Destination Numero Cinco: A blend of Natural and Urban

Last year, 2 international students from Malaysia were in my speech class.  I remember each of them going on and on about how much they missed their homeland.  They talked about the beauty of the land and the natural beaches along the coast.  They missed the perfect weather, and often talked about the unique culture and tradition that Malaysia's known for.


According to another blog, "ethnically and culturally, Malaysia is a fundamentally Malay country overlaid with Chinese, Indian and British influences, and possessing several indigenous tribal peoples such as the Iban, Penan and Negrito. Yet it preserves many traditional cultural aspects—dress, religion, food and architecture."  


The interesting part of Malaysia is that it is so diverse.  While it hosts a wide variety of natural landscapes that can be used for white-water rafting, cave exploration, mountain biking, snorkeling, hiking, jungle-treking and more...it is also extremely urban and modern, as you can see from the photo above.


It sounds like Malaysia has so much to offer, and after talking with people from the country it's hard not to want to go there.  The place sounds beautiful, and the people seem nice as well.  The only negative (which might be a big one) are the expenses of the trip.  My friends from class said it's extremely expensive there, and even plane tickets to the country are often out of everyone's price range.  Maybe when I win the lottery this will be my first destination, but until then, I'll keep dreaming about it.