Holy Shit - 3 weeks in the Malaysian jungle

Hi guys, we're back in civilization :) The past three weeks, we've been living and working on a permaculture farm near Lenggong in Malaysia. During our stopover in Ipoh, we heard about Ladia and Amy, who live with their 3 kids (ages 3, 5, and 4 months) on a self-sufficient farm in the jungle and are always looking for helping hands, from the owner of a small reggae bar. A few WhatsApp messages and three days later, we were on the bus to Lenggong, without knowing exactly what to expect...

When we first drove up the bumpy off-road track towards the farm with Ladia and his two adorable kids, we knew it was going to be an interesting time... :) Ten years ago, Ladia decided to live an independent sustainable life in harmony with nature and rented a few hectares of land, including a small farm, in the Malaysian jungle. Here, he has built a home "Off the Grid" with his own water supply from the river, various agricultural crops, and a solar power system. Since the farm does not generate any commercial profit, the family earns money by hosting guests.

In addition to the family, there are chickens, pigs, cows, dogs, a duck, and chicks on the farm. The main benefit of the animals is to use their so-called "black gold," i.e. their dung, as fertilizer for the plants - our "black gold" is also being used by the way... Holy Shit ;) Our accommodation was pretty simple... we lived in a small tent on an old barn with a 360-degree view of the jungle, a small kitchen, a compost toilet, and an old car battery as a light switch... :)

The day was more or less divided into two sections... From 9 am to 12 pm, we did the daily routine tasks such as feeding the animals, weeding, tidying up, watering gardens, and shoveling (a lot of) shit. From 12 pm to 3 pm, it was lunch/siesta time, and from 3 pm to 6 pm/7 pm, we worked on various projects. For example, building a new mushroom greenhouse, redesigning and replanting the gardens with various plants, fruits, and vegetables, or building new fences to prevent the cows from eating the plants. We always had something to do, we sweat a lot, had cow shit between our toes every day, but still, it was a relaxed and interesting time. We learned a lot about life in nature, sustainable use of resources, and the use and care of plants...

In addition to that, there was always something new... Mine helped a newborn piglet with suckling and massaged the nipples of a mother pig to stimulate milk flow... You don't do that every day :) Or one weekend when the family was in KL, the monsoon simply paralyzed the water supply... Sergi waded up and down the entire river four times to put the water pipe back in place and rebuild the dam... We think about that every time we turn on the tap ;)

But the most beautiful thing was the amazing surroundings - the farm is located right in the jungle, we fell asleep in our tent every night to the sounds of nature, did yoga in the morning with the rising sun between the mountains, and enjoyed our daily shower at the small waterfall around the corner. Leeches on our feet and a king cobra in the kids' bedroom probably just come with it ;).

In the evenings or on weekends, we cooked together and learned a lot about Malay/Chinese cuisine. Yes, we now know how to cook the legendary Nasi Lemak :P

We had a good time and gained many new experiences... If you want to know more about the farm, you can read about it here or come and visit for yourself: https://permacultureperak.com.

Peace and love to all of you out there! Take care and see you soon! ❤️