It’s Brenda’s birthday!  She already got her present a couple of day ago (new sunglasses) and has been needing them with all the sunny weather.  It is technically now into the rainy season.. and it has rained a couple of times, but only in the middle of the night.  So far, we haven’t had to battle the rains yet.  Today we booked with a local tour company to give us a glimpse of some of the attractions outside of KL.

Walking to our pickup point we entered KLCC park – with the Petronas Towers on the opposite side of the park.  When Bella was born these towers were the tallest buildings in the world.  Now they rank #21.. and only 2 of the top 25 buildings are in the Western Hemisphere.

Our first stop was to the Batu Caves as well as some other lesser limestone caves that are part of the same system.  A Tamil Hindu swami got permission from the British in the late 1800’s to develop this as a sacred Hindu site and the place has proliferated since then.

Monkeys like bananas.  These are long tailed Macaques.. wild but comfortable enough with humans to steal away your food or any shiny objects they take a shine to.

Hindu deity Lord Murugan is getting some nip and tuck work done.  It’s 272 steps to the entrance of the Batu Cave.. everyone is drenched with sweat once they make it to the top.  The Indians who chose to eschew deodorant this morning are really making things even more unpleasant to my sensitive sniffer.

The cave is a natural wonder.. and the Malaysians have pimped it up as a seemingly contradictory combination holy temple and garish series of trinket stands and eateries.

In this same complex was a petting zoo of sorts where Brenda could feed monkeys, peacocks and the odd chicken.

Indians do like a splash of color here and there.

Our next stop was to Kanching falls.. a series of 7 pools created where one can cool off higher up in the mountains.  This involved more stair climbing and sweating but there was a cool payoff at the end.

Some people got in an swam.. this is as close as I got.

There were numerous Macaques there as well.. the young ones were also swimming and playing in the water.  Two species just hanging out.

I’m always good for one toilet photo on my trips… and these are the nicer pay toilets.

Cooling off waiting for time to head back.  Grape drink served in plastic bags.

Dinner for us.. I wanted to try authentic Malay food.. we got there and didn’t know what we were doing but the chef was kind enough to get us set up.  Lamb shank with flavored rice, potatoes, okra and broccoli.  Mango smoothies to drink.