Here is the last of my pics (for now).
These from Penisula Malaysia:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2099928&l=1355cafb09&id=15804233
And these from before mom, in Laos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2100216&id=15804233&l=ef33aa7cf1
I'm going to be adding some to the old Thailand album too, so check that in a few days.
Enjoy!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Borneo's up
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2099876&id=15804233&l=69ad948d1e
Another set of pics is up
Another set of pics is up
Friday, September 3, 2010
The first pics are up
The title really says it all. I've only got one album done so far, Cambodia.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093231&id=15804233&l=8c23c3d528
Some of you already know this, but one reason I haven't gone on the pictures is that I've been spending some time getting a job...and I was succesful!
I'll be starting up at OHSU working in a lab that researchs TB and start the 13th. There's a whole story that goes with it, but that's the short of it.
More pics later...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093231&id=15804233&l=8c23c3d528
Some of you already know this, but one reason I haven't gone on the pictures is that I've been spending some time getting a job...and I was succesful!
I'll be starting up at OHSU working in a lab that researchs TB and start the 13th. There's a whole story that goes with it, but that's the short of it.
More pics later...
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
And then it was all over...
So first a little surprise/disclaimer....
I've been home for 3 days!
Sorry to all those I've been misleading, but I came home a week early in an attempt to surprise some of you (hopefully I've been successful). As an added bonus I'm now able to put together a coherent sentence. As you'll see below, that is an achievement.
When we last heard from me, I had returned to Bangkok and picked up some more clothes during a rainstorm. Later that night I was able to catch up with a friend of Steph's (actually the teacher she replaced; I had hung out with her a fair amount in Udon). It was fun to talk to a fellow backpacker; with traveling with mom and then a week on my own, it had been a while. We ended up planning her travels to India until nearly 12.
Which didn't seem late except I never really got sound asleep and woke up at 6am, and due to motorcycles and a hard bed, didn't fall back asleep. Which was probably good since Steph called at 7am asking which room we were in! I knew she was getting in at 7am, but I thought that was the bus station not my room!
After waking up a bit, the 4 of us (another one of the teachers I'd met before had come down too) went off to a palace (one of several in Bangkok) which included a huge wooden mansion that had been constructed as a 5-yr temporary house for the royal family. This thing was HUGE! And kind of unique because it was built in a Victorian style, but with Thai influences. And the whole building was constructed with out a nail; I was impressed.
Next up was heading to a massive weekend market. We're talking 35 acres of absolutely anything you could want. The prices were pretty decent and while there was a bunch of poor quality things, a lot was also pretty good. I managed to finish off my clothes shopping (minus shoes, but my feet are definitely not Asian-sized!). It was fun just walking around and it was really good to reunite the Duo!
After a little nap time we headed out. We had a lot to celebrate, Steph's b-day was the next day and it was my last night in SE Asia. The highlights (that I'm going to share/can remember) were going up to the top of the highest building in Thailand (thank you Steph's dad for the tickets!), and then heading back to Khao Son Rd for some drinks and dancing.
Apparently it was a little too much drinking and a little too much dancing because the next thing I knew I had missed my bus to the airport! Yeah, that's not good! But luckily, with a huge amount of help from Jemma and Steph, I got another bus and managed (I don't know how) to get to my flight to Singapore where I promptly passed out. My time in Singapore was mostly just riding the transit to pick up my bag (I swear that thing got heavier) and then back to the airport where I spent a night trying to sleep on a cold concrete floor (all told maybe 1.5hrs) before checking in around 4:30am. I was greeted with the news that I had to pay $250 because my ticket was moved, though my travel agent assures me he already talked to United and I wasn't supposed to. It made no difference to me though since I was going home!
My flights were: ~7hrs to Tokyo, enough time to get to the next gate and then 9hrs to San Fran (managed maybe an hour of sleep there), followed by a mad dash through the airport that got me to the gate for my PDX flight, only to find the gate was closed, but because they were waiting to fix a seat I made it on and got home to Portland about 5 hours after I had taken off from Singapore (crossing the dateline does wonders!).
So all told, I traveled around 10,000miles, in 3 days, on less than 10hrs of sleep! Now you see why I haven't been calling all of you to talk just yet!
I suppose I should do some big wrap up about my time abroad, but that will need to wait for another time.
I've been home for 3 days!
Sorry to all those I've been misleading, but I came home a week early in an attempt to surprise some of you (hopefully I've been successful). As an added bonus I'm now able to put together a coherent sentence. As you'll see below, that is an achievement.
When we last heard from me, I had returned to Bangkok and picked up some more clothes during a rainstorm. Later that night I was able to catch up with a friend of Steph's (actually the teacher she replaced; I had hung out with her a fair amount in Udon). It was fun to talk to a fellow backpacker; with traveling with mom and then a week on my own, it had been a while. We ended up planning her travels to India until nearly 12.
Which didn't seem late except I never really got sound asleep and woke up at 6am, and due to motorcycles and a hard bed, didn't fall back asleep. Which was probably good since Steph called at 7am asking which room we were in! I knew she was getting in at 7am, but I thought that was the bus station not my room!
After waking up a bit, the 4 of us (another one of the teachers I'd met before had come down too) went off to a palace (one of several in Bangkok) which included a huge wooden mansion that had been constructed as a 5-yr temporary house for the royal family. This thing was HUGE! And kind of unique because it was built in a Victorian style, but with Thai influences. And the whole building was constructed with out a nail; I was impressed.
Next up was heading to a massive weekend market. We're talking 35 acres of absolutely anything you could want. The prices were pretty decent and while there was a bunch of poor quality things, a lot was also pretty good. I managed to finish off my clothes shopping (minus shoes, but my feet are definitely not Asian-sized!). It was fun just walking around and it was really good to reunite the Duo!
After a little nap time we headed out. We had a lot to celebrate, Steph's b-day was the next day and it was my last night in SE Asia. The highlights (that I'm going to share/can remember) were going up to the top of the highest building in Thailand (thank you Steph's dad for the tickets!), and then heading back to Khao Son Rd for some drinks and dancing.
Apparently it was a little too much drinking and a little too much dancing because the next thing I knew I had missed my bus to the airport! Yeah, that's not good! But luckily, with a huge amount of help from Jemma and Steph, I got another bus and managed (I don't know how) to get to my flight to Singapore where I promptly passed out. My time in Singapore was mostly just riding the transit to pick up my bag (I swear that thing got heavier) and then back to the airport where I spent a night trying to sleep on a cold concrete floor (all told maybe 1.5hrs) before checking in around 4:30am. I was greeted with the news that I had to pay $250 because my ticket was moved, though my travel agent assures me he already talked to United and I wasn't supposed to. It made no difference to me though since I was going home!
My flights were: ~7hrs to Tokyo, enough time to get to the next gate and then 9hrs to San Fran (managed maybe an hour of sleep there), followed by a mad dash through the airport that got me to the gate for my PDX flight, only to find the gate was closed, but because they were waiting to fix a seat I made it on and got home to Portland about 5 hours after I had taken off from Singapore (crossing the dateline does wonders!).
So all told, I traveled around 10,000miles, in 3 days, on less than 10hrs of sleep! Now you see why I haven't been calling all of you to talk just yet!
I suppose I should do some big wrap up about my time abroad, but that will need to wait for another time.
Friday, August 20, 2010
The last trip
Another post-dated blog; this one was from the 20th or so.
Leaving early in the morning from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi (~3hrs) was a pretty nice/easy train trip; plenty of room with alternating views of fields and little cities along with some, of course, ornate temples. I was surprised by some of the squalid living conditions we passed, but I've actually seen much worse.
The ride from Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok (~2.5hrs), along the Bridge over the River Kwai and the 'Death Railway' wasn't anything special. The museum at Hellfire Pass was really good however, and provided a lot of information about the 'Death Railway' (briefly, during WWII, the Japanese felt they needed a land connection to their new territory in Burma. The subsequent construction of a railroad was completed by POWs and 'hired' locals. 3 years later or so the nearly 500km of track were finished at the cost of over 100,000 lives). The museum was not too big, but informative and well laid out. Walking the railroad wasn't anything too special, but pretty amazing to think they did that all by hand in such conditions; I wish I'd had more time to walk as the views were pretty nice.
