Sarang By the Brook


Today was my favorite day, today we went hiking! Yes, we got up early this morning to get picked up for a 2 hour drive to Kuba Bhara, which is right outside Kuala Lumpur and basically in the jungle. Our host, Chen, brought us to a little shop for a breakfast of egg/onion pancakes and caramelized sugar pancakes. It was a wonderful breakfast, and this is where Amanda and I discovered our love for Milo, which is basically malty chocolate drink, and totally yummy, and that's what Amanda ordered at every restaurant thereon after.

And then we went hiking! Our guide, Amie, while he wasn't as confident in his English as Chen, he was very helpful and informational along the trail and a great guide.



Into the jungle we go!

The day was overcast, and it actually rained for most of our way up to the waterfall, but none of us were complaining, as it helped keep us cool while we walked.





And there was so much to see! No crazy animals or anything, but some freaky plants that I've never seen in my life before and it was just wonderful to be surrounded by a beautiful, magical jungle. So prepare yourself for the onslaught of flora photos that's coming...



A fractal plant, in real life!

This orchid belongs on an alien plant

And these berries can't really be that color...right?

Okay, that'll do it for now, you get the idea. But now I have to show the coolest thing we found on the trail, I think:

Look at this beetle! I'm blowing it up for extra effect.

So I was pretty impressed with that guy, and he was the highlight, for me. We also saw some pretty butterflies, and one pair of yellow jays, and that about does it for the fauna. Unless you count leeches, that is. Unfortunately, since the trail was wet, and we're tasty white flesh (apparently, take the leeches word for it, not mine) We encountered many a leech along our hike. Chen swore that no one ever gets bit, but all 5 of us had between 4-12 leech wounds each by the end of our hike. At first I noticed one on the back of dad's foot and I pointed it out and thought that was that. But lo! and behold, when we arrived at the waterfall and we took our shoes off, all of us had been struck! not even Amanda was safe, who had decided to bring thick leather hiking boots along as her one pair of shoes to Malaysia, and was still bit, through her socks! 

But I'm getting ahead of myself, for now, we were just enjoying the hike. 







And then we reached our destination, the waterfall!


Pictures don't do it justice, but it was majestic. So we hung out for awhile to swim and eat, and relax. We had our traditional Malaysian lunch, called nasi lemak, or rice cooked with coconut milk with egg, chili paste and anchovies, and we all agreed we could eat that for any meal of the day.



My father is a white man. In case that was ever up for debate.



A successful hike!

I met two other girls on the trail who had reached the waterfall the same time as us, their names were Rae and Choi, from the Philippines and Singapore and had met at their air bnb. 

Once rested, we began the return journey home, and the sun was finally out! Cue sister photo shoot!







They're so adorable, ugh!

We made it down! Our guide, Amie, left.

Once we finished the hike we returned to Sarang by the Brook, which is the name of the retreat for snacks, sun and naps. So the compound or whatever you want to call it, were all these shipping containers Chen had loaded here which he outfitted with electricity and plumbing and they're so adorable! 

The outside

The inside

It's quite a setup he's got running and it seems like a super cool business to run. Hike with people, chill at a cool retreat you designed? Heck yes. Anyway, it was nice to hang out and chat with Chen. He got us some fried banana fritters and peanut pancakes which we all agreed were the best "snacks" we had in Malaysia (Let me tell you, food they got down, but snacks could use some improvement) and then it was nap time for all of us, before heading out at night for dinner in the town and a dip in the hot springs. It was a relaxing evening, with good company and excellent food.  

Peanuts, butter, pancakes. Boom.


 This post was brought to you by this droplet of water, because I was feeling artistic AF, appreciate it.

Thanks for reading and rock on

-Natalie 









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