A decade-old memory of the walk up to the Batu Caves, outside Kuala Lumpur.

Stepping from the modern leather scent of the air-conditioned minivan to ninety-degree humid air that held the sickly-sweet fragrance of frangipani and orchids evoked a certain physical shock; the impact of looking across the crowd of tourists, vendors, and beggars to observe the looming steps leading up to the Batu Caves, however, entirely took my breath away.
Children ran, shrieking and laughing, barefoot and naked, save for their undergarments. Languages flew past me: Dutch, Bahasa, accented-English, French, Chinese. Vendors argued in Tamil over whose wares are whose. An old woman in a sari called to me: “Girl, you come look.” Her attire was gold and maroon, her nose, wrists, and ears sparkled with gold and jewels. Her face was lined with wrinkles so deep, I couldn’t help but contemplate her age: 60? 70? 80? Her eyes, though, were big, bright and intelligent. She held up a wreath of flowers and smiled, big, sweet and toothy. I smiled back but shook my head and continued to walk along the trash-strewn ground.
Upon wading through the throng and the heat, I found myself at the base of the 272 steps I was to climb. Even the giant, gold statue was no real comparison to the magic I felt in this path leading to those ancient caves. The red concrete steps were numbered, and twelve-year-old me relished the challenge they seemed to present. Orange peels and nutshells littered the base of the steps, cracking beneath my feet as I passed beneath a pastel-painted arch. The arch also featured statues of what I assumed to be gods and warriors pertinent to Hindu faith, although Durga with her many arms was the only one my religion class led me to recognize.
Monkeys scampered along the steps, making their way up as did us pilgrims and tourists. The macaques were cute and playful, but we had already lived in Kuala Lumpur for long enough that I knew better; I tucked the oranges I had brought deep into my bag and out of their reach. When I finally reached the top, it felt as though I had already been on an insurmountable journey, despite it having been less than an hour from car to finish line. I turned to catch one last glimpse of modernity, before weaving through the crowd to make my way inside the cave. Standing in the relief of cool air, gazing up at the limestone walls of that natural palace, I shared the seemingly magical place with the innumerable amount of people who had set foot there over the course of time.