Holiday Weekend Adventures

Micah had a four-day weekend for Chinese New Year. Our original plan was to go to Cambodia to see the temples at Angkor Wat. But we waited too long to buy the tickets, and everything was much more expensive…so we booked that trip for March, instead! Our next plan was to rent a car and drive to Melaka to see what we could see there, but because of the holiday weekend we decided we didn’t want to pay for exorbitant hotel fees. So Plan C was to rent a car for two days and see some places near KL that were outside the reaches of public transportation and/or not convenient for a cab.

This seemed like an awesome plan, but then we realized we didn’t really know anything about renting a car in Malaysia. Is there a more reputable service? Is there one near us, or will we have to go to the airport to pick it up? Will we get taken advantage of, because we don’t know what we should ask for in terms of price and extra services? So Micah asked Daneal, who appears to be the head concierge guy. (He might have an official title, but I don’t know it.) Micah asked for a recommendation on a place to call, assuming that we would then make the arrangements. Instead, Daneal said he would take care of it and call us in 15 minutes to confirm the details. The perks of living at a hotel! Do you remember that scene in The Shawshank Redemption when Andy introduces himself to Red and says, “I hear you’re a man who knows how to get things.” Daneal is certainly a man who knows how to get things! It worked out perfectly. The price was right, we got a GPS included, AND they dropped it off to us at the hotel and picked it up again.

Adventure #1

On Saturday we went to FRIM, which is the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia, but everyone here just calls it by the acronym. It is about 30 minutes away from our hotel, still within KL but outside the main metropolitan area. The cost is pretty reasonable, too, but we did feel nickel and dimed. The entrance fee was RM5 per person, plus a RM5 car fee, and then they asked if we had a camera. Bringing a camera is another RM5. The Canopy Walkway is an additional ticket at RM10 each. All in all, it cost us RM40 or about $11 USD. FRIM is a working research facility, so there are labs and work buildings around the grounds. For tourists, it has several hiking trails, a café and picnic area, as well as a campground and mountain biking trails. The main tourist draw, though, is the Canopy Walkway. You are encouraged to book tickets in advance, as they only allow 250 people per day on the walkway. Of this, they reserve 50 tickets for walk in customers. The park itself opened at 5:30am, and the walkway opened at 9:30am. I assume they start selling tickets as soon as the park opens. By the time we arrived, around 10:30am, they were just selling out of tickets…glad I emailed for a reservation! Tickets in hand, we happily followed the park signs to the walkway.

I wouldn’t say that we are really experienced hikers, but we enjoy hiking in general and try to take every opportunity to hike somewhere. We weren’t sure what kind of trails to expect, so we prepared for basically anything. We wore wicking shirts and UV-blocking pants…though to be honest, this is just a smart policy in Malaysia in general.  We didn’t know what the terrain was going to be like, so we decided on our hiking boots instead of Tevas/Keens, and we prepped our Camelbaks the night before. I also packed our waterproof bag with snacks and a few “just in case” items like bandaids. Since the trails were basically a tourist area, I was pretty certain we could forego a full first aid kit and survival rations. At first, it seemed like we had over prepped. The trails were really wide, like almost wide enough for two vehicles to pass, and were graveled. Everyone else we saw looked like they were out for a casual walk in the park, many people wore flip-flops and it didn’t seem like many people were carrying packs or even water bottles of any kind. And here we are in our full hiking gear! As we left the main trail to take the trail to the Canopy Walk, however, we were glad we had worn our boots and brought Camelbaks! The trail got very steep, very narrow, and had a lot of switchbacks. It also became a more “natural” trail- it was still clearly marked and very well maintained, but it felt more like “real” jungle trekking over roots and rocks and things as opposed to walking along a gravel walking path.

The walkway itself was amazing. I am not typically afraid of heights and I used to enjoy doing ropes courses and “adventure” stuff, but my legs were more shaky than I thought I’d be! Micah, who doesn’t enjoy heights, was fine. It was a great experience, and we agree that we would do it again if one of his colleagues wanted to go or if we had visitors. The views were phenomenal. The sense of being that high in the trees was really unique and just very cool.

