As we have traveled around Asia, we have had a lot of fun visiting different temples.  Now you may think it a little strange to have a lot of fun visiting a temple but it is not the temples that were the fun part.  You see at a lot of the temples around Asia have monkeys hanging out at them.  Why?  Well from our understanding, in Hinduism, monkeys are considered holy and even represent or may be gods.

These moneys are very cute, smart, curious and most of all sneaky.  If you have any food, or even just some bright/reflective objects on your person and are not careful the monkeys will take it from you.  Many time we would be feeding one monkey a banana and a greedy monkey who was perhaps his partner-in-crime would come over and steal our entire bag of bananas from right out of our other hand.

Hope you enjoy the monkey postures.  We enjoyed encountering these cute and amazing animals.

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Monkey Forest – Ubud, Indonesia

The Amber Fort – Jaipur, India

Monkey Temple – Kathmandu, Nepal

Batu Caves – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Photos taken using Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] and Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens

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Okay, I had to. Sorry.

On our way to Nepal, we couldn’t find a flight that didn’t stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, so we figured why not check it out for a few days.

After checking into our hostel, one of the cleanest we’ve stayed in, we headed out for some food. We got a good night’s sleep and then headed out to see the sights the next morning.

We started out with a visit to the Batu Caves. The caves were located at the top of some pretty steep stairs, with monkeys jumping all around as you climb them. We stopped off at a side cave to check out the cute monkeys, which ended up being more interesting than the Batu Caves themselves. We did check out the temple located in the caves and then actually went back to take some more photos of the monkeys. =)

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After going to view an old train station, we headed to the National Mosque. We turned up only about 30 minutes before scheduled tourist times, so we took a walk around and Griffin took some photos outside.

When prayer time was over for the Muslims participating at the mosque, we headed inside to have a look. While Griffin was dressed appropriately in pants, (and so was I),I needed to don a tourist rental robe. I was dressed from head to toe, with only my face visible. We were free to walk around the mosque with exception of the main prayer room in the center. The mosque was beautifully built and surrounded by pools and stained glass. It was a nice breezy reprieve from the sweltering heat outside.

Finally it was getting dark, so we headed to see the beautiful Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world. These towers, completed in 1998, stand 88 stories high. Beautifully lighted, they are the centerpiece of the Kuala Lumpur night time skyline. We took photos and mostly just took time to marvel.

We took a little time to rest the following day as we waited for a red-eye flight to depart at 3:15am. Surprise! It was delayed by about 12 hours. After sleeping in the airport, we were finally onward…

We’re happy with our decision to check out Kuala Lumpur, and hoping to view more of Malaysia at another time. So, if you’re ever in the area, consider a stop over to check out the beautiful sites…and the cute monkeys!

Travel Points:

Hotel: In KL, we were lucky enough to find Serai Inn, an incredibly clean and friendly place, not too far from the subway station. It’s within walking distance of pretty much everything you want to see in Kuala Lumpur, except the Batu Caves. We enjoyed talking with the staff and they were also nice enough to lend us a room while were were trying to get everything straightened out with our flight.

Transportation: In KL, we mostly just walked everywhere. There is a subway system which is pretty nice and the people at the ticket counters can help you get where you need to go. If you want to check at the Batu Caves, then you need the Number 11 bus, which runs about every 20 minutes or so.

Daily Budget: Our daily budget for KL was $34 US, for 4 days, beginning when we arrived on the afternoon of Sept. 29th, until we departed on the afternoon of Oct. 1st. This included all lodging, food, transportation and tickets.

Photo taken using Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens

One of the fun surprises while visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was a half day trip to the Batu Caves. These Caves are located about an hour outside of the city and can be easily reached by public bus number 11 for about $1 per person. The limestone caves are quite unique looking and one of them even has a Hindu Temple in it, while the other can be explored for a fee and it is full of bats. What made these caves especially fun for us was the monkeys that hang out all around the entrances and on the stairs up to the caves. They are very cute and we found out that monkeys really are curious just like the monkey, named George, we read about as children.
This week’s travel photo is of one of one of the monkeys eating a Rambutan Fruit. I liked the way he seemed to be hoarding the fruit from the other monkeys and the contrast of the macaque, the fruit and the blue textured wall in the background.

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We hope you like the pictures.

Travel Photo Of The Week: Looking Up at the Petronas Towers Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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Photo taken using Tamron SP AF 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical [IF]

The first stop on our around the world trip after we left Korea was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which is home to the tallest twin buildings buildings in the world – the Petronas Towers. We spent about three day in Malaysia and really enjoyed it. Some of the highlights of our trip were seeing the Petronas Towers of course, seeing cute monkeys at the Batu Caves, Enjoying great Indian, Malay and Chinese food and just walking around exploring the city. We had not planned to go to Kuala Lumpur, but had a stop over and decided to extend it on our way to Nepal. We were glad we decided to stay a few days and really enjoyed exploring some of Malaysia and meeting some very kind people as well.

For more beautiful pictures of Malaysia and many other places in the world, check out my friend Trey Ratcliff’s site here. I think you’ll enjoy what you see.

Travel Photo Of The Week Sponsored By Tamron USA.

For more information about Tamron and the lenses we use, check out our sponsors page here.