Along the way to Brisbane I explained that I was going to Brisbane to go sailing to Sydney for FREE except the costs of food and beverage. He brought up the topic several times during the drive and I could tell he wanted me to invite him along but I was in no place to do so. So when time when speaking to Mike (the boat's owner) on Jusford's mobile I asked if there was an extra spot on the boat because the guy that was giving me a ride to Brisbane has some boating experience and was interested in coming along. He said probably and that we would figure it out when we arrived. (He just wanted to speak to Jusford and make sure is he OK before saying yes.) We arrived at the dock in the early evening and met Mike. Quickly he gave Jusford the OK and we were set. The plan was going to be for Jusford and I to sleep on the boat that night but Jusford has a sister and her husband that live a bit outside of Brisbane so we went there for the night. She cooked us up some dinner and, in the morning, gave us a ride to the marina (a big favor because getting their using public transport would have been a major pain). Then we got the boat ready and set off.
The "crew" at this time was Mike, the owner, another Mike, who was older and the engineer, two girls that were travelling in Australia together, one English and the other Canadian, Jusford, and myself. The girls had no boating experience at all. Jusford spent some time on a boat but a very different kind of boat. I have spent a little time on a boat but not much and that to was a very different experience. Mike the engineer has spent a lot of time on boats but is not really a sailer much more than I am. Clearly the other Mike has a good deal of experience.
We were stopping in Southport, just a bit south of Brisbane, to drop off Mike, the owner, so he could bring another boat north, and pick up a new skipper, Paul. Mike went out that night and came back to the boat at 7AM. A couple hours later the new skipper arrived and, to my surprise, met Mike, the owner, for the first time. This means that Mike was putting somebody in charge of his US$500,000 boat that he had never met until now. It was pretty incredible.
Then plan from Southport to to sail all the way to Sydney. We ended up stopping in Coffs Harbour as well because the English girl could not stop vomitting. She got sick 18 times in a 24 hour period. The seas were rough, the wind and tide going against us, and somebody getting sick was inevitable. I got sick too, but only once. It was strange, I felt fine, then I was sick, then I felt fine. It was as if I just needed to do it once to get it over with even though I felt OK. At Coffs, in addition to dropping off the girls, Jusford and the skipper we picked up in Southport also departed. Jusford needed to get to Sydnet quickly to help out with family stuff and I forgot why Paul needed to leave but we had a new skipper, Al, or "Big Gay Al," lined up. It turns out that "Big Gay Al" is the same Al I met in Brisbane getting the boat together and is not gay. Of course, the nickname stuck. However, at this time it was just Big Gay Al, Mike, the engineer, and myself. Mike was not comfortable with the limited sailing experience on the boat. Luckily, Al's (it is just easier to type) father has a sailer friend, Dennis, with a reputation of never, ever, ever turning down a chance to sail. Sadly, he is in Sydney working. Al called him up inviting him. He said he would call back soon. About a half hour later, Dennis called back saying he would land in Coffs at 2:30. This means he was checking out of work early, catching a last minute flight, into a small airport, that much have cost a few hundred dollars, only to return to Sydney just an hour before an important meeting.
The sailing the rest of the way was pretty awesome. It was challenging but, I think, a more real experience than the previous legs. We did not stop the rest of the way, sailing constantly for 42 hours. We basically did 4 hour shifts, meaning that two people slept for four hours while the other two controlled the boat. The hours were pretty flexible, if you felt OK to do another hour you generally did it and if you could not manage your four hours you found a way to make it work. We were going slow, about the speed a slightly above average person could run a mile in was basically the pace. Except we were doing it 24 hours a day while the runner would probably struggle to do more than a few hours. It was a great experience an probably the most memorable part of my time in Australia.
Sailing into Sydney harbour is a sight to be seen.
28 August 2010
Hervey Bay, Australia
With the French girls out of the way, I was free to do as I pleased. I was dropped off about 35km (22.5 miles) from my destination, Hervey Bay. I took some time to use the free wireless Internet at the McDonald's and send a couch surfing request and organize my thoughts and develop some pseudo-plan and then I started my walk.
After walking for a bit I did what any other person that knows the distance to his destination, the conversation rate to a measurement he understands (if necessary), and his approximate walking pace would do: calculated, roughly, how long it would take to walk there. The result? About 8 hours of walking. I stuck out my hand and raised my thumb. I do not not really like hitch hiking; I am kind of scared of it, but there was no way I was walking that distance and I have grown even more confident of my instincts while travelling. I knew that is something felt off I would be able to resist the temptation to get in or be able to find some excuse to get out.
Nobody even slowed down for what felt like an hour though it was probably closer to 20 minutes. The guy that pulled over, before I even had a chance to say anything, asked, "Hervey Bay?" He seemed normal; clean enough with a slightly messy car filled with stuff that looked like he was going to visit his grandparents in Hervey. (Hervey Bay is basically a retirement village. That section of the coast is the least expensive on the east coast of Australia. I heard while there that 48% of Hervey Bay's population is 40-years-old or older and, having been there, I think that might be low balling it.) I replied, "Yes," threw my stuff and myself in and off we went.
I have forgotten his name but he was an OK guy. We struggled for conversation after the basic small talk for most of the trip (it was about a 40 minutes drive to the main Hervey Bay bus station which is still a good distance from the area where I would find a place to sleep but farther than he was going and a place where I would be able to find transportation for the rest of the easily. He was right; as soon as I got out of his car, I saw a group of people getting into a maxi taxi (a taxi van that holds up to 10 people). I asked if they were going into town and if there was room for one more. Yes and yes. The ran was filled with 16-18-year-old Americans doing "volunteer work" in New Zealand and Australia and there Australian guide. We talked about what they were doing and about my travels. They seemed OK but I guess I must have forgotten what it is like to be that young.
We arrived to where they were going and the Aussie guide would not accept any money from me for the ride so I began walking around looking for the cheapest bed I could find. This would be the first time I have paid directly for accommodation since I arrived in Australia. I found a dorm bed for AU$18 (about US$16). This is a really cheap bed in Australia and the dorm was good except for how empty the hostel was. I did not do that night other than some grocery shopping, shower, and walk around a bit. It had been a long day and I was spent and I wanted to wake up early enough so that I could check my email to see if I had been accept by my potential couch surfing host and still check out of the backpackers in time.
Luckily my potential couch surfing host became a actual host when I checked my email early that morning. Unfortunately he lived on the complete opposite side of town. After packing up my stuff and checking out I began my journey to his place. I took pictures of the computer screen with the Google Maps directions so that I if/when I got lost I would have a easy-to-carry map available. It was a long walk, about 1.5 hours but went by quickly enough. My host said that though he would be at work there would be another surfer there to let me in. After some standard small talk my host, James, returned from work for lunch. He helped himself to a beer. We got along right way. After lunch he gave me a ride into town where I explored the town a bit, this time in daylight.
The following day James gave me another ride into town so that I could find a tour of Fraser Island, which is what I was really in Hervey Bay. This did not go as smoothly as I had hoped but it was my fault but worked out in the end. I ended up signing up for a tour from the company that the maxi taxi let me out of when I arrived in Hervey Bay two days prior. The tour required me to be at that location by 6:30AM the following day. I hoped James would be able to give me a ride that early before work otherwise I would have to wake up around 4AM to ensure getting there on time. Thankfully James is a good man and gave me a ride. The tour was for 3 day/2 night, came with two free nights in backpackers it was associated with, and at AU$250 (about US$225) was the cheapest non-one day tour of Fraser Island from a company that did not sound like you would die on the tour.
Fraser Island (sub-post)
Fraser Island has been formed by 80,000 years of wandering sand and there is, literally, no place like it on Earth. The indigenous Australian call it their word for paradise. Its lakes are fresh and crystal clear despite the fact that the island sits in the Pacific. It may not be paradise, but it sure is close.
Getting around Fraser "requires" a 4WD vehicle because of the rough terrain. Any hired tour comes with a 4WD which either you, other backpackers, or a guide is driving. Who is driving depends on the tour and a host of other options. Driving a 4WD along the sands of Fraser is a highlight for a lot of people but was not too appealing to me.
There are six different ways to explore Fraser as a tourist.
1. Walking. (Not realistic even if you have tons of time.)
2. Rent/own/obtain a 4DW vehicle and going it on your own. (A really good option if you have the cash. Allows for maximum flexibility.)
3. Hiring a day trip. (A decent option but does not allow you to see much of the island.)
4. Going on a multiple-day trip with staying in hostels. (Another decent option but does not give the experience I was looking for. Generally 2 days/1 night and more expensive because of the nights in hostels.)
5. Going on a multiple-day trip with camping. (What I ended up going with. There are usually 3 days/2 nights and though longer cheaper than those in option 4 because the camping is free.)
6. Finding some Australians with a 4WD and doing whatever you want for as long as you want. (The hardest to do and probably the best. If I ever come back to Fraser this is what I am going to try to do.)
The trip that I did is called a tag-a-long tour meaning the guide is in one 4WD car and there is at least one more 4WD car following it that has the backpackers in it. As I was not interested in driving the 4WD car on Fraser (I did not want that responsibility) and all those in the backpacker's 4WD are liable for damage to it, I was placed in the guide 4WD car though I ended up switching back and forth because there was no conversation in the guide car. In high season there are as many as three backpacker cars but as this was low season there was only the one. The group was not great but not bad; a French couple, and English couple, two Belgium girls, a very shy German guy, and myself. Had the crowd been better I am sure the trip would have been as well but it was still a good time. The nature on the island is beautiful. The famous Lake McKenzie was closed but Lake Birrabeen substituted nicely and was gorgeous. The camping was good and, to me, a crucial part of the experience. Going on a trip that included nights in proper accommodation would make me feel cheated.
I had a good time on Fraser. In fact, it is one of the highlights of Australia, but it was more about doing it. The experience of camping, riding in a 4WD on the beach and the roots of massive trees covering the "paths," swimming in the lakes, and just seeing the place. Sorry, at least within my abilities, it just cannot be put into words.
(The return to) Hervey Bay
The goal upon returning to Hervey was to find a ride continuing north, hopefully all the way up to Cairns. I knew I could couch surf with Hervey Bay for a couple more days before he went to a conference and then, if I still had not found a ride, I had two free nights in a backpackers through which I booked my Fraser Island tour. Other than some walking around finding a ride was pretty much all I was looking to do.
As luck would have it, most rides were going south and the few going north had qualms going 70km (about 45 miles) out of their way to pick me up. (Hervey Bay is about 35km off the main highway.) Even with offering to meet people by the highway I still could not get any takers. I went to the backpackers for my two free nights hoping to find some other backpacker there with a car heading north. Nope. Nothing. I did, however, find an ad on gumtree for a sailing trip from Brisbane (just south of Hervey Bay) to Sydney. I responded to the post and called as well out of excitement. The guy who posted the ad, Mike, got back to me and said I was welcome to come along on the sailing trip. All the sudden I was looking to go a little south instead of far north. The timing was pretty good considering I could not find a ride north but did require me changing all the plans I had formed in my head about my travels in Australia. None of this mattered. This sailing was too good of a experience to pass up. So, I started looking for a ride south to Brisbane but people did not want to bring me along for such a short trip (it is just a few hours drive). On my last night there I had already given up trying to find a ride and had resigned myself to hitch hiking, which would be difficult from Hervey Bay. I was hanging out in the backpacker's bar and mingling. I started talking to some Australian, Jusford, had come up from Brisbane to a place north of Hervey Bay for an interview and was headed back in a couple days. The timing worked out for me in terms of when I needed to be in Brisbane for the sailing but his intended stay would require a paid night of accommodation for me since I had already used my two free nights. I somehow convinced Jusford to leave the following day, instead of the day after that, which meant he would be missing out of a night of accommodation he had already paid for and the next day we set off for Brisbane.
After walking for a bit I did what any other person that knows the distance to his destination, the conversation rate to a measurement he understands (if necessary), and his approximate walking pace would do: calculated, roughly, how long it would take to walk there. The result? About 8 hours of walking. I stuck out my hand and raised my thumb. I do not not really like hitch hiking; I am kind of scared of it, but there was no way I was walking that distance and I have grown even more confident of my instincts while travelling. I knew that is something felt off I would be able to resist the temptation to get in or be able to find some excuse to get out.
Nobody even slowed down for what felt like an hour though it was probably closer to 20 minutes. The guy that pulled over, before I even had a chance to say anything, asked, "Hervey Bay?" He seemed normal; clean enough with a slightly messy car filled with stuff that looked like he was going to visit his grandparents in Hervey. (Hervey Bay is basically a retirement village. That section of the coast is the least expensive on the east coast of Australia. I heard while there that 48% of Hervey Bay's population is 40-years-old or older and, having been there, I think that might be low balling it.) I replied, "Yes," threw my stuff and myself in and off we went.
I have forgotten his name but he was an OK guy. We struggled for conversation after the basic small talk for most of the trip (it was about a 40 minutes drive to the main Hervey Bay bus station which is still a good distance from the area where I would find a place to sleep but farther than he was going and a place where I would be able to find transportation for the rest of the easily. He was right; as soon as I got out of his car, I saw a group of people getting into a maxi taxi (a taxi van that holds up to 10 people). I asked if they were going into town and if there was room for one more. Yes and yes. The ran was filled with 16-18-year-old Americans doing "volunteer work" in New Zealand and Australia and there Australian guide. We talked about what they were doing and about my travels. They seemed OK but I guess I must have forgotten what it is like to be that young.
We arrived to where they were going and the Aussie guide would not accept any money from me for the ride so I began walking around looking for the cheapest bed I could find. This would be the first time I have paid directly for accommodation since I arrived in Australia. I found a dorm bed for AU$18 (about US$16). This is a really cheap bed in Australia and the dorm was good except for how empty the hostel was. I did not do that night other than some grocery shopping, shower, and walk around a bit. It had been a long day and I was spent and I wanted to wake up early enough so that I could check my email to see if I had been accept by my potential couch surfing host and still check out of the backpackers in time.
Luckily my potential couch surfing host became a actual host when I checked my email early that morning. Unfortunately he lived on the complete opposite side of town. After packing up my stuff and checking out I began my journey to his place. I took pictures of the computer screen with the Google Maps directions so that I if/when I got lost I would have a easy-to-carry map available. It was a long walk, about 1.5 hours but went by quickly enough. My host said that though he would be at work there would be another surfer there to let me in. After some standard small talk my host, James, returned from work for lunch. He helped himself to a beer. We got along right way. After lunch he gave me a ride into town where I explored the town a bit, this time in daylight.