 

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We knew from the website that we wouldn’t be able to take pictures while we were on the walkway itself. And what kind of blogger would I be without pictures of it? (Pics, or it didn’t happen!) So we talked about buying a Go Pro video camera. We have toyed with it before, and decided we would have enough opportunities to use it, between the canopy walkway, the Cambodia trip, and a few other things we have planned. So we bought one the day before. I really liked using it, it was pretty lightweight to wear on a head strap, but after hiking with it for a while felt like the strap was trying to burrow into my scalp and I took it off. I don’t have a lot of patience for editing videos, either, so that will take a long time to learn the best ways to do it. Other than that, the Go Pro gets my endorsement!

Here is the video from the first leg of the walk. (It’s also available on our YouTube channel.)  According to this, it took about 3 minutes, but it really felt longer. I think the whole thing probably took us about 15 minutes, including time to enjoy the scenery at the platforms, but it felt like we were in the canopy for a really long time! I highly recommend doing this particular walk, or one like it, if you ever have the opportunity.

 

 

Adventure #2

After acclimating to driving on Saturday, on Sunday we went far outside the city – to a different state, even – to check out the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah. According to Google Maps, it should have taken us about 1.5 hours to get there. We made it there in 2 hours, thanks to the GPS not being speedy enough about which turns to take. Overall, it was not too bad of a trip. Their website is a government run site, and the information was pretty minimal. Lonely Planet talked about it a little, but it didn’t get a rave review or anything, so we weren’t too sure what we were getting ourselves into. The drive there was really beautiful though, through the mountains and some palm plantations, and we kept saying things like, “Well, even if the elephant thing sucks, this is a nice drive!”

We finally arrived and parked easily, which was nice because FRIM’s parking isn’t well marked and was a free for all. We found the visitor’s center, also clearly marked and easy to find, and filled out our registration form releasing the center of all liability. The entrance is by donation, whatever amount you want to pay. This is really nice because it makes visiting the center affordable for everyone. We elected to pay extra for tickets for the baby elephant “bath time” which also included a guide and some behind the scenes stuff. For two adults, this cost RM50, or about $15 USD.

After we registered, there was still time to feed the elephants before the suggested/required introductory video, so we went down to do that. For RM3 you could buy a bundle of about 10 pieces of sugar cane to feed the elephants. At first we just watched the elephants, but then we couldn’t resist feeding them. These elephants are kept in what appeared to be pretty small paddocks, and both of us were a little surprised. We expected it to be more “free range,” since it was a conservation center and all. But it was fun to feed them, so we did that for a bit, then had lunch and went to watch the video. The video was actually really interesting, and detailed how the center rescues rogue elephants that are endangering villages or plantations. There’s an argument here about “maybe people shouldn’t be encroaching on the elephants’ habitat, and there would be less rogue elephant behavior.” That’s certainly true, but outside the scope of my tourist expertise. And, quite frankly, it’s hard to tell people they can’t make a living or live in the jungle because an elephant might want that part of the jungle. I think the center takes the view of “Unfortunately this is inevitable, so what can we do to help the elephants given that these are the circumstances?” So that’s the view I will take here as well.

After the video, we met up with our tour guide. Kamil was amazing, very knowledgeable and patient with all of our questions. We first learned more about the elephants in the paddocks. They are there in the afternoons for the visitors to see, but in the mornings they get “free roaming” time in the jungle surrounding the center to acclimate them to being independent. They also get some “free play” time with toys for stimulation. The elephants in the paddocks are being rehabilitated to be reintroduced to the wild in various national and state parks; they are at the center while they are getting medical treatment and/or growing up to where they can be released. Some of the elephants will also be trained to be rescue elephants. The rescue elephants go along to help with the rogue elephants. Obviously, being captured and relocated is very stressful for an elephant, so the rescue elephants help the rogue elephant calm down and feel better because elephants are very social animals. They called the rescue elephants the Big Elephants, and they were big!

 

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After a ranger told us more about what kind of work the Big Elephants do, and after we saw the Big Elephant bath time, it was time for the baby elephant bath time. Our guide got us in the first group to participate, which was cool. There were two baby elephants in the river and about 5 people would help bathe the elephant at a time, along with 3 or 4 guides. We scrubbed his back and head with a brush and played and splashed water around. It was really fun for us, and it seemed like the elephant enjoyed the playtime also. After our turn was over, walking out of the river, Micah and I agreed that those few minutes were amazing and well worth the trip there. (It also completely validated the purchase of the Go Pro as we now have an awesome video!) If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Conservation Centre, pay the extra money for bath time, you won’t be disappointed. And bring a change of clothes and some towels.

