u/abu_doubleu

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This July, my friend and I spent 3 wonderful weeks in western Malaysia, criss-crossing seven different destinations across the peninsula. We saw Melaka, Kuala Lumpur, the Cameron Highlands, Penang, the Perhentian Islands, Kota Bharu and its rural surroundings, and spent some time in Taman Negara before returning to Kuala Lumpur and flying back.

Everything was enjoyable. It's been 6 weeks and I still miss Malaysia every day. I miss the delicious food, the nature, and the people. In this trip report, I will be providing a big breakdown of what we did, as well as some logistics for the less-visited parts!

To provide a background, we (I am 23M and my friend is 20M) are from Kyrgyzstan, and flew to Kuala Lumpur from Tashkent, Uzbekistan (it has direct flights so is a lot cheaper to fly from). Malaysia gives citizens of Kyrgyzstan 90 days of Visa-free travel. We really enjoyed everything in Malaysia, especially my friend. It was his first time outside of Central Asia, so he had many firsts. He saw and swam in the ocean for the first time, he touched palm trees and was in a jungle for the first time, he tried tropical fruits, saw skyscrapers, and rode a monorail, all for the first time. I am really happy that he got to do all of this. I myself thoroughly enjoyed it, the cuisine was amazing and varied...all the interactions were so friendly, and the infrastructure was amazing and fully on the level of a developed country.

Melaka (Days 1 to 3)

Upon arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, we booked a bus to Melaka from the airport, making Melaka our first stop. The buses were wonderful, as they had reclining seats and air conditioning (this doesn't exist on 90% of buses in Central Asia).

Melaka is mainly visited for its food and historical connections, especially to the Peranakan Chinese culture borne out of a mix of Chinese men and Malay women marrying and forming a unique culture. Due to its location in the Strait of Melacca, it has seen dozens of different cultures come and go.

After settling in at our hotel, we immediately began using Grab, the most widespread ride-hailing and food delivery app in Malaysia. We went to the Malacca Straits Mosque, a gorgeous mosque which overlooks the Malacca Strait. We watched the sunset here, before having dinner and then returning. It truly felt like a great start to the trip, what with the smell of durians everywhere, and getting a taste of the tropical mugginess even at night!

The next day, after a quick breakfast at 7/11 (the onigiri + drink combo was had multiple times on this trip as a quick, cheap meal) we walked around the historical parts of Melaka, from the ruins of the Portuguese fort and church to the Dutch buildings, which remain in use. Then we walked around the "colonial" part of the city, visited some old mosques and a museum about the Baba-Nyonya culture. Then we had some great local food, we tried Nyonya Laksa and also Nyonya Cendol. After a short break at the hotel, we went to the Portuguese Settlement, where the Kristang people (mainly descended from Portuguese settlers, but mixed with locals) still live. We wanted to try the fiery Devil's Curry, but were confused as to the mildness. The owners of the restaurant said that so many foreigners aren't able to have more than a bite that they stopped making it spicy unless on request, but we were full so we let it be.

That evening, we walked more around the colonial part of the city, as the vibes change at nighttime (the riverside has tons of LED lights). But first, we went up the Taming Sari Tower, which is a cool gyro tower, we saw the sunset from there. Then we had a dish called Asam Pedas with stingray and called it a night.

We booked a river cruise for our last day, but due to the rain all morning, we couldn't go in time. Thankfully, I was able to sell our tickets to some other tourists, and we went to catch our bus to Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur (Days 3 to 7)

For a shockingly cheap price, we booked a 25th floor studio apartment with a rooftop pool, which was used multiple times! The view from both the room and the pool included the Petronas Towers and KL Tower. We wasted no time and immediately went to KLCC, where we saw the Petronas Towers up close, including the daily light show, and tried McDonalds for the first time. My friend felt very tired so we went home early. It was his first time in a real metropolis. We occasionally used the metro system, particularly the monorail as it was located next to our apartment, but mostly Grab.

