Today we got a first taste of what it means to trek through a jungle. We decided to go to Penang National Park, which is about an hour away from where we’re staying in George Town. It’s a small national park, but it’s really lovely, with well marked trails and contains quite a few trails that you can easily do in one day. You have to register when you enter the park to get a permit, but entry is free and the park is well maintained. We hiked from the entrance of the park to Turtle Beach, named like that because it is where turtles come to lay their eggs. There is also a Turtle Conservation Center close to the beach, where you can see some turtles kept in captivity and can find out more about the conservation program.

For me this was the first time trekking through an actual jungle. Part of the experience matched my expectations: the weather was of course hot and humid, and the vegetation is luxuriant, in a thousand shades of green. What surprised me though is the multitude of sounds you hear: birds, monkeys, insects… possibly also other kinds of animals. And they’re all sooooo loud! In theory, there are also big lizards in that park, but we were lucky enough to not meet one. (Well, “lucky” if you ask me, “unlucky” if you ask Daniel, who would have loved to see one. For my part, I prefer to keep my distance from them, although they are supposed to not be dangerous.)

In other news, my luggage has been found!!! After spending all day shopping yesterday and buying a new backpack in which to put my things (which was not cheap, even by Swiss standards), today I got a call from Swiss telling me that my luggage has been found. Naturally, I’m happy about that, but now we’ll have to sort out with our insurances if I can get back the money I spent to replace things that had been “lost” with my luggage. Anyway, my luggage had actually never left Milan and it will meet me in Singapore in 2 days! Time to celebrate!