Hanging out with a Hindu god at Batu Caves.
Spot of early morning exercise.
That's some cave.
Feeding frenzy at Deerland.
Getting shirty.
Refreshing Kickapoo Joy Juice.
Elephant man (and woman).
Say cheese. (wet shorts elephants's fault, not mine)
It's all fun and games until someone falls off.
Go that way Dumbo.
Serves me right.
Bathtime for baby.
How do you get a monkey off your back?
Now what do I do with it.
Pickpocket extraordinaire.
Still not handling this pushy wildlife.
No comment.
Waiting for the primate express. My mate on the right offers a reassuring hand.
Normally a stopover in a country like Malaysia means you spend the day relaxing, taking advantage of the cheap eats and massages and perhaps even a do a spot of shopping and preparation for a the 13-hour flight ahead the following day to London. But why do that when you can ride an elephant into a river, chastise impatient monkeys or catch flyflies on your hand?
After the extra early awakening (see entry before) we were already slightly dazed when our tour guide Anuar arrived at our hotel just before 9am. We all jumped in his Proton and within minutes were laughing out loud as his infectious sense of humour had us all crackin' up before we got out of the Kuala Lumpur traffic jam. We weren't about to do our sightseeing in halves, booking the mother of all tours, the 12-hour 'where the hell are we now' experience.
First stop was the Batu Caves just outside of KL, a limestone mountain that juts up out of nowhere and sheer cliff faces that overhang at the top. Climbing the 300 odd steps to reach the entrance of the cave is a good way to get the heart pumping first thing in the morning.
There were a few monkeys hanging around. Anuar told us to ignore them, 'don't smile as they see teeth flashing is a sign of aggression not friendship'. That wasn't too difficult as it's hard keep a grin on your face when you are gasping for breath. The cave is home to Hindu temples at the bottom and inside the cave, the 50-metre tall gold statue of a god there to remind you in any case. Inside the cathedral-likes space is huge, bigger than anything Simon the 'caveman' has ever seen. The day was warming up nicely so it was a pleasure to get back in the air/cond of the car.
Next stop was a couple of hours away but the drive east through the winding roads and palm oil plantations was a good time to chill out, especially easy as Anuar sets his a/c to freezing.
The landscape was stunning, lot of green rolling hills, broken up with roadside market stalls packed with locall produce, massive townhouse developments that just pop up in the middle of nowhere, unfinished buildings and other obvious signs of financial downturn.
Off the beaten track we headed into sanctuary land. Small villages full of ramshackled dwellings were dotted along the way.
First stop was Kuala Gandah Deer Land which was a great introduction to how they do their animal meet and greets in Malaysia. Basically you walk into the enclosure and are given some rudimentary instructions and some of the animal's favourite food and voila you are suddenly surrounded by a pack of hungry beasts. Not for the faint hearted, my image of Bambi was quickly replaced by pirahnas.
You have to hold the food, potato sticks in this case, above your head, and offer one at the time in your open hand down low so they don't jump. Eek, although I never felt any teeth, having four or five nibbling lips vying for one piece of potato took some getting used to. And as you were surrounded by about 30 others it was hard to keep track of who was being a guts and who was going hungry.The deer jam was getting worse as the sanctuary boys, although laughing the whole time, casually told me to keep walking around to keep the animals mobile. That was working ok until a couple of clever does decided a good way to let me know they weren't getting enough food was to start eating my floppy cotton shirt, and then give it a tug hoping I'd drop the contents of the bowl from above my head. Then they began pulling my pants from behind, which were also quite loose I discovered. Being dakked by a ravenous deer was going to be one of many firsts on this holiday.
By the time I'd finished feeding them, the tug-o-war was over and they went back to being placid affectionate creatures. They can be cute when you aren't a food source.
Exotic birds, snakes and Bengal cats finished off this interesting place wand set the scene for the rest of our animals experiences.
We stopped for a quick lunch at one of those roadside shacks, the cutlery delivered in a cup of boiling soapy water, perhaps the quality seal for hygiene out in this neck of the woods. Chicken and rice, local bananas and a drink questionably called Kickapoo to wash it down.
