Malaysia: Pretty much awesome. We arrived at the Kuala Lumpur airport about 7 o'clock wednesday night. The first thing we saw was a McDonald's. We were not in Cambodia anymore. By the time we got our luggage and changed money, it was almost 8. Realizing that the airport is about an hour away from the actual city, we resisted the urge to get fries, and instead took a bus to Kuala Lumpur. Once in Kuala Lumpur, we were slightly overwhelmed by things such as paved roads, traffic lgihts, traffic laws, etc.The city at night is beuatifiul. The twin towers sort of glow, but more about those in a minute.We took the monorail to the place that the lonely planet guidebook said had hostels. Unfortunately, we went one stop too far. So then we walked. It was fun. And tiring. And we met a nice Indian guy who tried to help us, but he didn't know anymore than we did. We still slightly in awe of being in a city with public transportation. Eventually, we found a hostel. We had rice and fried chicken for dinner (the fried chicken is fantastic!) The next day, we trekked all over town. We had curry for breakfast, then we headed for the towers. They are amazing. I bought a lonely planet calendar last year, and each month it has some pictures and a little blurb about a different city. After the month was up, I hung the pictures on my wall. The picture for Malaysia was of the Petronas towers. I always thought if would be super cool to see them. I saw them. And it was super cool. The building is beautriful. The first five floors are a shopping mall (the food court included A&W and Dunkin' Donuts) and the higher floors are offices. They let you go up to the bridge that connects them. You can see the entire city. It was kind of surreal to be standing in the Malaysian equilivalent of the statue of liberty, looking out on the city. Kuala Lumpur is encircled by mountains. It was overcast the day we went, and the fog was just starting to roll off the mountains. It was incredible. We spent the rest of the day trekking around the city. I found a starbucks, that made me pretty happy. Then we found a huge mall/foodcourt/spa/movie theatre.I can't even begin to describe it. really. I have never seen anything like it in America. After spending 8 months in Cambodia, it was really too much. We saw "He's just not that into you", ate popcorn, and then had subway and baskin robin for dinner. It was fantastic. It was a bit diffifcult to get used to things like crosswalks, and forming orderly lines, and not bargaining for everything you buy.
Then we went to Taman Negara. It means "National Park" in Malay. Their creativity with names is less than astounding, but it was really too wonderful for words. It was hard to get to, as no one could seem to agree on where the bus station was, but after many navigational misadventures, we arrived in Jerantut. This is the town with a bus that goes to the rainforest. And a KFC. And that was were things got really interesting. There were two guys sitting across from us at KFC. They stared and made kissing noises, but that didn't bother us because we get that in Cambodia all the time. We didn't think anything of it. And then we boarded the bus. One of then comes up to our window and points to a pick up. His friend is sitting in the driver's seat. Neither speaks English. We figure out that he wants us to get in the truck. He tells us that they will take us to our destination for free. At least we think that's what he was trying to say. After suspending sanity and consdiring it for moment, we decide that would be one of the most stupid and dangerous things we could do. So we stayed in the bus. They drove off (or so we thought) revving the engine as they went past the bus. After a few more minutes the bus takes off. Suddenlly, the two guys are behind us. Maybe they just happen to be going this way, I thought. Then the bus stopped to pick up another passenger. And the truck stopped too. Maybe they have arrived at their destination. Negative. They waited for the bus, and then continued following. It was funny for the first 20 minutes. Then we were a little creeped out. Thankfully, about halfway to our destination, they stopped. Then it started raining again. The windows on the bus were down, and some wouldn't stay closed, including mine. So one of the teenage boys who had been staring at us came over and held my window closed. The whole bus cheered for him. It was priceless. He continued to hold the window closed for a good ten minutes. His name was Azman; he didn't speak much English, but he was adorable. We were sad when he and his friends got off the bus.
