Teluk Bahang

We rushed a bit through Georgetown so that we could have some extra time at our last stop in Malaysia, Teluk Bahang. We are so glad we did! Teluk Bahang is a small fishing town with easy access to a national park. There are hardly any tourists and that means hardly any taxi drivers, touts, or tour operators hassling us. Instead of all that we're simply in a quiet, friendly place.

The national park is well worth the visit too! It was surprisingly well maintained and entrance was completely free. The had a very large and informative visitors center that taught us about many of the animals in the park. The only thing that cost money was the canopy walk. We didn't have to pay for this either because the street vendor we bought our lunch from gave us extra tickets left behind by some departing German tourists. Free is great! The canopy walk was one the highlights for us even though it was slightly terrifying. The bridge didn't seem entirely.....stable. But we put our faith into it, had a great time, and took some amazing photos.

The next day we hiked for over two hours through the jungle stopping to rest at some of the beaches along the way. We saw plenty of wildlife including squirrels, monkeys, and lots giant water monitor lizards. Many of them were bigger than small alligators! We ended our hike at Monkey Beach.

Most of the few tourists that come to the park hire boats which take them straight to Monkey Beach and drop them there. Many of these were Malaysian, so we weren't that surprised to see fully clothed women walking the beach complete with hijabs (Malaysia is primarily Muslim). What did surprise us was a European girl that was walking around topless. I think it's great if women are comfortable with their bodies, but going topless in a Muslim country is not just unwise, it's incredibly disrespectful. Please don't be like her and try to respect local customs when you travel!