Awesome arts in Baling, Malaysia (January 2026)

We went to Baling for rock climbing, but there was a lot more to see. This was a projection on the main rock cliff.
There were beautiful graffiti arts.
And while taking a walk, we came across this little cafe. It was closed but still the owners allowed us to have a look around.
A lot of the art was about mountaineering and climbing.

Rock sport climbing and living in Baling, Lubuk Pedati, Malaysia (January 2026)

We went to Baling to try the next climbing area called Lubuk Pedati (see it on thecrag.com). After one night at the official camp spot right next to the noisy small road, we moved our tent to the other side of the river, directly in front of the climbing crag. It was a beautiful place and our only neighbor was happy with us camping there.
The bridge connecting both sides of the river was broken but the locals already started repairing it. Crossing the river by foot was possible through the waist deep water.
The routes were very awesome! Especially the trees growing next to the crag and connecting to the rock looked fantastic. We did a lot of 3D climbing and even encountered a hornet that did bite Racki before we moved it away from the climbing route. The weather was super nice. No rain at all.
One day, we did a small hike and visited some of the caves.
Beautiful stones.
And alien artifacts.
And we met this huge tree. Racki is standing beside it to indicate its hugeness.
One of the fattest lianes we had met so far.
During our time in Baling, I got pretty ill and could not climb for more than a week. So we moved from our tent to a bungalow.
And we found the cheapest accommodation for about 11 Euro per night.
The protection foil has to stay, of course 😁
The locals were friendly and interested as always. Here Racki is playing Badminton with local girls 🤗
Every evening we went to one of the cheap authentic restaurants and for some meeting western tourists was quite a highlight. So there were a lot of selfies and Instagram videos. This family was especially super nice. They even invited us to our last dinner before we left Baling again.

New Years Eve in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (December, January 2026)

From Merapoh we took a train and a long distance bus back to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate New Years Eve.
We found some interesting “German” advertisement 😁
And the remnants of Christmas in Asian style🎄
And a nice Mediterranean restaurant with delicious food, live music …
… and a good cocktail deal 🥳
On the roof terrace of one of the many malls, we enjoyed a funny Asian concert 🎶
The Maybank tower displayed a sand clock…
… and at midnight there were some but not too crazy fireworks 🎇
We met a lot of nice people 🤗
Got a bit confused while searching for another party spot 🙃
But eventually found the main party area which reminded me quite a bit of the Reeperbahn in Hamburg but in a different style 💃🕺
This was our next aquarium without any outside windows for the new years eve time 😁