We had two field trips on our stay in Malaysia. The first one was to the island of Penang of the northwestern corner of the country. We visited Penang because it is the countries center for most international tech companies. We had the opportunity to participate in multiple briefings from large corporations about Malaysian tech development, etc. The pictures below are where our hotel was located...ON THE BEACH!! Can't exactly say we were ruffing it.
When we came back to Kuala Lumpur we had a few days with briefings/meetings. We actually has a briefing on Malaysian development and politics from a former Deputy Prime Minister of the country. To put that in perspective he would be a former Vice President of the U.S.
and a picture with the U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia since we had been invited to the U.S. Embassy 4th of July party. Pretty nice since it gave me the opportunity to link up with our agent stationed there and get the "real" scope on security issues in the country.
Our second field trip was a few days in the Malaysian jungle. Took a bus ride for a few hours to a point on the river and then had to take a long, narrow, boat ride for 2.5 hours up river to our "hotel". The view on the ride was great and relaxing and sleep inducing and not sweaty thanks to the constant breeze.
This is the location we stayed at. It was a hotel in the jungle made of a lot of different chalets. It was fantastic. Since it was in the jungle we had the opportunity to see a lot of different wildlife. Like a real wild boar actually walking through the chalets. When I saw it I about fell over in disbelief. We also saw monkeys, giant lizards (2-3 feet long), the biggest spider I have ever seen, and even a millipede. Did you know that a millipede is actually about a foot long? I about jumped out of my skin when I saw it (sorry no picture).
We did a lot of hiking on trails there. We were able to take a canopy walk, which was great for the views. We also hiked the highest peak in the area (not too bad) and say some wonderful views.
It was your choice, but I didn't think it was a good idea to grab this when walking on the trail.
And finally, we took a boat ride up another river to go to a "waterfall"/swimming area. We were really excited to see the waterfalls so I thought I would include a picture for your amazement.
Yep, these are it. I guess this is what counts as a waterfall in Malaysian eyes. I personally would categorize them as a class I rapid (if even that). Needless to say, we were a little disappointed, but hey, we got to go swimming.
We ended by visiting the "orang asli" (people of the dirt) or aboriginals. There are still some that live in Malaysia. They live in the jungle and come out for a few weeks every year so tourists can visit and they can get a little money that helps them buy some things like gas for a boat that the government gives them for medical emergencies. Other than that, they really do live and survive in the jungle. They showed us how to make fire (took maybe 10 seconds) and how they make and use blow darts to hunt. And yes, they do really use poisoned darts (cool). Their favorite food...monkey.
Overall, I like the junge experience, but was a little disappointed. I had the opportunity to visit the Amazon jungle a few years ago for work and so could compare the two. The Amazon was just BIGGER. The trees and everything seemed more grand and truely larger than life. The Malaysian jungle is nice and impressive, but definitely falls in 2nd place in comparison.
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