Taman Nagara - Malaysian Tropics

I'm still running behind on my blog updates so I'll make couple of posts of what happened in the past few weeks. After KL we made a trip to Taman Nagara one of Malaysian national park and also one of the oldest rain forests in the world. We arrived to the park, and our hostel, after a two hour bus ride and then a 3 hour boat ride. We encountered various water dwelling mammals, the largest one was a water buffalo, which in SEA is a tamed animal that is used on a farm.

The rain forest itself is quite humid and, well, rainy. As soon as we got to our hostel the rain started to come down. Since we REALLY needed showers we decided to take a shower in the poring rain. Needless to say it was quite refreshing. Our hostel setting wasn't bad at all except our bathrooms contained every known insect known to world. Oh yea, these insects were double sized. Grasshoppers and crickets the size of my fist! Some of us didn't mind too much but some were freaking out! Nick, our tour guy, laughed at the girls.

Our stay at the jungle included the canopy walk, hiking, boat rides, swimming and visit to the local village. The aborigines at this village still live the way they lived hundreds of years ago. The showed us how they hunt with their blow guns. I must say that I'm quite an accurate at shooting one of them. No worries, no one gut hurt. We ate at the floating restaurants, met locals and foreigners. There was another school trip at the location. We figured we might have something in common once we've seen that one of the students was wearing a Tech shirt.

During our last few days at the jungle many of us wondered how the civilization felt like. Well, we were about the find out. Or next trip was to Siem Reap, Cambodia. One of my favorite places on the trip. Stay tuned for that. :)

Peace, Love and Travel

Elvir

Malaysia - Kalula Lampur

Hello there my dear followers. It's been a while since I blogged so I'm gonna try and fill you in on the missing time. Our time in Malaysia was full of activities. We arrived in Kalula Lampur (KL) via bus and stayed on the campus of Malay University. The university has its own hotel named Rumah hotel.

Malaysia is primerely an islamic country. Mosques and prayer rooms are pretty much everywhere, hotels, airports, gas stations, etc. We visited a mosque in a newly developed complex called Putrajaya. This area is about 11 years old and the newly build mosque is a, well, huge. We saw many visitors there and talked to a guide who, by her physical appearance, reminded me of women from Srebrenica. She wore a colorful hijab (head covering) and smiled as she talked about the newly build mosque and her relationship with islam. Women in Malaysia are gorgeous, even though most of them cover their hair, their faces and smiles are innocently beautiful. While in KL we went to the Pataling Street (I think I spelled that right). This is a typical tourist place. People shop and eat, then shop some more. The very good fakes that are sold here are VERY cheap. Whats more fun here is hackling and bargining. I bought things that I don't know if I'll need.

We also visited Batu Caves (google it). It's a "cave" dedicated to the hindu religion represented in Malaysia. There were 272 steps we needed to climb to get to the top and monkeys, who make themselves at home, decided to get really close and scare few tourists away. I must admit I got little jumpy as well.

Our next experience is Taman Nagara, a tropical rain forest 2 hours away from KL. Until then...

Peace, Love and Travel

Singapore - The Culture Clash

Hey everyone. It's been few days since the last post so I'll update you on our first stop of the trip - Singapore. Singapore is one of the oldest ports of Southeast Asia and it's comprised of 70% Chinese, about 20% Malay (Muslim) and 10% Hindu (Indian) population. In the last 40 years Singapore has advanced in such way that those that leave the city and come back after few years have trouble recognizing streets and infrastructure. While there are some few old places, there are plenty of highrises and shopping centers for everyone to enjoy.

Yesterday we visited National University of Singapore (NUS) and had some interesting insight on how public relations is done and thought in Singapore. Since government has the control of mainly everything communicating with people is very challenging. The first amendment right is practically nonexistent, however, people are willing to sacrifice some of their civil liberties for economic stability and development which is quite interesting.

We are staying at Sleepy Sam's, a hostel that is next to a Sultan Mosque on Arab street. We usually get a wake up call around the 5 am. Well, we ARE staying right next to the mosque. Our next move is Kuala Lampur and then the 3 day trip to the rain forest and national park Teman Negara in Malaysia.

Starting a trip of a lifetime.

Well, it's about that time. In 24 hours or so 10 other students and I will be departing from Dulles airport in D.C. to head to Singapore. While some people have mixed feelings about this trip I am anxious and at the same time ecstatic about it. I am looking forward to exploring different cultures and experiencing things that only southeast Asia can offer. I'm looking forward to elephant tracking, tiger temple, visiting various regions and seeing how others live, what they eat, what kind of jobs they have, history, museums, shopping areas, just to name a few. This blog is designed to document all of these things and to help my family and friends feel as they are on the trip with me and are experiencing the same things that I do, as I wish they could. Feel free to sign up for the blogger and comment on my posts. And now I'm off to finish packing few more things.

Until next time,
Elvir

Love, Peace and Travel

May 12
Depart for Singapore
May 13
Arrive in Singapore 11:40 p.m.
May 14-16
Singapore
May 16
Take bus to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
May 17
Batu Caves
May 18
Depart for Teman Negara, Malaysia
May 19-20
Teman Negara
May 21
Return to Kuala Lumpur
May 22
Fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia
May 22-24
Siem Reap, Cambodia
May 25
Take bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
May 26
Phnom Penh
May 27
Bus to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
May 28/29
Ho Chi Minh City
May 30
Fly to Bangkok, Thailand
May 30-June 4
Bangkok
June 5-7
Chiang Mai, Thailand
June 8
Return to Bangkok and fly home