Being a local tourist

You know, I have been in KL for quite a number of years already, but have not even been to some of the local attractions. After various rearranging of timetables, a few friends and myself decided to get organised and go being local tourists. With hats (some of us) and camera (most of us) in tow, we ploughed across various valleys and plains (ha, almost!)... more like the Forest Reserve Institute Malaysia (FRIM), Selayang Hot Springs, and Batu Caves.










Had to get up like 5:45am on one of the Sunday mornings last month just to get ready for a little bit of morning exercise in FRIM. This was my second time to FRIM actually, and quite enjoyable. Tried the canopy walkway, which was pretty exciting, and I think it is purportedly the tallest in the world. Some excitement for one of my friends, who suffered the fangs of a leech bite. Now personally, I don't have anything against leeches, but really am not a fan of those little suckers.

Next stop was at the Selayang Hot Springs. Malaysia's little "onsen". Ha, almost, but no skinny dipping I reckon. There were three sort of pools with varying degrees of hotness. The hottest had the clearest water, as I doubt anyone would dip themselves in there. One can even see the bubbles rising, that showed how hot it really was! The people around there mentioned that you can bring the water back and it would stay hot for up to 9 hours!

Of course, there were various rules as to what you can or cannot do. One interesting signage said "no undergarments in the pool", so does that mean one can go skinny dipping? The other two pools looked a bit murky. One had various people soaking their feet inside the pool under the scorching hot sun (out with the brollies! - it was around noon when we were there) and the other pool had a few old timers sitting around enjoying the natural heat. One lady took it one step further. She immersed her whole body into the pool, so I guess she must really believe in the natural healing properties of the Selayang hot spring.










Then after the earlier energising morning hike, and a sojourn to the hot springs for a bit of relaxation, we tackled Batu Caves and the 272 steps next! Yep, we climbed all the way to the top, and no, it wasn't as tiring as the walk up to the canopy walk at FRIM.










Interesting things to see, including monkeys which were perpetually hungry, eyeing tourists and locals alike for food. Batu Caves is of course a temple, frequented all year round, but peak time being Thaipussam, with devotees undergoing various body piercings and entering various spiritual state of being, climbing all the way up the cave to pay homage to their deity.

Me, I go just to look-see-look-see and enjoy the natural greatness of the limestone cave. And of course, a nice coconut drink at the very end of the long hot day. Oh, the little girl, Sasha, was very excited after being told by Yuin that the coconuts were free, and she wanted to take some home.