C&L Malaysian F1 and Kuala Lumpur adventure - Day 4 - FRIM and Batu Caves

**LN89** · 18 Oct 16, 10:19 PM

Day 4 - FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia) canopy walk and Batu Caves

I had pre-booked the FRIM canopy walk before we left the UK. I read online you should email the day before, however I pre- booked this a couple of weeks in advance. They wanted payment in advance too which we initially weren't sure how to make the payment but sorted it out no problem. This came to a total of 160RM (�32) - the entrance fee was 10RM, the canopy walk 20RM and the guide was 120RM.

I had read you should do it in the morning due to the weather. We hadn't actually seen any rain yet which we were so surprised about, I had checked the weather forecast before we left and it said storm every afternoon. However, I noticed if you looked at the breakdown it actually tended to say 30% chance of storm etc and so far we hadn't had any.

I had read traffic getting about KL in taxis could be quite difficult so we decided to leave very early and get the train. We got up at 6.30 and got ready, we headed down to breakfast about 7. The hotel buffet breakfast was amazing but we didn't really get chance to enjoy it fully this morning as we ate quickly and then left straight from there.

My plate at breakfast is always considerably larger than Chris'!

We finished about 7.20, Chris had wanted to wear contacts today but had forgotten to put them in so quickly popped back to the room and we were then underway about 7.30.

We walked to the monorail and got it to KL Sentral. We only had a 50 note but luckily there was someone in the booth at the station who changed it into smaller notes as the tokens had to be bought at the machines (5.60RM for both tickets).

A monorail turned up straight away and we got to KL Sentral quickly, we had to get the KTM train to Kapong and found this and queued for tickets. This was 4.60RM for us both. The train turned up 10 minutes later, we were the only tourists we saw on the train, although it was pretty early. The train also had two coaches just for ladies, which surprised me actually as wouldn't of expected that in KL but I'm not sure why!

We got to Kapong about 8.40, we had booked our canopy walk to start at 9 and we didn't know how far it was from the station so we we were a little tight for time (although from the emails I had had the lady seem to say the walk would actually start about 9.30 so I wasn't too worried about getting there a little late, which is very unlike me, I usually turn up everywhere early!). We couldn't find any taxis so asked in the station and had to walk two roads over to a main road and found one. He didn't seem massively keen on taking us to FRIM though and then dropped us just off at the main entrance (it cost 10RM)

. We assumed it was just down the road but it ended up being about a 15 minute walk, we weren't 100% sure we were definitely going in the right direction so asked some gardeners along the way but they told us we were.

We ended up getting there about 9.10am so not too bad but later than planned. I think a taxi would've definitely been easier but we had had fun on our little monorail/ train adventure so didn't mind

.

We checked in and were introduced to our guide. There is an option to share a guide at 10.30, but we didn't mind having one to ourselves and he was absolutely brilliant so it was well worth it.

He asked if we'd put mosquito spray on which we had. Now this is where I massively went wrong

, for the elephants the next day we needed natural insect repellent and it wasn't until the day before I'd read in our guide book about using insect repellent at FRIM. I am not sure why this hadn't occured to me before leaving but I'd read good reviews about the natural one though so thought we can just use that... well it worked for Chris, he got two bites. Not for me! I was covered (well I guess it might've worked as I might've ended up with double if I hadn't used any). Anyway, hindsight is a wonderful thing but if I went again I would cover myself head to toe in deet!

We started our tour straight away, we got told lots of interesting facts about the forest, plants, animals etc. He mentioned snakes and I got a bit nervous but then he said he had only seen three in the the forty years he'd been working there so the chances were pretty slim (and we didn't see any)!

We walked through the rainforest for about 2 hours before we got to the canopy walk. It was quite steep leading up to the canopy walk and was pretty hot and sticky but we absolutely loved it. Here are some pictures from the walk.

The canopy walk was really good and we loved the views back over KL.

After the canopy walk we headed black down, it was quite steep... I am so unsteady on my feet for some reason (despite having done ballet for 18 years

), can trip over anything and am just generally a ridiculously clumsy person so I did nearly ended up on my bum a couple of times

but I made it back down in one piece. Chris made it down without much difficulty

.