Finishing up there, I returned to Kanchanaburi. I was less than impressed with the town unfortunately (a wanna be backpackers hangout, but just seedy), but was able to get a nice place right on the river for cheap. The town was too empty to be fun and no other solo travelers or place to meet. I did have the best papaya salad I've ever had though: crispy fried fish and a salted egg as well as the sticky rice I'd been craving since leaving Laos!
The next day was out to Erawan Falls which was nicer than I thought it might be. The place was very well trodden and not as nice as the one in Laos however. Getting to the falls was a nice drive as it reminded me a bit of Brazil in the scenery as well as the numerous little places to stay (pousadas in Brazil). It was also nice to see that Thailand did have some nice scenery and relaxed places considering all I had seen was the southern beaches and Bangkok.
The bus ride out to the falls was quite an experience and took longer than I expected, but that was ok as I never paid for the bus ride. While still in Kanchanaburi I ran into a French mom and her son who I knew were going to the falls. They were waiting on the side of the road, and had tried to stop the bus a couple of times, but to no avail. The next thing I knew, a Thai woman that had been helping them was picking us up in a truck to take us to the bus station (we guessed, she didn't really speak English, but she pulled the clothes in the truck out so that we could hop in and we took off somewhere). We arrived at the bus station and she then made it obvious that she wanted us to get back in the truck with mention of '2 minutes'. We ended up being able to catch the bus (that had left 2minutes before us) and she got us on! All of that and I don't know any of those people's names!
The scramble up to the top of the falls was more difficult than I really expected, but lack of food made me a bit tired; I ended up slipping at one point and bashing my nose on my hand which was on a rock in front of me, ouch! My lack of food also made me less than social most of the time I was around Kanchanaburi, but also my timing of things is not making me social. I can see then end coming and I just don't care to meet many new people.
There were also way too many Frenchies at the waterfall being loud and annoying. It was nice to take in the serene setting of a gorgeous 7-tier waterfalls getting a free foot cleaning by fish... until I was inundated by shrieking and yelling French teenagers (I can accept that) and middle aged vacationers (you're 35, stop). Nonetheless, the experience was a memorable one. The entire stream was full of the fish that they use at the spas to clean your feet; it was a really weird feeling (sort of a sucking sensation mixed with some nibbling...definitely freaky at first), but if you got used to it and relaxed, it felt pretty nice, and my feet did come out cleaner!
The last night it looked like a huge storm was coming in as I was sitting in front of my room right on the river watching the sunset (tough life!), and it sure started like a major storm, but it never really materialized.
The last morning I walked all the way down to see the Bridge over the River Kwai, and was, as I expected, not too impressed (just a railroad bridge). That was after having a breakfast of some fiercely spicy vegetable soup with noodles: I was crying, but for some reason I ate the whole thing, much to the enjoyment of the old woman selling. I then ended up getting to Bangkok in the early afternoon and getting caught in the down pour which just meant I needed to shop to pass the time. Also had some really good dim sum, Chinese chives was the best, but the others were all really good, better/less greasy than what mom and I had in Melaka.
Next up was a reunion of the Duo for Steph's B-day, but that will wait for the next post...
Leaving early in the morning from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi (~3hrs) was a pretty nice/easy train trip; plenty of room with alternating views of fields and little cities along with some, of course, ornate temples. I was surprised by some of the squalid living conditions we passed, but I've actually seen much worse.
The ride from Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok (~2.5hrs), along the Bridge over the River Kwai and the 'Death Railway' wasn't anything special. The museum at Hellfire Pass was really good however, and provided a lot of information about the 'Death Railway' (briefly, during WWII, the Japanese felt they needed a land connection to their new territory in Burma. The subsequent construction of a railroad was completed by POWs and 'hired' locals. 3 years later or so the nearly 500km of track were finished at the cost of over 100,000 lives). The museum was not too big, but informative and well laid out. Walking the railroad wasn't anything too special, but pretty amazing to think they did that all by hand in such conditions; I wish I'd had more time to walk as the views were pretty nice.
Finishing up there, I returned to Kanchanaburi. I was less than impressed with the town unfortunately (a wanna be backpackers hangout, but just seedy), but was able to get a nice place right on the river for cheap. The town was too empty to be fun and no other solo travelers or place to meet. I did have the best papaya salad I've ever had though: crispy fried fish and a salted egg as well as the sticky rice I'd been craving since leaving Laos!
The next day was out to Erawan Falls which was nicer than I thought it might be. The place was very well trodden and not as nice as the one in Laos however. Getting to the falls was a nice drive as it reminded me a bit of Brazil in the scenery as well as the numerous little places to stay (pousadas in Brazil). It was also nice to see that Thailand did have some nice scenery and relaxed places considering all I had seen was the southern beaches and Bangkok.
The bus ride out to the falls was quite an experience and took longer than I expected, but that was ok as I never paid for the bus ride. While still in Kanchanaburi I ran into a French mom and her son who I knew were going to the falls. They were waiting on the side of the road, and had tried to stop the bus a couple of times, but to no avail. The next thing I knew, a Thai woman that had been helping them was picking us up in a truck to take us to the bus station (we guessed, she didn't really speak English, but she pulled the clothes in the truck out so that we could hop in and we took off somewhere). We arrived at the bus station and she then made it obvious that she wanted us to get back in the truck with mention of '2 minutes'. We ended up being able to catch the bus (that had left 2minutes before us) and she got us on! All of that and I don't know any of those people's names!
The scramble up to the top of the falls was more difficult than I really expected, but lack of food made me a bit tired; I ended up slipping at one point and bashing my nose on my hand which was on a rock in front of me, ouch! My lack of food also made me less than social most of the time I was around Kanchanaburi, but also my timing of things is not making me social. I can see then end coming and I just don't care to meet many new people.
There were also way too many Frenchies at the waterfall being loud and annoying. It was nice to take in the serene setting of a gorgeous 7-tier waterfalls getting a free foot cleaning by fish... until I was inundated by shrieking and yelling French teenagers (I can accept that) and middle aged vacationers (you're 35, stop). Nonetheless, the experience was a memorable one. The entire stream was full of the fish that they use at the spas to clean your feet; it was a really weird feeling (sort of a sucking sensation mixed with some nibbling...definitely freaky at first), but if you got used to it and relaxed, it felt pretty nice, and my feet did come out cleaner!
The last night it looked like a huge storm was coming in as I was sitting in front of my room right on the river watching the sunset (tough life!), and it sure started like a major storm, but it never really materialized.
The last morning I walked all the way down to see the Bridge over the River Kwai, and was, as I expected, not too impressed (just a railroad bridge). That was after having a breakfast of some fiercely spicy vegetable soup with noodles: I was crying, but for some reason I ate the whole thing, much to the enjoyment of the old woman selling. I then ended up getting to Bangkok in the early afternoon and getting caught in the down pour which just meant I needed to shop to pass the time. Also had some really good dim sum, Chinese chives was the best, but the others were all really good, better/less greasy than what mom and I had in Melaka.
Next up was a reunion of the Duo for Steph's B-day, but that will wait for the next post...
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Bangkrazy
I'm writing this one out of order a bit since I haven't written about Melaka, but that one needs a little more time since it is the last one with mom. Also, I have all my Bangkok thoughts on the mind...and I've only been here 24hrs!
But what a 24hrs they've been!
The ridiculous-ness that is Bangkok is only rivaled by such stunning cities as Jakarta and Manila. Bangkok is incredibly big, hot and noisy, and pretty dirty (mom, you would have freaked out), but for some reason, I like it. Maybe it has more to do with me and where I'm at after so much time in SE Asia, but the craziness didn't get to me; I kind of enjoyed it!