After we changed into our newly purchased t-shirts and toweled off with our newly purchased towel, we met up with our guide again because it was time for more behind the scenes stuff. The center has three babies. The two bigger ones, 2-3 years old, were the ones we bathed in the river. The third one was about 6-9 months and was about the size of a motorcycle. This baby, Lanchang, is the one we got to play with. He came trotting out with his “Uncle,” that’s how the handler was introduced to us, and looked so happy to be out for a walk. He was really curious about everything, trying to find things to pick up with his trunk. Lanchang was really interested in walking around, so when it was our turn for playtime, we basically just walked around with him. It was surprisingly fun! The other people on the behind the scenes tour had two little girls, so we reluctantly finished our playtime so the girls could play.

 

The baby elephant! Just playing with this guy made the extra tour worth the money.

 

Kamil told us more about some of the other elephants, including one that lost a foot. Selendang was caught in a trap and was so injured that her foot had to be amputated. Not to worry though, they designed a prosthetic leg for her so she can go out in the jungle for her free roaming time still. She shares a paddock with another elephant, and they figured out how to remove her prosthetic and play with it. So while she is in the paddock, the handlers take the prosthetic off because it is too expensive to be used as a toy. Because of her injury, her other leg is bowed out since it does all of the front weight bearing. Kamil said a vet was coming in soon to design a brace to help support that leg. She will likely have a shorter life span than the other elephants and won’t be able to be rehabilitated to go back to the jungle or to become a rescue elephant. If she were in the wild though, she would have already died from her wound most likely.

 

Selendang elephant uses a prosthetic leg when she goes to play in the yard!

She was so sweet!

 

Part of our “behind the scenes” tour involved doing some chores.

The behind the scenes tour also includes doing some “chores.” Some of the families cut up fruit for elephant snack time, some made milk for the baby elephants, and Micah was handed a shovel. Fortunately for me, Kamil just told me where to stand and to get my camera ready. I’ll take the light duty over the poop shoveling any day!

 
 
 
 

After this, it was sadly time to go. We really enjoyed the day, and I think having access to a private tour made it worthwhile. We learned so much more and came away with a much different impression of the centre and the work they do than we would have otherwise.

The drive back was awful, by the way. What should have been a 1.5-hour drive took 5 hours. Including about 30 minutes at a rest stop, 28 of which I spent in line for the bathroom. I’d characterize the traffic as “stop and go” but it was really much more “stop” than “go.” Micah did an amazing job navigating the traffic and the unfamiliar road rules…apparently it is OK to make an extra lane in the breakdown lane…when this happens, all the cars shift over to accommodate the extra lane, meaning that the far lane is really close to the center divider and the middle lane is basically on the lane divider. Oh, and it also rained the entire way through the mountains. It was really stressful to be a passenger, I am very thankful I didn’t have to drive in those conditions!

To end on a happy note, please enjoy the video of highlights of feeding the elephants, playing with the baby, and bath time.  (Also available on our YouTube channel.)

 

Photo Challenge

Here’s your sign…

Today’s Blogging 101 task is to participate in a blogging “event.”  These are things like a writing prompt or a flash fiction challenge designed to build community by having bloggers respond to a shared topic:

blogger-hosted events are fun, free, spirited ways to get even more feedback on your work, build your audience, and make friends

I chose a photography challenge called Signs:

For this challenge, share an image of a sign: it can be a sign near your home — a comforting sight after a long journey — a sign that doubles as art, or other types of signs that hold meaning for you.

This challenge spoke to me because we saw a fantastic sign on our jungle trek this weekend.  We couldn’t understand most of the words on the sign, but its meaning was clear nonetheless.

The consequences for rule breaking are quite dire, apparently.

Without knowing any Bahasa Malaysia, you still get the idea that there is something you should not do.  And if you do it, you might get shot.  A combination of the unmistakeable image and not knowing the text makes this very frightening.