The next day, we went to the Chow Kit Wet Market, where we bought tons of cheap, local fruit, all of which we had never tried before, the famous durian included. We also bought mangosteen, wax apples, rambutan, jackfruit, langsat, starfruit, and more. The prices at this market truly are unbeatable, some fruit that cost 5 MYR for a kg was 10 MYR for 100g at shopping mall grocery stores, literally a 20x price difference. Needles to say, we gorged on fruit and enjoyed most of it.

After this we swam in the aforementioned rooftop pool, then checked out Brickfields, which is famous for its large South Indian diaspora. We had a delicious banana leaf set with tons of Tamil food, which we ate with our hands. After walking around for a bit we took a Grab to the Thean Hou Temple, a Chinese temple. It was fine although honestly, not that interesting to me, and quite crowded. Then we went to a cat cafe to relax, and then back to the hotel. We swam some more in the pool and had some delicious food from the state of Terrenganu in nearby Kampung Baru.

On the 5th day, it was raining all morning and in the noon as well, but we eventually departed for the Perdana Botanical Gardens. It was massive and contained dozens of various exhibits, including a cool orchid garden and lake. We wanted to go to the Islamic Arts Museum, but were too late. I felt extremely tired because it was so humid in the botanical gardens after the rain (it was like a sauna due to evaporation/condensation I guess) so after praying in the adjacent National Mosque (very cool and unique Brutalist-adjacent design) I slept there for quite a while and had some 100 Plus, which is the local isotonic drink for gathering electrolytes (important for the heat, we always had some on hand for hikes). Then we took a Grab to the KL Tower, as we had booked tickets to here! Unfortunately, it started to have a thunderstorm 10 minutes after our arrival, so we had to go back. They said we could use our ticket within the next 10 days again. As tomorrow would be our last eligible day with our itinerary, we hoped for the best...

The next day, we went to the famous monkey-filled Batu Caves quite early. We mistakenly took the wrong train and just used Grab after waiting for a long time. We heard you had to arrive early to avoid heat exertion on the many steps, but honestly it was completely fine for me (23M, fairly fit). I can see why this is on everybody's must-visit list. It's such an amazing Hindu temple, and the karst mountains and caves provides for the perfect backdrop. Batu Caves is free, but some of the lower temples are paid. We paid for one that looked interesting and didn't regret it, the entrance is on a small bridge. We also ate more South Indian food here.

After this we went to a place that seemed to not have many tourists, Kanching Falls. You can do a long hike here and see over 20 waterfalls, but we didn't want to see many. We got to the 4th waterfalls and were satisfied, and swam here. It was not a strenuous hike. Many people tell you to beware of monkeys at Batu Caves, but the ones here are far more aggressive, they even swiped my phone which I thankfully managed to get back lol. One local family had three entire bags of food stolen which was so sad but they laughed it off! After returning to our hotel we relaxed and then went to a durian tasting cafe. Though it was much pricier than the durian we got from Chow Kit Market, the range of durians was really on display here. Some tasted buttery and downright cheesy, while others tasted more bitter or sweet. Despite the fact that Musang King and Black Thorn are the most famous and "high-quality" durians, both of our favourites were actually Hulu (also known as D163 or Hor Lor), from Penang.

After this we met up with my friend from Turkmenistan who is studying in Kuala Lumpur, he got to know my friend I am travelling with, and we all had a great time. We went back to the KL Tower and he also bought a ticket. Thankfully this time, the weather was perfect! We stayed on top until closing time just talking, then walked around and had some Burger King (them) and McDonalds (me).

The following morning, it was time to go to the Cameron Highlands.

Cameron Highlands (Days 7 to 9)

A wonderful reprieve from the tropical heat. In the main town of Tanah Rata, located at an elevation of 1,450m, daytime temperatures rarely exceed 23°, and nighttime temperatures are almost always under 15° (note that in lower elevations, even the nighttime temperatures rarely fall below 23°!). The Cameron Highlands are popular with Malaysians because of the cool, subtropical highland climate, but there are still plenty of international tourists here, too. Most activities relate to the elevation and the crops it allows to grow.

After having a small British-style lunch, complete with strawberry scones and locally-grown tea, we did a small hike to a waterfall known as Parit Falls. Unlike other hikes in Malaysia, this one did not leave us sweaty at all...we had dinner and called it an early night (not much to do here past 19:00 anyways).