The following day James gave me another ride into town so that I could find a tour of Fraser Island, which is what I was really in Hervey Bay. This did not go as smoothly as I had hoped but it was my fault but worked out in the end. I ended up signing up for a tour from the company that the maxi taxi let me out of when I arrived in Hervey Bay two days prior. The tour required me to be at that location by 6:30AM the following day. I hoped James would be able to give me a ride that early before work otherwise I would have to wake up around 4AM to ensure getting there on time. Thankfully James is a good man and gave me a ride. The tour was for 3 day/2 night, came with two free nights in backpackers it was associated with, and at AU$250 (about US$225) was the cheapest non-one day tour of Fraser Island from a company that did not sound like you would die on the tour.
Fraser Island (sub-post)
Fraser Island has been formed by 80,000 years of wandering sand and there is, literally, no place like it on Earth. The indigenous Australian call it their word for paradise. Its lakes are fresh and crystal clear despite the fact that the island sits in the Pacific. It may not be paradise, but it sure is close.
Getting around Fraser "requires" a 4WD vehicle because of the rough terrain. Any hired tour comes with a 4WD which either you, other backpackers, or a guide is driving. Who is driving depends on the tour and a host of other options. Driving a 4WD along the sands of Fraser is a highlight for a lot of people but was not too appealing to me.
There are six different ways to explore Fraser as a tourist.
1. Walking. (Not realistic even if you have tons of time.)
2. Rent/own/obtain a 4DW vehicle and going it on your own. (A really good option if you have the cash. Allows for maximum flexibility.)
3. Hiring a day trip. (A decent option but does not allow you to see much of the island.)
4. Going on a multiple-day trip with staying in hostels. (Another decent option but does not give the experience I was looking for. Generally 2 days/1 night and more expensive because of the nights in hostels.)
5. Going on a multiple-day trip with camping. (What I ended up going with. There are usually 3 days/2 nights and though longer cheaper than those in option 4 because the camping is free.)
6. Finding some Australians with a 4WD and doing whatever you want for as long as you want. (The hardest to do and probably the best. If I ever come back to Fraser this is what I am going to try to do.)
The trip that I did is called a tag-a-long tour meaning the guide is in one 4WD car and there is at least one more 4WD car following it that has the backpackers in it. As I was not interested in driving the 4WD car on Fraser (I did not want that responsibility) and all those in the backpacker's 4WD are liable for damage to it, I was placed in the guide 4WD car though I ended up switching back and forth because there was no conversation in the guide car. In high season there are as many as three backpacker cars but as this was low season there was only the one. The group was not great but not bad; a French couple, and English couple, two Belgium girls, a very shy German guy, and myself. Had the crowd been better I am sure the trip would have been as well but it was still a good time. The nature on the island is beautiful. The famous Lake McKenzie was closed but Lake Birrabeen substituted nicely and was gorgeous. The camping was good and, to me, a crucial part of the experience. Going on a trip that included nights in proper accommodation would make me feel cheated.
I had a good time on Fraser. In fact, it is one of the highlights of Australia, but it was more about doing it. The experience of camping, riding in a 4WD on the beach and the roots of massive trees covering the "paths," swimming in the lakes, and just seeing the place. Sorry, at least within my abilities, it just cannot be put into words.
(The return to) Hervey Bay
The goal upon returning to Hervey was to find a ride continuing north, hopefully all the way up to Cairns. I knew I could couch surf with Hervey Bay for a couple more days before he went to a conference and then, if I still had not found a ride, I had two free nights in a backpackers through which I booked my Fraser Island tour. Other than some walking around finding a ride was pretty much all I was looking to do.
As luck would have it, most rides were going south and the few going north had qualms going 70km (about 45 miles) out of their way to pick me up. (Hervey Bay is about 35km off the main highway.) Even with offering to meet people by the highway I still could not get any takers. I went to the backpackers for my two free nights hoping to find some other backpacker there with a car heading north. Nope. Nothing. I did, however, find an ad on gumtree for a sailing trip from Brisbane (just south of Hervey Bay) to Sydney. I responded to the post and called as well out of excitement. The guy who posted the ad, Mike, got back to me and said I was welcome to come along on the sailing trip. All the sudden I was looking to go a little south instead of far north. The timing was pretty good considering I could not find a ride north but did require me changing all the plans I had formed in my head about my travels in Australia. None of this mattered. This sailing was too good of a experience to pass up. So, I started looking for a ride south to Brisbane but people did not want to bring me along for such a short trip (it is just a few hours drive). On my last night there I had already given up trying to find a ride and had resigned myself to hitch hiking, which would be difficult from Hervey Bay. I was hanging out in the backpacker's bar and mingling. I started talking to some Australian, Jusford, had come up from Brisbane to a place north of Hervey Bay for an interview and was headed back in a couple days. The timing worked out for me in terms of when I needed to be in Brisbane for the sailing but his intended stay would require a paid night of accommodation for me since I had already used my two free nights. I somehow convinced Jusford to leave the following day, instead of the day after that, which meant he would be missing out of a night of accommodation he had already paid for and the next day we set off for Brisbane.
30 July 2010
Road Trip From Brisbane to Airlie Beach
There was a joke when I was a kid that alternated between statements of good and bad news. I am going to attempt a parody of that joke here:
Good news: I found a ride north from Brisbane.
Bad news: The ride is not going all the way north to Cairns, as I wanted.
Good news: The ride is going about 90% of the way to Cairns, to Airlie Beach, from which I should be able to get a ride to Cairns pretty easily.
Bad news: Should be able to.
Good news: The ride is from a girl.
Bad news: The girl is French.
Good news: There is another girl in the car.
Bad news: She is also French. And does not speak much English.
Good news: They are both easy going enough and the driver is a decent driver.
Bad news: More French music than you can shake a stick at.
Good news: They have friend in Noosa Heads, our first stop.
Bad news: For some reason, I am not allowed into the residence of the friends.
Good news: I am allowed to sleep in the car.
Bad news: I am not invited to dinner or to hang out with them.
Good news: Not a big deal. They can enjoy their French conversation without the pressure to translate for me and I can entertain myself.
Bad news: There is nothing to do in Noosa Heads. It is not a place to see stuff but rather a place to be seen.
Good news: I had an opportunity to fulfill a goal of seeing a movie, in theaters, on each continent I visit.
Bad news: I failed at this goal a long time ago.
Good news: Whatever, I still got to see a reasonably priced movie.
Bad news: The best option of movies was Grown Ups.
Good news: Surprisingly Grown Ups was not terrible.
Bad news: The following morning we were waking up at 5AM so that they can go surfing. I was invited but was not allowed to use a board.
Good news: I took a awesome picture of them silhouetted against the rising sun, with surf boards headed out to the water.
Bad news: I was not going surfing.
Good news: I got to do some excellent hiking in Noosa National Park instead of surfing. And, their surfing sucked because of the tide.
Bad news: We did not have a chance to visit North Shore, which is supposed to be nice and empty.
Good news: We headed off early enough to cover some good distance and spend some time in the a quick stop over, Hervey Bay, upon my request.
Bad news: Once we turned off the main highway to go to Hervey Bay I was asked, "This is 70 kilometers away, are you sure you want to go?"
Good news: I asked them to let me out of the car and we split ways.
They let me out at a McDonald's upon my request because there is free wifi there. We said our goodbyes without hard feelings. I figured out some semblance of a plan, sent a couch surfing request to the only CS hosts in Hervey Bay that had logged in more recently than a week ago, and started walking down the road with my thumb up. After about 20 minutes some guy picked me up and drove me to Hervey Bay Centro, the main bus stop in Hervey Bay. As soon as I got out of the car and gathered my bags, I rushed to a group of people getting in a maxi (a taxi that holds 10 people) and asked if there was room for one more. Other than the maxi driver and the guide everybody in the maxi was American. The group was on some volunteering trip in New Zealand and Australia. The main guide was Australian and ran the show and there was a secondary guide, who was American and 25, that seemed to be an intermediary. The rest of the group was 16 to 18 year old and the ride there was kind of strange. I guess I had forgotten what people are like at that age. Either way, I got a ride into town and, since I had not heard from the CS host that I sent the request to, found a place to sleep for the night.
Good news: I found a ride north from Brisbane.
Bad news: The ride is not going all the way north to Cairns, as I wanted.
Good news: The ride is going about 90% of the way to Cairns, to Airlie Beach, from which I should be able to get a ride to Cairns pretty easily.
Bad news: Should be able to.
Good news: The ride is from a girl.
Bad news: The girl is French.
Good news: There is another girl in the car.
Bad news: She is also French. And does not speak much English.
Good news: They are both easy going enough and the driver is a decent driver.
Bad news: More French music than you can shake a stick at.
Good news: They have friend in Noosa Heads, our first stop.
Bad news: For some reason, I am not allowed into the residence of the friends.
Good news: I am allowed to sleep in the car.
Bad news: I am not invited to dinner or to hang out with them.
Good news: Not a big deal. They can enjoy their French conversation without the pressure to translate for me and I can entertain myself.
Bad news: There is nothing to do in Noosa Heads. It is not a place to see stuff but rather a place to be seen.
Good news: I had an opportunity to fulfill a goal of seeing a movie, in theaters, on each continent I visit.
Bad news: I failed at this goal a long time ago.
Good news: Whatever, I still got to see a reasonably priced movie.
Bad news: The best option of movies was Grown Ups.
Good news: Surprisingly Grown Ups was not terrible.
Bad news: The following morning we were waking up at 5AM so that they can go surfing. I was invited but was not allowed to use a board.
Good news: I took a awesome picture of them silhouetted against the rising sun, with surf boards headed out to the water.
Bad news: I was not going surfing.
Good news: I got to do some excellent hiking in Noosa National Park instead of surfing. And, their surfing sucked because of the tide.
Bad news: We did not have a chance to visit North Shore, which is supposed to be nice and empty.
Good news: We headed off early enough to cover some good distance and spend some time in the a quick stop over, Hervey Bay, upon my request.
Bad news: Once we turned off the main highway to go to Hervey Bay I was asked, "This is 70 kilometers away, are you sure you want to go?"
Good news: I asked them to let me out of the car and we split ways.
They let me out at a McDonald's upon my request because there is free wifi there. We said our goodbyes without hard feelings. I figured out some semblance of a plan, sent a couch surfing request to the only CS hosts in Hervey Bay that had logged in more recently than a week ago, and started walking down the road with my thumb up. After about 20 minutes some guy picked me up and drove me to Hervey Bay Centro, the main bus stop in Hervey Bay. As soon as I got out of the car and gathered my bags, I rushed to a group of people getting in a maxi (a taxi that holds 10 people) and asked if there was room for one more. Other than the maxi driver and the guide everybody in the maxi was American. The group was on some volunteering trip in New Zealand and Australia. The main guide was Australian and ran the show and there was a secondary guide, who was American and 25, that seemed to be an intermediary. The rest of the group was 16 to 18 year old and the ride there was kind of strange. I guess I had forgotten what people are like at that age. Either way, I got a ride into town and, since I had not heard from the CS host that I sent the request to, found a place to sleep for the night.
Brisbane, Australia, Part I
My first even remotely negative couch surfing experience occurred in Brisbane. I sent my request about a week in advance and had been given the OK just to let her, the host, know exactly which day I will arrive when I could as I was driving up and the specific day of arrival was a bit in the air. I did so. I texted. Repeatedly. I called. Repeatedly. I arrived in Brisbane with a CS host that said I could surf at her place but never gave me an address nor would she pick up or return my efforts to contact her. I was pissed but all in all this is not such a bad experience just inconvenient. I ended up spending my first night in Brisbane in the campervan that took me from Melbourne to Brisbane so it was a familiar sleeping space. The second night was spent on the couch of a friend of a friend. I ended up finding another CS host but I found a ride heading north so my time in Brisbane was cut short.
While trying to contact my CS host I was invited by Tobi (my ride from Melbourne to Brisbane) to play jugger, which is an alternative sport and completely new to me. The rules had been explained to me in the van and again once we arrived but made little sense until I started playing. So, I will not explain much of the rules here just know this: each team has five people, four with (padded) weapons the fifth is the "quick" and is the only player eligible to score. If you are hit by a weapon in a legal area you kneel down and are out of play for 3-5 seconds. A point is scored by moving the "skull" to your opponent's side of the field and placing it around a stake.
I started off as a player with a weapon (an "enforcer") because the quicks are much more important than any individual enforcer and not where a novice should start. The game was fun and the rules made more sense once I started playing. While competitive, it is a friendly game. It also helped that there were other people who had never played before either. I was not particularly good at being an enforcer but I did not do terribly either. I quickly picked up some basic strategy and was able to use people's expectations of my (lack of) skills and (lack of) knowledge of the game against them. I certainly screwed up a few times but it is expected given I was still learning the rules and new rules while I played. After a few games I asked if I could try being the quick and I finally found where I could help out my team the most.
At the beginning of a game and after each point scored the skull is placed in a circle in the center of the field and the quicks stand anywhere along the circumference of the circle. Once time starts the quicks try to get the skull. This involves quickness and usually some wrestling and I played up my quickness since my wrestling is, well, let's say not an advantage for me (oddly, however, I ended up being pretty decent at that part as well). I immediately got the skull and then did what I was supposed to do until I tried to put the skull around the stake, at which time I did what was just about the worst thing you can do in this game (have the skull go out of bounds). Lesson learned. With the help of my team I eventually got the skull back and scored a point. After that we scored about ten more consecutive points. Compliments all around including, "That was textbook quick play" from one of the veterans. In truth, I had little idea what I was doing other than using my speed and being aggressive. It was fun and I plan on playing again if I can.
That night I went out for drinks with the jugger crowd. We went to a bar that has six TVs attached to video game consoles. While drinking you play video games. I cannot believe I did not think of this idea myself. I do not care much for video games but it was still fun. My first drink did not sit well and I decided to stop drinking and just hang out. That lasted until one of the jugger players, Garth, realized that, after most people had left, of the four remaining, he was the only person drinking. He got the four of us a round of drinks, despite our insistence that he did not, so that he was not drinking alone. After the drink Garth wanted another one and once again did not take no for an answer. He insisted that we leave this bar and go to another that makes excellent cocktails, called the Bowery. I should tell you a bit about Garth. He was recently paid AU$40,000 by a former employer upon leaving the job as part of his compensation package and despite his best efforts to spend the money had only manage to spend $2500 and was looking to spend more in a hurry. At the time, he had five weeks before he left for an international vacation (which is basically him travelling around the world to various jugger games including the world championships in Germany). We arrived at the Bowery and he asked each of use what kind of alcohol we preferred. After an unusually long time the bartender and his girl friend brought us our drinks and joined us as well (Garth and them are friends). The drink I was handed cost AU$19. After some conversation a second, different AU$19 whiskey drink arrived. Both were good but I do not think I would pay that much for a drink. Even if I was trying to waste AU$40,000. By this time Garth was drunk and we left the bar. An interesting and enjoyable day with new, interesting people.
