I'm a little worried by signs saying things like "naturists paradise" and "swimming costumes or nude beyond this point" but Bob Marley is playing on repeat so it's all good, man.
I don't know how many miles I have walked in Kuala Lumpur but my blisters are wearing their own shoes and taking it in turns to carry my backpack.
On Wednesday we attempted to get to tickets to visit the Petronas towers but after getting the monorail to the wrong station it was too late - they only sell 1200 tickets a day and you need to be there by 8.30am to be one of the lucky few - a bit like Willy Wonka and his golden ticket.
As the station we ended up at was the right one for the Batu Caves we decided to go there instead.
It's one of the most popular places of Hindu worship so I was expecting it to be rammed but it was actually quite quiet. There were more monkeys than humans. That's not to say there weren't many of either, there was a LOT of monkeys!
The outside of the caves were decorated with Hindu statues including a giant golden statue of Lord Muruga at the entrance. You have to climb 272 very steep steps dodging monkeys on your way to get into the caves.
The cave opens out into a huge atrium where the monkeys play hide and seek amongst the shrines and collect things (anything) to build a giant monkey mountain of junk.
After the Batu Caves we went to the Lake Gardens which was full of all kinds of unusual plants and trees including this weird toadstool looking tree.
There were off shoots to smaller parks and gardens, even a deer park where we saw our first mouse deer (not a mouse, dear). A very strange little creature which looked like a baby deer had been bitten by a radioactive rat to become some genetically modified creepy super hero.
The butterfly house was the best bit of the day for me.
Home to literally thousands of butterflies from all over the world covering everything from ground, to plants to terapins!
They were everywhere and some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.
If I was heaven's interior designer, this is what it would look like! Watch out Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen!
And the best bit? I got some on me!
And on my camera!
Yesterday we managed to get our golden ticket into the Petronas Towers.
They truly are an amazing bit of architecture. And god only knows how they keep them clean; they literally sparkle!
Apparently each tower (88 floors each) takes 5 months and 12 dare devil cleaners on abseiling ropes and, I would imagine, a whole lot of Mr Muscle.
The towers are about a half hour walk from the station... Just as we walked out, the heavens opened and it rained like I have never seen rain before! Within minutes I was soaked through to the skin - it was just like being in the shower with my clothes on; if only I'd had my shampoo, I could have killed two birds! By the time we arrived at the towers the water was pouring off me, I had to wring out my hair in the toilets and then squelch through the tour leaving a trail of water behind me.
The towers are just as impressive inside as out and the view of the city from the top is indescribable, made even better by the yellow after glow of the storm just passed.
We met friends for dinner in KLCC (the shopping centre in the bottom of the towers) and then took more photos of the towers at night, twinkling like giant Christmas trees.
Does anyone else think they look like 88 tiered wedding cakes?
Location:Kuala Lumpur
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