Of all the jungles, in all the world, you had to walk into mine...

One of the main reasons I decided to spend a week in Malaysia was to do a Jungle Trek through Taman Negara, the National Rainforest.

Bright and early, we catch a bus to Kuala Tembeling. 4 hours on the bus, then 3 hours on a boat down the river, and I'm finally in Kuala Tahan, the main entry port of the Rainforest. Because travelling there took so long, there wasn't much time for Rainforest activities. We just had time for dinner and then a brief Night Jungle Trek. Watched a 15 minute film introducing us to the beauty of the rainforest and the many creatures that live there. Then set out with our flashlights and tried to find sleeping animals and various other things. Saw sleeping pheasants, mating stick bugs (they can mate for up to 2 weeks! nonstop!), and bioflorescent mushrooms.

The next day was the big day of activities. Canopy Walk - 45 meters above the ground and the only thing keeping you up is a plank of wood and lots of rope. Awesome, but nervewracking. After that we trekked to the nearest peak. Such hard work in the heat and humidity and then it started pouring buckets of rain, making the trail muddy and slick. By the time we reached the top, I was drenched and about ready to pass out. Thank goodness the trek back was all down hill. The peak provided a good view, but because of the rain a lot of it was covered in mist. Oh well, still great! We reach the bottom for lunch and then we were off again, this time for Rapids Shooting!

Rapids Shooting is like White Water Rafting, but instead of a raft we were in a long, thin motorized boat. We all got drenched and it was so refreshing! At the halfway point we got out to visit the Bahat Nomadic Tribe. They are the only people allowed to live and hunt in the national rainforest and it's never guaranteed they'll be available to visit because they move so often. This was the first village that I've visited that didn't try to sell me stuff and didn't feel kind of manufactured. The villagers didn't speak any English, but our tour guide spoke their language, so he translated. They showed us how they start a fire, make their blow darts for hunting, and I even got to shoot a blow dart! They set up a mini target and a few of us in the group got to try! So after the demonstrations, we got to walk around the village for a bit. Just as we were starting to dry off from the rapids, it starts pouring buckets again and I slip in the mud to boot. I'm soaking wet, covered in mud, and then we realize that in order to get back, we go through the rapids again! SO MUCH FUN. That night, a cold shower never felt so good.

That night at dinner, who do I run into but Jonas and Stephanie from CUHK! What are chances! So we catch up a bit, but then I'm off to a Night Jungle Safari. Road in the back of a heavy duty pick up truck type vehicle through the jungle and see some wild boar, sleeping birds, owls, and even a small jungle cat!

The next day we travel back to KL. That night, went around Times Square, the Petronas Towers, and go to my first Fish Foot Spa. It's where you put your feet in this pond where there are toothless flesh eating fish and they eat all of the calluses and dead skin off your feet. It tickled so much and was so weird. But definitely worth the US$1.25! My feet are soooo smooth right now. Maybe I'll do it again towards the end of my trip when I'll need it most.

Today I visited the Batu Caves, where there's a huge gold figure of a Hindu God and inside the caves are many smaller ones. It was pretty cool, but if you're ever in KL and short on time, you could skip it.

And now I'm off to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Haven't booked a hostel yet, so we'll see how this goes.

I hope you guys all survived finals and are having a great holiday season so far!