The next day, despite the poor weather, I walked around Brisbane. Brisbane is a nice town but does not offer much for tourists. I think it would be a good town to live in and visiting briefly is nice and should be done but there is not much to do after only a couple days. I continued to walk around even though my camera battery had died and I saw many of the attractions. It was good and I will be passing through Brisbane again for sure as I left my big bag in the garage of the friend of the friend and will do more exploring then.
During those couple days in Brisbane I managed to find a ride north to Airlie Beach from two French girls on gumtree. I had never met them and only talked briefly on the phone. They picked me up the next day and off we went north. What could go wrong?
While trying to contact my CS host I was invited by Tobi (my ride from Melbourne to Brisbane) to play jugger, which is an alternative sport and completely new to me. The rules had been explained to me in the van and again once we arrived but made little sense until I started playing. So, I will not explain much of the rules here just know this: each team has five people, four with (padded) weapons the fifth is the "quick" and is the only player eligible to score. If you are hit by a weapon in a legal area you kneel down and are out of play for 3-5 seconds. A point is scored by moving the "skull" to your opponent's side of the field and placing it around a stake.
I started off as a player with a weapon (an "enforcer") because the quicks are much more important than any individual enforcer and not where a novice should start. The game was fun and the rules made more sense once I started playing. While competitive, it is a friendly game. It also helped that there were other people who had never played before either. I was not particularly good at being an enforcer but I did not do terribly either. I quickly picked up some basic strategy and was able to use people's expectations of my (lack of) skills and (lack of) knowledge of the game against them. I certainly screwed up a few times but it is expected given I was still learning the rules and new rules while I played. After a few games I asked if I could try being the quick and I finally found where I could help out my team the most.
At the beginning of a game and after each point scored the skull is placed in a circle in the center of the field and the quicks stand anywhere along the circumference of the circle. Once time starts the quicks try to get the skull. This involves quickness and usually some wrestling and I played up my quickness since my wrestling is, well, let's say not an advantage for me (oddly, however, I ended up being pretty decent at that part as well). I immediately got the skull and then did what I was supposed to do until I tried to put the skull around the stake, at which time I did what was just about the worst thing you can do in this game (have the skull go out of bounds). Lesson learned. With the help of my team I eventually got the skull back and scored a point. After that we scored about ten more consecutive points. Compliments all around including, "That was textbook quick play" from one of the veterans. In truth, I had little idea what I was doing other than using my speed and being aggressive. It was fun and I plan on playing again if I can.
That night I went out for drinks with the jugger crowd. We went to a bar that has six TVs attached to video game consoles. While drinking you play video games. I cannot believe I did not think of this idea myself. I do not care much for video games but it was still fun. My first drink did not sit well and I decided to stop drinking and just hang out. That lasted until one of the jugger players, Garth, realized that, after most people had left, of the four remaining, he was the only person drinking. He got the four of us a round of drinks, despite our insistence that he did not, so that he was not drinking alone. After the drink Garth wanted another one and once again did not take no for an answer. He insisted that we leave this bar and go to another that makes excellent cocktails, called the Bowery. I should tell you a bit about Garth. He was recently paid AU$40,000 by a former employer upon leaving the job as part of his compensation package and despite his best efforts to spend the money had only manage to spend $2500 and was looking to spend more in a hurry. At the time, he had five weeks before he left for an international vacation (which is basically him travelling around the world to various jugger games including the world championships in Germany). We arrived at the Bowery and he asked each of use what kind of alcohol we preferred. After an unusually long time the bartender and his girl friend brought us our drinks and joined us as well (Garth and them are friends). The drink I was handed cost AU$19. After some conversation a second, different AU$19 whiskey drink arrived. Both were good but I do not think I would pay that much for a drink. Even if I was trying to waste AU$40,000. By this time Garth was drunk and we left the bar. An interesting and enjoyable day with new, interesting people.
The next day, despite the poor weather, I walked around Brisbane. Brisbane is a nice town but does not offer much for tourists. I think it would be a good town to live in and visiting briefly is nice and should be done but there is not much to do after only a couple days. I continued to walk around even though my camera battery had died and I saw many of the attractions. It was good and I will be passing through Brisbane again for sure as I left my big bag in the garage of the friend of the friend and will do more exploring then.
During those couple days in Brisbane I managed to find a ride north to Airlie Beach from two French girls on gumtree. I had never met them and only talked briefly on the phone. They picked me up the next day and off we went north. What could go wrong?
22 July 2010
Road Trip North to Brisbane
The Australian equivalent of craigslist is called gumtree and a section of the site is rideshare where peolpe post where and when they are driving hoping to find a travel companion. Usually you split the gas money, sometimes the driving. You can also post where you are and where and when you want to go hoping somebody will contact you with a ride offer. A big thing for backpackers in Australia is buying a used campervan and driving it all over the country, with the east coast being especially popular. On gumtree I found one such person that was headed from Melbourne north to Brisbane. I replied to his ad and we met up for a beer to make sure the other person was not a whackjob and that we would get along well enough. Apparently we satisfied each other's standards and we were set to leave in a couple days. Tobi, 20, is German with long blonde hair and is partial to bad slow speed metal, what sounds like Blink 182 covers and semi-Western or country covers of songs that I like. He listens to some decent music but what I will remember is listening to what could have been Slip Knot's rendition of Suite Judy Blue Eyes. He bought the van with money he earned planting trees near Cairns and various other jobs scattered around the east coast. He is a slightly strange character but nothing too off putting. His Facebook profile picture is him holding a bow and arrow that he made. He will not initiate conversation with women and once there is conversation he speaks but get overly touchy. He was completely foreign to the idea that if I am speaking with a girl and her friend is otherwise unengaged that he may consider speaking with her. No doubt this hesitation is related to his issue initiating conversation. Also, he owns and periodically wears a cape. Seriously. No, he is not Frank Costanza's lawyer.
He is a good guy though and to be honest I was lucky that he took me on this trip. He brought much more to the table than I did. It was his van, he drove the entire time, his all-important and useful map. He had pots and pans and two stoves for cooking, a extra sleeping bag, He only benefitted from me by splitting the cost of fuel, some company, and my outstanding social skills (everything is relative). He was a pretty decent cook and a driver and I have only a couple complaints about the entire 1981 kilometer (1238 mile) trip.
There was a German girl, Anna, that I surfed with in Melbourne that needed a ride up to Sydney so she joined us part of the way. The campervan only has two seats and two seat belts so at all times when in the van either Anna or myself was on the bed in back and everybody was hoping the police did not notice. They never did and we did not have any trouble.
I do not recall most of the towns we stopped in but I do remember some good times. We went swimming in the South Pacific Ocean in the middle of winter. The water was cold and the shower just off the beach was even colder. Tobi taking up two-thirds of the bed while Anna and I shared the remaining third or, when Anna left, me having to wake Tobi up to ask him to move over. We ate home-made German bread made over a fire. I turned a meat-eating German on to hummos. We made nearly random ingredients into some tastey food. Plenty of beautiful scenary.
He is a good guy though and to be honest I was lucky that he took me on this trip. He brought much more to the table than I did. It was his van, he drove the entire time, his all-important and useful map. He had pots and pans and two stoves for cooking, a extra sleeping bag, He only benefitted from me by splitting the cost of fuel, some company, and my outstanding social skills (everything is relative). He was a pretty decent cook and a driver and I have only a couple complaints about the entire 1981 kilometer (1238 mile) trip.
There was a German girl, Anna, that I surfed with in Melbourne that needed a ride up to Sydney so she joined us part of the way. The campervan only has two seats and two seat belts so at all times when in the van either Anna or myself was on the bed in back and everybody was hoping the police did not notice. They never did and we did not have any trouble.
I do not recall most of the towns we stopped in but I do remember some good times. We went swimming in the South Pacific Ocean in the middle of winter. The water was cold and the shower just off the beach was even colder. Tobi taking up two-thirds of the bed while Anna and I shared the remaining third or, when Anna left, me having to wake Tobi up to ask him to move over. We ate home-made German bread made over a fire. I turned a meat-eating German on to hummos. We made nearly random ingredients into some tastey food. Plenty of beautiful scenary.
Melbourne, Australia
After Tioman I spent a night in Kuala Lumpur but I did basically nothing so I am nnot going to spend a post on it.
On the way to the KL airport I re-met an English guy that I had originally met in KL. He was supposed to be travelling for a pretty long time but had to cut his trip short because he broke his leg and decided it would be a better idea to let it heal at home. He had planned on going to Australia but since he no longer was and I was about to get on a plane going there he gave me his Australia Lonely Planet, which is nice to have and has a retail value of US$30 and often actually cost more to buy on the road. While waiting in line to check in on my first Air Asia flight I met a Aussie guy on the same flight. He had just flown in to KL from London, making is travel path London-KL-Melbourne, which is a long couple of flights. We started talking a bit and ended up sharing a cab from the Melbourne airport to where I was staying and where he lives as they are about four block from each other. We were supposed to met up to go to a "footie" match but it did not work out.
I am getting ahead of myself. Air Asia is a low cost airline. I had to pay an extra US$20 for the weight of my big bag because its weight is above the standard permit weight of zero. My boarding ticket was printed on the same paper that a receipt from your grocery store is printed on. The seat wide enough to accommodate me but not much more. There is food and drink available the cost of which is not included in the fare. Not even water. I heard the toilets used to be paid as well but was reversed. The flight cost less than US$200.
Melbourne has a cool atmosphere about it. The people are relaxed and fitness crazed. Never in my life have a seen more people running or biking outside of a race and they were just on their way home from work. It seemed as if everybody opts to not take the famous tram home in favor of a little exercise. It was a drastic change from Asia were it seems almost nobody ever exercises. Another change was the weather. What are the summer months in Chicago are the winter months in Australia, though an Aussie winter is distinctly not a Chicago winter. I enjoyed getting out of the sun for a bit and the cool air. It felt good to need to wear pants and a long-sleeved shirt for reasons other than protecting myself from branches and bugs.
The city is a nice place to walk around and explore. The esplanade is pleasent (and a favorite place for the runners and bicyclists, of course) though the views are less than spectacular. Melbourne is known for its culture more so than Sydney. The only museum I went into had no theme that I could pick up but the section I visited was free and seemed to have to do with light. It sounds weird and I cannot describe it well but it was really cool. (The paid portion of the museum had a Tim Burton exhibit going on that looked really cool but was too expensive.) There were a bunch of different set-ups including a circular room with cameras all around that allowed you to make a short Matrix-bullet-time video. There was also a screen that captured peoples' shadows and automatically recognized shapes and assigned them sounds and sometimes rounded out the shadow image. For example, if you made a bird shadow with your hands there would be a bird noise. If you made a circle it would often assume it was supposed to be an eye and put a pupil in the middle. It was really cool and would be interested in learning how it works.
I was couch surfing once again in Melbourne with three 21-year-old Aussies. Most of the accommodation in Asia (except for Japan) cost between US$3-6 a night, the low being about 50 cents (Pingyao, China) and the high being probably US$8 in various places. Sometimes those are dorms other times they are private rooms. A night in an Australian hostel (which are called backpackers here) generally costs AU$20+ (US$17+) for a dorm. I like couch surfing for a variety of reasons but the savings is much more important when it is saving you $20 instead of $4. The hosts' place was not quite as nice as where I last surfed in Singapore. The three bedrooms were occupied by the hosts and the surfers all slept in what was basically the living room on some padding on the ground or the couchess. During my week in Melbourne the most people that surfed on a single night was nine and the minimum was three. The door is never locked. There are two half washroom. The walls of one with the shower are cover with mold from shoulder-height up. The one with the toilet is outside (meaning you have to go outside to access it) and does not have a functioning light. As you would probably guess, the Italian family that lives next door is not fond of them. The hosts are Liam, Tom, and (Fat) Tom. Liam is an apprentice carpenter, Tom is prodigy with computers and a student, Fat Tom is almost 2 meters (6.6 feet) tall, wide, though not fat, bartender that, in addition to wearing almost all black, has a number of piercings, can never drive because is an epileptic and has a benin tumor. Fat Tom and I got along well.
While walking around one day I say somebody I recognized from Chicago, a former co-worker. The firm I worked for does an exhange thing with firms in Australia and as the Australian financial year was due to end in a few days, he was there for the impending busy season. Given that he was working at the time we could not catch up much and because I was leaving Melbourne in a couple days we did not have a chance to meet up. It was funny coincidence but I guess it should not be all that surprising.
I thuroughly enjoyed Melbourne, more so than expected in fact. It seemed to be kind of an Australian version of Chicago though there are some difference aside from the accent. I hope to go back for a few more days before leaving Oz (short for Australia) and get to know the city a bit more. And to make another Matrix video.
On the way to the KL airport I re-met an English guy that I had originally met in KL. He was supposed to be travelling for a pretty long time but had to cut his trip short because he broke his leg and decided it would be a better idea to let it heal at home. He had planned on going to Australia but since he no longer was and I was about to get on a plane going there he gave me his Australia Lonely Planet, which is nice to have and has a retail value of US$30 and often actually cost more to buy on the road. While waiting in line to check in on my first Air Asia flight I met a Aussie guy on the same flight. He had just flown in to KL from London, making is travel path London-KL-Melbourne, which is a long couple of flights. We started talking a bit and ended up sharing a cab from the Melbourne airport to where I was staying and where he lives as they are about four block from each other. We were supposed to met up to go to a "footie" match but it did not work out.
I am getting ahead of myself. Air Asia is a low cost airline. I had to pay an extra US$20 for the weight of my big bag because its weight is above the standard permit weight of zero. My boarding ticket was printed on the same paper that a receipt from your grocery store is printed on. The seat wide enough to accommodate me but not much more. There is food and drink available the cost of which is not included in the fare. Not even water. I heard the toilets used to be paid as well but was reversed. The flight cost less than US$200.
Melbourne has a cool atmosphere about it. The people are relaxed and fitness crazed. Never in my life have a seen more people running or biking outside of a race and they were just on their way home from work. It seemed as if everybody opts to not take the famous tram home in favor of a little exercise. It was a drastic change from Asia were it seems almost nobody ever exercises. Another change was the weather. What are the summer months in Chicago are the winter months in Australia, though an Aussie winter is distinctly not a Chicago winter. I enjoyed getting out of the sun for a bit and the cool air. It felt good to need to wear pants and a long-sleeved shirt for reasons other than protecting myself from branches and bugs.