Let’s break it down.  We know dilarang masuk, that’s a phrase we’ve seen in various places, and dilarang is even more common.  Dilarang means Do Not . . . do not park, do not smoke . . . we’ve seen that word a lot.  Dilarang Masuk means Do Not Enter.  So now we know that we aren’t supposed to enter the park and/or the hiking trail (or we’ll get shot.)  A little closer examination of the sign shows us some numbers at the bottom: 8.00 pg – 6.00 ptg.  If you hadn’t seen the blue sign behind that shows you that pg is equivalent to am, you might still be able to deduce that this is something about time.  So now we think we know that we aren’t supposed to enter the trail between 8:00am – 6:00pm.  OK, that’s pretty standard, aside from the threat of being held at gun point and/or shot if I enter at the wrong time of course.

But what about the rest of it?  The day we saw this sign, it was totally opaque to me.  Other than the “Do not enter” phrase that I knew, and the clear consequences if I break the rules that I can’t read, I had no idea what this sign said.  We were with a trekking guide, so I felt confident that we wouldn’t break any firing squad-worthy rules. . . that day.  Because we were with a guide, the sign seemed kind of funny at the time.  I mean, really, would a trespasser really get shot on the spot?  When I decided to do the photo challenge and use this sign, I started thinking about it a little more.  I have no idea what that sign says, other than do not enter.  With the obviously dire consequences, the sign is no longer funny – it’s terrifying.

We haven’t had a lot of language barrier challenges within KL, at least nothing huge, but we really are at a disadvantage for official communication.  What if the rest of that sign tells me not to bring something in to the park?  What if it tells me not to do something once I’m in?  What if, what if, what if?  This sign reinforced the need to thoroughly research what we are doing, where we are going, and what we are allowed to do once we are there.  It also reinforced the need to take the phrase book with us when we go outside of the city.

Beyond the language barrier, the imagery on this sign is very different from standard “do not enter” signs in the U.S.  I have never seen an official sign that clearly threatens violence like this.  I can picture a sign that says “Violators will be prosecuted” or something similar where there might be an implied threat of unpleasant circumstances.  I’ve also seen, or maybe just heard of, “Trespassers will be shot,” but only on private property.  I would never expect a sign like that in a public park.

This sign served as a reminder of how far away from home we really are and how different life can be in Malaysia.

(Oh, so what does the rest of the sign say?  “Do not enter except during the allowed days.  Operating hours, Friday-Sunday 8:00am – 6:00pm”  Not so scary after all.  Except for the picture.)

Happy Yen’s Jungle Trek

Ranger Duck enjoyed his first jungle trek.

One of my weekly, self-imposed “jobs” is to find things to do on the weekends.  We like hiking and outdoor activities in general, and one thing we’ve looked forward to experiencing in Malaysia is jungle trekking.  This past Monday was another holiday, Hari Raya Haji, to celebrate the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca, so Micah had a 3 day weekend.  This seemed like an ideal time to take a day trip out of the city and find some jungle to trek in!  Jungle trekking in the highlands around KL is a really popular activity, so we knew it wouldn’t be very hard to find a place to trek and we knew that there would be opportunities within a reasonable distance from the city.  The hard part was going to be finding transportation.  Armed with my trusty Lonely Planet guidebook, I started investigating options.  (Side note:  I love Lonely Planet.  I’ve never used them much before, but their KL and Malaysia books have been wonderful.  They suggest great things to do on a budget and include a lot of self-guided activities.  Lonely Planet has earned my undying love and affection.)

I found one or two that we could take public transportation to and some that we would need to rent a car.  There were some that would be best as an overnight trip due to the time it takes to get there.  Some were guided and some were “on your own.”  One of the treks that Lonely Planet recommends as an easy day trip from KL and an easy hike is a trek to Chiling Falls.  The book said you could do it on your own, but recommended hiring a guide.  Since we are rookie trekkers, we thought hiring a guide would be a good idea to take some of the pressure off of finding our way and being safe on the river crossings.  In particular, the book recommended Happy Yen.  Lonely Planet said Happy would come pick us up at our hotel, take care of all of our food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack), and of course be our guide on the trail.  Sounded good to us!  In fact, the tour package included much more than just the trek.  Happy calls his tour package “Self Awareness in the Rainforest Tour.”  In addition to transportation, food, and the trek itself, he talked about the history of Malaysia, he told us about Buddhism and Taoism, he pointed out local flora and fauna on the trek, brought us to a hot spring, and did some mental training about “mind over matter” at the hot springs pool.  It sounded like a lot to pack in to one day, but it all sounded great.  (Spoiler alert:  the day was awesome, Happy was awesome, and we can’t wait to do another trek- hopefully with Happy!)

