from the jungle to the city

Somehow we managed to tear ourselves off the beach and check out some more of what Malaysia has to offer. We took a ride on the jungle railway that literally cuts through the middle of the jungle and spits you out at the base of Taman Negara, a national park well known for jungle treks and animal spottings.  We hiked in and stayed in a hide overnight where you sleep in a hut raised off the ground and positioned above a watering hole so you can see and hear animals at night.  We were lucky enough to see a few tapirs but it was almost more interesting to hear these guys... They created this crazy and surprisingly loud slurping noise while they drank. And they're thirsty little suckers so it was pretty funny going to bed with them sipping away down below. 

From the jungle we headed to the big ole city of Kuala Lumpur.  It's always a big shock to my system when I get to a big city in Asia- bright lights, efficiency, technology, advertisements galore... we showed up dirty and stinky from the jungle and had to adjust to being back in city life.  We're excited to enjoy the joys of convenience and all-day of electricity. 

famous sky-high Petronas Towers in KL

Knowing that KL would be a bit more expensive and difficult to tap into the local scene, we planned to couch surf... What proceeded to happen was so ridiculous and fantastic, it's still hard to believe. We met our host, a sweet girl only a few years older than us, at the end of her workday still in our smelly-jungle state. We knew ahead of time that she lived with her parents and asked again, just to be sure, that they didn't mind having couch surfers in their home. She assured us that they didn't mind and we would just need to answer their questions about ourselves so they could get to know us a bit. No problem, completely understandable. Soon enough we had arrived at their apartment... Vasae and I shared a secret look of confusion as we were entering the lobby of huge a sky-scraper. Still unsure as to what was going on, we wised up in the elevator as our host hit the button to the top apartment. The doors opened to the pent house suite, a gorgeous apartment overlooking the city equipped with beautiful rooms, live-in maids and a private rooftop pool. Um, excuse me? Our host then explained that she doesn't include any of these details on her couch surfing profile for fear of attracting the wrong kind of surfers. We understood and couldn't believe our luck.  We get to stay here, for free? We felt like little impostures but it was incredible to stay in such a wonderful place. Our host and her parents showed us an amazing time- took us to the local market, shared their family dinner table with us each night, and all in all were a joy to be around :) Here's a glimpse of what is was like at the rooftop pool. I honestly feel like my life is a joke at times...

It's hard to believe that mid August is already here and that it's time for Vasae to go home. I'm in denial and contemplating kidnapping her so she won't leave me. She flies out tomorrow to return to adventures awaiting her in the US and while I'm very excited for what she has coming up, I selfishly wish she could stay in Asia with me. I'm so extremely lucky to have had her with me this whole time, traveling will certainly not be the same without her!