After an early wake up call, the team left to visit the famous ‘Batu caves’ situated about 45 min drive from Kuala Lumpur. It clearly is an amazing place ; you can see the giant golden buddah (some 80 metres high) there next to the moutain in which are the caves. Unless you see this, it is very hard to visualize that amazing landmark. By the time Paul and I arrived in front of the main entrance of the car park, we must have been asked for over 30min by tourists for photos next to our bikes.
It is a very uplifting time to get the support from people from all nationalities and their words of support definitely is a plus ! Anyway, back to those caves… unless you are ready for some serious fitness action, you won’t be able to access the entrance. So, we all got to climb over 300 steps, very steep to finally reach the top of the mountain and enter into the centre of those caves. Once again, the experience is just fantastic ; it is one of those moments when words can’t quite translate the emotions. Batu caves are a huge area naturally built in the centre of a mountain in which you ‘ll find peace and harmony to relax and feel the energy. A must to see…
We then got back on the road to the elephant sanctuary. I always wanted to see some elephants from close up. They are those giant animals, placid and elegant that seem to be very relaxed. That place is just a perfect getaway to explore with a family and enjoy a bath with them !
You read it correct, by the time I realized it, I was in a river riding an elephant who quite gently threw me in the water so I could start washing him with a strong brush. Now, that is some crazy experience – simply close your eyes and try to use your imagination : a river, 1 massive elephant on his side and yourself there rubbing his side and ears !
That experience confirmed that elephants are very genle and placid. We needed to get going back to Kuala Lumpur to collect our most waited visas to enter Saudi Arabia. This moment was very special, travelling to Saudi can be difficult as you can not enter the country unless a sponsor ease the visa application procedure. It took us over 3 months, but in the end the Saudis have been very helpfull !
