insects, a snake that hunts bats as they fly past, and the world's rarest spider. We were warned not to shine our torches or use flash photography upwards as one of the species of bat has very large eyes and is easily blinded.
Meanwhile, it paid to look down when there were creatures like this fifteen centimetre jungle millipede.
And outside, this tiny snake.
The view up from the Grand Chamber. The green on the rocks is actually algae. The eco tour only covers about half the accessible area of the Dark Cave system. There's an adventure tour that goes further and lasts about three hours, and also a large portion of the caves reserved for conservation. After being extensively mined for guano in the nineteenth century, the ecology is slowly recovering, and it was encouraging to see the wildlife being treasured as much as the natural architecture.
Batu Caves is best known as the site of a Hindu temple, with a famous procession each Thaipusam where devotees bring offerings of milk. Some devotees carry heavy metal frames called "kawadis" on their backs supported by metal hooks which dig into their skin.
Today, Thaipusam is still a few weeks away and there are more tourists than devotees. It's still a strenuous climb, even without a kawadi or jug of milk to carry.
After his grounding in Hindu mythology in Siem Reap, Liem can now easily recognise Ganesha.
Lots of monkeys watch as the tourists make their climb.
Reaching the mouth of the Temple Cave.
Inside you can see the barriers in place to manage the crowds. During Thaipusam, up to one million devotees will visit over the course of a few days. I've been here before during the festival and it can be a huge crush.
The floor has been replaced by concrete, but that's actually a step forward. Once these caves were filled with bat guano that was subsequently mined out.
At the end of the Temple Cave, the light pours in from a gaping hole far above.
Under the opening, the light shines down on a small shrine.
It must have been amazing to discover this natural cathedral for the first time.
Next to the Temple Cave is the Dark Cave, which has only just been re-opened for guided tours. (Here a monkey with a stolen bottle tries to work out which end gives the water...)
The tour lasts forty-five minutes and includes lots of information about the cave's fascinating ecology. Not much of it photographed very well though. The cave is home to lots of bats and insects, a snake that hunts bats as they fly past, and the world's rarest spider. We were warned not to shine our torches or use flash photography upwards as one of the species of bat has very large eyes and is easily blinded.
Meanwhile, it paid to look down when there were creatures like this fifteen centimetre jungle millipede.
And outside, this tiny snake.
The view up from the Grand Chamber. The green on the rocks is actually algae. The eco tour only covers about half the accessible area of the Dark Cave system. There's an adventure tour that goes further and lasts about three hours, and also a large portion of the caves reserved for conservation. After being extensively mined for guano in the nineteenth century, the ecology is slowly recovering, and it was encouraging to see the wildlife being treasured as much as the natural architecture.
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no subject
Date: 2015-01-23 05:34 am (UTC)A snake that catches bats on the wing is one spectacular--and rather terrifying--snake.
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Date: 2015-01-23 08:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-25 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-26 12:38 am (UTC)