The city is a nice place to walk around and explore. The esplanade is pleasent (and a favorite place for the runners and bicyclists, of course) though the views are less than spectacular. Melbourne is known for its culture more so than Sydney. The only museum I went into had no theme that I could pick up but the section I visited was free and seemed to have to do with light. It sounds weird and I cannot describe it well but it was really cool. (The paid portion of the museum had a Tim Burton exhibit going on that looked really cool but was too expensive.) There were a bunch of different set-ups including a circular room with cameras all around that allowed you to make a short Matrix-bullet-time video. There was also a screen that captured peoples' shadows and automatically recognized shapes and assigned them sounds and sometimes rounded out the shadow image. For example, if you made a bird shadow with your hands there would be a bird noise. If you made a circle it would often assume it was supposed to be an eye and put a pupil in the middle. It was really cool and would be interested in learning how it works.
I was couch surfing once again in Melbourne with three 21-year-old Aussies. Most of the accommodation in Asia (except for Japan) cost between US$3-6 a night, the low being about 50 cents (Pingyao, China) and the high being probably US$8 in various places. Sometimes those are dorms other times they are private rooms. A night in an Australian hostel (which are called backpackers here) generally costs AU$20+ (US$17+) for a dorm. I like couch surfing for a variety of reasons but the savings is much more important when it is saving you $20 instead of $4. The hosts' place was not quite as nice as where I last surfed in Singapore. The three bedrooms were occupied by the hosts and the surfers all slept in what was basically the living room on some padding on the ground or the couchess. During my week in Melbourne the most people that surfed on a single night was nine and the minimum was three. The door is never locked. There are two half washroom. The walls of one with the shower are cover with mold from shoulder-height up. The one with the toilet is outside (meaning you have to go outside to access it) and does not have a functioning light. As you would probably guess, the Italian family that lives next door is not fond of them. The hosts are Liam, Tom, and (Fat) Tom. Liam is an apprentice carpenter, Tom is prodigy with computers and a student, Fat Tom is almost 2 meters (6.6 feet) tall, wide, though not fat, bartender that, in addition to wearing almost all black, has a number of piercings, can never drive because is an epileptic and has a benin tumor. Fat Tom and I got along well.
While walking around one day I say somebody I recognized from Chicago, a former co-worker. The firm I worked for does an exhange thing with firms in Australia and as the Australian financial year was due to end in a few days, he was there for the impending busy season. Given that he was working at the time we could not catch up much and because I was leaving Melbourne in a couple days we did not have a chance to meet up. It was funny coincidence but I guess it should not be all that surprising.
I thuroughly enjoyed Melbourne, more so than expected in fact. It seemed to be kind of an Australian version of Chicago though there are some difference aside from the accent. I hope to go back for a few more days before leaving Oz (short for Australia) and get to know the city a bit more. And to make another Matrix video.
Tioman, Malaysia
Tioman was one of the places I was considering staying for a month if it struck me right. I had the same idea for the Perhentian Islands in the north east of peninsular Malaysia but it was not right. I had decided that if I could find a simple job or a way to over my living costs (aside from diving) but allow me time to dive I would stay a month but if not I would stay a bit and move on. I ended up not finding such a job but still spending about two weeks there. I met a bunch of cool people, completed my Advanced Open Water diving certification, and enjoyed duty free alcohol.
The Advanced course usually takes three days but because of the diving schedule and my feeling ill it took me nearly a week. This is fine as it provided me a free dive and the slower pace allowed me to enjoy the night life and World Cup more fully.
Other than the diving Tioman has some good hiking and I took advantage. The best route was across the waist of the island to its west side to a town called Juara, which is far less visited, quieter, and has amazing beaches. The first beach I saw on the west side was was the southern-most beach in the area and completely empty as far as the eye could see when I got there. Over the 30 minutes that I was there I saw maybe five other people all as disappointed to see me as I was to see them. I went swimming and at my US$0.60 lunch on top a rock overlooking the ocean. Then I walked as far north as I could passing over rocks and swimming around them. The beaches at the north were not as nice because this is where the jetty is located and the water has a rainbowy tint from the oil. I decided to eat again for no reasons other than I had not eaten on this side of the island and was craving beef for some reason.
The walk to Juara takes a few hours. I could have easily walked back through the jungle as I did when I got there and started off doing so but then decided to take part in a Tioman tradition: hitchhiking. While it is technically hitchhiking it kind of is not here because everybody picks everybody up without asking anything more than, "Where are you going?" The police routinely pick people up. It is just understood here that you pick anybody up that you can when you can. (In the end, this was one of my favorite parts of Tioman. It is just so simple and funny and perfect.) After about 30 seconds of walking I saw a pick-up truck full of people and food in the back. They stopped for me and I jumped in.
The truck has a Malaysian driver and nine people from Saudi Arabia and the conversation was priceless. I cannot transcribe most of it here. The four girls were sitting inside the cabin and the five guys were in the truck bed with me. In the back was also four cases of beer, countless bottles of hard alcohol (remember all alcohol is duty free), and some food. They were just at Juara but left because it was too quiet (which meant too few people to drink with and too few women specifically) and were asking me where to find both things. I directed them to the beach I was staying and they were interested but you cannot get there by car so they had a situation. It worked out for them but I made it back to my place seperate from them because I could walk there while they could not.
While Tioman would not have been the worst place to spend a month as I was hoping to do, it was not right for me. I had already done most of the above water acitivities and the below water activities alone were not enough to keep me there for the full month. Still, I did spend longer than I intended to stay once I decided I was not staying the month but this is partially to do with the flights I found to my next destination.
The Advanced course usually takes three days but because of the diving schedule and my feeling ill it took me nearly a week. This is fine as it provided me a free dive and the slower pace allowed me to enjoy the night life and World Cup more fully.
Other than the diving Tioman has some good hiking and I took advantage. The best route was across the waist of the island to its west side to a town called Juara, which is far less visited, quieter, and has amazing beaches. The first beach I saw on the west side was was the southern-most beach in the area and completely empty as far as the eye could see when I got there. Over the 30 minutes that I was there I saw maybe five other people all as disappointed to see me as I was to see them. I went swimming and at my US$0.60 lunch on top a rock overlooking the ocean. Then I walked as far north as I could passing over rocks and swimming around them. The beaches at the north were not as nice because this is where the jetty is located and the water has a rainbowy tint from the oil. I decided to eat again for no reasons other than I had not eaten on this side of the island and was craving beef for some reason.
The walk to Juara takes a few hours. I could have easily walked back through the jungle as I did when I got there and started off doing so but then decided to take part in a Tioman tradition: hitchhiking. While it is technically hitchhiking it kind of is not here because everybody picks everybody up without asking anything more than, "Where are you going?" The police routinely pick people up. It is just understood here that you pick anybody up that you can when you can. (In the end, this was one of my favorite parts of Tioman. It is just so simple and funny and perfect.) After about 30 seconds of walking I saw a pick-up truck full of people and food in the back. They stopped for me and I jumped in.
The truck has a Malaysian driver and nine people from Saudi Arabia and the conversation was priceless. I cannot transcribe most of it here. The four girls were sitting inside the cabin and the five guys were in the truck bed with me. In the back was also four cases of beer, countless bottles of hard alcohol (remember all alcohol is duty free), and some food. They were just at Juara but left because it was too quiet (which meant too few people to drink with and too few women specifically) and were asking me where to find both things. I directed them to the beach I was staying and they were interested but you cannot get there by car so they had a situation. It worked out for them but I made it back to my place seperate from them because I could walk there while they could not.
While Tioman would not have been the worst place to spend a month as I was hoping to do, it was not right for me. I had already done most of the above water acitivities and the below water activities alone were not enough to keep me there for the full month. Still, I did spend longer than I intended to stay once I decided I was not staying the month but this is partially to do with the flights I found to my next destination.
Singapore, Singapore
Shaun and I were once again couch surfing, this time in Singapore. Our host, Kuni, was a Japanese expat who has also lived in India and Malaysia and has hosted some 300 surfers in total. We had only requested to stay two nights but realized the the first USA World Cup game would take place right after we were scheduled to leave and we thought it would be cool to see the US play England in Singapore so we asked to stay a third night straight away. He said we could so that was set up.
Getting to Singapore was easy but we assumed the transport would be late as it always is in Malaysia but it was right on time so we had about four hours to kill before Kuni could let us in when he got home from work. We figured McDonalds would be a good bet because we could sit there for as long as we wanted without being bothered and could use the free wifi that every McDonalds in Malaysia has. In Singapore, however, there was no free wifi for us. We ended up sitting at McDonalds the entire time reading and talking, which was OK but it would have been nice to get some stuff done online during that time.
Kuni's place is a studio apartment in an amazing complex. There is an olympic size swimming pool, a workout facility, a bowling alley, and more. The apartment itself is nice but small considering the six surfers he had there. Everybody was pretty cool. I got along with a couple German girls pretty well and Shaun hit it off with a Dane. I was interested in going to the world famous Singapore Zoo and Shaun was not so we split way for our first day in Singapore not spent in McDonalds. Shaun walked around the city and the German girls and myself headed to the zoo. The zoo was pretty sweet and while it was a bit pricey it was worth it. I enjoy zoos and would recommend it to people that do but if not it would probably not be a good time.
We ended up not seeing the USA-England game because nobody was interested in going out to see it partially because we had gone out the previous night to see the opening day's games. The bar we ended up at was filled with French people who ended up being devestated when they tied an "inferior" opponent. It was fun and especially fun because all the French were unhappy and because the Dane that Shaun befriended was very drunk and buying everybody drinks.
I decided that I had not seen enough of Singapore so kindly asked Kuni if I could stay a fourth night. It would only be me, though, because Shaun was headed to KL to catch a flight to Bali. So, Shaun and I parted ways. It was nice to hang out with somebody from home for a bit even though it was brief. It had been a long time since I had seen anybody that I had known for longer than a month and other than my time in Yangshuo it had also been a long time since I had seen anybody that I had known longer than a week. It also gave me a taste of travelling in a pair instead of alone. The dynamics are different and there are pros and cons with both and both are acceptable to me. Regardless, Shaun was headed to Bali and I had another day in Singapore.
I decided I could not resist the touristy yet ever-tempting Sentosa island. It is an island just south of the island of Singapore. It is not big but is, as far as I can tell, an island-wide series of theme parks and hotels. Think Orlando without the people that actually live in Orlando. (That is a poor description but the best I can come up with at the moment.) I went with one of the other surfers and it was actually a pretty nice place just to walk around. There are a ton of toursits (virtually everybody) but the views are nice. We were going primarily to do the Sentosa Luge. It is not a real luge at all but is still fun. You sit in what is what I called a Big Wheel when I was a kid expect it is a little more sturdy and has a break. It is basically a tricycle that does not require peddling that sits really low to the groung and is more horizontal with a break. (Again a poor description.) You get one go for S$14, three for S$21, or five for S$27 (about US$10, 15, 20, respectively). We both decided to go for three in part because it was a good value, in part because there are two routes down allowing us to try both and then do the one we liked more again, and it part because, in truth, we did not know if we were going to like it enough to want to invest in doing five. Well, it was good fun, though overpriced and too short of a ride. That said, I was glad I did it and if I could go back I would do it again. We also walked around the island a bit. There is a lot to do there but everything is expensive. We ended up playing ultimate disc with some people on the beach. Only myself and one other guy had any clue how to play. It was still fun and reminded me a bit of home.
With its vast array of cultures and people Singapore was a really interesting place and would be a good place to live abroad if you do not know a language other than English. You would be left out of some stuff but could easily get around and basically still do anything. I enjoyed my time there a great deal.
Getting to Singapore was easy but we assumed the transport would be late as it always is in Malaysia but it was right on time so we had about four hours to kill before Kuni could let us in when he got home from work. We figured McDonalds would be a good bet because we could sit there for as long as we wanted without being bothered and could use the free wifi that every McDonalds in Malaysia has. In Singapore, however, there was no free wifi for us. We ended up sitting at McDonalds the entire time reading and talking, which was OK but it would have been nice to get some stuff done online during that time.
Kuni's place is a studio apartment in an amazing complex. There is an olympic size swimming pool, a workout facility, a bowling alley, and more. The apartment itself is nice but small considering the six surfers he had there. Everybody was pretty cool. I got along with a couple German girls pretty well and Shaun hit it off with a Dane. I was interested in going to the world famous Singapore Zoo and Shaun was not so we split way for our first day in Singapore not spent in McDonalds. Shaun walked around the city and the German girls and myself headed to the zoo. The zoo was pretty sweet and while it was a bit pricey it was worth it. I enjoy zoos and would recommend it to people that do but if not it would probably not be a good time.
We ended up not seeing the USA-England game because nobody was interested in going out to see it partially because we had gone out the previous night to see the opening day's games. The bar we ended up at was filled with French people who ended up being devestated when they tied an "inferior" opponent. It was fun and especially fun because all the French were unhappy and because the Dane that Shaun befriended was very drunk and buying everybody drinks.
I decided that I had not seen enough of Singapore so kindly asked Kuni if I could stay a fourth night. It would only be me, though, because Shaun was headed to KL to catch a flight to Bali. So, Shaun and I parted ways. It was nice to hang out with somebody from home for a bit even though it was brief. It had been a long time since I had seen anybody that I had known for longer than a month and other than my time in Yangshuo it had also been a long time since I had seen anybody that I had known longer than a week. It also gave me a taste of travelling in a pair instead of alone. The dynamics are different and there are pros and cons with both and both are acceptable to me. Regardless, Shaun was headed to Bali and I had another day in Singapore.
I decided I could not resist the touristy yet ever-tempting Sentosa island. It is an island just south of the island of Singapore. It is not big but is, as far as I can tell, an island-wide series of theme parks and hotels. Think Orlando without the people that actually live in Orlando. (That is a poor description but the best I can come up with at the moment.) I went with one of the other surfers and it was actually a pretty nice place just to walk around. There are a ton of toursits (virtually everybody) but the views are nice. We were going primarily to do the Sentosa Luge. It is not a real luge at all but is still fun. You sit in what is what I called a Big Wheel when I was a kid expect it is a little more sturdy and has a break. It is basically a tricycle that does not require peddling that sits really low to the groung and is more horizontal with a break. (Again a poor description.) You get one go for S$14, three for S$21, or five for S$27 (about US$10, 15, 20, respectively). We both decided to go for three in part because it was a good value, in part because there are two routes down allowing us to try both and then do the one we liked more again, and it part because, in truth, we did not know if we were going to like it enough to want to invest in doing five. Well, it was good fun, though overpriced and too short of a ride. That said, I was glad I did it and if I could go back I would do it again. We also walked around the island a bit. There is a lot to do there but everything is expensive. We ended up playing ultimate disc with some people on the beach. Only myself and one other guy had any clue how to play. It was still fun and reminded me a bit of home.