Tomorrow, we were picked up by a shuttle van and began the tour I arranged. The only person apart from the driver was a local Malaysian Chinese man from Ipoh, who was very talkative and made the experience enjoyable. He said he wanted to visit Kyrgyzstan and asked us many questions. The first stop was the BOH Tea Plantation, the largest of the many tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands. As a true tea fanatic, this place was amazing to me and we bought tons of tea for our friends and family (I still have most of the tea from there, I'm slowly going through it). After this we stopped by a strawberry farm, but this place had no interest to us since strawberries grow in Kyrgyzstan (this is a novelty for the local Malaysians who may do this tour though). Finally, we climbed up to the Mossy Forest, at an elevation of 2000m. The wind was cool here, and the temperatures rarely exceed 20°. It truly was a beautiful and unique subtropical highland climate. It was so lush, the photos from there are one of my favourites. The soft, rolling, green mountains are nothing like the dry, striking snow-capped peaks we have.

After this we did laundry and, while waiting, took a Grab to ZooMania, which was pretty interesting honestly, we fed some animals there like the raccoons. Then we went to one of the few halal "steamboat" restaurants, which is their local version of hotpot where you can also grill meat on the sides of the pot instead of only boiling it! SO GOOD, I have a fast metabolism so I love AYCE buffets, and this one was no exception. I ate for almost 90 minutes past the point of my friend getting full.

The next morning we did a short walk and tried a place called Abang Strawberry, which is famous for their strawberry sambal (sambal is the spicy sauce that is on a side of many Malaysian dishes). It was interesting, I definitely consider it worth trying. We also walked by Tan's Camellia Garden and stopped by, a local woman runs it, it's a huge garden that she has honed on her own! Also the ashitaba she sells really does help with lowering blood pressure (I give it to my great-grandmother and it always helps her).

After this we went back into the heat, this time to Penang, though on the first evening we did nothing at first.

Penang (Days 9 to 12)

I will be honest, this is the part I was least excited for, because it's probably the most popular city in Malaysia for tourists, both from the West and China, so any research I did already mentioned Penang so much I felt I knew everything the city had to offer. I was wrong though!

For anybody not in the know, Penang, specifically, George Town is mainly visited for its food (Penang is the name of the state and also the island, while also being the name of the general accomodation. George Town is the "centre" and the place most tourists will stay). According to some people, its actually the best foodie city in the world. The street food is world-class. George Town is a heavily Chinese city, so I had to do research to see just how much of the food we could enjoy. Thankfully, it turned out to be easy. For any Muslim travellers, any of the local dishes that are worth having in a halal form can be found at affordable prices at Bee Hwa Cafe! The Char Kway Teow there was AMAZING. My friend also enjoyed his Asam Laksa. Both dishes are said to be the tastiest in Penang! We also had another one of those Hulu (Hor Lor) durians here!

On our 10th day, we went to one of the historical mosques for the Friday prayer, then we had that delicious meal at Bee Hwa Cafe. After this I dropped off my friend at a surprise Thai massage for him because he kept complaining about joint pain, he said it was amazing (it was also very affordable and all the staff are from Thailand, so if anybody is interested, the place is called SS Foot Massage Reflexology, not seedy at all). While waiting I had a small nasi lemak. After this we walked around the whole "colonial" part of town, enjoying the street art. The night markets began to set up around this time. We didn't go inside any of the historical museums, but the exterior of Leong San Tong Hoo Kongsi (a "clan house") looked fascinating, and based on reviews the museum is well-worth it. We, however, went to the Chow Jetty right as it was closing. This was a good decision as we simply sat on the pier and enjoyed the view.

Tomorrow, we took a Grab to Penang National Park. If you are a student, then bring your student card, as the discount on park admission is huge. Okay...I did a lot of research on this. There are multiple trails. The most famous one leads to Monkey Beach, but parts of it are in disrepair. We decided to take the one to Turtle Beach. While longer in distance, the terrain is easier. Monkey Beach has cafes, while Turtle Beach is more isolated, and has a Turtle Sanctuary.

