Bex Takes On…Chenderoh Lake

After a lovely 2 days in Georgetown, we headed out of the city and into rural Malaysia. Our destination was a home stay by Chenderoh Lake.

We were hosted by a Malaysian couple and their youngest son, who had swapped the busy city life in Kuala Lumpur for a quieter life in rural Malaysia.

We were greeted with lunch, and had a chance to settle into our rooms, before a sarong wearing lesson. As we were about to take a walk around the village, we were required to wear a traditional sarong. It took me a few goes to get it right – it’s very difficult to get it tight enough!

During the walk around the village, we learnt a lot about how the community relies on natural resources, such as the fruit and leaves of trees/plants for food and medicine. Communal chickens wandered freely around the village.

We also had to wear the sarongs in the evening for a traditional Malaysian dinner. This involved sitting on the floor and eating with our hands. As I sat looking at the food in front of me I had no idea how I was going to manage to eat it with only my hands. It was a bit messy but I managed it in the end!

After dinner we played a traditional Malaysian board game called Congkak. The aim of the game is to get the most marbles in your ‘home’ section of the board. It’s very much about strategy and I managed to win 2 out of 3 games.

After a night surrounded by jungle noises, we left the next morning after an amazing breakfast. It was unlike any breakfast I’d had before but I throughly enjoyed it. It was so lovely to be welcomed so warmly into someone’s home and learn so much about their culture. An amazing experience!