The elephants were calling and a quick change for watersports and a 30-minute doco about how they move a three-tonne elephant from an area now decimated by palm oil plantations to virgin jungle. We soon met our baggy skinned friends. They were great show-offs. After their 'carers' gave the adults a bath in the river, we were about to feed them some of the 100-150kgs of food they need a day. Huge water melon wedges, and bananas were going down at great rate. Either straight into the mouth which I managed a couple of times, or via their dexterious trunk, an amazing display of balance and grip.
Next we leapt on bare back with a 'driver' for a 'dry' ride around the grounds before meeting the babies.
They were very cute and after a photo opportunity it was time to get my clothes wet. I didn't realise I'd signed up to ride one solo, which proved a hairy experience particulary going over uneven ground. I had to pull the elephant up a couple of times to save falling forward over his head. 'I haven't ridden an elephant for a while' was my nervous excuse for wobbling all over the poor creature's spine and neck. Leaning back like a rodeo rider helps in case anyone else wants to give it a shot.
Then it was down into the river for a swim and while I didn't mind riding it over there, I was shocked to see the crowd of about 100 people who'd gathered to watch me make a rather embarrassing entrance, thongs flopping, trying not to disrespect the Muslim families with my colourful language, I gave the spectators the thumbs up before I went down for the count with the elephant into the water, my thongs floating off, while I suddenly recalled the keepers warning me not to stand behing the elephant as they like to poo as soon as they get wet. Yep it wasn't just my footwear that were floating around in the seconds that followed. Soon lots of people were coming in for a wet elephant ride and splash fest. They are great creatures and seemed to love hamming it up with all us hopeless humans.
A long trip back to KL and we were soon heading north for the second half of our adventure which started at Biukit Melawati overlooking the busiest straits in the world, the Malaca.
Anuar gave me a quick rundown on feeding the local Silver Leaf monkeys that congregate on the hillside. They were hanging around the vendors that sell packets of sweet potato pieces to tourists. I was told to put the small bag of food into my pocket and pull out a piece and hand it to them. Sounds simple but again baggy trousers and fumbling around in a plastic bag wasn't easy and as the visitors had been scarce this day, so the primates were pretty hungry. When they saw this dopey, sweatly Australian fumbling around her pocket, a pack of them starting impatiently tugging at the bag which was now hanging out of my pocket. One decided to jump up on my head and have a go from up there. Another followed suit, talk about having monkeys on your back. Having that many kilos of primate on your head wasn't a great start. One of them then took a swipe at the other and then jumped off after taking a swipe at my leg. Thankfully I had trousers on. I was walking around the pack trying to look inconspicuous trying and pull pieces out of my pocket but as soon as I thought I was alone, there was a little face at my ankle watching from behind. Then more hassling so you basically have to put you hands up and say NO like you were talking to a pack of naughty five-year-olds.
Down the hill a bit and another group of hungry primates were hanging around. I casually offered a dude chilling on the fence piece and he took it politely. Of course once they see that they all come up with outstretched hands. Despite having a rowdy start, handing monkeys food is like handing out lollies to small children. Their tiny fingers gently grasp it, there's no snatching. A small baby climbed up onto my shoulder fairly promptly once he/she realised I was good for some dinner and when it run out would gesture down at my pocket as to say hurry up. Even Simon got into this monkey business although reluctantly.
We then headed for Kuala Selangor for the fireflies stopping for dinner at a fishing village and one of the many rudimentary seafood joints on the river.
Darkness prevailed for our final wildlife encounter. A short car ride later and we were jumping into wooden boats and being paddled up the river into the darkness. We were told it was a great night to see the fireflies as there was no moon to compete with. And they didn't disappoint. They blinkered like tiny fairy lights, in sync, lining the low lying trees along the riverbank. Our boat paddler floated us slowly along the trees, for closer inspection of these tiny powerhouses. Amazing little things, quite, and tame enough to touch without injuring.
It was a great was to finish a full-on first day. The car conversation was noticably quieter on our trip back to KL but Anuar, being the dedicated tour guide, still managed to get a few more laughs out of us before we bid him farewell.
