Stopover Malaysia 🇲🇾

When I started planning my trip, I knew that I wanted to go to Indonesia after my time in India. However, since flights within Southeast Asia were so cheap, I thought I could make a stopover in Kuala Lumpur for a week, and it was definitely worth it!

First of all, it was a big change for me coming from the crazy and conservative Mumbai to the modern city of Kuala Lumpur. I asked a friend if I could wear shorts here, and she just laughed and said, sure you can, we are not in India :D The climate is also very different. The temperatures are the same as in India, but the air is much more humid and the weather is very sticky. It's currently the rainy season, and it rains heavily once a day for about 20 minutes, and then it's over. Everything dries quickly due to the heat, and it's like nothing happened. The Asian faces were also very unfamiliar to me compared to the now familiar Indian faces.

The overall impression of Malaysia is great. You can see the influence of many international cultures on the culture here, especially from China and India. There are even purely Chinese schools.

Now it was time for me to be completely on my own and have only myself and my whole life in a backpack. I had a lot of respect for this before and also had many doubts about whether I could handle it all. But these doubts were completely unjustified! It is incredibly easy to take care of accommodation, food, and transportation. Although it is very exhausting to plan and organize everything alone, I feel very comfortable with it. I enjoy the freedom to do whatever I want.

I spent the first 3 days in Kuala Lumpur. Through Couchsurfing, I met a young woman from Indonesia named Eza. It was her first solo trip as well, so it worked out well. We visited the famous Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur, saw the famous Petronas Twin Towers, strolled through many markets, and had delicious Malaysian food!

The Petronas Twin Towers are so beautiful at night! It's really different when you're standing in front of them than just seeing pictures. I could have looked at them for hours.

The Batu Caves

Eza and I

Nasi Lemak: rice, chicken, a sweet soy sauce, a piece of tofu, and spicy eggplant. In the end, my box looked like a battlefield. What a mess!

The most exciting thing for me was visiting the mosques. Since Eza is a Muslim, she had to pray at sunset. She took me with her and I got to watch.

Eza praying. To be pure, she had to cover herself, only her face was uncovered.

Afterwards, she explained a lot about her religion to me, and I was amazed at how little I actually knew about Islam. She showed me many things that proved the opposite of what we Germans think about Islam. I was really surprised and felt ashamed when I told her how Islam is treated in Germany.

It's different here in Malaysia. There are many Muslims, but just as many Christians and Buddhists. Everyone practices their own faith without insulting others or feeling attacked by others. Even in India, I was fascinated by how the many religions are practiced. Religion definitely has a different significance here than in our country. She told me a lot about her life and also that she decided to embrace this faith for herself. She decided to wear the hijab when she was 15. It's fascinating to see how this affects her daily life, as she faces problems that I don't even have to think about. For example, she stayed in my hostel, but not in a mixed dorm like me, but naturally in a female-only room. She also needed an iron before going out. Her headscarf was all wrinkled, so I ironed it for her so she didn't have to come to the lobby without a hijab.

When I'm in Indonesia in a few days, I will visit her, and she wants to show me around her city. I'm really looking forward to it!

It was fascinating for me to get such an insight. I learned many things that I didn't know before. I'm totally fascinated by Islam, probably because I know so little about it. The sound of the prayer sounds like a beautiful song to me, and the hijab has something really beautiful about it because it focuses so nicely on the face. It was interesting to learn so much, but as an atheist, I can hardly understand how someone can believe in such things. But faith can move mountains. Even as an "emancipated, feminist Westerner," it is certainly difficult to understand how these women voluntarily submit. But as long as she is happy with the life she has chosen, there is nothing to object to. These were exciting days, and I have learned even more that everyone can believe in what they want and do what they want, as long as it makes them happy :)

The mosque in the middle of the city. The beautiful skyline of Kuala Lumpur in the background.

