In the Malaysian Language (Bahasa Melayu) Taman Negara means National Park. While there are several national parks in Malaysia, when people refer to Taman Negara, they are usually referring to the oldest and largest in the country. This park is a large protected area in the central northern region of the country.

The park is approximately 4343 square kilometers that spans three Malaysian states - Terengganu, Pahang and Kelantan. The park is nearly all primary jungle and is provides an excellent way to understand the jungle ecosystem up close.

We traveled on the Lakeshore Limited in January 2010 on our way from Los Angeles to Syracuse, NY. The Lakeshore Limited connects Chicago with Boston, MA and New York City, NY. We departed from Chicago en route from Los Angeles aboard the Southwest Chief, which arrived 6 hours prior to our departure from Chicago to Syracuse.

We boarded the train in Chicago's Union Station around 9:00pm. Union Station is a large classic Art Deco train station right in the middle of downtown Chicago. It is both a beautiful building and an inspiring place to board a train. Those with sleeper accomodations have a special lounge with TVs, coffee, juice and larger chairs. Those traveling coach board at the gate in a standard waiting area. After boarding the train dinner was not served the first night, but we were treated to wine and cheese in the dining car.

Accomodation

Southwest Chief

The Southwest Chief is one of Amtrak's longest journey's, stretching from Los Angeles, California all the way to Chicago, IL.

Our Journey began in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Union Station is a gorgious building. It is worth visiting even if you aren't taking a train and served as a great place to start our trip. We checked in 6 bags, each weighing nearly 50 pounds, which was the maximum allowed. We also carried on 2 backpacks, a bag of food and our laptops. The track is announced about 30 minutes before the train is scheduled to depart, 15 minutes after that they will let you board. Coach passengers need to wait in line to check-in, sleeper car passengers who already have their tickets go strait to their train without waiting.

Accomodation

Here is the complete itinerary of our trip to Peru and Bolivia, which included Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and La Paz.

May 14, 2009 (LA)

• Departed Los Angeles at 2.20am (TACA)
• Arrived at Lima International Airport at 3pm
• Overnight at Pay Purix Backpackers Hostal; picked-up from airport. Checked in, walked to store about a mile away for food. Took local bus back.

May 15, 2009 (Lima, Cusco, Ollant & Aguas Calientes)

• Arrived at airport for Cusco departure at 5.30am. Flight was delayed until 9:15 due to fog.
• Departed for Cusco around 9:30am; Arrived at 10.30am (LAN)
• Things to do in Cusco:
  1. Took bags to Hostal Amaru and dropped them off

Over the years we have visited Yosemite, driven through the Rocky Mountains, been up and down the West Coast, enjoyed many days in my hometown of Portland, and of course seen all sorts of exciting things here in Los Angeles. So far my writing in this blog has focused primarily on big international excursions, and I suppose I have taken these intra-US trips for granted, forgetting that our readers outside this region may find some benefit to them as well. I plan to put an end to this international bias.

Starting this coming Friday, we will begin a cross country trip originating in Los Angeles and taking us all the way across the United States to Syracuse, New York. During the trip, I will be writing and sharing photos via my iPhone (there is no Internet on the train). You can follow my progress here on the blog. You will also be able to track where we are on the Look For America Flickr Map.

Malaysia is one of my favorite places to visit, especially Penang where I am very blessed because I have in-laws in there. This not only gives me an excuse to visit regularly, but an insiders perspective into the best that Malaysia and Penang have to offer. My father in-law especially makes my visits all the more entertaining both with his antics and his choice of the best Penang eateries.

Before each visit to Penang I always anticipate visiting my favourite places, which like most activities in Malaysia, usually involves eating. Here is a list of what I am anticipating for my trip next week.

1. Eating Ais Kacang at New World Food Court on Swatow Lane.
2. Nasi Dalcha at Ghaffour in Sungai Pinang.
3. Relaxing with Teh Tarik on streetside tables in Little India.
4. Walking the streets and touring the heritage houses.
5. Browsing the food stalls at the Ramadan bazaar.

What do you think should be the first thing I write about? Let me know in your comments and I will make sure to write a good post with photos about the experience.

After we got our feet wet visiting Saida in Southern Lebanon, our next step was further south towards the city of Tyre. Our goal was to reach the Khiam Prison, which is about an hour inland from the Tyre. The prison was formerly used by the Southern Lebanese Army, a Lebanese militia supported by Israel, and was at the time of our visit used as a museum by Hezbollah symbolizing their stated victory in liberating Southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation in 2000. At the time of our visit Hezbollah was still in control of Southern Lebanon, which gave me a bit of apprehension. Our journey to Khiam included a number of other stops, including Qana, Tyre and Buaffort Castle from which you could see into Northern Israel/Palestine and Syria. It was an amazing day with experiences that would impact my understanding of the Middle East like none other.

In December 2003 decided to visit Morocco. It was an amazing trip and the first time I would visit an Arabic speaking country. We reached Morocco by way of Spain via a ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar.

Our primary mode of transport for this entire trip was trains, with the exception of one bus ride between Malaga and Ronda and the ferry from Algeciras to Tangier.

The itinerary was as follows:

• Malaga - Our plane arrived in Malaga on Spain's Costa del Sol. We went straight from the airport to the bus station to catch a bus to Rhonda.
• Ronda - An amazing Andalucian town with a massive deep gorge right through the center of the village. The two sides are connected by a gorgeous bridge.. pretty much the most pictouresque town I have ever seen. The highlight was just looking out at the fields from the park at the edge of the cliffs.
• Ferry by way of Algeciras, Spain. You don't really want to spend much time in this city, we went straight from the train station to the ferry terminal and caught the express ferry about an hour later. The ferry was mostly empty, but the passport control going into Morocco was chaotic. The trip took about 3 hours.