The girls had been longing for a water park since Croatia and it was there that they found out what a high ropes course was. Somehow that escaped their education to this point in their lives and they were intrigued.  When we saw Penang had a huge water park and high ropes course they had one thing they wanted to do.

An hour Grab (like Uber) ride later we were at entrance with half the island as December is their break time and a popular time for the park.  We paid, entered and got our bearings. The whole forest was a maze of multiple levels of a high ropes course. We jumped in line and stood we found ourselves hooked into the most extensive ropes course I have ever seen.  It was well done, 9 different “lanes” can be chosen with difficulty levels of 1-3. They estimated that to complete 1 lane on one level it would take between 30 min to an hour. We chose level 3 and climbed up to the top. The plan had been do to all the course if possible.   You are harnessed and you can not take yourself off the cable until the end of the lane. The obstacles involved zip lining, hanging ladders nets, jumping between swinging poles, rolling barrels and so on. Think Ninja Warrior in the jungle and once you start you can not stop. Two hours later, drenched in sweat, bruised, sore, and smiling we had completed 2 out of 3 lanes of level 3.  

I wish I had a picture of the fun, but the camera had to be left at the front and I was fully involved in just getting from point A to point B.  After a high dive show and a quick bite of Indian curry and roti - you know the cheap food in Malaysian water parks unlike the expensive hot dogs, we spent the rest of the day in the water park.

One of the most interesting things for me was the dress.  In Croatia everyone was basically naked at all time. You just took off your wet top and put a new one one.  Traverse was the only person we saw without a speedo on. People would look at me odd if I swam in a sports bra top.  In Islamic Malaysia however, I learned they make full swimming berkas complete with hijabs. The website said two piece swimsuits were OK, we only saw one other Chinese women in one besides the high dive act.   We were clearly the only caucasians people there and were referred to as “Alaska” by the friendly staff. The cultural differences were highlighted when Isabelle was asked if she had a husband. More than anything I was struck by beauty of seeing people of all ages, gender and religions play in the water, help each other through the ropes course and revel in the things that make us similar while still holding onto the ways we are different.  

After playing from the moment the doors open until they closed, we were all tired and sore but grateful for a fun day in the Malaysian jungle all getting to be kids.