Malaysia Week just finished and I had a great time. It was really different from my normal life at home but I guess that's why I enjoyed it so much. I also probably enjoyed it a lot because of all of the activities that we did. Okay, I'll start with the first day...
After we arrived in Belum (after about a 5 hour bus ride) we had to take a speedboat to Royal Belum. The ride was really fun. The view throughout the ride was also very beautiful. Anyways, after we arrived in Royal Belum, we ate lunch and had a quick meeting, we went swimming in the river for a while. That was pretty much it for the first day. The next day we did much more. First we went on a short hike (2-3 hours) and then we were in groups and had different stations for survival skills. There was orienteering, sign reading, trap setting, and fire building. We also went swimming later on (we went swimming nearly every day) and then, at night, we had the first round of Belum Idol! It was like American Idol and quite a few people (including teachers) sang. Then, on the third day, we also did a lot. We went to the Orang Asli Village in the morning. There, we played games with the Orang Asli and colored with them. Also, some of us got to try their instruments and blow pipes. After that, we went bamboo rafting. It was really exciting, although we moved very slowly. When we were deep into the river, we went swimming for a while, with life jackets (of course)! We went back and swam for a while longer and then that was about the end of the 3rd day on Malaysia Week. Then, on the last day where actually do something on Malaysia Week (we were just going to be traveling home the next day), we went on a hike. It wasn't just a normal short easy hike to nowhere. It was a long difficult (but fun) hike to see the Rafflesia! On just that 5 hour hike, I got over ten leeches! It was worth it, though. The hike was beautiful. We hiked uphill, downhill, and through many small rivers. In the end, we saw the Rafflesia and some that hadn't bloomed yet. That was about it for the last day. After the hike, we went back to our area where we were staying and had free time. All though, at night we had the last few rounds of Belum Idol. The next day, we went home. That is what I did on Malaysia Week.