My flight to BKK with Malaysian Air was really nice, it only took about 2hrs, but we still got a meal with some wine. It was so short it was easy to forget it was actually an international flight.
I got into the very nice new airport Bangkok has and eventually got a bus into the city center. The bus is just one example of how hard the Thai gov't seems to be trying to make tourism easy and appealing here; I don't know if it has anything with trying to re-image the city after the riots, but I've not seen nor heard mention of those.
Hopping off the bus at the backpacker mecca of Khao San Rd, I was able to walk the 5mins directly to my place where I was happily surprised with a double (though I paid for a single) with windows out over the street and very clean surroundings.
That night I went straight away back to Khao San Rd where, after some bargaining/heckling with a few different shop owners, I walked away with 2 t-shirts of good quality, thick well made 'Diesel' jeans, and a nice, 40-liter 'Deuter' (a German company) day-pack. If all of that had actually been real (i.e. not counterfeit), you're looking at a hefty price tag. the jeans alone would have been more than what I paid for all of them! But I checked the quality pretty carefully and it seems good to me.
With my important purchases done (I needed a day pack since I had sent mine home with mom), I got some noodles at one of the many shops (price tag: $1) and talked to an interesting, dreadlocked Israeli girl. She was traveling for 4years make and selling jewelery as she went to pay the bills. The people watching at Khao San Rd it unbelievable. The only other place I saw anything near that diversity in age, class, sex, appearance, etc was at Mardi Gras and this blew that away!
Today I got off to an early start and did my usual walk everywhere and cover way too much. Though I did cut myself some slack and not do any more temples after I went to the Grand Palace. Before that though I had walked and found some, what I considered at the time, ornate temples and monuments. At that point I didn't realize that pretty much every temple in Bangkok (and there are a lot!) are decked out. I eventually ended up at the Golden Mountain where I walked up the 329 (by my count) stairs to the top for a pretty good view of the city (damn, it's huge).
What I neglected to mention is that I got there only after fighting off 3 different guys running the same scam (though I think the last 2 were in connection). So in less than 12hrs I've had the full Bangkok experience: bought faked clothes and come this close to hopping in a tuk-tuk with a guy who was trying to scam me (the gist was that today was a big special day so the temples were open at different times and he would take me all over the city to time them out right, and as a bonus, the gov't was giving him free gas so he'd do it all for less than $0.70). Maybe there was some truth to it, but it seemed too good too be true and then I found out one of the temples that was supposed to be closed was in fact open. I stuck to myself the rest of the day.
The highlight of the sights was the Grand Palace. 'Amazingly ornate' doesn't even begin to do it justice. I probably took a few hundred pictures because everywhere I turned there was something else gorgeous and amazing. The little museum I passed through housed all the national treasures of Thailand and the delicate gold carvings jam packed on every square millimeter of the pieces was stunning. The entire compound is very well maintained and the colors and 'sparkle-y-ness' of the various buildings is unlike anything I've ever seen; just wait for the pics. Even for a cheapskate like me, the palace is a must see.
Included with the palace grounds, and probably the biggest attraction is the Emerald Buddha. This Buddha figurine (which is actually jade) has a bit of a history passing back and forth between Laos and Thailand. It has been firmly in Thailand for a few hundred years now however, and the temple where it is housed is considered one of the holiest sights in all of Thailand.
After forcing myself through the last of the palace I couldn't take any more temples or walking around so I instead headed off to get my ticket for my next trip. With all of one day in Bangkok I decided I should head out while I still have positive thoughts so I went and bought a train ticket to Kanchanaburi which is the town that includes the Bridge over the River Kwai. I'll kick around there for a while and see the sights before meeting Steph for her B-day celebration back here in Bangkok. Then...who knows?
Getting to and from the train station was a bit of an adventure, but I'm glad I did it today because now it'll be much easier tomorrow morning. I then ended by walking city tour with a hair cut! The guy paid incredible detail for a $2 haircut!
Now it's time for some more noodles and probably some more shopping.
What a city, what a day!
But what a 24hrs they've been!
The ridiculous-ness that is Bangkok is only rivaled by such stunning cities as Jakarta and Manila. Bangkok is incredibly big, hot and noisy, and pretty dirty (mom, you would have freaked out), but for some reason, I like it. Maybe it has more to do with me and where I'm at after so much time in SE Asia, but the craziness didn't get to me; I kind of enjoyed it!
My flight to BKK with Malaysian Air was really nice, it only took about 2hrs, but we still got a meal with some wine. It was so short it was easy to forget it was actually an international flight.
I got into the very nice new airport Bangkok has and eventually got a bus into the city center. The bus is just one example of how hard the Thai gov't seems to be trying to make tourism easy and appealing here; I don't know if it has anything with trying to re-image the city after the riots, but I've not seen nor heard mention of those.
Hopping off the bus at the backpacker mecca of Khao San Rd, I was able to walk the 5mins directly to my place where I was happily surprised with a double (though I paid for a single) with windows out over the street and very clean surroundings.
That night I went straight away back to Khao San Rd where, after some bargaining/heckling with a few different shop owners, I walked away with 2 t-shirts of good quality, thick well made 'Diesel' jeans, and a nice, 40-liter 'Deuter' (a German company) day-pack. If all of that had actually been real (i.e. not counterfeit), you're looking at a hefty price tag. the jeans alone would have been more than what I paid for all of them! But I checked the quality pretty carefully and it seems good to me.
With my important purchases done (I needed a day pack since I had sent mine home with mom), I got some noodles at one of the many shops (price tag: $1) and talked to an interesting, dreadlocked Israeli girl. She was traveling for 4years make and selling jewelery as she went to pay the bills. The people watching at Khao San Rd it unbelievable. The only other place I saw anything near that diversity in age, class, sex, appearance, etc was at Mardi Gras and this blew that away!
Today I got off to an early start and did my usual walk everywhere and cover way too much. Though I did cut myself some slack and not do any more temples after I went to the Grand Palace. Before that though I had walked and found some, what I considered at the time, ornate temples and monuments. At that point I didn't realize that pretty much every temple in Bangkok (and there are a lot!) are decked out. I eventually ended up at the Golden Mountain where I walked up the 329 (by my count) stairs to the top for a pretty good view of the city (damn, it's huge).
What I neglected to mention is that I got there only after fighting off 3 different guys running the same scam (though I think the last 2 were in connection). So in less than 12hrs I've had the full Bangkok experience: bought faked clothes and come this close to hopping in a tuk-tuk with a guy who was trying to scam me (the gist was that today was a big special day so the temples were open at different times and he would take me all over the city to time them out right, and as a bonus, the gov't was giving him free gas so he'd do it all for less than $0.70). Maybe there was some truth to it, but it seemed too good too be true and then I found out one of the temples that was supposed to be closed was in fact open. I stuck to myself the rest of the day.
The highlight of the sights was the Grand Palace. 'Amazingly ornate' doesn't even begin to do it justice. I probably took a few hundred pictures because everywhere I turned there was something else gorgeous and amazing. The little museum I passed through housed all the national treasures of Thailand and the delicate gold carvings jam packed on every square millimeter of the pieces was stunning. The entire compound is very well maintained and the colors and 'sparkle-y-ness' of the various buildings is unlike anything I've ever seen; just wait for the pics. Even for a cheapskate like me, the palace is a must see.
Included with the palace grounds, and probably the biggest attraction is the Emerald Buddha. This Buddha figurine (which is actually jade) has a bit of a history passing back and forth between Laos and Thailand. It has been firmly in Thailand for a few hundred years now however, and the temple where it is housed is considered one of the holiest sights in all of Thailand.
After forcing myself through the last of the palace I couldn't take any more temples or walking around so I instead headed off to get my ticket for my next trip. With all of one day in Bangkok I decided I should head out while I still have positive thoughts so I went and bought a train ticket to Kanchanaburi which is the town that includes the Bridge over the River Kwai. I'll kick around there for a while and see the sights before meeting Steph for her B-day celebration back here in Bangkok. Then...who knows?