We absolutely loved the morning at FRIM, it was Chris' favourite thing we did in KL as he found it so interesting and different to anything we had done before

.

We then headed out stopping at a cafe for a well deserved soft drink. We had taken plenty of water with us but a cold soft drinks was very refreshing after the walk. We then had to head back to the main road to flag down a taxi. It was much hotter walking along this road this time as it was now about midday and we got use out of our petronas fans which Chris had stuck in his bag.

We didn't see any taxis for a while so we were getting a bit worried what we'd do but then about three or four all drove past at once (always the way). We hoped in one and went to Batu Caves. The taxis are all metered and most of them had signs on the side saying no negotiations which we quite liked as we knew were we stood with them!

It was about a 15 minute drive to Batu Caves and was 11RM for the taxi. This was very impressive walking up to it, it had renovation works going on though so there was scaffolding but it still looked amazing.

We headed straight to the steps up, because my shorts were too short I had to borrow a sarong to cover up, these were 5RM but you got 2RM back when you returned them. Most women were wearing them, I assumed you had to cover down to your knees.

I had read about the monkeys but there wasn't as many monkeys around as we expected, we saw a few though.

We walked up to the top which was quite tough in the heat especially after our walk through the rainforest earlier but we made it and went through the caves, it was a great view. We got some good pictures before heading back down.

We were feeling very hungry now so we headed to one of the restaurants at the caves, our guidebook recommended a vegetarian Indian so we tried there. It was called Rami Restaurant, I had a chapati and Chris had a dosa masala, these tasted so good! We both had a coke and it all came to 15RM.

We started to head back and to find the station but asked a security guard luckily as we were going the wrong way, as it was to the right after getting to the bottom of the steps rather than going straight ahead.

Right next to the station there were sooo many monkeys! I spent ages taking photos of the monkeys

there must've been about 30/40 running around us! I recommend going over to this area even if you aren't getting a train. After about 15 minutes we eventually went to the station.

The train direct back to KL Sentral was 5.20RM. It only went every 45 minutes and we had about 20 minutes to wait, but the train turned up after about 5 minutes as it was the end of the line so least we could wait on the air conditioned train.

We got back to KL Sentral about 2.45pm and looked round a few shops in the shopping centre before getting a monorail back to Bukit Bintang monorail stop (5RM), this was probably about equal distance to our hotel but also went past some shops so we could get some water

We got back and showered before heading to the pool to relax for a bit.

We stayed by the pool until about 6pm and then got changed to go out.

Our hotel with the tree lights

We were both feeling pretty tired and very unadventours for dinner and ashamed to say we just ventured to KFC. I wouldn't usually do this but we had a big day planned the next day � to the elephant sanctuary! Which I had been looking forward to for far too long and didn't want any upset stomachs ruining the day!

We went to the Petronas towers and got some pictures at night, these were pretty impressive and they also have a water fountain display after 8pm. We were not sure how often this was but it was very good.

We popped to the shop and bought some gin, tonic and some lemons (which came to about 25RM - �5) as well so we could have a cheeky drink in our room

Melbatb · 19 Oct 16, 06:47 AM

Fabulous day! How much do you reckon a taxi would be from KL to FRIM? It might be my easier option

Sounds like a must do as donthe Batu Caves!

Thanks for sharing!

**LN89** · 19 Oct 16, 07:46 AM

Originally Posted by Melbatb

Fabulous day! How much do you reckon a taxi would be from KL to FRIM? It might be my easier option

Sounds like a must do as donthe Batu Caves!

Thanks for sharing!

I think I looked on a taxi fare finder and it said about 35RM and about a 25 minute drive from our hotel. Obviously that will be depending on traffic, although I didn't notice it being particularly bad in the morning so hopefully it wouldn't take too long if you visited then. The traffic in the evening however was awful (we ended up getting our driving to drop us at a monorail stop the next day when we were on our way back from the elephant sanctuary as we just weren't moving). I guess even if it was double that, it would only be about �14. If I was to do it again I would probably taxi it haha.

