Tag 334 - 361: Malaysia

28. This is the number of days we spent in Malaysia. More specifically, it was West Malaysia, as East Malaysia is currently experiencing rainy weather. We visited 7 places here and had some amazing experiences. We strolled through the picturesque streets of the former Dutch-ruled Malacca, encountered the beautiful and rare hornbills on the small but lovely island of Pulau Pangkor, celebrated our 6th anniversary and surprising engagement in Ipoh adorned with street art, celebrated Christmas with a mixed group of lonely backpackers in an Indian restaurant in Georgetown on the island of Penang, had a super relaxed time and fun New Year's Eve with really cool people on the beautiful beach of Langkawi, and spent a few interesting days in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia can actually be quite easily explained: relaxed islands, dreamy beaches, cheeky monkeys, flooded paddy fields, water buffalos bathing in the mud, modern cities, scooters, lots of scooters, colors, art, mixed religions, and history. We traveled to this country without any high expectations and enjoyed every single day. We savored the delicious food, made many new friends, visited mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples, waterfalls, and admired the incredibly vibrant skyline of the capital city at night.