Batu Caves and Kuala Lumpur Countryside Tour

Got to stop at the national pewter company and at a batik factory on the way to the caves. The pewter factory offered a tour of the factory which was quite interesting and informative. Got to add a piece to our collection. The Batik factory demonstrated how the fabric is made. Had to twist my wife's arm to buy something and she was so glad she did as she wore it several times on the vacation and loved it. The caves have become very commercialized since I was there 35 years ago but it is worth the climb of 272 steps to see them as they are truly amazing.The monkeys are still there but they pretty much leave you alone unless you have food on you. Worth the half day.

When booking this tour, be aware that: the van you travel in is built for local people not for bigger people. We were crowded in the van uncomfortably I am a normal size person. The van has small ans low windows, so do not expect to see much along the way. The driver's ELS is quite impossible to understand. The van is also dirty -we both returned with a bad rash on our legs from the van. The Pewter factory was very interesting to learn about pewter manufacture. The visit to the market was so,so. The visit to Batu caves is a great challenge to walk up the 272 steps and well worth the effort. However, since every afternoon produces a thunderstorm, it would have been much better to visit the caves first , We got soaken wet in a thunderstorm at 5 p.m. So take the infor for what we have experienced.

The driver for my small group there were just 6 of us in the minibus was excellent as he was extremely knowledgeable about KL's history and recited plenty of facts and stories. The Selangor Pewter factory visit was also excellent - well set up, with a knowledgeable guide and a great display demonstrating the manufacturing process, including a hands-on element. However, the stop at a batik shop was just that - an opportunity to buy batiq clothing, with the 'workshop' element consisting of one person painting a piece of cloth in the entrance to the store. The most disappointing part of the trip was the Batu Caves, which were nothing special to look at and suffering from extensive construction efforts with scaffolding and rubble in the way by members of the local Indian community. Give the caves a miss - there are better Indian temples around and the caves looked run-down and dinghy - they have seen better days.