Batu Caves was brilliant, and the monkeys made it even better!

Melbatb · 19 Oct 16, 10:48 AM

Thanks. I think a taxi there would be tge easiest option. Getting excited now.

Mel49 · 20 Oct 16, 08:19 PM

Just found your trip report and loving reading along about your adventures on public transport and the delicious and cheap food you have found. I was in KL and Singapore about 26 years ago with my parents as they had lived there when they first got married and your photos of the Caves brought back lovely memories of our visit there. I remember thinking the steps would never end and there were just as many monkeys back them

Looking forward to reading more and thanks for sharing !

18 Oct 16, 10:19 PM	#1
	18 Oct 16, 10:19 PM LN89 VIP Dibber ✓Premium Member
LN89 VIP Dibber Join Date: Jan 12	C&L Malaysian F1 and Kuala Lumpur adventure - Day 4 - FRIM and Batu Caves Day 4 - FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia) canopy walk and Batu Caves I had pre-booked the FRIM canopy walk before we left the UK. I read online you should email the day before, however I pre- booked this a couple of weeks in advance. They wanted payment in advance too which we initially weren't sure how to make the payment but sorted it out no problem. This came to a total of 160RM (�32) - the entrance fee was 10RM, the canopy walk 20RM and the guide was 120RM. I had read you should do it in the morning due to the weather. We hadn't actually seen any rain yet which we were so surprised about, I had checked the weather forecast before we left and it said storm every afternoon. However, I noticed if you looked at the breakdown it actually tended to say 30% chance of storm etc and so far we hadn't had any. I had read traffic getting about KL in taxis could be quite difficult so we decided to leave very early and get the train. We got up at 6.30 and got ready, we headed down to breakfast about 7. The hotel buffet breakfast was amazing but we didn't really get chance to enjoy it fully this morning as we ate quickly and then left straight from there. My plate at breakfast is always considerably larger than Chris'! We finished about 7.20, Chris had wanted to wear contacts today but had forgotten to put them in so quickly popped back to the room and we were then underway about 7.30. We walked to the monorail and got it to KL Sentral. We only had a 50 note but luckily there was someone in the booth at the station who changed it into smaller notes as the tokens had to be bought at the machines (5.60RM for both tickets). A monorail turned up straight away and we got to KL Sentral quickly, we had to get the KTM train to Kapong and found this and queued for tickets. This was 4.60RM for us both. The train turned up 10 minutes later, we were the only tourists we saw on the train, although it was pretty early. The train also had two coaches just for ladies, which surprised me actually as wouldn't of expected that in KL but I'm not sure why! We got to Kapong about 8.40, we had booked our canopy walk to start at 9 and we didn't know how far it was from the station so we we were a little tight for time (although from the emails I had had the lady seem to say the walk would actually start about 9.30 so I wasn't too worried about getting there a little late, which is very unlike me, I usually turn up everywhere early!). We couldn't find any taxis so asked in the station and had to walk two roads over to a main road and found one. He didn't seem massively keen on taking us to FRIM though and then dropped us just off at the main entrance (it cost 10RM). We assumed it was just down the road but it ended up being about a 15 minute walk, we weren't 100% sure we were definitely going in the right direction so asked some gardeners along the way but they told us we were. We ended up getting there about 9.10am so not too bad but later than planned. I think a taxi would've definitely been easier but we had had fun on our little monorail/ train adventure so didn't mind . We checked in and were introduced to our guide. There is an option to share a guide at 10.30, but we didn't mind having one to ourselves and he was absolutely brilliant so it was well worth it. He asked if we'd put mosquito spray on which we had. Now this is where I massively went wrong , for the elephants the next day we needed natural insect repellent and it wasn't until the day before I'd read in our guide book about using insect repellent at FRIM. I am not sure why this hadn't occured to me before leaving but I'd read good reviews about the natural one though so thought we can just use that... well it worked for Chris, he got two bites. Not for me! I was covered (well I guess it might've worked as I might've ended up with double if I hadn't used any). Anyway, hindsight is a wonderful thing but if I went again I would cover myself head to toe in deet! We started our tour straight