With its vast array of cultures and people Singapore was a really interesting place and would be a good place to live abroad if you do not know a language other than English. You would be left out of some stuff but could easily get around and basically still do anything. I enjoyed my time there a great deal.
Melacca, Malaysia
With fewer days spent in Terengganu and Kuantan than planned, we had a few extra in Melacca, which is spelled Melaka in Malay and I will use both spellings in this post because I often type one when I meant to type the other. I was fine with this because I had heard nothing but good things about the town and had travelled with somebody in Vietnam for a bit that had volunteered there for more than three months, absolutely loved the place, and was sure I would too. I do not know if I loved it but I certainly enjoyed my time there and was happy to have the extra time. Though it is the second biggest city in Malaysia, Melacca does not have a city feel. It feels more like a small town with a few malls set among a winding river. The malls are the downside to the town. There were more than I cared to keep track of but they provided a nice refuge from the heat and free wifi, and we took full advantage of both.
Melaka is a pretty chill place. Like its big brother, Kuala Lumpor, there is not a lot to do but the joy of the town is just walking around exploring the different neighborhoods and the local food of each. Most of the sites (Stadthuys, Christ Church, and Jonker Street) are in one central area so the obligatory pictures are largely out of the way within a couple hours. A river sprawls through town but the water is not nice and the riverside is not as built up as you would guess. It is still nice to walk along for a bit but the dirtiness of the water gets old and the rundown buildings that line most of its length gets old too. There are plenty of museums but we did not visit any, just some more pictures of the buildings from the outside. The Dutch influence on the city is pretty obvious even though I have never been to Holland. The architecture is decidedly less Asian/Malaysian.
Not far from the central part of town is what is called the "Portuguese Settlement." I am not sure how many actual Portuguese are in this settlement but I understand that the people that live here are the descendants of the Portuguese that conquered Melacca in 1511 reside. The area did have a different feel and it seemed richer, not necessarily Portuguese, though there was an increased presence of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Either way, the thing to do is to go for dinner, which we planned on doing, except the walk there was shorter than we expect and none of us (Shaun and I were walking with a friend we made at the hostel) were especially hungry so we explored the residential area. This is primarily where this area felt different than the rest of Melaka. The food was good but the most expensive we had had in a long time (about US$7 for a lot of fish and seafood and rice).
One day Shaun and I decided to summit this not-too-high but wide hill. As we went up we realized that it was a cemetery. It was not too densely populated (I doubt "populated" is the right word considering the circumstances but I do not know what is) and was clearly designed for people to walk around and spend some time. The top was a decently sized flat area that made for some more nice pictures. There we spotted a temple that we wanted to visit. We got the general direction and started to descend. After not too much effort we reached the temple. It was very unclear whether tourists were allowed in but we decided to take our shoes off and go in anyway figuring we would just be asked to leave if we were not welcome and would not offend anybody too seriously either way. We barely got ten steps in when, using hand gestures, we were invited to eat with them. One guy spoke good English and confirmed that we wanted to eat. I had just eaten and was not hungry but there was no way I was passing this opportunity. Quickly a banana leaf was placed in front of us (a pseudo-plate) and then a enormous pile of plain rice followed by a couple spoonfuls of different curries. I made sure to tell Shaun not to use his left hand as that is used for other, less hygienic purposes, but that we were supposed to eat with our right hands. Somebody gave up a spoon and fork but we wanted to eat how everybody else was so continued eating with our hands. The food was excellent and the experience was even better. With every bite we took we were offered more and, every time, respectfully declined. A couple of times somebody would give us a new item; not more of what we had and we had no choice but to accept. A couple of girls kept staring and laughing at us. Part of the laughter was no doubt that a couple of Westerners were eating with their hands and clearly had no idea what they were doing but I think they were doing a bit of flirting. After about half the food was gone they gave us another item, this one in a cup, explaining that it was sweet. It did not look very good but I tried it anyway. It was gross. Though at least theoretically a liquid it would not pour out of the cup into my mouth the way liquids do and once in my mouth I felt it was necessary to chew. I told Shaun, who had not tried it yet, that it was terrible and that he should consume it gradually with his food so that he can chase it with food. He declined. I powered through this mystery cup substance and was proud of myself for it. When he was done with his food Shaun finally tried it and agreed that it was not good but he had a plan.
We were finished with our food and after turning down additional offering for me we said thank you. To the guy that spoke good English Shaun asked what the stuff in the cup was called (neither of us remember what he said) as if he was really enjoying it and wanted to be able to get more in the future. We thanked everybody again and parted ways. Once out of the vicinity of the temple he disposed of the cup and what it was that was inside without more than a small taste.
I really liked Melacca a lot and is easily preferable to me over KL.
Melaka is a pretty chill place. Like its big brother, Kuala Lumpor, there is not a lot to do but the joy of the town is just walking around exploring the different neighborhoods and the local food of each. Most of the sites (Stadthuys, Christ Church, and Jonker Street) are in one central area so the obligatory pictures are largely out of the way within a couple hours. A river sprawls through town but the water is not nice and the riverside is not as built up as you would guess. It is still nice to walk along for a bit but the dirtiness of the water gets old and the rundown buildings that line most of its length gets old too. There are plenty of museums but we did not visit any, just some more pictures of the buildings from the outside. The Dutch influence on the city is pretty obvious even though I have never been to Holland. The architecture is decidedly less Asian/Malaysian.
Not far from the central part of town is what is called the "Portuguese Settlement." I am not sure how many actual Portuguese are in this settlement but I understand that the people that live here are the descendants of the Portuguese that conquered Melacca in 1511 reside. The area did have a different feel and it seemed richer, not necessarily Portuguese, though there was an increased presence of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Either way, the thing to do is to go for dinner, which we planned on doing, except the walk there was shorter than we expect and none of us (Shaun and I were walking with a friend we made at the hostel) were especially hungry so we explored the residential area. This is primarily where this area felt different than the rest of Melaka. The food was good but the most expensive we had had in a long time (about US$7 for a lot of fish and seafood and rice).
One day Shaun and I decided to summit this not-too-high but wide hill. As we went up we realized that it was a cemetery. It was not too densely populated (I doubt "populated" is the right word considering the circumstances but I do not know what is) and was clearly designed for people to walk around and spend some time. The top was a decently sized flat area that made for some more nice pictures. There we spotted a temple that we wanted to visit. We got the general direction and started to descend. After not too much effort we reached the temple. It was very unclear whether tourists were allowed in but we decided to take our shoes off and go in anyway figuring we would just be asked to leave if we were not welcome and would not offend anybody too seriously either way. We barely got ten steps in when, using hand gestures, we were invited to eat with them. One guy spoke good English and confirmed that we wanted to eat. I had just eaten and was not hungry but there was no way I was passing this opportunity. Quickly a banana leaf was placed in front of us (a pseudo-plate) and then a enormous pile of plain rice followed by a couple spoonfuls of different curries. I made sure to tell Shaun not to use his left hand as that is used for other, less hygienic purposes, but that we were supposed to eat with our right hands. Somebody gave up a spoon and fork but we wanted to eat how everybody else was so continued eating with our hands. The food was excellent and the experience was even better. With every bite we took we were offered more and, every time, respectfully declined. A couple of times somebody would give us a new item; not more of what we had and we had no choice but to accept. A couple of girls kept staring and laughing at us. Part of the laughter was no doubt that a couple of Westerners were eating with their hands and clearly had no idea what they were doing but I think they were doing a bit of flirting. After about half the food was gone they gave us another item, this one in a cup, explaining that it was sweet. It did not look very good but I tried it anyway. It was gross. Though at least theoretically a liquid it would not pour out of the cup into my mouth the way liquids do and once in my mouth I felt it was necessary to chew. I told Shaun, who had not tried it yet, that it was terrible and that he should consume it gradually with his food so that he can chase it with food. He declined. I powered through this mystery cup substance and was proud of myself for it. When he was done with his food Shaun finally tried it and agreed that it was not good but he had a plan.
We were finished with our food and after turning down additional offering for me we said thank you. To the guy that spoke good English Shaun asked what the stuff in the cup was called (neither of us remember what he said) as if he was really enjoying it and wanted to be able to get more in the future. We thanked everybody again and parted ways. Once out of the vicinity of the temple he disposed of the cup and what it was that was inside without more than a small taste.
I really liked Melacca a lot and is easily preferable to me over KL.
09 June 2010
Terengganu and Kuantan, Malaysia
I am going to combine Terengganu and Kuantan here because we only spent three nights between the two towns. We had planed to spend five nights but quickly realized there was not enough to keep our interest for that long.
Shaun and I only spent two nights in Terengganu partially because there is not much there but also partially because the only reasonably priced guest house in town were the rudest guest house operators I have ever encountered. People that work in guest houses are normally friendly and helpful and easy going. These people were anything but. We walked around and took some pictures. That is pretty much it.
We only spent one night in Kuantan, where we also walked around a took some pictures. There a couple nice mosques. Just before it got dark one evening we took a disc to a soccer field in front of the most prominent mosque and threw the disc around. Not long passed before a group of locals were watching. We did not throw for long but we did continue until after it got dark using the lights surrounding the field. Throwing the disc around in a town in Malaysia against the backdrop of a one of the most beautiful mosques in the Muslim country was pleasant.
Both of these stops we basically to break up the trip en route to Melaka and so that we could arrive in Singapore on out intended date without spending too long in Melaka. We successfully spent three of the intended five days getting to Melaka, but that left us with two extra days. Which is not such a bad thing, of course.
Shaun and I only spent two nights in Terengganu partially because there is not much there but also partially because the only reasonably priced guest house in town were the rudest guest house operators I have ever encountered. People that work in guest houses are normally friendly and helpful and easy going. These people were anything but. We walked around and took some pictures. That is pretty much it.
We only spent one night in Kuantan, where we also walked around a took some pictures. There a couple nice mosques. Just before it got dark one evening we took a disc to a soccer field in front of the most prominent mosque and threw the disc around. Not long passed before a group of locals were watching. We did not throw for long but we did continue until after it got dark using the lights surrounding the field. Throwing the disc around in a town in Malaysia against the backdrop of a one of the most beautiful mosques in the Muslim country was pleasant.
Both of these stops we basically to break up the trip en route to Melaka and so that we could arrive in Singapore on out intended date without spending too long in Melaka. We successfully spent three of the intended five days getting to Melaka, but that left us with two extra days. Which is not such a bad thing, of course.
Perhentian Islands, Malaysia
The Perhentian Islands are made up of Perhentian Kecil (small) and Perhentian Besar (big). Besar is more of a resort destination, more expensive, and has distinctly older crowd. Kecil is more of a backpacker destination, more reasonably priced, and has nicer beaches. Kecil is also a place I was considering living for a month as I did in Yangshuo, China, only in the Perhentians I would be learning how to dive instead of teaching English.
Shaun and I arrived on the main beach of Perhentian Kecil, Long Beach, in mid-afternoon. We had already decided that we would both take the first course in learning how to dive called open-water. We found a place to stay and went in search of a dive shop that we liked. The Perhentians are supposedly one of the best places in the world to dive and Malaysia as a country is one of the least expensive places in the world to get certified. Long Beach is filled with dive shops and we just went from south to north stopping in beach one asking pertinent questions in order to decide which we wanted to hire. We ended up going with the second one we stopped at, Quiver. We paid (RM950 or about US$287 each) and filled out the necessary paperwork. I asked if my collapsed lung would be a problem, and was told yes, it would be, and I would need to see a doctor to clear me if I wanted to take the course...or I could indicate that I never had one, or two, for that matter. I recalled that the doctor I had at home told me that I could dive (or so I thought I remembered this) so went with the second option and indicated that I have never had a collapsed lung.
The next day we started our open-water course. It was pretty cool and I enjoyed it a good deal. I was surprised to find out that being 3 meters (almost 10 feet) underwater feels about the same as 18 meters (about 59 feet). 18 meters is as far as you can get certified in open water course. The life that lives beneath the surface is amazing. The first time I saw the shadows of a school of fish on the sea floor was mesmerizing.
While I enjoyed the diving enough I did not feel that the Perhentian Islands had enough to keep me occupied for a month. The diving would only occupy so much of my time and I did not think that, other than the diving, there would be enough to keep me occupied for the rest of the day. A random Canadian we ran into mentioned that one of the nicer guest houses sometimes hires people for the high season to help out. I went there and inquired about a position figuring that not only would a simple job occupy some of that spare time but it would also take care of my accommodation and food costs. Unfortunately they did not have any positions left and I was again without enough reason to stay on Perhentian Kecil for a month.
Other than the diving Shaun and I did not do much. We walked along the coast one day to the local fishing village, but the walk there for far more stimulating than the village itself. We passed several beaches, some with nobody there and others with only a few people tanning or reading. There was one beach with a couple camping. On the way back from the village a dog followed us for a good 20 minutes before leaving us for the a dip in th cool waters. A funny thing about the walk to and from the village was that along the path there were several thin bars about ankle height that looked as if they were designed to be trip wires. We had no explanation for what they could be for otherwise. There was one at chest height that, if you did not see it (which would be pretty easy) and had some speed, could take you out cold. As much as we laughed at these obstacles we wondered what their intended purpose could possibly be and we came up without a single logical explanation.
On one early evening I played volleyball with some Malaysian Chinese. I am no good at volleyball but only a couple of the ten were better than I. It was fun to play and they got a kick out of a white guy playing in their game.
Perhentian Kecil is impossibly stunning. The water is clear, the sand near perfect, the inland jungle beautiful to look at and no doubt rewarding to traverse. I had fully intended on staying there for month and had virtually decided upon doing so. But, I think I would have gotten bored with too much time on my hands and a social atmosphere that does not lend itself to meeting new people easily would have made passing this time even more difficult. I am sure I would have been OK had I spent a month there but I am happy with the decision not to. That said, my time on Perhentian Kecil was great and would certainly like to return for another relatively short period of time.