Getting to and from the train station was a bit of an adventure, but I'm glad I did it today because now it'll be much easier tomorrow morning. I then ended by walking city tour with a hair cut! The guy paid incredible detail for a $2 haircut!
Now it's time for some more noodles and probably some more shopping.
What a city, what a day!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Cooling off in Cameron
So my initial impression with Cameron Highlands was spot on! Great food, cool temperatures, cheaper prices and scenery that reminded me more of home than anywhere else I've been in SE Asia.
For spending 3 complete days there, mom and I didn't do all that much. We spent a lot of time just hanging out and enjoying not sweating. We did manage to eat a lot of delicious Indian food (so much naan, and roti canai with dahl!) and, get ready for this, fresh STRAWBERRIES! Mom assured me the berries weren't anywhere near as good as Oregon berries, but for someone who hasn't had any for 2 years, they tasted pretty damn good to me! And oh yeah, scones! Oh, how could I forget steamboat, that was a real highlight. Basically steamboat is like a soup fondue. We got two plates filled with vegetables, noodles and a bunch of sea food that we then cooked in the boiling broth of the soup we had. Not only was it delicious it was entertaining too!
We did do enough walking to deserve all that food though. The biggest walk was when we hiked through the jungle to the top of Mt. Brinchang which stands at over 6,600ft. The walk up was really nice, through a more temperate rain forest (i.e. we weren't completely drenched in sweat and the mosquitoes weren't in clouds). The last part of the climb was pretty difficult, but mom hiked up it like a champ (and it was me with the sore legs the next day).
When we reached the top we were greeted by some nice views, but also a ton of radio/cell towers and tourists coming up the road on their package tours! Phshh, lazy bums! We had a much better appreciation for the view.
On the way down we walked to a tea plantation that also included a tour of a tea factory. I had no idea that's what went into making tea. And now I can't drink tea-bag-tea without thinking of rubbish!
Our return was supposed to be another 4km down (I wasn't looking forward to that since the previous 3km straight up and 7km down had fried my knee) and then a bus ride back to town...then it started to rain...then it pored! To shorten the story, the result was mom and I hopping in the back of a truck from the tea plantation that was going to town. That was a new one even for me, but yet again mom was leading the way and loving it!
Those were the highlight stories of our time in CH, but it was really just the relaxing atmosphere that was what made the time there. I'd definitely recommend it, especially anyone who's been in SE Asia for a while and needs to cool off a bit.
For spending 3 complete days there, mom and I didn't do all that much. We spent a lot of time just hanging out and enjoying not sweating. We did manage to eat a lot of delicious Indian food (so much naan, and roti canai with dahl!) and, get ready for this, fresh STRAWBERRIES! Mom assured me the berries weren't anywhere near as good as Oregon berries, but for someone who hasn't had any for 2 years, they tasted pretty damn good to me! And oh yeah, scones! Oh, how could I forget steamboat, that was a real highlight. Basically steamboat is like a soup fondue. We got two plates filled with vegetables, noodles and a bunch of sea food that we then cooked in the boiling broth of the soup we had. Not only was it delicious it was entertaining too!
We did do enough walking to deserve all that food though. The biggest walk was when we hiked through the jungle to the top of Mt. Brinchang which stands at over 6,600ft. The walk up was really nice, through a more temperate rain forest (i.e. we weren't completely drenched in sweat and the mosquitoes weren't in clouds). The last part of the climb was pretty difficult, but mom hiked up it like a champ (and it was me with the sore legs the next day).
When we reached the top we were greeted by some nice views, but also a ton of radio/cell towers and tourists coming up the road on their package tours! Phshh, lazy bums! We had a much better appreciation for the view.
On the way down we walked to a tea plantation that also included a tour of a tea factory. I had no idea that's what went into making tea. And now I can't drink tea-bag-tea without thinking of rubbish!
Our return was supposed to be another 4km down (I wasn't looking forward to that since the previous 3km straight up and 7km down had fried my knee) and then a bus ride back to town...then it started to rain...then it pored! To shorten the story, the result was mom and I hopping in the back of a truck from the tea plantation that was going to town. That was a new one even for me, but yet again mom was leading the way and loving it!
Those were the highlight stories of our time in CH, but it was really just the relaxing atmosphere that was what made the time there. I'd definitely recommend it, especially anyone who's been in SE Asia for a while and needs to cool off a bit.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Escaping the heat (and the bed bugs)
The last posting I commented about how much difference a day makes, well about about 8 hrs?! The post I put up was written around 6pm before mom and I went for a AMAZING seafood meal right on the beach with a great sunset and (gasp) actual service (not a common thing in SE Asia). Honestly that was probably some of the best restaurant seafood I've ever had (that leaves room for some of those ikan bakar meals I had in Indo), The seafood salad had big prawns on it as well as half a crab and some fish. My plate was the best toger prawn I've ever had as well as perfectly cooked mackerel and barracuda. Yum! Mom worked hard and thoroughly enjoyed her curry crab too.
Life was good!
...until about 2 am
It was at that point that I woke up to bed bugs crawling on me...and mom woke up with stomach troubles...then I tried to turn on the water heater to take a shower...that flipped the circuit breaker for the entire resort...which meant no power until about 7am. On the upside the lack of power meant that the fan and or AC were no longer making obnoxious sounds!
Needless to say we were ready to go as soon as we could. I have to say the owner was as helpful as could be expected and we ended up paying 50RM for the two nights. Maybe he should have speant his time giving the place some maintenance and care though! I can honestly say that was the dirtiest/worst place I have stayed at in all of my travels!
Yesterday was spent on traveling to here (the Cameron Highlands). The travel took longer than I expected, but the 3hr wait we had in Ipoh was actually a nice break considering that we found a really good Indian buffet and spent our time there. I've been eating a ton of Indian food lately (lunch and dinner yesterday and lunch today), that alone makes Malaysian food better than Indo food for me (though I am missing all the tasty ikan bakar, itik, and vegetable soups).
The full report on Cameron Highlands will have to wait since today has really just been a relaxed day (after 2 nights of not really sleeping I needed the nearly 11hrs I got last night). So far CH has made a great impression with the scenery, cool temps, cheaper prices and tasty food (scones!)
That'll have to be enough for now
Life was good!
...until about 2 am
It was at that point that I woke up to bed bugs crawling on me...and mom woke up with stomach troubles...then I tried to turn on the water heater to take a shower...that flipped the circuit breaker for the entire resort...which meant no power until about 7am. On the upside the lack of power meant that the fan and or AC were no longer making obnoxious sounds!
Needless to say we were ready to go as soon as we could. I have to say the owner was as helpful as could be expected and we ended up paying 50RM for the two nights. Maybe he should have speant his time giving the place some maintenance and care though! I can honestly say that was the dirtiest/worst place I have stayed at in all of my travels!
Yesterday was spent on traveling to here (the Cameron Highlands). The travel took longer than I expected, but the 3hr wait we had in Ipoh was actually a nice break considering that we found a really good Indian buffet and spent our time there. I've been eating a ton of Indian food lately (lunch and dinner yesterday and lunch today), that alone makes Malaysian food better than Indo food for me (though I am missing all the tasty ikan bakar, itik, and vegetable soups).
The full report on Cameron Highlands will have to wait since today has really just been a relaxed day (after 2 nights of not really sleeping I needed the nearly 11hrs I got last night). So far CH has made a great impression with the scenery, cool temps, cheaper prices and tasty food (scones!)
That'll have to be enough for now
Sunday, August 8, 2010
One week left
This one is post dated: Aug 8th
That title is for mom, since she is leaving on the 16th and that day will be all travel.
We've seen a lot though in the 3+weeks she's been here.
Since the last post we landed in Penang, checked it out, and came down to Pulau Pangkor for one last beach trip. We spent all day today laying out on the beach, and I'm red enough to prove it!