A beautiful picture of Eza

Eza, her friend from Indonesia, and me in Malaysia's national mosque

Women praying, in the back row. Completely covered except for their faces.

After spending so much time in big cities, I really needed to get out to the coast! I decided to take a short trip to Melaka. I left my big backpack at the hostel and went with very little luggage. By chance, the night before I left, I met a nice girl named Sarah from France on a pub crawl, and she booked the same hostel as me at 2 o'clock in the morning. We arrived after about 2 hours on a bus ride, which cost 12 Ringgit (about 2.20€).

The city is beautiful! Since it was under the colonial rule of Portugal, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and even Japan, you can see the vibrant cultural mix on the streets. We walked a lot through the city and just let everything sink in.

"World Heritage City Melaka"

We enjoyed the sunset at the harbor, visited beautiful buildings, had delicious food, and had a great day at the beach.

A typical Malaysian house

Street art in the middle of Chinatown. One of my favorite pictures

A Buddhist temple

Sunset at the harbor next to a mosque

Pauli in the mosque

Sarah and I

Original coconut shakes from Melaka

Shells that I collected on the beach

She also has a very interesting story. Her mother is from Mali and completely black. Her father is German, and they met during one of her father's trips many years ago. Her mother decided to come with him to France. Language barriers didn't exist because French is also spoken in Mali. They live near the border with Germany. She told me that many people from the area came to their home back then to see a black woman. She was apparently a sensation in her hometown. Her mother is Muslim, and her father is Christian. However, both parents decided to introduce their children to the Christian faith, as it would be easier for them growing up in France. Today, she hardly believes in it herself and considers herself more of an atheist.

Sarah has many countries she wants to visit ahead of her. After studying cognitive psychology, she decided to take a trip around the world. Her first stop was India. With her dark skin, she had no problems there because she hardly stood out with a scarf over her head. That would have been impossible for me. She also laughed at me when I applied sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 50+ to prevent sunburn, and she was just glad not to have to deal with those problems. :D (Side note: I STILL got sunburned. The sun is super intense here. In Germany, I never have problems and never need sunscreen. But after 2 hours at the beach here, despite sunscreen, I got burned! I was wondering what the red, itchy rash on my feet was, but then Google helped and explained that sunburn can itch :D

Melaka was a beautiful place to relax. Sometimes I was sad because I know that enjoying everything is certainly different with a partner. However, I'm glad to have these experiences for myself and decide what I want to do. Even in the rare moments when I was alone, I always felt safe. It's quite noticeable when a girl like me walks alone through the streets with a backpack that's twice as big as me, but I don't mind. I actually enjoy being approached and having one of the countless short conversations. Often, someone even takes my backpack off ;)

All in all, it was a great trip. It really is different to stand in front of the Twin Towers instead of just seeing them in pictures. Everything was so brightly lit, and I could have looked at them all evening. I tried so many new fruits. There were delicious and sweet ones, but also one called Durian that was super disgusting. Eza filmed me trying it and had a good laugh. Most Western tourists find Durian really disgusting, but it's considered a delicacy here. I can't understand it :D

Sweet jackfruit, this one was very good!

In general, I was just happy during this week. I had no worries and did what made me happy. Rarely in my life have I had moments where I really had no other worries. It's amazing how long this feeling lasts because at home in everyday life, there are often little things that bother or make you sad. It's also different from going on vacation for 1-2 weeks because you always have in the back of your mind the worries waiting for you at home. Here, it's especially the encounters with other people that make everything so special. I probably would have never met any of them if I hadn't traveled alone. That's one of the many reasons why it's so great to travel alone!

All of this teaches me: I have to enjoy the remaining time even more intensely and really make the most of it! This feeling won't come back quickly once I'm back home.

I am incredibly happy and enjoy this time for myself and all the exciting encounters. Right now, my world is really rosy! :)

My backpack before heading to Indonesia! Mine is probably the biggest one, with the blue rain cover :D