June 30

Yesterday was a big travel day for us, as we journeyed from KL to Penang Island - about a 5 hour bus ride north. Luckily for us, we fit in some fun adventuring in the middle of the bus ride to break it up. We stopped about 2.5 hours out of KL for an easy exploration of Gua Tempurung, a 1.5 million year old cave. The stalagmites, rock formations and sheer magnitude of the caves were staggering. After our caving tour, we loaded a truck to take us to our white water launch site. The river was quite low due to poor rainfall but we still had some great thrills along the river. We were also able to get out to swim and play river games along the way. Our laughter could probably be heard throughout the jungle for miles.

We arrived on Penang Island around 7:30 pm and enjoyed hawker food near our hotel. This morning is starting slow and easy before our city tour and Trishaw rides! 

June 29

On June 29 we departed our hotel for a late afternoon at the Rumah Ozanam orphanage in KL. This orphanage is a home for students who have lost their parents and who are being raised by other family members who can't afford to raise the students themselves. The students in this home attend school, church and community events. We played a variety of ice-break games with the 17 boys and girls of the orphanage. (Musical chairs got a bit competitive!) We then were able to eat a meal together before saying our goodbyes. Denver Academy presented them with gifts for their kitchen. This was a powerful day, as we were able to meet other students from around the world and see how they live.

Ice breakers

Ice breakers

Ice breakers

Ice breakers

Ice breakers

Sharing a meal

With the teachers and Board members of Rumah Ozanam

Group photo!

After our visit, we explored KL more as we toured around the city and saw the Petronas tours, went to Decathalon (a large sporting goods store) Central Market and Chinatown. Students enjoyed bartering and experiencing the sights and sounds of KL. 

June 27-28

Welcome to the jungle!! We returned last night from our jungle trekking experience. On the morning of June 27, we loaded into 8 4x4 trucks and took off 2 hours away from KL. Our first stop was to a hot spring where we boiled eggs in the 130 degree natural hot springs. 

From there, we had a short drive to the village of the Orang Asli people where we were greeted by what seemed like the whole tribe (kids even stayed home from school to greet us!). The Orang Asli are an aboriginal people who are working hard to preserve their lands and culture. We learned how to weave traditional headdress and we all had a blow dart competition. The Orang Asli gifted us with headdresses and one-of-a-kind bamboo cups made by a tribal elder. Winners of the blow dart competition even got their own darts and blow pipes. We enjoyed touring the village by following a gang of small boys, meeting the king and his family, taking selfies and teaching dance moves. They were hospitable and fun and we feel grateful to have had this opportunity, as few westerners are privileged enough to have this experience. 

After meeting the Orang Asli people, we drove further into the jungle and had a real 4x4 experience... at times having to even tow other trucks up steep hills. We stopped at a spot for lunch that overlooked the river and enjoyed lunch as we dipped our feet in the river. After lunch the tribal leaders taught us how to build a fire and cook noodles in bamboo stalks. From lunch we hiked to the campsite and found our “beds” prepared for us-cots and mosquito nets under a tin roof! We quickly changed and cooled off in the river. Charades, campfire conversations and lots of giggling at night made for a true jungle camping experience. 

In the morning we headed off in search of the Rafflesia flower and a waterfall and what we thought would be an “easy” hike turned out to be very challenging. As we cut our way through the jungle, we were greeted by stunning views and more flora and fauna than we’ve ever seen. The waterfall was a great reward after such a challenging trek. 

Today we’re back in KL where we’ll be visiting an orphanage and doing a city tour. Stay tuned for more and be sure to check out our PHOTOS page for updated pictures! 

June 27

After a long day of travel (Five hour plane ride and 4.5 hour bus ride) we arrived early this morning (2am) in Kuala Lumpur.  Kudos to these kids for making the most out of the situation and being so flexible! We head out on our overnight Jungle Trek shortly where we will meet and dine with the local ethnic "Orang Asli" people and learn about their way of life.  Check back later for more amazing photos of our excursion! 

June 25

What a day! It’s hard to find words to accurately describe the physical, emotional, and spiritual experience we had today. This morning we started out early on our journey to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery - about a 30 minute drive from our hotel. As we drove closer to the trailhead, Tiger’s Nest came in to view high up on the mountain side. Ahead of us we had an 8 mile hike with a 2,000 foot elevation climb. At times, it seemed like we were walking in the clouds, as the mist surrounded us and Tiger’s Nest for the majority of the hike up. Everyone proved to themselves their own mental and physical strength in being able to hike up the grueling and rocky terrain - lungs and legs alike burned with exertion. As Tiger’s Nest became closer and closer, the clouds began slowly lifting, giving us a reward for the hike - a true mystical Bhutanese sight. We will let the pictures speak for us.

