Batu Caves and The Hindu Festival of Thaipusam

“Some cultures invoke the spirits in ways outsiders might find strange or even shocking—allowing their bodies to be pierced with skewers and hooks. But each year, more than a million Malaysian Hindus take part in this ceremony called, Thaipusam.”  -  National Geographic

                                                 This video is not for the faint of heart..

source: http://www.malaysia.com/kuala-lumpur-city.html

Source:  http://www.inspirationalposter.org

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival being celebrated by the Tamil community on the tenth month of the Hindu calendar which is mostly at the end of January.  It is one of the largest annual gathering in Asia which starts with an 8 hours procession from KL and ends at the top of Batu Caves. Devotees of more than a Million visit Batu Caves for the festival.  Similar to Filipinos way of celebrating Holy Week, Tamilians as a form of penance or sacrifice, carries kavadis "burden,"  from a pitcher of milk to a brightly decorated frameworks, usually combined with various metal hooks and skewers which are used to pierce the skin, cheeks and tongue.  

Check this video link also from National Geographic: 

             http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/specials/taboo/malaysia-thaipusam-pp.html

Batu Caves is one of the most popular Malaysian destination and Hindu shrines outside India, aside from being the venue of Hindu festival of Thaipusam. It is located just 13 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur, so if you will visit KL be sure to drop by Batu Caves. 

Enjoy more photos:

Festival of Thaipusam is the most popular time to visit Batu Caves,  but it is  a must see destination any time of the year, offering a distinctively Hindu experience. 

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Anawangin Cove, San Antonio Zambales

Anawangin Cove is a convex shaped cove located in San Antonio Zambales, it is just an hour from Olongapo City, and around 4 hours from Manila. The cove is not accessible by land unless you want to trek the mountains of San Antonio for 6 hours, your best option is to take a 30 minutes boat ride from Pundaquit beach (please check this link for my blog entry of Pundaquit).

I was researching for the best venue for my birthday  celebration last October when I stumbled upon this place online. When I saw the pictures of Anawangin I told myself I should see this place! Right after typhoon Pedring and Quiel we scheduled our trip and was praying so hard for a good weather and we had a sunny day! Yey!!

The beautiful view on our way to Anawangin:

The Beautiful Beach

Anawangin is so secluded that your cellphone won't work... why? Well there's no phone signal! So you are left with no choice but to enjoy nature at its finest without the daily distractions in life... priceless!

What makes this place special? Pine trees! I've been to beaches of Subic, Pangasinan, La union, Bataan, Oriental Mindoro, Bicol, Aklan, Cebu and even the beaches of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia but i have never seen a beach with pine trees!!!! It's an amazing discovery and this has been the most relaxing beach stay i've ever had! It's like daytime in Baguio +  boracay beach  in one!

Anawangin cove is also undeveloped, which means no resorts just untamed natural beauty.  They have a few huts and deep wells and that's it. They allow people to stay overnight but you have to bring your own camping supplies. 

here's our group grilling some fish for lunch..

Spring water from the mountain:

spring water from the mountain

Staying in Anawangin is not free, you have to pay P50 per head to the caretakers which is well worth it, they have provided huts, they clean the place and maintained clean comfort rooms for visitors. 

We had kids with us so we are planning to go back soon to do some mountain trekking! And I can't wait!!!

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