So we get to the little resort town. We have no idea where to go. So we just look for a place to get out of the rain. We literally stumble upon a small hostel, ran by a Bob Marley fan named Zeck. Zeck was a pretty cool guy. He's Malay, but he has worked in Scotland for 7 years. He came back to help friends run a hostel. We played rummy with him. He usually lost. When he wasn't there, there was a kid name Ihi. He was a 19 year old from another city who had been sent to help family work at the resort. He was bored and lonely (as he repeatedly told us) being away from all his friends and family.He really liked us a lot. He didn't speak much English, but he taught us some malay words. Adorable. And then there was the jungle... We took in well over 11k (I've forgotten how to use miles, you figure it out) and that's just distance, not elevation. First of all, I can't even describe what it's like being in the oldest forest in the world. You are complelely surrounded, cut off from anything. everywhere you look there is green. We took a small side trail accidentally at first. Thankfuly it was a loop and we ended up back where we started. When we got there, there was a tour group. Knowing we had to uphold our reputation as Peace Corps Volunteers, we raced them to the next stop on the trail. They were unaware of this fact. And then they took a different (easier) trail and it didn't really matter. But we still felt good about winning. The whole point of this exercise was to get to a rope bridge in the canopy. Which meant climbing a really steep hill. But we did it. And then... the rope bridge. You know how on movies, people cross vast casms in the earth on rickety rope bridges? I did that. Except it wasn't really a vast casm. But we were really high up. We walked on a mile's worth of rope bridges suspended above the rainforet canopy. Wow. At first, I was pretty much freaked out. The first bridge (they were laid out in a series of about six) I could barely look down. They move a lot, especially when other people get on them. But by the third bridges it was really easy. I was hundreds of feet obove the ground, looking down at the Malaysian rainforest. Just wow.
And that was only the first leg of our trek. After that, there was a mountain. We didn't actually realize it was mountain at first. We just saw a said that said that there was something down the trail to our right. So we thought, "why not check it out?" Um...It was definitely a mountain. A REALLY steep mountain. It was nearly vertical in may places. We had to stop several times. But the view from the top was worth it. It was like being in national geographic. And then we had to go down. Going up a sheer mountain isn't easy, but getting down can be downright dangerous. But we are peace corps volunteers, and we don't let little things like mountains stop us. We slid down on our butts a couple of times, but we were victorious in the end. After that, we felt we deserved lunch. So we ate. And then we went to a cave. At first we were a bit worried. The trail seemed nearly vertical, and we were tired from the morning's adventures. But then it got remarkably easier. We even came upon a local village. We didn't go in because it seemed impolite, but it was super to see people just coming and going, from huts, in the rainforest. And when it isn't raining, the rainforest is a mudforest. And leeches like mud. I don't like leeches. I only got bit once, Kelsey twice. I think that's respectable. Thankfully, there are no leeches in caves. The cave was narrow, and we had my tiny flashlight (thanks Maw-Maw!). So we crawled around and I held the flashlight in my mouth. We are hardcore (not really). Anyway, we slipped and slid on the rocks. They were blue and metallic. But it was the bats that really made it special. They were all over the roof of the cave. We really shouldn't have been surprised, being in a cave and all. It seems sort of obvious really. But imagine yourself suddenly surrounded by bats. Hundrends of thousands of bats. Everywhere. Alas, were thwarted by bats. We got to a point where the bat poop was so thick that the rocks were too slippery to climb on. It was just a little gross. When we came back out of the cave, we were disgiusting. We were covered in mud and bat crap. But it was definitely worth it. Our last rainforest adventure was leaving it. We took a two hour boat ride up the river to the bus station. It was really realaxing. And we are not even halfway through the trip. At 1am, yes, in the morning, our train leaves for our next destination, the Perhentian Islands, which are supposed to be the most beautiful in the world. I'll let you know.
Also, for the family: I received Maw Maw's and the Nannies' birthday boxes. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much! AND I can recieve phone calls from Cambodia here in Malaysia, so it you want to try and call, you might get through!

Well, being in a Muslim nation there hasn't been much talk of easter. I didn't actually realize it was easter til I checked facebook and saw everyone's status'. So happy easter everyone! Love and miss you all!