Okay...this was difficult. A few minutes in and it starts pouring, what in Russian we call ливень, but I can't seem to find an English translation, basically it was EXTREMELY heavy rain. Thankfully, we packed rain jackets. And, more thankfully, we bought Kampung Adidas at Mr. DIY! These are rubber shoes that are worn by many Malaysians who work or hike in jungles. Since they're rubber, tehy don't absorb any water at all! Also my shoe size is 46, but the largest Kampung Adidas is 44, but this was fine for me since I guess they're rubber and very elastic? Anyways, continuing. Since we were downhill we had to wait for the rain to stop as the path turned into a waterfall lol...eventually the rain calmed down and we climbed uphill.

Then another massive rainfall started and we took shelter. Then another. It just kept happening in this cycle. Towards the end we felt really bad because it started to feel like a sauna since the rain finally stopped cooling the temperatures down and it all started to evaporate in the sunlight. Eventually we finally made it out to Turtle Beach, but first we walked by a gorgeous miromictic lake (two separate layers in the lake, one saltwater, one freshwater, and they don't mix).

In general, jellyfish make it not recommended to swim in the waters around Penang, so we weren't planning to. We just enjoyed the tide. Unfortunately, the Turtle Sanctuary at Turtle Beach was the biggest disappointment of this entire trip. We were really excited to see people caring for turtles as some older reviews had mentioned, but all we saw were two turtles kept in small plastic pools. This wasn't even paid, I just felt bad for the turtles, I don't know what happened but it made my heart feel bad. Anyways, it started downpouring yet AGAIN, and I quickly made use of my French knowledge to ask two French tourists if we can split the cost of the boat they already booked to go back. In stormy waters, we somehow made it back safely. Then we just relaxed for the rest of the evening because man that was a brutal day. We also had more McDonalds.

On our last day in Penang, we started off by visiting the Ghost Museum directly adjacent to our hotel. This was worth it! It features ghosts from around the world in various interactive formats, including multiple outfits that you can try on yourself, such as Qing Empire-era aristocratic uniforms. This was really fun! After lunch we took a Grab to Kek Lok Si Temple. I was NOT expecting it to be this amazing. This blew Thean Hou Temple out of the water. It's a massive complex, featuring some funiculars. Some parts were donated by King Rama VI of Thailand, so they resemble a Thai pagoda. At the very top is a massive statue of Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of mercy. We bought some cool souvenirs here, too. Great views of the city on the way down.

Then we took a Grab to the almost-adjacent Penang Hill, home to the world's fastest funicular. Within 5 minutes, you climb from nearly sea level to 800m, and emerge in a cool, subtropical highland climate (though not quite as high up as the Cameron Highlands). The coolness is always a welcome relief. We walked around here and paid for The Habitat, a big collection of walkways that includes a hanging bridge (we could see the dusky leaf monkeys playing below!) and an elevated walkway. The biodiversity here is unlike anything I've ever seen before. So many unique species of plants and birds that are endemic to here...after this we climbed back down and tried A&W, so cool.

The last thing we did before leaving was stopping for a second by Loka Made to get some souvenirs for our friends and families (as the name implies, it's mostly locally made souvenirs in very artistic formats). We went back to the terminal on the mainland (oh yeah, I forgot to mention...most intercity buses will drop you off at Butterworth Terminal, the ferry to George Town is located in the same building and is heavily subsidised, costing only 2 MYR) and took an overnight bus to Kuala Besut, the gateway to the Perhentian Islands.

Perhentian Islands (Days 13 to 16)

Okay, now we're on the eastern side of the peninsula. The bus dropped a whole bunch of tourists off early in the morning, a bit before sunrise. We booked a speedboat to the Perhentian Islands in advance, and waited for the sun to rise so services would start.

The Perhentian Islands are amazing. I wish I had better photos, but the beauty is mostly underwater, and I couldn't take photos of that. It intentionally lacks a lot of development, there are no cars or restaurant/fast food chains. Budget options in the singular village are available, as are some resorts (including a Marriott). Costs are obviously more expensive due to it being islands. The waters of the South China Sea are calmer and much cleaner than the ones in the Strait of Malacca. The sealife is INCREDIBLE, you can book fairly cheap expeditions around the two islands (or to some nearby archipelagos such as Rawa and Redang) as we did, I highly recommend this place.