We arrived here on Pangkor after a day of travel yesterday only to be greeted by a dingy small room and hordes of locals here for the weekend. Let's say I was less than pleased even though the beach was pretty nice. It was a little hard to appreciate it with people tearing around on JetSkis and screaming jilbab'd women in the water. Nonetheless, we hung out on the beach for quite a while hoping for a sunset, but mostly because we didn't want to go back to our dingy little room.
What a difference a day makes though! This morning we packed up our bags because the very helpful owner of Seagull Resort agreed to move us to a nice room and charge us the same cheap price since there had been a mis-communication (I didn't knowingly book us into the ultra-budget place). The night before they had been too full to move us, but they were nice enough to let us switch. The morning also got off to a good start because we slept in later than we had the whole trip and were greeted by a whole tree full of green doves and hornbills! The morning also greeted us with some good weather which held out for our entire beach day. The Coral Beach we were camped out at was completely different without all the local tourists around. There were a few in the morning, but by the afternoon the place was pretty sedate and beautiful; pretty nice even for a spoiled beach snob like me!
Before Pangkor we spent two pretty full days in Penang. Having flown directly from Kota Kinabalu, we took a bus into Georgetown (the old historic area on the island) and walked to our hostel, which was a little eclectic, and had some THIN walls, but certainly served its purpose well.
The next day we got up and literally saw about the ENTIRE historic district! Needless to say that was a little much for one day! I was a little surprised by the historic area because it was still a big, busy city (not necessarily such a good thing!), but I was impressed with Penang due to its diversity. On one block I saw a mosque, followed by a Chinese (huge influence there) Buddhist temple, followed by an Indian food restaurant, a British\colonial style building and a Hindu temple. The Boon San Tong Khoo Kongsi temple was the only one we paid to enter, but was far and away better than any other we saw. The wood carvings and the general decoration as well as the information was impressive. Another good temple was the (something) Teow temple. I also had never seen anything like the clan jetties: basically Chinese houses built out over the water organized by the various clans the families belonged to.
The next day, feeling a little overwhelmed, we started a little later and instead left the city proper. But that wasn't until after going to check out Fort Cornwallis, the starting point for the British on the island. The fort was about as I expected: not a whole lot, but I was glad to have gone in and seen it nonetheless. It's kind of weird in that the city now seems to use the place as a event location.
After that we spent the day on public transport, first heading up into the ritzy part of the island and eventually got to the National Park in the NW corner of the island. Having spent the last 5 or 6 days in the city both of us, but particularly mom (who is still WAY overwhelmed by the crazy absurdness that is SE Asian cities), were glad to get out into some peace and quiet for some walking around.
Our next goal was to get to a very spectacular looking temple outside of Georgetown that we'd seen pictures of lit up at night when it looked even more spectacular. We didn't however look at any fine print and thus missed that the place closed at 5:30pm! Oh well we got to see another part of the city!
All right time to go for (hopefully) a sunset and a 'mom-treat' for dinner
That title is for mom, since she is leaving on the 16th and that day will be all travel.
We've seen a lot though in the 3+weeks she's been here.
Since the last post we landed in Penang, checked it out, and came down to Pulau Pangkor for one last beach trip. We spent all day today laying out on the beach, and I'm red enough to prove it!
We arrived here on Pangkor after a day of travel yesterday only to be greeted by a dingy small room and hordes of locals here for the weekend. Let's say I was less than pleased even though the beach was pretty nice. It was a little hard to appreciate it with people tearing around on JetSkis and screaming jilbab'd women in the water. Nonetheless, we hung out on the beach for quite a while hoping for a sunset, but mostly because we didn't want to go back to our dingy little room.
What a difference a day makes though! This morning we packed up our bags because the very helpful owner of Seagull Resort agreed to move us to a nice room and charge us the same cheap price since there had been a mis-communication (I didn't knowingly book us into the ultra-budget place). The night before they had been too full to move us, but they were nice enough to let us switch. The morning also got off to a good start because we slept in later than we had the whole trip and were greeted by a whole tree full of green doves and hornbills! The morning also greeted us with some good weather which held out for our entire beach day. The Coral Beach we were camped out at was completely different without all the local tourists around. There were a few in the morning, but by the afternoon the place was pretty sedate and beautiful; pretty nice even for a spoiled beach snob like me!
Before Pangkor we spent two pretty full days in Penang. Having flown directly from Kota Kinabalu, we took a bus into Georgetown (the old historic area on the island) and walked to our hostel, which was a little eclectic, and had some THIN walls, but certainly served its purpose well.
The next day we got up and literally saw about the ENTIRE historic district! Needless to say that was a little much for one day! I was a little surprised by the historic area because it was still a big, busy city (not necessarily such a good thing!), but I was impressed with Penang due to its diversity. On one block I saw a mosque, followed by a Chinese (huge influence there) Buddhist temple, followed by an Indian food restaurant, a British\colonial style building and a Hindu temple. The Boon San Tong Khoo Kongsi temple was the only one we paid to enter, but was far and away better than any other we saw. The wood carvings and the general decoration as well as the information was impressive. Another good temple was the (something) Teow temple. I also had never seen anything like the clan jetties: basically Chinese houses built out over the water organized by the various clans the families belonged to.
The next day, feeling a little overwhelmed, we started a little later and instead left the city proper. But that wasn't until after going to check out Fort Cornwallis, the starting point for the British on the island. The fort was about as I expected: not a whole lot, but I was glad to have gone in and seen it nonetheless. It's kind of weird in that the city now seems to use the place as a event location.
After that we spent the day on public transport, first heading up into the ritzy part of the island and eventually got to the National Park in the NW corner of the island. Having spent the last 5 or 6 days in the city both of us, but particularly mom (who is still WAY overwhelmed by the crazy absurdness that is SE Asian cities), were glad to get out into some peace and quiet for some walking around.
Our next goal was to get to a very spectacular looking temple outside of Georgetown that we'd seen pictures of lit up at night when it looked even more spectacular. We didn't however look at any fine print and thus missed that the place closed at 5:30pm! Oh well we got to see another part of the city!
All right time to go for (hopefully) a sunset and a 'mom-treat' for dinner
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Moving on from Borneo
I can't believe it's gone this fast, but this evening mom and I will fly from Borneo and head back to the Peninsula of Malaysia!
Since I last posted we went to and returned from Uncle Tan's and then bussed up to Kota Kinabalu. In all honesty, Uncle Tan's was a bit disappointing. I was going in with very high expectations to be fair, but I was definitely hoping for more. I certainly do not blame the guides or the company itself. Everyone was fantastic and the guides were great at spotting anything that was there, the problem was that there just wasn't much wildlife. The camp is set up on private property between conservation bubbles that are connected by 30m-deep connections along the river. The result is that while you cruise down the river (which we did a lot!) you're seeing trees, but right behind them there is a bunch of daylight or even worse visible palm oil plantations. This isn't the case everywhere, but the majority for sure.
Even with that we did manage to see some things I had never seen before. In total we took a night cruise, two morning cruises, a (rainy) evening cruise, a night walk and a mid-morning walk. And during all that time we saw (just the highlights, to me) Bornean Gibbons, civet cats, a bunch of hornbills and kingfishers, some crocs, proboscis monkeys, and a bunch of other monkeys/macaques and birds.
Along with that we got fed lots of good food and met some interesting people. The guides were a blast. Exclusively young guys, they were always smiling and having a good time playing games and singing a lot. I think mom had a good time meeting all the other travelers too (it's been fun to see her become a SEA traveler), but I was/still am a little over that, and after the normal pleasantries I just kinda hung out; basically I'm tired of not really getting to know people, but instead just getting the basics and their travel info.
Then again it could have just been being tired that made me less social. I've been fighting some sort of cold lately and sleeping in open jungle huts with 6 other people didn't exactly rest me up. We each had our own mattress and mosquito net and then our hut was connected to the board walk to the dining hall as well as the smelly bathrooms. A lot of other people were commenting about the basic conditions, but I didn't think they were all that bad...I was still glad to get back to Sandakan afterward and get a hot shower though!