Shaun and I arrived on the main beach of Perhentian Kecil, Long Beach, in mid-afternoon. We had already decided that we would both take the first course in learning how to dive called open-water. We found a place to stay and went in search of a dive shop that we liked. The Perhentians are supposedly one of the best places in the world to dive and Malaysia as a country is one of the least expensive places in the world to get certified. Long Beach is filled with dive shops and we just went from south to north stopping in beach one asking pertinent questions in order to decide which we wanted to hire. We ended up going with the second one we stopped at, Quiver. We paid (RM950 or about US$287 each) and filled out the necessary paperwork. I asked if my collapsed lung would be a problem, and was told yes, it would be, and I would need to see a doctor to clear me if I wanted to take the course...or I could indicate that I never had one, or two, for that matter. I recalled that the doctor I had at home told me that I could dive (or so I thought I remembered this) so went with the second option and indicated that I have never had a collapsed lung.
The next day we started our open-water course. It was pretty cool and I enjoyed it a good deal. I was surprised to find out that being 3 meters (almost 10 feet) underwater feels about the same as 18 meters (about 59 feet). 18 meters is as far as you can get certified in open water course. The life that lives beneath the surface is amazing. The first time I saw the shadows of a school of fish on the sea floor was mesmerizing.
While I enjoyed the diving enough I did not feel that the Perhentian Islands had enough to keep me occupied for a month. The diving would only occupy so much of my time and I did not think that, other than the diving, there would be enough to keep me occupied for the rest of the day. A random Canadian we ran into mentioned that one of the nicer guest houses sometimes hires people for the high season to help out. I went there and inquired about a position figuring that not only would a simple job occupy some of that spare time but it would also take care of my accommodation and food costs. Unfortunately they did not have any positions left and I was again without enough reason to stay on Perhentian Kecil for a month.
Other than the diving Shaun and I did not do much. We walked along the coast one day to the local fishing village, but the walk there for far more stimulating than the village itself. We passed several beaches, some with nobody there and others with only a few people tanning or reading. There was one beach with a couple camping. On the way back from the village a dog followed us for a good 20 minutes before leaving us for the a dip in th cool waters. A funny thing about the walk to and from the village was that along the path there were several thin bars about ankle height that looked as if they were designed to be trip wires. We had no explanation for what they could be for otherwise. There was one at chest height that, if you did not see it (which would be pretty easy) and had some speed, could take you out cold. As much as we laughed at these obstacles we wondered what their intended purpose could possibly be and we came up without a single logical explanation.
On one early evening I played volleyball with some Malaysian Chinese. I am no good at volleyball but only a couple of the ten were better than I. It was fun to play and they got a kick out of a white guy playing in their game.
Perhentian Kecil is impossibly stunning. The water is clear, the sand near perfect, the inland jungle beautiful to look at and no doubt rewarding to traverse. I had fully intended on staying there for month and had virtually decided upon doing so. But, I think I would have gotten bored with too much time on my hands and a social atmosphere that does not lend itself to meeting new people easily would have made passing this time even more difficult. I am sure I would have been OK had I spent a month there but I am happy with the decision not to. That said, my time on Perhentian Kecil was great and would certainly like to return for another relatively short period of time.
08 June 2010
Taman Negara, Malaysia
The 4,343 squared kilometers (1677 square miles) of Taman Negara is reputed to be the oldest tropical rain forest in the world. After a short break it was time to get back to hiking and trekking, which is just about all Shaun and I did during our time there. No exciting or interesting stories about me getting stung, however, so this post will be sub-par, even relative to this site.
There is a ton of wildlife in the forest but the foliage is so dense that something big could be just a few feet away and you not know it. That said, nearly all of the wildlife stays away from where the paths are and to have any real chance at seeming something big you need to hire a guide at prices that are beyond my pocket. As I was more interested in the hiking part than the animal part it was not really a temptation any way. At some point while hiking, Shaun and I did hear a noise that we thought was human though it sounded a bit off. As we moved forward we saw what was making the noise and it was not human it was some weird bird that neither of us had ever seen. It was maybe 4-5 feet long including its tail but the base as only 2 feet long. It produced some unusual noises though. We cautiously passed it and continued on. A little while later we say an offshoot from the main path. I was curious what it was so we ventured off and followed it. It took us around a little, nothing special, an then returned us to down the main path where the same exact bird appeared to be waiting for us. It was weird and we decided it was stalking us and probably was in fact not a bird at all but a spy for some government.
Taman Negara was really cool but I think you get way more out of it with more time and especially more money. It is the kind of place I can imagine going to after I retire for a month or two and really exploring more of the vast area or mostly unexlored jungle.
There is a ton of wildlife in the forest but the foliage is so dense that something big could be just a few feet away and you not know it. That said, nearly all of the wildlife stays away from where the paths are and to have any real chance at seeming something big you need to hire a guide at prices that are beyond my pocket. As I was more interested in the hiking part than the animal part it was not really a temptation any way. At some point while hiking, Shaun and I did hear a noise that we thought was human though it sounded a bit off. As we moved forward we saw what was making the noise and it was not human it was some weird bird that neither of us had ever seen. It was maybe 4-5 feet long including its tail but the base as only 2 feet long. It produced some unusual noises though. We cautiously passed it and continued on. A little while later we say an offshoot from the main path. I was curious what it was so we ventured off and followed it. It took us around a little, nothing special, an then returned us to down the main path where the same exact bird appeared to be waiting for us. It was weird and we decided it was stalking us and probably was in fact not a bird at all but a spy for some government.
Taman Negara was really cool but I think you get way more out of it with more time and especially more money. It is the kind of place I can imagine going to after I retire for a month or two and really exploring more of the vast area or mostly unexlored jungle.
Kulala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kulala Lumpur (KL) is a huge city. Unlike most backpackers I enjoy most cities. However, KL is OK but nothing more.
The main thing to do in KL is to go shopping, which is not of interest to Shaun or myself. We walked around and saw a few sites. We entered a few malls but did so just to get out of the heat and soak up some free air conditioning.
Partially because they replaced the Sears Tower (not Willis Tower) as the world's tallest building in 1998, I wanted to see the Petronas Twin Towers. Though no longer the world's tallest, the Petronas Twin Towers remain the tallest twin towers in the world and are an icon of KL and a symbol of the city's skyline, modern economy, and progress. All that according to the 7.5 minutes brainwashing video I was forced to watch after waiting in line for 3 hours to go up to the 41st floor Skybrige to see the view. Yep, Petronas makes everybody watch a video informing you of how great Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and particularly Petronas itself is.
The view from the 41st floor Skybridge is OK. While up there I heard somebody say, "So this is why its free." And she could not have been more right. If they charged for it nobody would go. Word would spread that it view is not that good, that it is not worth your time, and that you would be better off getting a few extra hour of sleep. Well, that word might spread even though it is free, but it certainly would if they charged admission.
Even from street level the building is not that impressive. I say this not out of resentment for the Petronas Towers supplanting the Sears Tower as the world's tallest. I have seen an uncompleted Burj Dubai and Taipei 101 (the two tallest buildings in the world by most measurements) and both are impressive and...cool. The Petronas Towers are neither. I think it is because there is no buildings of any stature nearby so while they look tall, they look tall next to buildings that you know are only five or whatever stories high. The Sears Tower look tall compared to the John Hancock Center, which is the 24th tallest.
So far Shaun has been underwheled by the food. I like spicy food and make an effort to try new, and often disgusting, foods. Shaun, not so much. Admittedly he has gotten much better since he arrived when he ate omlettes almost exclusively. But the region's preference for spiciness and his distaste for it limits the foods he can eat. Enter KL's Arabic area. Arabic food is Shaun's favorite. Problem (temporarily)
solved. We walked around the Arabic area looking for a place to eat. I stipulations were (1) not overly expensive, (2) had falafel, and (3) had hummus. We found a few places that looked good enough but also looked a little fancier and we figured we would be able to find a place that was cheaper. We went down a side street and than another. We say a sign that said "Kafeteria" (cafeteria in Malay) but it was right below a sign that said "Laundry." We glanced inside to try to figure out what was going on. A guy outside washing his hands asked if what we were looking for. "Falafel," we said. "Falafel?" he asked with disbelief. "Two white guys want falafel?" in Malay he no doubt was thinking. He said this place in fact had falafel. "Ohhh, we thought it was a laundry," we said, gesturing toward the sign. "It is." We were confused. "It is both," he continued. Shaun and I looked at each other, gave a little shrug, and went in. A restaurant and a laundry; what an outstanding combination. I cannot think of two more logical businesses to share the same floor space. We went in, ordered two falafel to which we got more disbelief. We also ordered hummus. The guy said it would not be like the hummus we were used to but we said it was OK and still wanted it. The falafel came out. It was OK, too much tomato and beet for me but the falafel part was good but also different than what I was used to. We finished them and waited for the hummus. We waited and waited. After awhile we realized there must have been some miscommunication with the ordering and discussed what would happen if we (A) continued to sit there waiting for something that may never come or if we (B) got up to pay and leave with the hummus still being prepared and on its way. We decided that there was no way hummus would take this long and that it was far more likely that there was in fact some miscommunication when ordering the hummus than any other explanation. We got, paid our just over US$1 each, and left...to go to another restaurant to get some hummus.
KL is OK and I will be back but only for functionality. To me, the city does not have much else to offer.
The main thing to do in KL is to go shopping, which is not of interest to Shaun or myself. We walked around and saw a few sites. We entered a few malls but did so just to get out of the heat and soak up some free air conditioning.
Partially because they replaced the Sears Tower (not Willis Tower) as the world's tallest building in 1998, I wanted to see the Petronas Twin Towers. Though no longer the world's tallest, the Petronas Twin Towers remain the tallest twin towers in the world and are an icon of KL and a symbol of the city's skyline, modern economy, and progress. All that according to the 7.5 minutes brainwashing video I was forced to watch after waiting in line for 3 hours to go up to the 41st floor Skybrige to see the view. Yep, Petronas makes everybody watch a video informing you of how great Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and particularly Petronas itself is.
The view from the 41st floor Skybridge is OK. While up there I heard somebody say, "So this is why its free." And she could not have been more right. If they charged for it nobody would go. Word would spread that it view is not that good, that it is not worth your time, and that you would be better off getting a few extra hour of sleep. Well, that word might spread even though it is free, but it certainly would if they charged admission.
Even from street level the building is not that impressive. I say this not out of resentment for the Petronas Towers supplanting the Sears Tower as the world's tallest. I have seen an uncompleted Burj Dubai and Taipei 101 (the two tallest buildings in the world by most measurements) and both are impressive and...cool. The Petronas Towers are neither. I think it is because there is no buildings of any stature nearby so while they look tall, they look tall next to buildings that you know are only five or whatever stories high. The Sears Tower look tall compared to the John Hancock Center, which is the 24th tallest.
So far Shaun has been underwheled by the food. I like spicy food and make an effort to try new, and often disgusting, foods. Shaun, not so much. Admittedly he has gotten much better since he arrived when he ate omlettes almost exclusively. But the region's preference for spiciness and his distaste for it limits the foods he can eat. Enter KL's Arabic area. Arabic food is Shaun's favorite. Problem (temporarily)
solved. We walked around the Arabic area looking for a place to eat. I stipulations were (1) not overly expensive, (2) had falafel, and (3) had hummus. We found a few places that looked good enough but also looked a little fancier and we figured we would be able to find a place that was cheaper. We went down a side street and than another. We say a sign that said "Kafeteria" (cafeteria in Malay) but it was right below a sign that said "Laundry." We glanced inside to try to figure out what was going on. A guy outside washing his hands asked if what we were looking for. "Falafel," we said. "Falafel?" he asked with disbelief. "Two white guys want falafel?" in Malay he no doubt was thinking. He said this place in fact had falafel. "Ohhh, we thought it was a laundry," we said, gesturing toward the sign. "It is." We were confused. "It is both," he continued. Shaun and I looked at each other, gave a little shrug, and went in. A restaurant and a laundry; what an outstanding combination. I cannot think of two more logical businesses to share the same floor space. We went in, ordered two falafel to which we got more disbelief. We also ordered hummus. The guy said it would not be like the hummus we were used to but we said it was OK and still wanted it. The falafel came out. It was OK, too much tomato and beet for me but the falafel part was good but also different than what I was used to. We finished them and waited for the hummus. We waited and waited. After awhile we realized there must have been some miscommunication with the ordering and discussed what would happen if we (A) continued to sit there waiting for something that may never come or if we (B) got up to pay and leave with the hummus still being prepared and on its way. We decided that there was no way hummus would take this long and that it was far more likely that there was in fact some miscommunication when ordering the hummus than any other explanation. We got, paid our just over US$1 each, and left...to go to another restaurant to get some hummus.
KL is OK and I will be back but only for functionality. To me, the city does not have much else to offer.
Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
Following several weeks of beaches and islands and coastal towns (I know, I know, I live a tough life), the Cameron Highlands were a much needed break from the sun. The altitude provides a cool, pleasant temperature and it felt great to not have the sun beating on me as hard. The cool temperature alone was enough for me to like the place, but the real reason I was there was the excelling hiking. There are also strawberry field and tea plantation tours but hiking is the reason people come here. Strawberry fields and tea plantations are what you do when you need a day off from hiking the sometimes intensely difficult hiking.
The Cameron Highlands are were American Jim Thompson went missing in 1967. There are a lot of theories behind his disappearance, some of which would make a watchable Hollywood movie. They are also the place were I suffered multiple bee/hornet/wasp stings including several to the face and neck. More on this in a bit.
The first day Shaun and I ventured off on our own. Naturally we got very lost and never made it to our goal but I enjoyed the hiking all the same. This was probably the most difficult hiking I have even done. In truth it was probably stupid and unsafe to continue as we did but it worked out. We make it out OK and with no harm done barring a few scratches and muddy clothes.
Another day we went out with a Canadian couple we were sharing the room with. This is when things got bad. The guy, Tom, was a markedly better navigator than either Shaun or myself. Things getting bad was not his fault, just bad luck and poor timing. At some point the four of us crossed paths with a swarm of bees/hornets/wasps. We do not know what they were; they were like nothing else I have ever seen. They were red, so I doubt they were bees, but I have no idea. Regardless, they did not take kindly to my presence in their presence and let me know it. Tom got stung as well but mostly on his legs and arms. They got my legs and arms as well but mostly went for my head and neck. The left half of my face was so swollen it, but not the right side too much, looked obese. I could not fully open my left eye and my vision was blurry (which is awesome when you are hiking). I often felt dizzy and said that I should not walk in the very front of very back in case I lost my balance due to something other than the normal difficulties of the hike or simply passed out. I normally do not get worked up over injuries; most of the time they work themselves out and require nothing more than a little attention. However, I had only been stung by a bee once prior, on my foot, which swelled up to thrice its normal size - there is a real chance that I am allergic to the stings of whatever just stung me.