We had to wait a bit for our room in the Fisherman's Village to be ready, so we just slept in the local mosque, then settled in. We had a nap because were both tired after that overnight bus ride. Even if the chairs recline a lot, I can never sleep well. Then we decided to start swimming.

So, I found it pretty hard to get a good guide about the costs of the boats. This was more expensive than I expected. The prices are always one-way, per person (but if you're alone, you either wait for one other person, or pay for two). Prices double around sunset. This can add up really fast, so if you're on a budget, be careful. For example, Fisherman's Village to Long Beach is 20 MYR per person, so a return trip is normally 40 MYR. We took a boat to there, walked through the jungle to Coral Beach, and then walked a bit more to Golden Beach. Now this one was cool! Mostly empty, a great view of the ocean, and a nice beach with some rocks for atmosphere.

The next two days were mainly spent doing excursions. The first one we did was the Rawa Islands Tour. This one takes you to the Rawa Islands a bit away from the Perhentian Islands, where we saw some really cool coral and fish. But the Long Tour, which stays on the Perhentian Islands and goes around various beaches, on the second day was actually a lot cooler for us because we got to see real reef sharks and sea turtles and swim with both of them! Both excursions lasted about 5 hours and were well worth it, no regrets here. It's really hard to put into words how cool it is to see small sharks below you, or just the MASSIVE amount of sea life in general, everything from parrotfish to anemones to sea cucumbers (and all the beautiful coral!). That night was low tide, so we walked out and just looked up at the Milky Way and stars, so many stars. I even saw a shooting star.

As for food, we mostly subsisted off cheaper options like burgers since the food here really is more expensive, but some of the local options like squid were surprisingly cheap and delicious.

On the last day, we got ready to go back to the mainland. One thing to note is that tickets you buy to the Perhentian Islands on speedboat are return tickets by default, so we already paid for that.

Kota Bharu (Days 16 to 17)

This is one of the least-visited parts of Malaysia not only by international tourists, but also local Malaysian tourists. Kota Bharu is the capital of Kelantan, and is infamous for its very strict Islamic laws, such as heavy restrictions on cinemas and mandating gender-segregated lines in places like supermarkets. Also, their weekends are Friday and Saturday, unlike the rest of Malaysia (bar neighbouring Terrenganu). Kyrgyzstan is a secular Muslim country so I was wondering how noticeable it would be, but to be honest, it wasn't really, apart from the fact that on Friday morning they were reading the Quran on loudspeakers throughout the city, followed by a sermon, I never experienced that before.

Religion aside, people from Kelantan are renowned for their kindness and hospitality, and this was true, everybody was really kind and provided us with so many tips. We arrived in Kota Bharu by taxi, because from Kuala Besut to Kota Bharu, there are taxis with fixed prices. Prices here are generally lower than in the rest of Malaysia (in fact, there was a man selling medium-sized durians for only 1 MYR for 1kg, which is approximately 80x cheaper than some of the durians selling in downtown Kuala Lumpur!). Upon arriving we had Nasi Kerabu, the state dish, which includes rice dyed blue with butterfly pea flower. That evening we went to a type of restaurant known as Medan Ikan Bakar, which is basically where fresh catches from fishermen are sold at cheap prices and grilled right before your eyes. A great way to try new seafood (in Kyrgyzstan, our local seafood options start and end at lake and river fish, and it's almost always carp).

Tomorrow was Friday, so after some walking around the Friday markets that set up here, we went to Friday prayer. Then we decided to get a little taste of Thailand in Malaysia. You see, Kota Bharu is not even 1 hour from the border with Thailand. But until like 2 days ago, Kyrgyzstan citizens needed a Visa to enter Thailand, so we weren't planning on visiting. However, many of the neighbouring villages have Thai minority populations, including some famous temples! First up was Wat Machimmaram, home to a giant sitting Thai Buddha. While interesting, the really fun part here was the fact that a weekend school (remember, Friday is a weekend here) for local Thai children to learn their language and religion was running! The local women invited us to eat with them and made sure we could have a vegetarian/seafood option to avoid pork. They also let us try this cool dessert, it was coconut jelly inside a pandan leaf. The next stop was Wat Phothivihan, home to one of the largest Sleeping Buddhas in the world (this was built recently with state funding, so it's clear "conservative Islam" in Kelantan operates differently than in some parts of the world). This was also quite impressive.

