First Impressions
Malaysia — very helpful and awesome people, amazing dishes and an impressive mix of cultures. That are the first things that comes to our mind after 10 days exploring the peninsula of Malaysia.
First of all, it was a nice relief that almost everyone speaks English. Or maybe it's a natural thing when there live such a mix of cultures: mostly Chinese, Indian and Malaysian. But not a surprise we spent most time in the nature.
Segamat and Gunung Ledang
We crossed the Singapore–Malaysia border very easily and started moving to the north. First stop was in Segamat city. We spent a really nice evening with HansHomestay — that was the first time we had an opportunity to learn about Malaysian culture.
Next morning, we headed to Gunung Ledang which has a mystic story about a princess (look it up, it's quite something). Mostly there are hilly jungles and big palm oil plantations. It is one of the main Malaysian businesses — yes, the same palm oil you can find in a Nutella jar.
Taman Negara
Afterwards we headed up to Taman Negara national park. It is known as one of the oldest rain forests in the world. We spent a night near the waterfall surrounded just by the sounds of water and animals. We were completely alone and slept with a small fear that some tiger or elephant can come visit us (they both live in this forest along with millions of monkeys and other creatures). But everything went well.
Next morning (birthday of William!), we were picked up by a longboat and one more time crossed the jungles — just this time by river.
George Town, Penang
After we managed to go all the way to Penang with 1 bus, 9 hitchhikes, 2 trains and 1 ferry. It was a city that we really enjoyed. A lot of good street art, very tasty cuisine and nice people.
Langkawi
Our last stop before Thailand was Langkawi island. You can find everything over there: white sand beaches and nice mountains. One of the best things we did was going up to the mountain — impressive cable car ride, roads touching the clouds. That is something that Malaysia can be really proud of.
Now in Thailand
Now we are in Thailand. After crossing the border by water for the first time in our lives. We are enjoying Koh Lanta and planning our future adventures. Because of Augustina's visa we can spend just 15 days here so it will be quick. We are starting to think how to cross the border to Myanmar — it starts to be interesting with all the visas and border crossings.