Unfortunately, in our efforts to escape their wrath we ran. I lost my sandal and we lost our way. We tried to make it work and figure something out but it was no use. We stopped and discussed our options. It was clear the whole time but nobody wanted to be the first to say it: our best, and really only, option was to turn around and go back through the area where Tom and I got stung. We had figured that they did not stay there, that we merely crossed paths and they had probably moved on. "You can get your sandal," the Canadian girl, Michelle, said. Yeah, I could, but I could also faint leaning over to retrieve it. So, we turned around and headed back. Tom was in front and lead the way, I followed a bit behind as my pace had slowed and I was down a sandal on less than ideal terrain (everybody else was wearing shoes). Tom reached the area the bees/hornets/wasps had been and started yelling and screaming. He ran forward. I yelled also, behind me, to run in the opposite direction. It is amazing how fast you can run when you need to in the same place you struggled to walk not too long before. It is more amazing that the bees/hornets/wasps seem to understand what we were doing and chased us down. We lost them, somehow (I think they got bored), and lost Tom as well. We yelled for him ("Marco!") and could hear his response ("Polo!") but could not see him. We made a new path toward his voice to avoid going back through The Area Where Jay Gets Stung on the Neck and Head (and, yes, does retrieve his sandal). We found him pretty easily (we are no Jim Thompson after all) and collectively decided to get the hell out of there. Tom and I were getting worse and getting out could take hours and hours depending partially on our speed but mostly on our ability to navigate and not get lost.
On our way out were disregarded many norms of responsible hiking. We basically just did what we felt we had to to get out as quickly as possible. We just kept walking, sliding, climbing, whatever it took to get out. We finally found the edge of the forested area but could not see a way to get down the decline in front of us. We sat down and slide down on our backsides and hoped for the best. It worked out and we were nearly home free. We needed to walk though some flower plantation (easy and beautiful) and then walk the short distance back to the town to catch the local bus back to where we were staying. We exited the flower plantation and realized we were not in a place to walk back to the town to catch the bus. We somehow ended up in between the two towns. We were not sure which was further away and decided to walk in the direction of our end destination instead of to the place to catch the bus. I decided to try to hitch hike. After about 10-15 minutes of fruitless attempts trying to get a ride a pick-up truck finally stopped. We got in, laughed at the ridiculousness of our day and enjoyed the cool air running over us.
I spent the next day doing nothing.
After a day off I was feeling and looking normal enough to be in public so Shaun and I made our way to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
The Cameron Highlands are were American Jim Thompson went missing in 1967. There are a lot of theories behind his disappearance, some of which would make a watchable Hollywood movie. They are also the place were I suffered multiple bee/hornet/wasp stings including several to the face and neck. More on this in a bit.
The first day Shaun and I ventured off on our own. Naturally we got very lost and never made it to our goal but I enjoyed the hiking all the same. This was probably the most difficult hiking I have even done. In truth it was probably stupid and unsafe to continue as we did but it worked out. We make it out OK and with no harm done barring a few scratches and muddy clothes.
Another day we went out with a Canadian couple we were sharing the room with. This is when things got bad. The guy, Tom, was a markedly better navigator than either Shaun or myself. Things getting bad was not his fault, just bad luck and poor timing. At some point the four of us crossed paths with a swarm of bees/hornets/wasps. We do not know what they were; they were like nothing else I have ever seen. They were red, so I doubt they were bees, but I have no idea. Regardless, they did not take kindly to my presence in their presence and let me know it. Tom got stung as well but mostly on his legs and arms. They got my legs and arms as well but mostly went for my head and neck. The left half of my face was so swollen it, but not the right side too much, looked obese. I could not fully open my left eye and my vision was blurry (which is awesome when you are hiking). I often felt dizzy and said that I should not walk in the very front of very back in case I lost my balance due to something other than the normal difficulties of the hike or simply passed out. I normally do not get worked up over injuries; most of the time they work themselves out and require nothing more than a little attention. However, I had only been stung by a bee once prior, on my foot, which swelled up to thrice its normal size - there is a real chance that I am allergic to the stings of whatever just stung me.
Unfortunately, in our efforts to escape their wrath we ran. I lost my sandal and we lost our way. We tried to make it work and figure something out but it was no use. We stopped and discussed our options. It was clear the whole time but nobody wanted to be the first to say it: our best, and really only, option was to turn around and go back through the area where Tom and I got stung. We had figured that they did not stay there, that we merely crossed paths and they had probably moved on. "You can get your sandal," the Canadian girl, Michelle, said. Yeah, I could, but I could also faint leaning over to retrieve it. So, we turned around and headed back. Tom was in front and lead the way, I followed a bit behind as my pace had slowed and I was down a sandal on less than ideal terrain (everybody else was wearing shoes). Tom reached the area the bees/hornets/wasps had been and started yelling and screaming. He ran forward. I yelled also, behind me, to run in the opposite direction. It is amazing how fast you can run when you need to in the same place you struggled to walk not too long before. It is more amazing that the bees/hornets/wasps seem to understand what we were doing and chased us down. We lost them, somehow (I think they got bored), and lost Tom as well. We yelled for him ("Marco!") and could hear his response ("Polo!") but could not see him. We made a new path toward his voice to avoid going back through The Area Where Jay Gets Stung on the Neck and Head (and, yes, does retrieve his sandal). We found him pretty easily (we are no Jim Thompson after all) and collectively decided to get the hell out of there. Tom and I were getting worse and getting out could take hours and hours depending partially on our speed but mostly on our ability to navigate and not get lost.
On our way out were disregarded many norms of responsible hiking. We basically just did what we felt we had to to get out as quickly as possible. We just kept walking, sliding, climbing, whatever it took to get out. We finally found the edge of the forested area but could not see a way to get down the decline in front of us. We sat down and slide down on our backsides and hoped for the best. It worked out and we were nearly home free. We needed to walk though some flower plantation (easy and beautiful) and then walk the short distance back to the town to catch the local bus back to where we were staying. We exited the flower plantation and realized we were not in a place to walk back to the town to catch the bus. We somehow ended up in between the two towns. We were not sure which was further away and decided to walk in the direction of our end destination instead of to the place to catch the bus. I decided to try to hitch hike. After about 10-15 minutes of fruitless attempts trying to get a ride a pick-up truck finally stopped. We got in, laughed at the ridiculousness of our day and enjoyed the cool air running over us.
I spent the next day doing nothing.
After a day off I was feeling and looking normal enough to be in public so Shaun and I made our way to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
Penang, Malaysia
After about six weeks in Thailand it was time to move to the next country, Malaysia. I have been looking forward to Malaysia more so than any other country in southeast Asia other than Laos and was excited to finally be there.
My first stop in Malaysia is the famous island of Penang. The island has a pretty rich history that I know little about and will not bore you (nobody) with. Shaun and I spent out entire time in Penang in Georgetown, the capital of the island. At least partially because of this, Penang felt less like and island to me and more like a town or small city. The beach was right there but I never went there and did not see it except for when I arrived and left. Given its history, Georgetown has plenty of tourist attractions in the form of historical sites and temples, but, unless especially famous or highly regarded or I am personally interested for some reason I generally do not make an effort visit such attractions. Walking around and getting a feel for a place, while taking some pictures of the building or sites I find interesting or nice, is fine by me. And that is just what we did.
Penang is famous for its food. Malaysia as a whole is pretty food obsessed and Penang is often considered the best dining in Penang. The food combines local Malaysian cooking with nearby Thailand styles while incorporating the island's historical influences of Indian and English. Suffice to say, the food is good. I am not much of a foodie, but even my palate was able to distinguish some tastes and combination.
Penang was a nice place. If I had to pick a place to live in Malaysia, it would likely be near the top of the list.
My first stop in Malaysia is the famous island of Penang. The island has a pretty rich history that I know little about and will not bore you (nobody) with. Shaun and I spent out entire time in Penang in Georgetown, the capital of the island. At least partially because of this, Penang felt less like and island to me and more like a town or small city. The beach was right there but I never went there and did not see it except for when I arrived and left. Given its history, Georgetown has plenty of tourist attractions in the form of historical sites and temples, but, unless especially famous or highly regarded or I am personally interested for some reason I generally do not make an effort visit such attractions. Walking around and getting a feel for a place, while taking some pictures of the building or sites I find interesting or nice, is fine by me. And that is just what we did.
Penang is famous for its food. Malaysia as a whole is pretty food obsessed and Penang is often considered the best dining in Penang. The food combines local Malaysian cooking with nearby Thailand styles while incorporating the island's historical influences of Indian and English. Suffice to say, the food is good. I am not much of a foodie, but even my palate was able to distinguish some tastes and combination.
Penang was a nice place. If I had to pick a place to live in Malaysia, it would likely be near the top of the list.
Songkhla, Thailand
In an effort to see something other than beaches and islands in the south of Thailand, I picked out the small town of Songkhla for a visit. Getting there was kind of a pain and the town does not much to offer a tourist except exactly what I was looking for: a taste of the culture and real Thai life in the south part of the country.
While on the water (Songkhla is called "the great city of two seas" in Thai), the beaches are not great. The town is pretty uninteresting and the few "tourist attractions" are not worth the time. Shaun and I spent just about every day simply walking about exploring the town and trying to absorb local culture and state of mind. That said, there is not much for me to write about here. The only thing worth writing about is something that still has us laughing.
I noticed since I have been in Asia that almost nobody exercises. There are plenty of old people that do Thai Chi or something similar in the morning in China or some simply stretching or other things to get the blood flowing but people do not really exercise exercise. Nobody breaks a sweat while stretching unless they are training and few are. Nobody is trying to boost their metabolism or build muscle or better their endurance and stamina. The only people I could recall exercising we a small handful of runners in China that had the worst form I had ever seen; it may have been the first time they ever ran and had not discovered the natural, smooth motion that anybody realizes quickly enough. (I am not saying their form was not perfect. I am saying it could not have been further from perfect. My running form I am sure can be improved. Their form could have been improved if the stood still.) When I have in Asia I get confused looks. To me it looks like they think I am in a hurry (which is another foreign idea in Asia) and cannot fathom why somebody would ever move on foot at a pace faster than in staggeringly (and annoyingly) slow walk. People seem baffled that I am running.
OK, anyway, so at some point while walking around Shaun and I hear this music, and it is not the Asian (or AZN, as it is often referred to) pop that I have grown to know all too well. We could not place what the music was; the style sounded familiar but largely unknown to us. It got louder and clear as we got closer and then we saw it. About 100 people following the jazzercize (I have no idea how to spell that) motions of the leader at the front on a platform. We were speechless. Not only did we stop and chuckle at the scene but locals were as well. It was priceless. I took video. We stood and watched for a couple minutes and the continued on walking still laughing at the scene. Our eyes were tearing. All the sudden we heard footsteps behind us. Not just footsteps, but hastened footsteps. And not just hastened footsteps, but the hastened footsteps of people wearing shoes. People do not wear shoes here, they wear sandals. We turning around to see four or five people running - running! - toward us. We gave each other confused looks. They looked like the high school's track or cross-country team because they were wearing matching clothes. Not just running but organized running. Between that and the jazzercise this was already unlike any other place I have been in Asia. We walked more. We can upon a enclosed area with still more people jogging around a track. A relatively large group of people jogging? In Asia? On a actual track? I was stunned.
In addition to being one of my favorite places in Thailand and the other contender for favorite place in the south, Songkhla must be a hotbed of physicality in Asia.
While on the water (Songkhla is called "the great city of two seas" in Thai), the beaches are not great. The town is pretty uninteresting and the few "tourist attractions" are not worth the time. Shaun and I spent just about every day simply walking about exploring the town and trying to absorb local culture and state of mind. That said, there is not much for me to write about here. The only thing worth writing about is something that still has us laughing.
I noticed since I have been in Asia that almost nobody exercises. There are plenty of old people that do Thai Chi or something similar in the morning in China or some simply stretching or other things to get the blood flowing but people do not really exercise exercise. Nobody breaks a sweat while stretching unless they are training and few are. Nobody is trying to boost their metabolism or build muscle or better their endurance and stamina. The only people I could recall exercising we a small handful of runners in China that had the worst form I had ever seen; it may have been the first time they ever ran and had not discovered the natural, smooth motion that anybody realizes quickly enough. (I am not saying their form was not perfect. I am saying it could not have been further from perfect. My running form I am sure can be improved. Their form could have been improved if the stood still.) When I have in Asia I get confused looks. To me it looks like they think I am in a hurry (which is another foreign idea in Asia) and cannot fathom why somebody would ever move on foot at a pace faster than in staggeringly (and annoyingly) slow walk. People seem baffled that I am running.
OK, anyway, so at some point while walking around Shaun and I hear this music, and it is not the Asian (or AZN, as it is often referred to) pop that I have grown to know all too well. We could not place what the music was; the style sounded familiar but largely unknown to us. It got louder and clear as we got closer and then we saw it. About 100 people following the jazzercize (I have no idea how to spell that) motions of the leader at the front on a platform. We were speechless. Not only did we stop and chuckle at the scene but locals were as well. It was priceless. I took video. We stood and watched for a couple minutes and the continued on walking still laughing at the scene. Our eyes were tearing. All the sudden we heard footsteps behind us. Not just footsteps, but hastened footsteps. And not just hastened footsteps, but the hastened footsteps of people wearing shoes. People do not wear shoes here, they wear sandals. We turning around to see four or five people running - running! - toward us. We gave each other confused looks. They looked like the high school's track or cross-country team because they were wearing matching clothes. Not just running but organized running. Between that and the jazzercise this was already unlike any other place I have been in Asia. We walked more. We can upon a enclosed area with still more people jogging around a track. A relatively large group of people jogging? In Asia? On a actual track? I was stunned.
In addition to being one of my favorite places in Thailand and the other contender for favorite place in the south, Songkhla must be a hotbed of physicality in Asia.
Ko Lanta, Thailand
Visiting southern Thailand and not going to one of its iconic islands would be regretful, I told myself. I knew I "needed" to go to at least one of the country's famous islands. Phuket is too touristy. Ko Phi Phi is too expensive. Ko Lanta it is. While still touristy and expensive (all of the good Thai islands are), it is to a lesser degree in both categories. The island is pretty long and the are less popular beaches and Shaun and I were there in low season so it would be less crowded and less expensive.