Sandakan was a bit nicer than I expected as most people we talked to made it sound pretty bad. We didn't really do much there, just spent the night and then caught a bus here to KK where we were going to do a white water rafting trip, but after 7hrs on a bus we decided that the trip (which was 8hrs of traveling split by 3hrs of rafting, didn't actually sound that good). So instead we just walked around yesterday, saw a few museums, and mostly just have been killing time. One highlight was the best Italian food I've had in over a year, and really the first meal I've had in a while too (I mean not just eating, but staying there for a few hours, over several courses and with good conversation, etc).
But now we're done with Borneo and Mom will stay a little less than 2 more weeks...time is flying by!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Swimming with the fishes (and so much more)
Ok hopefully I don't get kicked off this time! And if I don't, I may add to the last post so go back and check that when you get a chance.
This post is coming from outside of Sandakan, Sabah (which is the Eastern 1/3 of Malaysian Borneo) in the B&B/base of Uncle Tan's. UT's is a wildlife/jungle tour company, and one of the things that I have been looking forward to the most. The other thing I was really looking forward to was the snorkeling we did out of Semporna. I've done a fair amount of snork'ing lately, but with the exception of the ridiculous-ness of Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef, this was the best I've ever done. The number of what I would call exotic or rare species/sightings was awesome. I had always wanted to see a lionfish...check (2 species, several times)!. Turtles? Greenback and Hawksbills, several times! Eels? At least 3 species (including the Great Moray), several times. I also saw my first Scorpion fish, a ray, a green shrimp or lobster (not sure which!) and of course tons of the 'normal' reef fish, but also some really big examples of those. The coral was pretty good in spots, but the fish life was definitely the highlight.
All of this was organized with Scuba Junkies which did a great job organizing things while still being friendly. And their gear was better than other stuff I had rented. The 6 times I went out were all off of Mabul Island where we stayed for 1 night. It was interesting to see that there were still some local villages and sea gypsies despite this location being such a tourist/diver 'hotspot' (constantly called one of the best dive sights in the world).
I can't believe it, but mom is about half way through her time here. That means I have a month-ish left! It's going to be really weird to be home after a year abroad, but I think I'm going to need it. I've been feeling really run down lately even though we aren't traveling as hard as I had been before, not keeping me from enjoying these incredible sights though!
This post is coming from outside of Sandakan, Sabah (which is the Eastern 1/3 of Malaysian Borneo) in the B&B/base of Uncle Tan's. UT's is a wildlife/jungle tour company, and one of the things that I have been looking forward to the most. The other thing I was really looking forward to was the snorkeling we did out of Semporna. I've done a fair amount of snork'ing lately, but with the exception of the ridiculous-ness of Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef, this was the best I've ever done. The number of what I would call exotic or rare species/sightings was awesome. I had always wanted to see a lionfish...check (2 species, several times)!. Turtles? Greenback and Hawksbills, several times! Eels? At least 3 species (including the Great Moray), several times. I also saw my first Scorpion fish, a ray, a green shrimp or lobster (not sure which!) and of course tons of the 'normal' reef fish, but also some really big examples of those. The coral was pretty good in spots, but the fish life was definitely the highlight.
All of this was organized with Scuba Junkies which did a great job organizing things while still being friendly. And their gear was better than other stuff I had rented. The 6 times I went out were all off of Mabul Island where we stayed for 1 night. It was interesting to see that there were still some local villages and sea gypsies despite this location being such a tourist/diver 'hotspot' (constantly called one of the best dive sights in the world).
I can't believe it, but mom is about half way through her time here. That means I have a month-ish left! It's going to be really weird to be home after a year abroad, but I think I'm going to need it. I've been feeling really run down lately even though we aren't traveling as hard as I had been before, not keeping me from enjoying these incredible sights though!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Big caves in Borneo
Another quick post to let everyone know that we made it into and out of Mulu and it's stunning caves. The trip ended up being a bit (ok a ton [to me]) more expensive than I had expected, but forgetting that it was really fantastic! Deer cave is the biggest thing (not just cave) I have ever seen and a couple of the other caves were packed with some stunning formations. Deer cave was also cool because of the Abe Lincoln profile (wait for my pics) as well as the Garden of Eden. I enjoyed Lagang cave largely because it was much less touristy than the others and we needed flashlights to actually see anything, and the formations we did see were some of the best I've ever seen. The cave was also cool because you could really see how it was formed (melting limetstone and flowing water).
I've done a fair amount of caving elsewhere so some of the novelty had worn off, but then again it made me appreciate how amazing some of the sights within the caves were too. The novelty had also warn off on some of the jungle trekking, but it was pretty fun to see mom see it all for the first time. I was a bit disappointed with the rangers there though as they seemed mostly interested in rushing us along. For instance, on the night hike we did, I found the vast majority of the 'wildlife' we found (mostly insects). Oh well, we jut didn't pay for it!
The bat exodus was a also a great experience. We ended up having to go two nights, but it was worth it I thought as I had never seen anything like that. Literally million upon millions of bats come out of Deer cave, but they don't come out all at once, instead coming out in groups and the circling waiting until they hit some sort of critical number and a bunch of them leave. That's when it gets really cool because this huge mass of bats comes up and is literally a pulsating, twisting/turning ribbon of bats. Definitely a unique experience!
I've done a fair amount of caving elsewhere so some of the novelty had worn off, but then again it made me appreciate how amazing some of the sights within the caves were too. The novelty had also warn off on some of the jungle trekking, but it was pretty fun to see mom see it all for the first time. I was a bit disappointed with the rangers there though as they seemed mostly interested in rushing us along. For instance, on the night hike we did, I found the vast majority of the 'wildlife' we found (mostly insects). Oh well, we jut didn't pay for it!
The bat exodus was a also a great experience. We ended up having to go two nights, but it was worth it I thought as I had never seen anything like that. Literally million upon millions of bats come out of Deer cave, but they don't come out all at once, instead coming out in groups and the circling waiting until they hit some sort of critical number and a bunch of them leave. That's when it gets really cool because this huge mass of bats comes up and is literally a pulsating, twisting/turning ribbon of bats. Definitely a unique experience!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Angkor Wow
Sorry about the horrible pun to start things off, but our time in Siem Reap really was that good! After spending a day touring around Phom Penh and introducing mom to what a real SE Asian big city is like, we took a bus up to Siem Reap. The next two days were spent jam packed with temple'ing. I can't even begin to do it justice here in a quick post, but both mom and I really enjoyed our time. You could see a lot in just one day, but to be honest that wouldn't really be worth all the trouble of getting there. That being said if you're going to go back for another day (which you could, there are more than enough interesting temples), you might as well stay for a week, because 2 days and we were both temple'd out!
I didn't really know what to expect of the whole thing, but the temples were much more impressive than I expected. I was also surprised by the lay out of everything. You have to buy a ticket to enter the area, but the temples are spread out all over (some an hour tuk-tuk drive away, others even further).
I couldn't even begin to pick a favorite temple. Angkor Wat itself is massive, and the carvings very impressive considering they're 900 years old! The best carvings were at Bantrey Srei, the famous tree taking over the temple is from Ta Prohm, but I really liked Bayon with it's ~200 giant faces. Our time was really made because of the good guide we had. Kerry took care of everything for us (even rec'ing Jasmine Lodge, the great place we stayed (minus the flood that happened, but that wasn't really their fault)).
Ok sorry to rush it, but we've got a flight tomorrow morning first thing flying to Miri then on to Mulu for a cave adventure. After that it's even more Borneo. It's going to be expensive, and I'm having a hard time to travel like I'm on vacation with mom than as a backpacker, but I'm doing my best and she is humoring me. All the great experiences should keep me occupied!
I didn't really know what to expect of the whole thing, but the temples were much more impressive than I expected. I was also surprised by the lay out of everything. You have to buy a ticket to enter the area, but the temples are spread out all over (some an hour tuk-tuk drive away, others even further).
