Malaysia Part 1: Kuala Lumpur and Taman Negara

As mentioned previously, I left China for 7 days to visit Malaysia with some friends during the national holiday.  We flew into Kuala Lumpur and spent a couple days there and the surrounding area.  We found a tour company through TripAdvisor and they were fantastic.  Our main guide was named Ram and he was the most wonderful and amazing person.  We had such a great time with him and he went above and beyond to make sure we had a great time in Malaysia.

Ram picked us up early our first morning in Kuala Lumpur to start our jungle trip.  It was a several hour drive to Taman Negara and Ram told us all about Malaysia and kindly stopped at a gas station so we could get doughnuts (they don't exist in China).  Once we reached the jungle he split his duties with DJ, who would take us into the jungle.  We stayed at a resort in the jungle that we could only reach by taking a boat across the river.

The group with our jungle guide, DJ.

The hotel shuttle.

The luggage trolley for our hotel.

Our accommodations.

Really roughing it in the jungle.

Monkeys were swinging in the trees as we walked to breakfast.

After settling in, DJ started us off on our jungle tour.  We did what they call rapids shooting, which is basically white water rafting but with a motorized boat.  So DJ did all the work managing the boat and maneuvering through the rapids and we all got soaked in the process.  Luckily it was so hot and humid that being wet as we started our hike was refreshing.  Our hike included a canopy walk, which was really cool.  Unfortunately, some people were unable to keep in their frightened shrieks as they walked and so we didn't get to see any animals below.

Taken before we got soaked.

Walking in the canopy.

I was told not to look down but I needed photographic evidence.

A group shot with DJ.

DJ was also a really amazing guy and he liked us a lot too.  Usually he takes his groups to a touristy village with little shops that is in the jungle but since he liked us we were taken to an actual native village.  The Bateq Tribe are nomadic aboriginal Malay people who DJ and his family before him have had a relationship with and that is why he knew where to go and how to communicate with them.  We had to go off the beaten path to reach the village and at one point had to cross a fallen tree over a river.

Just casually walking across a tree in the jungle.

Trying to act like I'm not scared of falling to my death.

While we were unable to communicate with them, DJ played interpreter and the Bateq people were very friendly.  They showed us how they made their thatched roofs, make a fire, and how to create and shoot poison arrow darts.  They even invited us to take turns shooting darts.  It should be noted that we only used ones that did not have poison on them!  It was very surreal to be with these people in the middle of the jungle and they sent us off with souvenirs from the experience.  They made a dart (without poison) and a little holding tube for each of us as thank you gift for visiting them.

The village.

Inspecting the blow dart tube.

DJ holding a poison blow dart.

DJ and a villager facing off.

Poor Mickey is used for target practice.

On my 2nd attempt I was able to hit the netting around Mickey.

In the evening, DJ took us on a night walk through the jungle to look for nocturnal animals.  With his amazingly keen eyes he was able to show us a flying squirrel high up in the trees, snakes, various bugs, frogs, an adorable mouse deer, and he played with some scorpions.  Under UV lights, scorpions glow in the dark and so DJ would poke around their holes and draw them out while under the UV light so we could see them scuttling along as they glowed.  It was very cool and also really terrifying.

On our way back to Kuala Lumpur we stopped at the Batu Caves, which are right outside the city.  The limestone formations are estimated around 400 million years old and have a series of caves inside.  The caves are one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India.  Lord Murugan stands 140 feet tall at the base of the stairs we had to climb to reach the temples inside of the caves.

The group with Lord Murugan.

Monkeys were climbing all over the stairs trying to get food from tourists.

In the evening, Ram took us to an amazing Indian restaurant and to see the Petronas Towers even though the tour was technically over.  Like I said before, he was an amazing guy who enjoyed our company and wanted us to see the best of Malaysia.  The Petronas Towers were beautiful lit up at night and were once the tallest buildings in the world and are still the tallest twins towers in the world.  On our way back to the hotel he even stopped at a little bakery so we could have some Malaysian Indian sweets before bed.

Our favorite Malaysian, Ram!

I don't know how to describe these other than they were awesome.

Stray thoughts:

• Ram was awesome and told us all about Malaysia and had us try all sorts of foods and drinks.  Like how palm oil and rubber are major industries in Malaysia.  Also, naan and their chickpea and curry sauces are amazing!

Palm dates are used to make palm oil.

A rubber tree plant being tapped.

Naan with curry sauce for a van ride snack.

I'm a little embarrassed how excited I was for Diet Coke.

• If anyone wants to go to Malaysia then I will give you the information on Ram's tour agency because he and DJ made the trip even better.
• The only downsides I can think of for Malaysia are the scorpions and big spiders.  Also, the leeches.  My toe has a nice little circular blood blister looking spot from where a little sucker hung on for a bit.  Who knew leeches liked to sneak around in the underbrush?
• The next blog entries will be about more Malaysian adventures with elephants and visiting Penang.