Inside the Tiger’s Nest, we learned more about the monastery, Bhuddism and even got to meditate inside one of the 8 temples. We enjoyed a home made meal on the mountain side and enjoyed the warm sun on the hike down. After Tiger’s Nest, we headed back into Paro for some more shopping and then ended our day at a traditional Bhutanese farmhouse where we were treated to hot stone baths, lessons in archery and a traditional meal. The day ended with each of us expressing our appreciations and highlights thus far. 

This day will surely stick with each of us for a lifetime. We all feel so lucky to have seen a sight that few westerners know about, much less travel to. Henry even said, “I never thought I’d see something like this at 17.” 

Tomorrow we head back to Singapore and then on to Kuala Lumpur. 

June 24

Greetings from Bhutan!  We had a busy but exciting day yesterday. Please view the pictures below for a brief retelling of yesterday's events.  We will be hiking to the Tiger's Nest Monastery today and are very excited at the opportunity to visit such a sacred and revered site.  (PHOTOS)

• Arts and Crafts Tour: We visited a weaving factory where they craft the traditional dress of the Bhutanese people.  The men wear a "gho" and the women a "kira."  The formal silk dresses can take up to an inch a day to weave.  After, we visited a school that teaches several crafts like wood carving, clay sculpting, blacksmithing, and embroidery.

• You will see that we also dressed in the traditional dresses for the day.

• After lunch we spent some time shopping in the street market in Thimphu. Then this gypsy van took the one hour drive back to Paro.  

• After checking into our hotel that overlooks the air strip and has a magnificent view of the Himalayan Valley at the base of the mountains, we went to the Rinpung Dzong Fortress.

• Then it was off to more shopping, dinner at the hotel, and bed.  More to come after Tiger's Nest Monastery today!

June 23

Good morning from Thimphu, Bhutan! Our hotel is in the city center and we are loving this quaint capital city of 90,000. We were woken this morning by a sunrise over Buddha on the hill, the sound of birds chirping and....a pack of barking dogs marking their territory on the streets below.

Yesterday was another early wake up call, as we had a 6:30am flight to Paro. The flight into Paro was as astonishing as we had heard. Upon descent, Everest could be seen in the distance and as we approached Paro, we dipped down eye level with green, lush mountains. We wove in and out of mountains and at times, it seemed a wing could tickle the mountainside. It was beautiful and exhilarating and the reward for landing was exiting the plane onto the tarmac in front of an ornate, traditional Bhutanese style airport where tourists hung around taking pictures. Upon exiting the airport, we were greeted by our tour guide and escorted to a blue and white coaster van that seats exactly 20 people. Our students helped toss our luggage onto the roof where the driver and guide tied them down... all in the traditional gho dress.

Our guide, Nangay, demonstrating how to don the national dress.

We had a full day of sightseeing, starting first with the oldest bridge in Bhutan which dates back to the 15 century. This chain suspension bridge was in use up until only 6 months ago but due to safety, we were only able to look at it from afar and enjoy the new, more secure suspension bridge. After a delicious lunch and a quick check-in at the hotel in Thimphu, we traveled  to Tashichhodzong, or the fortress of bliss - a government building and sacred space where monks reside. The massive white buildings with ornate paint, beg a sense of awe and reflection. The most amazing part...we were some of the only tourists. One of the monks offered us a sweet, milky lentil soup that was left over from their ceremony. We turned prayer beads, explored and learned about Bhuddism, the King and the rich history. 

Group photo of the suspension bridge.  The original is on the right the usable on the left.

From there we traveled to the National Memorial Stupa, the new 8th wonder of the world-the largest sitting Buddha in the world, a farmer’s market and an archery match. Archery is the national sport of Bhutan. The field is the size of 1.5 soccer fields and the target is no larger than a watermelon. The players heckle each other, dance when someone hits the target and get incredibly close to the flying arrows. We could have stayed and watched for hours! 

The effects of jet lag are still hitting us but we remain in good spirits...sometimes too good of spirits on our tiny bus... teenagers are SO loud when they’re belting out “Our Heart Will Go On”! We have another full day today and will update soon! 
Click here for more photos: Photos

Luke Griffith’s post about Bhutanese Architecture

Dzong architecture is some of the most beautiful on the planet, it would seem. It’s the stereotypical Buddhist style, the kind one sees in Tibet. What’s interesting about Bhutan, officially known as the Kingdom of Bhutan, is that its capitol city Thimphu actually forbids buildings that aren’t traditional in terms of architecture and limits tower height at seven stories. This is actually a good idea— with today’s architecture, one could barely tell Paris apart from Berlin, other than the language. If you were teleported somewhere, and that somewhere had a 50% chance of being Shanghai and a 50% chance of being Seoul, you probably wouldn’t know where you ended up. Most architects nowadays make a grotesque glass rectangle and call it a day. It’s somewhat interesting to see how much more unique Thimphu is when compared with other cities around the globe.