I couldn't even begin to pick a favorite temple. Angkor Wat itself is massive, and the carvings very impressive considering they're 900 years old! The best carvings were at Bantrey Srei, the famous tree taking over the temple is from Ta Prohm, but I really liked Bayon with it's ~200 giant faces. Our time was really made because of the good guide we had. Kerry took care of everything for us (even rec'ing Jasmine Lodge, the great place we stayed (minus the flood that happened, but that wasn't really their fault)).
Ok sorry to rush it, but we've got a flight tomorrow morning first thing flying to Miri then on to Mulu for a cave adventure. After that it's even more Borneo. It's going to be expensive, and I'm having a hard time to travel like I'm on vacation with mom than as a backpacker, but I'm doing my best and she is humoring me. All the great experiences should keep me occupied!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Time is flying by
It's been a while since I had time to put up a blog, but that's because I've been enjoying myself too much!
Rather than trying to fit everything in here, I'll give a quick hits list...
Nong Kiau was an interesting if quiet town. I ended up meting an Irish girl that I did a STEEP hike with the next day and took her advice to go up to the next town on the river. That was a weird little place in that it still felt very remote and a bit primitive, but it was jam packed with tourists. I did a bit of hiking there as well, but mostly just chilled out.
The next main stop was Phonsavan which I headed to for the Plain of Jars. In the end, the jars weren't all that spectacular, but I was really glad I went as I got to see some much different scenery in Laos, and also enjoyed the tour I did there which took us to some bomb craters'. I didn't expect to actually be moved or impressed, but I was both. To see just how many craters were still obvious in a country that wasn't even really in the war (the US bombed the hell out of the area to break up the Ho Chi Minh Trail). The worst part was that they are still finding unexploded bombs here and every year at least 300 people are injured. In fact, we found a bomblet on our tour! I didn't believe it at first, but it really was. All in all the tour was very good (I'll have to give more details later).
My last stop in Laos was a backpacker hangout that I could have missed, but all in all I found Laos to be a very nice place, and one quite apt for solo backpackers; the whole time I was traveling 'solo' I was with people, just different people on different days.
Leaving Laos meant going to KL to pick up mom! We were able to make connections no problem and then spent the next day and a half sight seeing in KL. It is the 2nd most western city I have seen in SEA (behind the runaway winner, Singapore), but that was good as it served as a bit of a stepping stone for mom getting accustomed to the pandemonium that is SEA. The city did have some highlights including the National Museum and the Islamic Arts Museum,
We've since left Malaysia and are now in Phom Penh, Cambodia. This city is much more along the lines of what I have seen throughout SE Asia; I think mom is understandably a bit overwhelmed. She has been doing really well though; I don't think I could have jumped off the plane and started sightseeing like we've done. She's even had street food already, and with no ill effects!
Obviously I'll need to post a LOT more details at some point, but that honestly won't be until I get back (6 weeks left) and have a chance to catch my breath...
Rather than trying to fit everything in here, I'll give a quick hits list...
Nong Kiau was an interesting if quiet town. I ended up meting an Irish girl that I did a STEEP hike with the next day and took her advice to go up to the next town on the river. That was a weird little place in that it still felt very remote and a bit primitive, but it was jam packed with tourists. I did a bit of hiking there as well, but mostly just chilled out.
The next main stop was Phonsavan which I headed to for the Plain of Jars. In the end, the jars weren't all that spectacular, but I was really glad I went as I got to see some much different scenery in Laos, and also enjoyed the tour I did there which took us to some bomb craters'. I didn't expect to actually be moved or impressed, but I was both. To see just how many craters were still obvious in a country that wasn't even really in the war (the US bombed the hell out of the area to break up the Ho Chi Minh Trail). The worst part was that they are still finding unexploded bombs here and every year at least 300 people are injured. In fact, we found a bomblet on our tour! I didn't believe it at first, but it really was. All in all the tour was very good (I'll have to give more details later).
My last stop in Laos was a backpacker hangout that I could have missed, but all in all I found Laos to be a very nice place, and one quite apt for solo backpackers; the whole time I was traveling 'solo' I was with people, just different people on different days.
Leaving Laos meant going to KL to pick up mom! We were able to make connections no problem and then spent the next day and a half sight seeing in KL. It is the 2nd most western city I have seen in SEA (behind the runaway winner, Singapore), but that was good as it served as a bit of a stepping stone for mom getting accustomed to the pandemonium that is SEA. The city did have some highlights including the National Museum and the Islamic Arts Museum,
We've since left Malaysia and are now in Phom Penh, Cambodia. This city is much more along the lines of what I have seen throughout SE Asia; I think mom is understandably a bit overwhelmed. She has been doing really well though; I don't think I could have jumped off the plane and started sightseeing like we've done. She's even had street food already, and with no ill effects!
Obviously I'll need to post a LOT more details at some point, but that honestly won't be until I get back (6 weeks left) and have a chance to catch my breath...
Monday, July 5, 2010
Luang Prabang: Nice balance
I'm hiding in one of the few cool places right now and certainly one of the cheapest Internet cafes I could find.
Since I posted last I've arrived in Luang Prabang and been loving it ever since. On the ride up I met up with 3 travelers who themselves had just met the day before. The result is that I was able to save a good chunk of money on accommodation here as well as a ride to a SPECTACULAR waterfall yesterday. It's looking like pictures will be harder to get up before I return home so just trust me, it was great!
I have really enjoyed LP largely because of the feel here. The city itself is a UNESCO World Heritage site, mostly for the large number of temples (or wat) here. There is also some interesting colonial architecture and the places to stay or eat range from local food stalls and cheap guesthouses to fancy, nearly 5-star hotels/guesthouses. The result is a pretty interesting mix of tourists to watch!
Tomorrow morning I'm headed out though, not exactly sure how (if there is a boat I'll take that, but no one knows until tomorrow morning), but I do know I'm headed to a small village up north that is just starting to show up on the backpacker, tourist radar (i.e. there is info on the Internet and it's in the guide books, but not much more than a name and a few places to stay). I'm hoping to get some trekking in and then end up at Phonsavan for the Plane of Jars. More than likely that means no Internet until I move on from there. So until I return to civilization...
Since I posted last I've arrived in Luang Prabang and been loving it ever since. On the ride up I met up with 3 travelers who themselves had just met the day before. The result is that I was able to save a good chunk of money on accommodation here as well as a ride to a SPECTACULAR waterfall yesterday. It's looking like pictures will be harder to get up before I return home so just trust me, it was great!
I have really enjoyed LP largely because of the feel here. The city itself is a UNESCO World Heritage site, mostly for the large number of temples (or wat) here. There is also some interesting colonial architecture and the places to stay or eat range from local food stalls and cheap guesthouses to fancy, nearly 5-star hotels/guesthouses. The result is a pretty interesting mix of tourists to watch!
Tomorrow morning I'm headed out though, not exactly sure how (if there is a boat I'll take that, but no one knows until tomorrow morning), but I do know I'm headed to a small village up north that is just starting to show up on the backpacker, tourist radar (i.e. there is info on the Internet and it's in the guide books, but not much more than a name and a few places to stay). I'm hoping to get some trekking in and then end up at Phonsavan for the Plane of Jars. More than likely that means no Internet until I move on from there. So until I return to civilization...
Friday, July 2, 2010
In another country
Here's the first posting from Lao!
I arrived in Vientiane yesterday afternoon after saying goodbye to Steph taking a bunch of different buses and such, but eventually getting across the Friendship Bridge arriving in Laos. I was pretty out of it yesterday )not enough food, and too much Thai whiskey the night before!), but stumbled into the cheapest place in town, walked around a bit, was over charged for some food and tried to pass out (the heat and mosquitoes had other ideas).