The courtyard of the Buddhist temple.

Happy picked us up at our hotel and took us outside of KL to have breakfast at a local Indian restaurant.  When I made the reservation, he let us know that we would be going with another small party, a woman who runs a local tour and travel agency who was going to help him with marketing.  We got to meet Peggy, her two staffers, and her daughter at breakfast.  It was nice to get to know them before we started trekking together.  After breakfast, we began the day’s adventure by visiting a Buddhist temple and learning about different major world religions.  Actually, it was more like we learned about some big similarities between several major world religions.  (Happy was very clear about his own opinions, but never proselytized to us or otherwise advocated for a specific religion.)  It was interesting to have this discussion, and Happy worked to engage all of us in it.  Visiting the temple was a really nice start to the day.  It put me in a reflective mindset, ready to appreciate the world around me, before we started our trek.

We left the temple and drove to Kuala Kubu Bharu where we would start the trek, about 70 kilometers from KL.  Happy pointed out several different styles of local homes on the way, including homes on stilts, and pointed out the ways in which people utilize their space.  All of the homes we saw were one story and none of them were very big.  Many of them also had a commercial endeavor on the property, whether it was a food stall or something else, like a car repair business.  Happy told us that many of the residents commute to KL for work.  (I wouldn’t call the town a suburb in any way though.  It felt like a town that just happened to be in reasonably close proximity to a major city.)  Life outside of the city looks very different from life inside the city- it was very rural, the only reminder of urban living was the commuter rail on the outskirt of the town.

Suspension bridge over the river. It swayed a little, but it was OK.

We parked and loaded all of our valuables into a waterproof bag that one of our fellow trekkers carried in a back pack.  Happy told us to keep our cameras out, so I hiked with it around my neck for a bit, though it would end up in the waterproof bag before long.  After a short while, we came to a clearing with a map and some pavilions for picnics.  There was also a ranger hut/info booth.  I’m unclear if we had to pay a fee to enter the park or use the trail, or if Happy was just announcing his presence, or saying hi to a friend, or what actually happened there.  One of the benefits of hiring a guide- all of the minutiae of bureaucracy are taken care of and you can just take pictures.  There was a small suspension bridge over the river, only 4 people allowed at a time, and then we were on our way into the jungle!

The trail/stream bed.

The trail to Chiling Falls was about 3km and 90 minutes of trekking time.  On the way to the waterfall, Happy stopped us at several places to point out local plants or tells us about different animals he has seen along the trail.  We did not see anything larger than some dragonflies, but that was OK since some of the things he has seen include large snakes and wild boars.  Between the parking lot and the clearing, the trail was wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side.  After we crossed the suspension bridge into the jungle, the trail was really only wide enough for one person and ran through a stream bed in several places.  It was tricky when we passed other groups returning from the falls.  One group would have to stop and move to the side so the other group could pass.  We hiked along the river sometimes and at times we were farther away, but we could always hear the roar of it as it moved downstream.  I knew there would be 5 crossings, and I assumed they would be in places where the river was calm and/or shallow.  Hearing how fast the river was moving, on top of following this narrow trail that wasn’t totally clear in places, made me very glad we decided to hire a guide and not do it on our own.

This tree root looks like an elephant!

