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Written by The Swedish Couple
Autumn 2016
Kuala Lumpur
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur and since we had been looking forward to this trip since the beginning of the year we where maybe looking forward to the adventures a little bit too much. We ended up managing everything we wanted to do and see in Kuala Lumpur in only two days. Now keep in mind that we might not be like most tourists and not wanting to see exactly the same stuff that any other normal person would like to see. In any case, we went to the bird park and to the butterfly park wich were really nice. Even though Sweden has much stricter rules and restrictions on how to keep animals it weren't that big of a difference wich made us very happy to see that they took good care of their animals. Of course there was some things that could be improved for the welfare of the animals but comparing with some european countries this was great.
We somehow survived chinatown aswell, we even managed not to be tricked into buying something way too expensive. We met a Malayan who told us how to bargain with vendors and some local restaurants, he was very helpfull.
We had booked a shuttle to the jungle after this wich took us too Taman Negara, supposedly the worlds oldest forest, over 130 million years old. It took a good 6 hours carride to get there and the last 50 meters we had to go by boat. After check-in we were pretty tired but the same night we went on a night-jungle walk. This was with a guide, a very good guide too. Only one minute into the tour we got to see a Slow Lori, wich was amazing. We never thought we'd see one, since they're very rare to see and only move about at night. In other words we where very lucky. Then we also got to see some cool spiders and scorpions, even some vinesnakes in the trees.
During our time in Taman Negara we also got to swim in the river, walk the canopywalks and even visit a small aboriginal village, wich isn't what it sounds like. You'd expect totally free people living of the forest and their lands but this wasn't like that. They got everything provided by the government and used money to go and buy their chicken like anyone else. They even got money to be visited by the tourists... This sounds pretty dissapointing but in their world it's not wierd. They want to live a simple life just like anyone else.
When we had done all the tours we had booked we decided to do one last trip by ourselves to Teresek Hill. We knew it would be further away from all the tourists and people so we hoped for more nature experiences. We were however very tired already from the previous tours that day, so when Cecilia wanted to rest for a bit she cought glimpse of something she thought was two huge Hornbills... I thought they looked like something else entirely. That's when they started swinging, huge monkeys with dark fur and a massive body started swinging among the trees. More and more appeared and there was at least 6-8 of them. We where mezmerised by what we had seen and didn't think fast enough to take the camera before they had moved on, but we are very sure it was Gibbon Monkeys.
After our time in the jungle we decided to go to Langkawi wich was easiest accessible with a flight from Kuala Lumpur, and the friends we had made in Taman Negara where also going there so it was very suitable for us. We stayed in the Oriental Village wich was a smaller tourist attraction that were insipred from a variety of oriental cultures, such as Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Malayan.
Even though there where quite alot of tourists during the days, the place had a certain feeling to it during the evenings when most of the people where gone.
The best thing about this place was the Seven Wells Waterfall that where only ten minutes away wich we visited nearly each day. The waterfall and the stream had drilled diffrent pools into the underlying rocks where you could swim. It was a magical place surrounded by the jungle. Sadly the lowest pools were filled with garbage and littering. During our stay in Malaysia there where several occasions when we were reminded of how clean Sweden is compared to Malaysia, but we can all improve!
We also came upon some cool animals in this region, Flying Geckos, Hornbills, Dusky Leaf Monkeys and different kinds of snakes. While snorkling by the waterfall there was a snake that fell down and landed on Cecilias swiming goggles. After a little bit of research we are pretty sure it was a "Specklebelly Keelback".
When our friends had left Langkawi to fly back home we decided to find somewhere else to stay, and preferably by the beach. We ended up by the Cenang Beach area wich was definitely the most touristfilled place yet. The beaches where beautiful and with the small islands surrounding us it felt quite special to be there. We swam and sunbathed alot and during the nights we went along the beach to find seashells and looked for Fruit Bats. When the sun had set, you could see some local kids playing with fire and atuning their fire juggling skills.
We made some new great friends in the Tenangh beach area. So the last time we switched hotels we decided to move there. Our last day we chose to make it special and went on a guided tour through the mangroves, wich were both more and less than we hoped for.
The purity of the mangroves where amazing and the wildlife there where quite uniqe, however we felt the tourism in the area could have been better. We got to see bats, spiders, huge eagles and alot of monkeys. The tourguide told us not to feed the monkeys because it provokes the monkeys to steal from the tourists. But later on one of the guides threw food at the monkeys to attract them and we surely could feel the hypocrisy. It just felt so very wrong, and we could do nothing else but to feel sad for the monkeys.
We ended our last day with some class and ate at a traditional Japanese restaurant, it was a really nice resturant and we were lucky we got at table! We both agreed that this was the best kind of cuisine we had eaten during this whole trip.
The next day awaited only a 30 hours trip back home to Sweden including four different flights and one train. But it feels good to be back!
The Old Jungle
The Oriental Village
Beaches and Mangroves
Along this trip we also went to two different fish farms. One of them was mostly for tourist to come and se the exotic fishes, and we did not like this part either, because of the low standars and how they hurt the fishes to perform for the tourists. The other fishfarm was better and since it also was a resturant they used the fish as food and not for the tourists to see. After the fishfarms we went to a secluded beach among the cliffs where Christian nearly stepped on a Tokay Gecko. But luckily the gecko had his eyes on him and quacked to be noticed. Funny enough this was the biggest Tokay Gecko we ever saw, around 30cm long.
The Ancient Jungle