After this, we took Grab back to Kota Bharu. I had done research in advance and expected it might be hard as it's a bit out of the way, but somebody did end up accepting. Also this was the first point in the trip we drove through "country roads" rather than highways or tea plantations, so it was fun to see rice farms for the first time.

After a quick dinner, it was time to take an overnight train (this was easy to book on their website).

Taman Negara (Days 18 to 21)

Taman Negara literally means "National Park" in Bahasa. It's also the world's oldest rainforest! It's been one for over 130 million years. Getting here can be very simple, depending on where you are from. If you're in Kuala Lumpur, or the Cameron Highlands, or even the Perhentian Islands, there are plenty of direct transfers that cost barely more than an intercity bus would. But from Kota Bharu, it's only a little bit more complicated. First, we took the train from Kota Bharu to Jerantut, a medium-sized city. Because the train arrives so early, we slept in a mosque again and waited it out until noon. Then, you can take one of the shuttles to Kuala Tahan, the gateway town to Taman Negara (it's a village located inside the park).

You can take a shuttle directly to Kuala Tahan, or spend a bit extra to take a longboat. The longboat provides a cool atmosphere so we decided to do this. No regrets. Also, in Jerantut we met up with my friend from Canada, who said in advance he would tag along with us, so now there were three of us. Our hotel host was so kind, he picked us up directly from the pier at Kuala Tahan and would drive us back to it multiple times during this trip.

Now then, your Taman Negara experience can be short, and generally not deviate too far from the village and river, or it can be complex and involve trekking deep into the jungle. Most people stick to the 2D/1N jungle trek where you sleep in a cave, which is what we did, but even this is tough and you must have a decent level of physical fitness. Some of the excursions are for professionals...5 or 10 days long. One of the guides said how on one of those excursions they ran out of food and had to eat frogs. But for that night, we simply took a nighttime river cruise. Unfortunately we saw nothing of note except kingfishers. The guide was disappointed because it's not that uncommon to see monkeys, tapirs, panthers, and even a few times a month, elephants!

The next day, the trek began. We met up with our group in the morning. Each person had to carry their own sleeping bags, as well as 5L of water and some food supplies. Generally speaking, they recommend a 40L bag, our host provided us with some for only a small fee. What followed was definitely a fun journey, although during the trek it was gruelling, as we knew it would be! First of all, you're in a tropical jungle, if you go off trail, you could be in danger. The mental fortitude needed is honestly almost as much as the physical strength, because if it rains (which it does almost every day...), the whole trail becomes muddy and slippery. At some parts, you have to wade through water. This also depends on how much rain there was. On the first day, it hadn't rained for nearly 48 hours, so the water level was low. Parts that sometimes required waist-deep wading were just ankle-high. This meant that LEECHES were not plentiful, as they like the rain. Leeches hate citronella oil, which we were using up until this point for mosquitoes, but now began spraying for leeches too. They also hate salt. We arrived at the cave after about 4 or 5 hours, I think, of trekking. The way there was so beautiful, just virgin jungle and rainforest all around you. The guides would occasionally stop and show us some cool plants, such as one that tastes exactly like almond.

At the cave, we all washed our muddy and wet feet, and then some LEECHES began to show up. They hitched a ride on our shoes to the cave. We killed them with salt. Leech bites don't hurt and, at least in Malaysia, don't transmit diseases, but the mere idea of them sucking on your blood is pretty bad for mental fortitude. Anyways, we all gathered firewood and then ate. It began raining, and we fell asleep early after such a long day...