At some point before the first river crossing we decided to put the camera away.  It had started raining and we elected to be safe and add the camera to the waterproof bag.  This was good, because the camera didn’t get ruined, but also unfortunate because we couldn’t take pictures of any of the river crossings.  I guess we could have stopped everyone, pulled out the camera, snapped a few shots, and repacked the waterproof bag.  But that seemed like a lot of hassle.  Plus, neither Micah nor I was carrying the bag, so that added another level of hassle to it.  (First lesson learned:  If we are going to do more treks, get our own waterproof bag.)  What I pictured about the river crossings (shallow places and/or slow moving water) was completely inaccurate.  We have had some good rainstorms in the week before our trek, so the river was moving very fast and perhaps it was a little higher than normal.  Happy said it wasn’t much different from normal, but I think he was probably trying to encourage us.  Most of the crossings were at least knee-deep, several of them were more like waist-deep.  He handled each crossing like he was crossing the street, but the rest of us struggled a bit.  You couldn’t see where you were placing your feet, so we often kicked boulders or stumbled over them or slipped on them or otherwise lost our balance in the current.  I don’t think anyone went all the way under, but we all got very, very wet.  It was really exciting, actually, and it added a fun level of adventure to the trek.  We also got to verify that Micah’s new watch is waterproof, so that was good.

Our intrepid adventurers at Chiling Waterfall.

Most of the trail went gently uphill, but it wasn’t very steep.  After the last river crossing, you had to carefully step over some large above-ground tree roots and scramble over some fallen trees.  Most of us were watching the path and our feet and all of a sudden, there were the Falls.  There was a small clearing with some large boulders and rocks to sit on, and a sort of beach where you could wade into the pool at the base of the waterfall.  Micah and our buddy Rick swam out to the rocks and jumped off.  I waded a little bit, but felt plenty wet already so I chose not to swim.  We ate our lunch, Happy made us coffee, we fed the fish, and then packed up and headed back down the trail.  On the trek down, we didn’t stop to learn about plants or discuss Tao philosophy like we did on the trek up, we just kept moving.
At this point, I could have happily ended the day, but we weren’t done!  We got back to the car, soaking wet.  We thought we would change into our dry clothes for the next stop.  Instead, Happy pulled out some plastic mats and we sat on those in our sopping clothes.  The next item on the itinerary was a visit to the local hot springs.  They are a natural hot springs, so the science nerds/enthusiasts in the car discussed the source of heat (geothermal) and then discussed whether there are any volcanoes in Malaysia (there aren’t).  Happy told us about the health benefits of the hot springs and he also told us that last week they were around 50C (122F).  I like a jacuzzi or hot tub as much as the next person, but that seemed really hot to me!

Happy douses Kate with 53C water.

We get to the springs and he brought us over to a small pool, close to the source of the springs.  He asked us to line up our feet, then he filled a bucket and dumped the hot water over our legs.  It was really hot!  Later, we found out it was 53C (127F).  At this point, he brought us over to the larger pool, where we could wade and sit.  It felt a little cooler, probably because the nerve endings in my leg hadn’t regenerated yet.  I sat down and as my body acclimated to the temperature it actually felt really nice.  Turns out it was about 47C (116F).  We sat here for 10 or 15 minutes and Happy brought us back to the smaller pool.  He pulled out a bucket and helped us to use “mind over matter” techniques to acclimate to it and eventually we all dumped bucketfuls of the super hot water over our heads, chests, and backs.  It was still really hot, but it felt OK.  If the point of the hot springs is to help your circulation, that definitely got our blood moving!

Clockwise from top right: fish curry, curry pot prawns, vegetable (cabbage, I think), pork trotters.

By this point we are all thoroughly soaked.  We changed in the less-than-pristine bathrooms, carefully avoiding the standing water (hopefully from the bidet hose rather than from the toilet) on the floor of the stalls.  I also had my first “fully Malaysian” toilet experience!  A hole in the floor and no TP.  Mind over matter was the theme of the day!  Dry and clean-ish from the sulfury water of the hot springs, we went down the road for dinner.  Happy is a regular at this this restaurant, so he called in our order on the way and we had steaming hot, delicious food minutes after we sat down.  Curry pot prawns, fish curry, vegetable (cabbage, I think), and pork trotters.  It was all fantastic but the pork trotters were my favorite.  They were very tender and juicy with a delicious sauce.  He dropped us back at the hotel around 6pm, and I think we were in bed by 8:30.

For a first jungle trek experience, I was thrilled.  Happy Yen’s Self Awareness tour was a great day.  Happy is a really nice guy and a very knowledgeable guide.  We really loved this adventure.  We will likely hire him for a future jungle trek!

More pictures can be found here.