Thaipusam and Our Mistake

Another day, another three day weekend. This time it was for a Hindu festival called Thaipusam. Although we don't know a lot about it, we did quickly learn that one of the ways it is celebrated in Asia is with a trip to the Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur. One million people visit the caves within a 24 hour period during the annual Thaipusam festival.

We had no interest in the caves, and instead decided to head to the National Zoo, just outside of the city. We plugged the location into our GPS and were excited to realize that it was only 18km away! We were not aware, however, that our route took us right past the caves. Once on the highway, and about 5km from the caves, our pace averaged just 4km per hour. This was the scene on the highway when we finally reached the caves:



People were literally crossing the six lane HIGHWAY on foot.

The caves are a very impressive. Even more impressive is the fact that the visitors need to climb 272 steps to reach the main cave which is the site of the Hindu shrines.



We finally made it to the zoo. Although the day was warm, we enjoyed our day and even captured some photos to share with those who are anxiously awaiting updates.











This poor dairy cow wasn't doing so well in the heat of the tropics.


However, the Asian cattle seemed to handle the heat with grace.


Our drive home took us through downtown KL, which allowed us to avoid the Batu Caves.