KL Day 2

After an amazing night's sleep (bless that air con) we headed out for some sight seeing. We picked up Chinese steamed buns for breakfast, found our way onto a local bus, and headed about an hour out of the main part of the city (though it is so sprawling you could hardly tell the difference) to the Batu Caves. These huge limestone caves are one of the most visited Hindu shrines outside of India, and the crux of the annual Thaipusan festival. During the festival people show their devotion by piercing themselves all over with skewers or hooking heavy carts to themselves and making the steep climb of 272 steps up to the caves and temples. The show of masochism is for Lord Murugan, who's largest statue is in front of the caves.

Unfortunately we were there at the wrong time of year for the festival, but the caves were still pretty impressive. Tom, a guy from England/New Zealand who we had met the night before came with us and showed us his trick of scaring the local monkeys. It backfired when a monkey went after him. I would not mess with those suckers- they look mean as hell and not afraid to bite you. Avoiding all serious injury, we eventually caught the bus and slowly made our way back to the city center. The guy selling tickets on the bus seemed happy to see us back on there, if a little surprised. It is never entirely clear where one gets on and off a bus- I think the rules change every time, but luckily we found some shade to wait in.
Discarded incense holders

Some of the Hindu kitsch they sell inside

monkeys everywhere!

Tiffany and I had another food court meal- this time at a place that had air conditioning (it becomes a theme, when you are sweating 24/7). The food is so good and so cheap! We also decided to give the ubiquitous fish foot treatment a try, going on strong recomendations from Sarah, who said it wasn't exactly fun or enjoyable, but probably the weirdest thing she's ever felt. For 5 ringgit, or about $1.50, you could have fish nibble on your feet for 10 min. In the mall there was a pool set up with chairs around it and these fish that love dead skin... How could this not be gross? Um, well, it is. Tiffany and I had some serious issues getting our feet in the water. The people running the place thought we were pretty funny and took pictures while we made horrible faces and could not stop giggling. Eventually we did get our feet submerged, and the feeling of fish scraping at your soles with their non-teeth was one of the most uncomfortable things I've subjected myself to, both mentally and physically. 10 minutes was more than enough (though really it was closer to 2 after all the squeamishness) but Sarah was right. Definitely an experience!

We met up with her for dinner and meant to make it to an Indian weekend market. Ended up getting food in a real restaurant and had a very pleasant meal. Some of the waiters tried to practice their English on us, but I think the only words they really knew were "hello" and "Michael Jackson" (his untimely death means his music will forever be linked with that part of the world in my head) so needless to say, they were pretty short conversations.

We went back and hung out on the roof, drinking expensive beers and talking for hours until we noticed that there was a man with a monkey wearing a diaper sitting next to us. He let us play with 4 month old Jojo who he got from a pet shop in Chinatown. Apparently it is legal to own a monkey as long as you register it and send it to behavior classes. Jojo had gone to his first month of class, and was scheduled to go for another month soon. Basically, these classes train monkeys not to bite people, an urge they must constantly struggle with. I am not in favor of pet monkeys, but couldn't really pass up the opportunity to hold the baby for a few minutes.

A bunch more people eventually came up to the roof, and we all hung out under the Christmas lights until way past our bedtime. Heard some horrifying stories of robbery on buses and police corruption in Thailand, learned you can live like a king teaching English in Taiwan, and all sorts of other tidbits from more seasoned Asia travelers.

We got a few (very few!) hours of sleep before being picked up by our taxi at 4am (pre-arranged through the hostel so as to avoid major scams) and taken to the airport. We spent our last few ringgit on McDonald's breakfast (noooooooo. But we couldn't stomach spicy fish soup, the only alternative, at that hour) and flew off to Phuket, Thailand!