away, we got told lots of interesting facts about the forest, plants, animals etc. He mentioned snakes and I got a bit nervous but then he said he had only seen three in the the forty years he'd been working there so the chances were pretty slim (and we didn't see any)! We walked through the rainforest for about 2 hours before we got to the canopy walk. It was quite steep leading up to the canopy walk and was pretty hot and sticky but we absolutely loved it. Here are some pictures from the walk. The canopy walk was really good and we loved the views back over KL. After the canopy walk we headed black down, it was quite steep... I am so unsteady on my feet for some reason (despite having done ballet for 18 years ), can trip over anything and am just generally a ridiculously clumsy person so I did nearly ended up on my bum a couple of times but I made it back down in one piece. Chris made it down without much difficulty . We absolutely loved the morning at FRIM, it was Chris' favourite thing we did in KL as he found it so interesting and different to anything we had done before . We then headed out stopping at a cafe for a well deserved soft drink. We had taken plenty of water with us but a cold soft drinks was very refreshing after the walk. We then had to head back to the main road to flag down a taxi. It was much hotter walking along this road this time as it was now about midday and we got use out of our petronas fans which Chris had stuck in his bag. We didn't see any taxis for a while so we were getting a bit worried what we'd do but then about three or four all drove past at once (always the way). We hoped in one and went to Batu Caves. The taxis are all metered and most of them had signs on the side saying no negotiations which we quite liked as we knew were we stood with them! It was about a 15 minute drive to Batu Caves and was 11RM for the taxi. This was very impressive walking up to it, it had renovation works going on though so there was scaffolding but it still looked amazing. We headed straight to the steps up, because my shorts were too short I had to borrow a sarong to cover up, these were 5RM but you got 2RM back when you returned them. Most women were wearing them, I assumed you had to cover down to your knees. I had read about the monkeys but there wasn't as many monkeys around as we expected, we saw a few though. We walked up to the top which was quite tough in the heat especially after our walk through the rainforest earlier but we made it and went through the caves, it was a great view. We got some good pictures before heading back down. We were feeling very hungry now so we headed to one of the restaurants at the caves, our guidebook recommended a vegetarian Indian so we tried there. It was called Rami Restaurant, I had a chapati and Chris had a dosa masala, these tasted so good! We both had a coke and it all came to 15RM. We started to head back and to find the station but asked a security guard luckily as we were going the wrong way, as it was to the right after getting to the bottom of the steps rather than going straight ahead. Right next to the station there were sooo many monkeys! I spent ages taking photos of the monkeys there must've been about 30/40 running around us! I recommend going over to this area even if you aren't getting a train. After about 15 minutes we eventually went to the station. The train direct back to KL Sentral was 5.20RM. It only went every 45 minutes and we had about 20 minutes to wait, but the train turned up after about 5 minutes as it was the end of the line so least we could wait on the air conditioned train. We got back to KL Sentral about 2.45pm and looked round a few shops in the shopping centre before getting a monorail back to Bukit Bintang monorail stop (5RM), this was probably about equal distance to our hotel but also went past some shops so we could get some water We got back and showered before heading to the pool to relax for a bit. We stayed by the pool until about 6pm and then got changed to go out. Our hotel with the tree lights We were both feeling pretty tired and very unadventours for dinner and ashamed to say we just ventured to KFC. I wouldn't usually do this but we had a big day planned the next day � to the elephant sanctuary! Which I had been looking forward to for far too long and didn't want any upset stomachs ruining the day! We went to the Petronas towers and got some pictures at night, these were pretty impressive and they also have a water fountain display after 8pm. We were not sure how often this was but it was very good. We popped to the shop and bought some gin, tonic and some lemons (which came to about 25RM - �5) as well so we could have a cheeky drink in our room __________________ Laura Disney Trippies WDW 2022 (first time with a toddler) WDW and Disney Cruise 2019 HK Disney 2017 Disneymoon 2015 Edited at 11:10 PM.