The next morning, we realised the day would not be so lucky. It had rained all night. After a quick breakfast, we got to trekking. I started to feel quite ill, and would feel this way until later that evening. There were multiple parts where we had to cross the rivers and hold on to ropes, with one of them being up to my chest, and I'm quite tall. The shorter people had to be on the backs of the taller people. And worst of all, SO MANY LEECHES. To this day I have nightmares about leeches, even if they're technically harmless. Which is ironic as I was the one encouraging my friends not to worry since they don't transmit infection or hurt. But I was the main target of them on the trip and I guess it remained in my psyche! Anyways, after what felt like forever, sunlight began appearing, and we noticed some people with very dark skin walking rapidly throughout the jungle. These turned out to be the Batek, the most isolated of the Orang Asli (Indigenous people of Malaysia). They maintain a very traditional lifestyle, and don't have much of a desire to alter that. The end of the excursion included a visit to their village, as well as a chance to use their blowpipes. It was very fascinating. They aren't well-researched but apparently their society is one of only five or six in the world that is truly egalitarian. They lack a chief, or head of any sort whatsoever, and men and women are entirely equal socially. Anyways, we washed up in the river there and then the longboat arrived and took us back. On the way back they intentionally did "rapid shooting" to get us all wet!

We were so hungry when we arrived. And we saw just how fast life here can change. After the rain that day, many of the floating restaurants in Kuala Tahan became inaccessible without boat. We went to the same one from the first day because their portion sizes were so massive for normal prices.

The next day, we went back to Kuala Lumpur, where we would soon fly away from.

Kuala Lumpur Pt. 2 (Days 21 to 22)

Our flight left late in the afternoon on the 22nd, marking a full 22 days in Malaysia! Upon arriving on the 21st, we simply went to a Japanese hotpot restaurant and then the friend from Turkmenistan also joined us, so all four of us had fun with the all-you-can-eat format of delicious meat. On the 22nd, we went to the central market to buy some final souvenirs, and that's about it. We went to the airport and flew back to Tashkent (the friend from Canada included as he would stay with me in Kyrgyzstan for a month).

Conclusion

This wasn't supposed to be so long originally, but I couldn't stop myself. I just kept writing more and more, remembering all the good memories from Malaysia. It's getting late now and I still have yet to attach the photos, so I'll do that now. I hope that everybody enjoyed this write-up and considers visiting Malaysia! I have so much more to say...I just loved it so much. I don't know what people from Western countries would feel, but for people from Central Asia, the level of development and infrastructure there is so advanced, people seemed so carefree and not worried about money. Their salaries are higher but everything is cheaper than here. Nowhere felt seedy or unsafe, or dirty, drivers are professional and respectable, while there really could be more official pedestrian crossings, they do stop for you if you just hold out your hand, I've heard neighbouring countries are far worse for this. They were friendly and the cuisine is amazing. I miss the spices. While I really enjoy temperate climates, and I'm happy that autumn foliage is coming soon, followed by winter snow, I really do miss the lush rain of Malaysia, summers here are so dry.

One day I will definitely be back!

Hello everybody,

There is no special occasion for this, but I have more freetime than usual and decided that we should do this now...

The First-Ever r/geography Census!

https://forms.gle/ew82heePGeQ6g2G96

If you click the link above, you will be led to a Google Form (to be clear, I cannot trace your IP, e-mail, or Reddit username). There are four sections that you can answer! Every single question is optional. Some questions are pure demographics, others are about your hobbies and interests. There are also some random geography-related questions, as well as, in the final section, questions about this subreddit as a whole and your opinion of it.

Because all questions are optional, it can take as long as you want it to.

The form will be open until 10 September, 2026, then I'll close it to new responses and make a presentation of all the results.

I hope that some other statistics nerds will also enjoy seeing the results...

Have fun!

Interestingly, I did not grow up using them, as the country I grew up in only has sit-down toilets. But upon moving back to my birth country I realised that I far prefer squat toilets over sit-down toilets.

1. While how clean or smelly they are depends on the establishment itself, they are far easier to clean, you can just hose them down easily. And you don't have to worry about any piss splatter (I am a male).

2. They are quicker to use. The reason is described #3.

3. This is the natural position for humans to use, so it is quicker to go big, and actually a lot better for health.

I think those are all of the reasons. In countries such as South Korea and Malaysia, where you often have the option of both, I will always go for the squat toilet.