The trip ended well. The Saturday before we left I went on the day trip out to Malacca and it really changed my opinion about Malaysia. I didn't really like Kuala Lumpur--the Petronas Towers are spectacular but in general, the city had a vaguely sinister feel to them and I never felt completely comfortable there. Malacca on the other hand was really interesting and pretty. I was thinking that it was going to be more of a town, but at 500,000+ residents, it really is much more of a city. That being said, though, it still feels small--it doesn't have skyscrapers or a financial district and it does have a lot of history.
Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to see everything but we got to see the church where St. Francis of Asissi was buried (before they carted his body off to Goa), graves dating back to the spice trades, and its old city center which is very colorful and vibrant. The old part of town is served by bicycle taxis which are decorated with bright and elborate flower arrangements. It is beautiful and charming to see a whole row of these lined up.
That evening we took another trip out to Kuala Selangor out near the coast and there we saw the most delightful silver leaf monkeys! They are smallish monkeys named for their black/silver fur and leaf-eating, vegetarian tendencies. We brought fresh beans to give them and clearly this is a favorite for them because they swarmed us. I'll admit that sometimes animals that get a little too eager can kind of unsettle me but these guys just seemed playful and fun. I really liked them--they would come up to you and put their hand on your arm and try to take the beans right out of your hand.
After the monkeys, we went to dinner at a really local place on the river and had a perfect view to watch the sunset. Since they are so close to the equator, the days are pretty much split into 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night--and it doesn't seem like twilight lingers and sunrises and sunsets are pretty short. The restaurant was great--very come-as-you-are and no frills in regards to the decor but the location was beautiful and the food was delicious.
After dinner, our last stop was the fireflies which swarm the river and light up the bushes and trees surrounding the water. It was so peaceful to be floating along the river in silence watching the fireflies twinkle, and it struck me as amazing that we were all so amazed by it. When you consider that the effect was not unlike a Christmas tree twinkling with lights, and we just take that for granted, then why would we be so capitvated by this. I don't know the answer to that but I do know that we all were captivated.