11 August until 6 September

Together with our two sons from 2 and 4 years old we travelled throughout West Malaysia for almost four weeks. A self-organized diverse trip with private rental, domestic flights and boat. Bustling Kuala Lumpur with its various ethnic neighbourhoods and mega playgrounds for the boys. The thousands of fireflies in the trees along the river in Kuala Selangor. The trees along the river looked like flashing Christmas trees. Next the Cameron Highlands with its green lush tea plantations, English Tudor-style buildings and of course its high tea with scones which are Indra’s favourite. The many strawberry plantations, butterfly and reptile gardens, the cooler temperatures and the English style made us forget we were in exotic Malaysia. Through many hairpin bends we descended down towards the peninsula of Penang accessing Georgetown by the 7 km long bridge from the mainland. The vibrant Penang with its predominantly Chinese population. The cable car, the most beautiful temple of Malaysia? and our luxury boutique G-hotel where the boys were welcomed with delicious homemade ice cream. On the roof top the beautiful pool overlooking the harbour and the promenade. The following day a domestic flight from Penang to Langkawi Island close to the border with Thailand. Super flight in a new aircraft from Firefly. After Arriving at this bounty island it rained for 4 days almost continuously. This had never happened in the past 20 years. Luckily we had a great house in a fantastic location overlooking the rice fields and in our backyard a rubber tree plantation. A nearby shopping centre with inflatable pillows, crafts corner and of course many shops with something for everyone. Our last day it didn’t rain and we still managed to visit most of Langkawi’s highlights. The mangrove forest, the eagles, fish farms, bat cave, etc. We flew back to Penang to catch our car for our trip from the west coast to the east coast along the bottom border of Thailand. A beautiful ride through the green nature with regular breaks to eat or drink something. Kota Bahru is the destination we reach after 7 hours driving. A Muslim city with very friendly people and an authentic Asian market in a building with several levels. Renting bikes for a ride with the boys visiting a kite maker, prawn crackers factory and several fishing villages. The boys liked it a lot sitting with us on the bike. While cycling we stopped at a coconut tree where an old man showed us how his trained monkey climbed in the tree to get the ripe coconuts. The old man cut some coconuts open for us and handed them to us to drink. Delicious! From the coastal town of Kota Bahru we went into a boat to the island of Pulau Perhentian. Truly a postcard picture island. Walking right from our house onto the beach and into the sea with all its colourful tropical fish that literally ate from our hands. An unforgettable experience for Finn and Nuri. Nice dinner and lots of snorkelling. From the island back to the mainland and on to Cherating. The place where giant sea turtles come ashore and lay their eggs. We drove to a turtle research centre. After a nice talk with the ranger. He asked if we were interested to return the following morning at 7 hours. So we returned at 7 hours in the morning but no ranger. He was still sleeping ... Bad omen? No, thank God. Along with the ranger Finn & Nuri dug a nest of turtle eggs which were ready to hatch. Finn and Nuri put the 42 baby turtles in a Styrofoam box and walked off to the beach to release them where they quickly disappeared into the surf. A very special and moving experience to be here all alone in the morning to watch 42 turtles find their way towards the open sea. From Cherating back towards Kuala Lumpur, but not before we made a stop at the elephant orphanage. Little touristy surely if you prefer to see animals in their natural environment but the boys thought it was super. The elephants were washed into the river. Finn and Indra made a ride on the back of an elephant and together we fed the elephants out of our hands. Back in Kuala Lumpur where it all started 4 weeks ago. KL is one of our favourite cities. Impressive buildings like the Petronas towers, beautiful 8-storey shopping centres, China town and the Indian district. With pain in our hearts we said goodbye to this city and West Malaysia after our unforgettable 4 week adventure. After a flight of 12 hours we were back (unfortunately) on Dutch soil ....