Welcome to the Jungle - Taman Negara

Oh Jesus Lord...yes, the jungle. I went. I am alive. That's all that counts.

It actually wasn't as bad as I am making it seem. I had a nice detox time, and met some great friends along the way.

Detox you say? Well, let me explain. Taman Negara consists of a few hostels/hotels and floating restauants in this small little town in the middle of the jungle. The nearest city is about an hour away. In this town, there are a couple (literally two) shops to buy snacks (excluding alcohol) and nada of the restaurants (that we went to) served any alcohol. So the first night was none by choice, but by the second night I had a hankering for some beer, which was nowhere to be seen.

Upon arriving in Kuala Tembling, we took a 2.5 hour-long boat ride into the jungle. Along the way, I met and befriended 2 English girls and 1 Dutch girl. We all decided to stay together at the same hostel- Mat Leon Village.

Well, Mat Leon Village was one of the farther-out hostels, and to get anywhere we had to walk (in the pitch black night for almost a mile with one working flashlight). 

That night, we all had a tasty dinner of----fried noodles. The menu at every place was basically the same. It consisted of fried noodles or rice. My diet for two full days. Then 3 of us went on a night jungle walk. It was a little more touristy than I like, but we saw some huge spiders, millipedes, some deer, and....a wild porcupine?

The next day we all went on a jungle trek and canopy walk. We all instantly realized how out of shape we are and were laughing/panting/sweating the whole way up.

Lunch---fried rice.

Then we had a relaxing day/dinner and on our walk back in the rain we saw some wild boars run across the road in front of us. Too cool.

While we all had a great time getting to know each other/seeing the jungle, I think we all were a little happy to get out of our bug-spray smelling girls dorm and on the road again.

What is Durian?

Oh durian...where can I begin...

Durian is extremely popular in SE Asia and is referred to as the "King of Fruits". They are similar in size to pineapples, but much more deadly (people are killed yearly due to it's weight and sharp thorns covering the fruit *imagine falling onto head*).

These 'treats' can be seen in roadside stalls in many cities throughout SE Asia, and if you get the chance, you should definitely try one.

Durian is unlike any fruit I have ever smelled or tasted. The odor is pungent and smells something like vomit. The taste is slightly better. The fruit part (referred to as the pulp) is like a thick and sticky pudding that has been sitting in the sun for too long that covers a large seed. The taste is amlsot sickeningly sweet, but there was something about it that left me wanting more.

There is no way to be neat while eating durian. I was covered in yellow gook by the time I was finished gnawing the mush around the seed. I was eating it with an local kid and we kept laughing at each other for being so messy.

Since trying, I have also tasted durian popcorn and durian ice cream. Both of which made me cringe after tasting, but still ever-so-slightly left me craving more.

Cameron Highlands---not your typical Asian city

After Georgetown and it's hot and sticky weather, I ventured to Cameron Highlands in the mountains for it's well-known cooler climate. This city isn't the SE Asia that I had imagined. It felt very European in architecture and there were very many backpackers (seemed like more than asians) so I was seeing white people every few steps. I stayed at Father's Guesthouse, which was pretty nice albeit the squeaky bunk beds in a room where 10 of us backpackers resided. Please, Father's, replace the beds.

I hoped to go on a tour of the tea fields, however I arrived too late and was leaving the next day, so instead I just walked around listeing to music and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Then I met some friends. This is one of them.

That night I had some indian food near the hostel. Yum!

Georgetown~Penang

I made it to Malaysia after hours of travel on Saturday, but with much help.

On the bus from the airport, a girl saw my overwhelmed look and that I was by myself with a backpack half my size, and she offered to help me get to where I was going. She got off and walked me out of her way, all the way to my guesthouse.

I stayed at Old Penang Guesthouse in the heart of Georgetown. It was clean and quiet, and central to everything I wanted to see.

The following day I made my way to Penang Hill. From the bus stop, I had no clue where to go, with not another backpacker in sight, so I started walking towards the mountain. After a little bit, I saw Kek Lok Si and started running up the hill. A motorbike stopped and gave me a ride the rest of the way when he saw me panting and chugging alone, sweat rolling all about.

It was such a lovely sight to see.

From there I walked up the hill a little farther to the statue of Kuan Yin.