Week 17: Nepal/Malaysia

Before wrapping up our time in Nepal, we decided to head into Chitwan National Park. The package we purchased included an elephant ride, a canoe trip, a couple of jungle walks, visits to an elephant breeding center and an elephant bathing area, a jeep safari, a cultural performance, bird watching, and sunset viewing. It also included ridiculously bumpy, long bus rides between Pokhara, Chitwan, and Kathmandu. We really enjoyed the quiet canoe ride, from which we spotted many crocodiles. We also loved walking and driving through the jungle, where we saw rhinos, wild boar, and many birds. The sunsets were absolutely magnificent. 

I am, however, experiencing difficulty coming to terms with our experiences with the elephants. We experienced the jungle from the back of a wrinkled giant, ten feet above the ferns below. I would be lying if I didn’t say a part of us enjoyed this novel experience. We were up close and personal with a beautiful wild animal, for goodness sakes. However, the ride was bumpy and uncomfortable, both physically and mentally. While trying to enjoy the sights and sounds during the ride, I was also being shaken by my moral compass. Almost immediately after stepping off of the elephant, I looked at Will and said, “how am I going to include this in our post about the week?” Questions and negative feelings about this experience have been weighing on my mind a fair bit ever since. We should have questioned this activity beforehand. We should have researched how these animals were being treated and thought about how wild animals are being used for tourism. These negative feelings were amplified after a visit to the breeding center, where we watched chained elephants pace back and forth and bob their heads continuously. When we were taken to the banks of the bathing area, my heart sank watching as a seemingly never-ending line of tourists sat on the backs of elephants and were sprayed. We have moral and ethical obligations as travellers and as human beings, and I don’t feel like we upheld these obligations this past week. I am trying not to dwell on ‘should haves’, and will move forward taking this lesson to heart. The lesson for me was to remember to make informed decisions while travelling, and continue to take the time to check in with how something feels before committing to it.

After our time in Chitwan, we headed back to Kathmandu for our final days in this country. We had some items we wanted to send back to Canada and had been given warning that this would not be as simple a process as it is back home. We embraced the half-day spent walking between potential post office locations, filling out paperwork, and watching our box get wrapped in a bag stitched and sealed by hand! Now we just cross our fingers and hope that it shows up in about a month.

We left Kathmandu on Saturday, November 18, having spent just over five weeks in Nepal. To say we loved our time in this country would be an understatement. The people here have been so kind, it has felt so easy to strike up conversations with locals and travellers alike. So many of the locals have put great effort into helping us.  I will especially miss all of the signs filled with grammatical/spelling errors that we have come to love pointing out to each other. We will not miss the bumpy bus rides. We both feel a deep connection to this place, and hope to return for another trek someday!

We have now just spent two full days exploring Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We had not originally planned on visiting Malaysia, but with most flights connecting here and so many other travellers talking about their positive experiences in this country, we decided it deserved a visit. We found an amazing place in Kuala Lumpur, complete with infinity pool on the 37^th floor. We enjoyed cooling off with a few dips here!

On our first day in the city, we ventured through Little India and took in the amazing smells and beautiful fabrics. We enjoyed KL’s eco-park and a canopy walk through the trees. We treated ourselves to a sunset drink at the Heli Lounge, a helicopter-landing pad that is converted to a rooftop bar at night. During an evening visit to the Petronas towers, we caught a great water show set to music.

On our second day, we set off for the Batu Caves and enjoyed wandering through the inside of this religious site. We visited four caves and couldn’t believe all the work that has gone into the statues and story telling found inside. We also brought bricks to the cave at the top of a set of 200+ stairs, playing our small part in the reconstruction of one of the temples there. We later visited Chinatown, making our way through the packed pedestrian-only Petaling Street and sampling some delicious dishes.

During our first days in Malaysia, we were hit with the sheer quantity of certain things found here. Our list of 10 things Kuala Lumpur has a LOT of:

• Recycling bins: We are back in the land of recycling, and the joy I felt spotting our first separated recycling bins was immense! There were many more sparks of joy with each additional recycling bin we saw around the city.
• Enormous malls: We could not get over the number of malls with 6+ floors! They have THEMED floors (i.e. one floor just for sport stores, one floor just for children’s stores). These malls seem to be set up similarly to Las Vegas casinos, designed to keep the shopper inside. We lost ourselves in many a mall during our two days here!

• Chains: After months away from most chains, we were surprised to see a ton of Starbucks, Second Cup, McDonald’s, Burger King, 711, and many more!
• Public transportation: There are a variety of transportation options including buses, trains, monorails, and subways. The transit system is well designed and easy to use. All public transit is also comfortable and air-conditioned!

• Hotels: Looking out the window of the train or our hotel, we were shocked by the number of hotels in this city. These towering buildings are everywhere!
• Bars and Restaurants: Although we did not take part in the popular pub crawl/nightlife scene that is so popular amongst the under 25 crowd, we did see why it’s so popular. We walked an entire road that was literally lined with bars on both sides of the street.
• Pop: Will has been on a mission to try any new fizzy drinks he can find. Lemon Fanta is his top pick so far.
• LED lights: Flashing lights, tiny lights, lights up in trees. Strips of LEDs lighting up religious sites. This city is just filled with lights.
• Sunglasses/Watches/Bags: Petaling Street in Chinatown was absolutely filled with all kinds of stuff, but the number of stands selling sunglasses, watches and handbags was unreal. I found myself wishing I wanted one of these three items.
• Sweat: While moving around outside in the heat and humidity here, we have contributed a fair amount of sweat to the city. Even my eyelids have been dripping.

We will be moving around Malaysia for the next 10 days, and are really excited about the adventures that await!

Random act of kindness: While working on sending a package to Canada, we found ourselves at a little shop that only accepted postcards. Although the woman at this “post office” didn’t speak English, she was so eager to help us that she spent almost ten minutes using our map app to explain to us where we needed to go.