You're Malaysian Me Crazy!

We are finishing up our one-week tour of Malaysia.

We flew into Kuala Lumpur (KL) but didn't get to spend much time there (we will explore the city more when we fly through on our way to the Philippines at the end of our trip). We went immediately to Taman Negara -- literally "The National Park."

Taman Negara is a huge primary rainforest that is protected from logging. It took a 3 hour boat ride up a river that cut through the rainforest -- it was a beautiful trip. We did a "Night Safari" our first night there. The tour company managed to squeeze ten people into the back of (and on top of) a tiny SUV/pickup truck. Sumit and I refused to be the ones to ride on the top of the cab! We (Sumit) managed to see a young leopard in the distance. I unfortunately, need a new prescription for my glasses and was pretty sure it was a calico house cat. The rest of the group agreed with Sumit, though, so I'm going to say we saw a leopard.

We spent the next day hiking through the rainforest and walking across canopy bridges that allow you to walk at the tops of the trees (very cool). Although we enjoyed our time, I don't think either of us have sweat so much in our lives! It was unbelievably hot and muggy and we were without AC the entire time.

We then headed to cooler temperatures in the Cameron Highlands. The mountains are lush and green, and the valleys are home to lots of different kinds of agriculture, most notably tea plantations. We went on a hike in the Moss Forest and went up to the top of the highest peak in the area. We also toured a tea plantation and factory, which belong to Boh, the largest tea producer in Malaysia. The tea plantations are beautiful -- rolling hills of bushy tea trees that they prune to keep from growing higher than waste level. The mountains are such a perfect climate for growing tea trees that they don't need to fertilize or even water the tea trees. The tea also grows year round, and each plant is harvested every two to three weeks.

Our last stop in Malaysia was the island of Penang. We are staying in Georgetown, which is an interesting mix of modern city with high-rises and an old colonial district (the British colonized the island in the 1700s) that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. We walked around the colonial district, and then took the bus to Kek Lok Si temple, the largest Buddist temple in Malaysia. The temple is carved into a hill, and is a spectacular complex of very intricate design work, with many statues, coy ponds, and a maze-like layout. The most notable part is an unbelievably huge statue of Buddha -- it must be 10 stories tall.

Penang is most known for its street food, which we were excited to sample. The noodles here were definitely the best we've had in Malaysia, and we had an interesting "dumpling" tonight that was like an Asian tamale. It had pork surrounded by some sort of masa, all wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. Yum!

It was great to start our trip in an easy to navigate, English-speaking country. The freeways here are very well maintained. It actually feels like we are not that far from home, as there is a McDonald's and a Starbucks at every corner.

We leave for Bali very early in the morning and will write more from there!