I woke up in the morning without a definite plan, but groggily made one. I decided to head up north on a night bus to Luang Prabang (I leave in a few minutes). The downside was that I missed out on meeting up with Steph who was ironically enough coming up to Laos this weekend on a last minute plan to get her visa squared away.
With my plans decided (and me of course still thinking about them and how I could change them) I set out to explore the capital city of Laos...it took me about 8 hours...by foot! I like Vientiane, but let's say there isn't a whole lot going on considering that it's a national capital. It is a nice place though with several worthwhile tourist sites. I walked first to the Lao version of the Arc de Triumph (yikes, that spelling), which the sign on it describes as more of a 'concrete monster' (I'm not disagreeing, but I thought that was a bit harsh). From the top of the monster (all f 7 stories up) you can look out over the top of all of the city. Yes, that's right, the 7th floor is pretty much the limit of the capital city! The rest of my time was spent walking (at least 5 miles, maybe 6 or 7) to various temples and museums (you can find wats everywhere!). One of the weirder highlights was the Buddha Park, you'll just have to wait until I put up pics.
Ok gotta run or my bus will leave me!
I arrived in Vientiane yesterday afternoon after saying goodbye to Steph taking a bunch of different buses and such, but eventually getting across the Friendship Bridge arriving in Laos. I was pretty out of it yesterday )not enough food, and too much Thai whiskey the night before!), but stumbled into the cheapest place in town, walked around a bit, was over charged for some food and tried to pass out (the heat and mosquitoes had other ideas).
I woke up in the morning without a definite plan, but groggily made one. I decided to head up north on a night bus to Luang Prabang (I leave in a few minutes). The downside was that I missed out on meeting up with Steph who was ironically enough coming up to Laos this weekend on a last minute plan to get her visa squared away.
With my plans decided (and me of course still thinking about them and how I could change them) I set out to explore the capital city of Laos...it took me about 8 hours...by foot! I like Vientiane, but let's say there isn't a whole lot going on considering that it's a national capital. It is a nice place though with several worthwhile tourist sites. I walked first to the Lao version of the Arc de Triumph (yikes, that spelling), which the sign on it describes as more of a 'concrete monster' (I'm not disagreeing, but I thought that was a bit harsh). From the top of the monster (all f 7 stories up) you can look out over the top of all of the city. Yes, that's right, the 7th floor is pretty much the limit of the capital city! The rest of my time was spent walking (at least 5 miles, maybe 6 or 7) to various temples and museums (you can find wats everywhere!). One of the weirder highlights was the Buddha Park, you'll just have to wait until I put up pics.
Ok gotta run or my bus will leave me!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Time to go solo
I'm taking advantage of my last free access to a laptop and internet here at Steph's new spot in Udon Thani, Thailand.
We arrived here in Udon after a LONG stint of traveling. It started after killing a day / recovering from the Full Moon Party. We then hopped on a boat that was basically a floating dorm. Each of the two levels of the boats held ~100 mattresses and pillows/rocks in pillow cases. It was a pretty weird set up, but a good way for us to travel since we didn't really want to spend a night in Surat Thani (the mainland port). The boat was really slow, taking 7 hours to cover a slightly longer route then the ferry took 2.5hrs to cross.
Our travels were just starting though. We arrived at the dock at 5am where we were ordered into a van (that's only a minor exaggeration) that would take us to the airport. Or so we thought. In fact the van took us around the block (after we paid) and we were then told to get out and wait an hour. Uh...no! We convinced them that actually we were ready to go now thank you very much. So instead we transferred to a personal car. The result was that Steph and I were dropped off at the airport at about 5:40...with NO ONE around. The place was absolutely deserted!
To cut the story short we ended up getting in 45mins later, cleaning up a bit and then waiting for our flight that was changed from 8:40 to 11 (aargh!). We were sure that meant we were going to miss our connecting flight to Udon. Not to worry though! Nok air came through and canceled our flight, moving us to one at 5pm (they were nice enough to feed us while we waited for 4hrs though).
Eventually we arrived into Steph's new town around 6pm and were picked up by her school which was gracious enough to put me up at her apartment (well Steph was gracious enough actually) and then take me out to dinner as well.
I've been really impressed with Steph's situation so far. The school is very well equipped and as ridiculous as teaching 3-4yr olds English sounds, it seems to work really well (it's basically a language immersion preschool/kindergarten). The best part for Steph, in my opinion, is that there seems to be a really great group of 20-something girls already here teaching (from 1yr-6-weeks experience). We've gone out with them both nights now and they've all been very friendly and helpful.
So now I'm getting ready to head out on my own. I was imagining that I would stay here a bit longer and help Steph get settled in, but I don't think I can do as good as job as they can! I'm think I'm now going to head out either tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning (Steph is of course cheering for Friday) and go up to Laos. Traveling with Steph has made the experience so much more easy, but more importantly, enjoyable, but I am excited to set out on my own for a few weeks and then of course excited to welcome mom to SEAsia!
The blogs may now be fewer and farther between (without Steph's laptop), but I'm sure the fun and sights won't be!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
A holiday from the vacation
This posting might not be my most coherent; if that's the case, my apologies. You'll have to understand that a night at a Full Moon Party will leave you... tired.
For those that have never heard of a Full Moon Party, it's developed into a bit of a legend in the backpacker/traveler culture with imitations all over the world. There's only one original of course and that just happens to be the Island of Phangan where Steph and I have been for the last 3 days. The island is full of nice beaches and some jungle, but more than that it seems to be jam packed with Brits and Aussies (many fresh out of college or high school). The party is more than a little ridiculous with one particular beach lined with bars and drunken people from all over the world dancing to rave music and playing with black lights. I didn't make it as late as I hoped (those booze buckets (and yes I do mean a bucket) are deadly), but the party was still going at 8am apparently.
Our time on the island went pretty quickly and without us doing a whole lot. The first day we did rent a MoPed and checked out the western half of the island. It was a lot of fun, once I realized that Steph wasn't going to crash into anything (actually I was more concerned about the other tourists crashing into us!).
Before getting to Ko Phangan Steph and I had made a stop at a really nice jungle national park called Khao Sok. We only spent one night there, but it would be a great place to check out more. We took a canoe trip down the river as soon as we arrived. I think Steph enjoyed it more than I, as the jungle is a little less of a novelty to me now. Seeing some snakes and frogs was new though. As was nearly flipping the boat!
Khao Sok was basically just a way to break up our travels from Phuket to the big party. Phuket was nice enough, with some beaches and we also did a tour out into the bay which is filled with limestone islands. The islands were very beautiful, but after El Nido I just wasn't as impressed. The water wasn't nearly as nice, but the limestone was a little different and just as stunning.
Probably my biggest complaint with the tour and really all of Thailand has been how touristy it is. There are more bule than locals it seems. To be frank, I haven't really cared for Thailand. Granted we have only visited the tourist locations, but the vibe here just doesn't fit my style any more. A big part of this is my dealing with coming out of Indo. Just lately I've been realizing how special of an adventure I have been undertaking, but a 'downside' is that now I like to travel 'on the beaten path'. I actually feel out of place and more than a little awkward being in a big tourist location. It's a really catch-22, but I'm a tourist that doesn't want to be a tourist. Like I said, I think this is at least partially about my reverse culture shock, but so far Thailand has not been by favorite. It certainly is a very nice place, but I think it's better for someone who doesn't want to explore as much or is new to the travel bug. My assessment of the bay tour we did pretty well fits my whole opinion of Thailand: it's beautiful and I like it, but I feel like I'm 30 years late.
Oh well poor me right! What problems I have to deal with!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Into Thailand
Just a quick note, we've arrived in Phuket, Thailand. It seems like we've been traveling for about 3 days and my head is still trying to catch up with my body (the cold is not helping). We did some serious walking around Singapore (little India and the food was great!) before sleeping in the airport and flying to Phuket yesterday. We met Dani, one of the other ETAs, who handed off a bunch of Thai info before she left last night.
Right now we're just waiting out some rain and going to head up to the north of Phuket.
That's all for now...
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