Tawdry temples and expressways​

Unfortunately, KL seemed to be shut at 8:30 when we left, so, no coffee for us, just straight on the expressway out of town. ​

We headed towards the Batu Caves and did find ​a coffee at a new development down the road. The security guard was very kind to not make us park our bikes in the underground car park and let me unplug their Chinese New Year decoration to plug in our satellite tracker, which is still on the fritz. 

The Batu Caves are part amazing limestone cliff formation and part Tamil shrine, and the huge gold statue of ​Murugan makes it clear which of these roles is dominant. 

The overall impression was of a slightly tawdry, litter strewn temple that had somewhat obscured an amazing natural phenomenon. However, I recognise that the religious element just doesn’t resonate with me. ​

Then it was on to the freeway again, and on to a very smart expressway that lead us down to the coast. The last ten kilometres were a little hairy where they hadn’t built the road yet, we made it in one piece.  

Finally to a hotel with a pool, the VI boutique hotel, the only hotel I know named after a command line text editor.