Malaysia: May Angels Look After You Since I'm Away

I had a wonderful vacation in Malaysia! I really haven't travelled much outside of the US. Sure I''ve been to Korea a few times, but I think Malaysia was a really good experience. I had to meet my friends Jessica & Britt in Malaysia instead of flying with them, but I eventually made it just fine and found them sleeping on the beach on the Perhentian Islands!

Going snorkeling on the Perhensian Islands
Britt, me, Jessica

The islands were amazing! So blue and everything was gorgeous! We may go back and live there for the season haha. We took an all day snorkeling trip and saw sea turtles, a crazy amount of fish, random sea creatures and even a shark! They said it was a vegetarian shark, but still pretty cool. The rest of the time on the island we relaxed and had some drinks on the beach. A perfect start to my vacation :)

In Historical Melaka

Then we headed mainland and across the country to Melaka or Malacca depending on the spelling. It's known to be a very historical and colonial city because of European colonization until 1957 I think. They have a pretty cool Chinatown and you can get a tour via 'trishaw' around the city. Think of a carriage ride minus the horse and connected to a bike with neon lights and flowers and unique figurines and you'll have a trishaw. We took a ride for an hour and got an extensive tour of Chinatown from our guide. It wasn't exactly what we had in mind tour-wise, but it was an experience :)




We ended our trip in the capital city Kuala Lumpur (KL). Britt had to leave a few days before Jessica and I so wanted to see elephants before she left. Our first night we met some cool people while celebrating Britt's birthday and woke in the morning for our tour. First, we went to the Batu Caves. The Batu Caves has a series of caves and temples, gated by a huge statue of Lord Murugan followed by 272 steps to the top. I have no idea who he is, but it was gold and shiny and ginormous! It's also the home to many macaque monkeys. Our tour guide told us to watch out because they may try to take your camera or sunglasses and are known to bite haha. Thankfully we all made it out safely. Then we drove around and learned some interesting stuff about palm oil and rubber. I never knew rubber came from trees, crazy! We also saw a traditional Malaysian house that a family lives in before we got to the elephant sanctuary. Visiting the elephant sanctuary was definitely a highlight. We got to feed them bananas, ride one and 'bathe' them in the river. Amazing animals! We were a little tired all day, but it was an awesome tour! The rest our time in KL we walked around and saw Chinatown and Merdeka Square where they remember their independence. There are a lot of historical/colonial buildings there too.

Britt, Jessica & I riding an elephant!

Overall, Malaysia was a wonderful vacation. I feel so blessed to be able to travel and experience the world. God is good! Now I'm back to teaching second semester. Last week was a little stressful, but I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. Excited for what and where God will lead me next!

~Krista~