Given that it is an island and the idea is to unwind, Shaun and I did not do too much. Most of the time was spent relaxing. We did, however, rent a motorbike one day in search of some cave we read was good. In short, we failed miserably. Getting there on motorbike only took about 20 minutes until the path gave out and we had to hike the rest of the way. We spent the next 2ish hour hiking toward, or what we thought was toward, Tiger Cave. After the first 20 minutes I think we both knew we were not going too find it but at that point it was more about the hike than Tiger Cave. We ended up stopping because the path was filled with bees. We vaulted over rocks, created new paths around sketchy looking water, and engaged in some acrobatic maneuvering but what ended up stopping us in our tracks was bees. Once we made it back to the motorbike we asked a local about getting to Tiger Cave. He informed us that you have to hire a guide because the path is unclear and it is too easy to get lost.
After returning to our accommodation, Shaun sat down and did some reading beside the beach and I, wanting to make more use of the motorbike, set out to ride up and down the west coast of the island stopping at each beach on the way back south. The ride was nice and it gave me an opportunity to see and swim several difference beaches. Given that it was low season most of beaches lacked any touristy and I often had the beach to myself. At one beach I saw a young boy climb a coconut tree and, upon reaching the top, try to kick some coconuts loose. I snapped several pictures of him climbing, waving at me from the top, and, my favorite, of the scene with a coconut falling to the earth.
I think Ko Lanta was the right island to go and while I did not have the time of my life, I did enjoy my time there.
Given that it is an island and the idea is to unwind, Shaun and I did not do too much. Most of the time was spent relaxing. We did, however, rent a motorbike one day in search of some cave we read was good. In short, we failed miserably. Getting there on motorbike only took about 20 minutes until the path gave out and we had to hike the rest of the way. We spent the next 2ish hour hiking toward, or what we thought was toward, Tiger Cave. After the first 20 minutes I think we both knew we were not going too find it but at that point it was more about the hike than Tiger Cave. We ended up stopping because the path was filled with bees. We vaulted over rocks, created new paths around sketchy looking water, and engaged in some acrobatic maneuvering but what ended up stopping us in our tracks was bees. Once we made it back to the motorbike we asked a local about getting to Tiger Cave. He informed us that you have to hire a guide because the path is unclear and it is too easy to get lost.
After returning to our accommodation, Shaun sat down and did some reading beside the beach and I, wanting to make more use of the motorbike, set out to ride up and down the west coast of the island stopping at each beach on the way back south. The ride was nice and it gave me an opportunity to see and swim several difference beaches. Given that it was low season most of beaches lacked any touristy and I often had the beach to myself. At one beach I saw a young boy climb a coconut tree and, upon reaching the top, try to kick some coconuts loose. I snapped several pictures of him climbing, waving at me from the top, and, my favorite, of the scene with a coconut falling to the earth.
I think Ko Lanta was the right island to go and while I did not have the time of my life, I did enjoy my time there.
Krabi Town, Thailand
With a large variety of things to do, beautiful scenery, and nice beaches, what more could you ask for in a tropical destination?
Before I continue, in the last several posts I have often referred to somebody simply as "my friend." This friend is the friend that flew into Bangkok at the end of April and have been travelling together since. From now on, for simplicity, I will refer to him as "Shaun." It is just easier than my friend this and my friend that.
Shaun and I arrived in Krabi on bus from Ranong. After countless u-turns, the bus dropped us off. At the bus station we arranged out accommodation so that they would pick us up from the bus station so we would not have to pay to get from the bus station into town. We also decided to stay in Krabi Town as opposed to the beaches because it was less expensive accommodation, cheaper food because of the night markets, and less touristy. We were happy with the decision even though it meant some extra transport when doing activities but this was not such a big deal.
The following day we went rock climbing on some of the area's notorious limestone karts, much like the ones I scaled, or attempted to, in Yangshuo, China. The difference being that in Krabi they are set on water instead of land. The climbing was good. Shaun struggled a bit but given it was his first time climbing it is understandable.
Also while in Krabi we went on a "4 Island Tour." This was actually better than I expected. I am usually hesitant to go on organized tours as they are often overpriced and less enjoyable than trying to do stuff on your own. This one, however, I think would have been next to impossible to figure out and organize for an individual or even a small group and probably would have ended up costing more. During the tour Shaun and I went snorkeling (another first for Shaun), threw a disc around the beach, sat on the roof of a moving boat (a boat's a boat), among other activities. Using my somewhat new digital camera I was able to get some cool pictures of the fish underwater. They seemed to be attracted to the noise it made when taking pictures, which allowed for some even better pictures.
Another day we just went to the beach and lounged around.
Krabi Town and immediate surrounding area became one of my favorite destinations in Thailand and possibly my favorite in the southern part of the country. For somebody that gets bored with the beach pretty quickly, Krabi is ideal with its range of attractions and natural beauty.
Before I continue, in the last several posts I have often referred to somebody simply as "my friend." This friend is the friend that flew into Bangkok at the end of April and have been travelling together since. From now on, for simplicity, I will refer to him as "Shaun." It is just easier than my friend this and my friend that.
Shaun and I arrived in Krabi on bus from Ranong. After countless u-turns, the bus dropped us off. At the bus station we arranged out accommodation so that they would pick us up from the bus station so we would not have to pay to get from the bus station into town. We also decided to stay in Krabi Town as opposed to the beaches because it was less expensive accommodation, cheaper food because of the night markets, and less touristy. We were happy with the decision even though it meant some extra transport when doing activities but this was not such a big deal.
The following day we went rock climbing on some of the area's notorious limestone karts, much like the ones I scaled, or attempted to, in Yangshuo, China. The difference being that in Krabi they are set on water instead of land. The climbing was good. Shaun struggled a bit but given it was his first time climbing it is understandable.
Also while in Krabi we went on a "4 Island Tour." This was actually better than I expected. I am usually hesitant to go on organized tours as they are often overpriced and less enjoyable than trying to do stuff on your own. This one, however, I think would have been next to impossible to figure out and organize for an individual or even a small group and probably would have ended up costing more. During the tour Shaun and I went snorkeling (another first for Shaun), threw a disc around the beach, sat on the roof of a moving boat (a boat's a boat), among other activities. Using my somewhat new digital camera I was able to get some cool pictures of the fish underwater. They seemed to be attracted to the noise it made when taking pictures, which allowed for some even better pictures.
Another day we just went to the beach and lounged around.
Krabi Town and immediate surrounding area became one of my favorite destinations in Thailand and possibly my favorite in the southern part of the country. For somebody that gets bored with the beach pretty quickly, Krabi is ideal with its range of attractions and natural beauty.
16 May 2010
Kanchanaburi, Thailand
I neglected to post this in chronological order because I am an idiot. It belongs in between the Bangkok and Prachuap Khiri Khan posts; I went from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi to Bangkok to Prachuap Khiri Khan.
Anyway, Kanchanaburi, Thailand...
I had heard about Kanchanaburi and the waterfalls around it from many people so it was on my list of places to make a significant effort to go to. My visiting friend was more interested in nature than cities so leaving Bangkok to see some waterfalls seem to make senses as well.
Kanchanaburi contains more than its fair share of war museums and cemeteries and a "death bridge," more commonly known as The Bridge Over the River Kwai, which, yes, is where the book/movie got its name and is about. (A photo, a walk over, and done.) Neither of us were too interested in becoming more depressed than are normal selves so we skipped all of this kind of stuff except for the obligatory photo. We spent most of out time wandering about, either on foot or motorbike.
What I had heard from others was that there are two main waterfalls; one that the tourists go, which is also the more beautiful of the two, and one where the locals bring their families. Which you prefer depends on the person and the circumstances/situation when you are there. I could not remember, by name, which was which but this hardly mattered since I wanted to visit both anyway.
The first we went to see was the "more beautfil" one and that it was. There were tons of people there. It was impossible not to see another person unless you went off the track (or into the information office), both of which we did. The vast majority of the people were Thai, probably 90%, but there were still plenty of Westerns. The crowds diminished the experience a little, but it was still enjoyable.
The waterfall is seven layers and took us about an hour from the bottom layer to ascend to the top as there are plenty of turns, uneven steps, and distractions. Once at the top we put our stuff down and went for a swim. Working our way down we went on some offshoot of the path we discovered and followed it. It did not take us anywhere particularly exciting but it was nice to get away from the crowds for a bit. Once we returned to the main path we continued descending stopping periodically for another cooling-down swim. At one such stop there were rocks to skip down, much like the ones I encountered in the north of Thailand in Pai. Of course, I indulged again and, I was later told, I received the biggest applause of all rock-sliders for my head-first plunge into the water below. It was not particularly special other than the fact that I am white. Apparently, however, that is nearly all it takes.
The second waterfall was less spectacular but still nice. Other than the two of us we saw a couple other Westerners but everybody else was Thai and most of them were with their families. We did not swim here as the sun was getting low and did not want to be all wet for the motorbike ride back. We explored the area some but there was not much to write about.
After some trouble locating where we parked the motorbike (near the 7-11 did not prove as helpful as we had hoped it would be) we headed back to town. As today was my friend's first time riding a motorbike and he had never ridden at night, it was decided that I would ride back. (I need to write this here before I forget: earlier in the day, either the first or second time he drove the motorbike, my friend was past by an ice cream truck. It was funny.) About 30 seconds after we started our way back, it started raining. It was just a light drizzle and did not phase my confidence or comfort level of riding so we pressed on. Then it rain picked up and I no longer felt we should continue. I verbalized this concern saying I would pull over at the night place I saw we would could eat so that we would have an excuse to sit for an hour while the rain passed. Unfortunately no restaurant materialized. My friend sitting behind me had his eyes closed because the rain was coming down so hard. He told me afterward he did not know how I was able to see let alone drive in that rain. To be perfectly honest, I am not sure how I did either. When the rain was strong, I just slowed down. After awhile, the rain eased and then it was just the drizzle it was before. We made it back safe and sound and with a cool story.
Kanchanaburi was a pretty cool place. I wish we had an extra day or two in the area so that we could have gone to Sanghlaburi, which I had also heard good things about but because of my expiring visa and my desire to minimize backtracking it just could not happen. Maybe people get more out of the town by going to all the depressing stuff but I am happy with the decision to avoid it and stick to the natural beauty of the area and getting caught in the rain on a motorbike, of course.
Anyway, Kanchanaburi, Thailand...
I had heard about Kanchanaburi and the waterfalls around it from many people so it was on my list of places to make a significant effort to go to. My visiting friend was more interested in nature than cities so leaving Bangkok to see some waterfalls seem to make senses as well.
Kanchanaburi contains more than its fair share of war museums and cemeteries and a "death bridge," more commonly known as The Bridge Over the River Kwai, which, yes, is where the book/movie got its name and is about. (A photo, a walk over, and done.) Neither of us were too interested in becoming more depressed than are normal selves so we skipped all of this kind of stuff except for the obligatory photo. We spent most of out time wandering about, either on foot or motorbike.
What I had heard from others was that there are two main waterfalls; one that the tourists go, which is also the more beautiful of the two, and one where the locals bring their families. Which you prefer depends on the person and the circumstances/situation when you are there. I could not remember, by name, which was which but this hardly mattered since I wanted to visit both anyway.
The first we went to see was the "more beautfil" one and that it was. There were tons of people there. It was impossible not to see another person unless you went off the track (or into the information office), both of which we did. The vast majority of the people were Thai, probably 90%, but there were still plenty of Westerns. The crowds diminished the experience a little, but it was still enjoyable.
The waterfall is seven layers and took us about an hour from the bottom layer to ascend to the top as there are plenty of turns, uneven steps, and distractions. Once at the top we put our stuff down and went for a swim. Working our way down we went on some offshoot of the path we discovered and followed it. It did not take us anywhere particularly exciting but it was nice to get away from the crowds for a bit. Once we returned to the main path we continued descending stopping periodically for another cooling-down swim. At one such stop there were rocks to skip down, much like the ones I encountered in the north of Thailand in Pai. Of course, I indulged again and, I was later told, I received the biggest applause of all rock-sliders for my head-first plunge into the water below. It was not particularly special other than the fact that I am white. Apparently, however, that is nearly all it takes.
The second waterfall was less spectacular but still nice. Other than the two of us we saw a couple other Westerners but everybody else was Thai and most of them were with their families. We did not swim here as the sun was getting low and did not want to be all wet for the motorbike ride back. We explored the area some but there was not much to write about.
After some trouble locating where we parked the motorbike (near the 7-11 did not prove as helpful as we had hoped it would be) we headed back to town. As today was my friend's first time riding a motorbike and he had never ridden at night, it was decided that I would ride back. (I need to write this here before I forget: earlier in the day, either the first or second time he drove the motorbike, my friend was past by an ice cream truck. It was funny.) About 30 seconds after we started our way back, it started raining. It was just a light drizzle and did not phase my confidence or comfort level of riding so we pressed on. Then it rain picked up and I no longer felt we should continue. I verbalized this concern saying I would pull over at the night place I saw we would could eat so that we would have an excuse to sit for an hour while the rain passed. Unfortunately no restaurant materialized. My friend sitting behind me had his eyes closed because the rain was coming down so hard. He told me afterward he did not know how I was able to see let alone drive in that rain. To be perfectly honest, I am not sure how I did either. When the rain was strong, I just slowed down. After awhile, the rain eased and then it was just the drizzle it was before. We made it back safe and sound and with a cool story.
Kanchanaburi was a pretty cool place. I wish we had an extra day or two in the area so that we could have gone to Sanghlaburi, which I had also heard good things about but because of my expiring visa and my desire to minimize backtracking it just could not happen. Maybe people get more out of the town by going to all the depressing stuff but I am happy with the decision to avoid it and stick to the natural beauty of the area and getting caught in the rain on a motorbike, of course.
10 May 2010
Ranong, Thailand
Another visa run.
The reason I was moving so fast in my previous few destination was because I needed to back it to a boarder town by the end of my then-current visa and I did not want to have to backtrack too much along the way. It was a pretty rushed week, especially for the friend that is visiting. He observed that we spent far too long on buses during that time and I could not agree more but I think it was the best plan given the circumstances.
Ranong is a bland, dull town that exists seemingly exclusively for people to do visa runs into southern Myanmar. We arrived at 1AM, after some sleep, I ventured off alone to do my visa run, we spent that night there, then we left. Pretty simple.
The visa run itself, however, was kind of interesting. The going rate for a visa run service in Ranong is 400THB (about US$12). This sounded reasonable to me but I was confident I could do it myself for less so I declined the effortless visa run service and went for by my lonesome.
I got a ride to the pier without issue. At the pier I met up with three other people doing a visa run as well. We could save money by splitting the cost of the boat we needed to take to get to Myanmar. One of the three needed to buy US dollars from me and did so at a rate that was favorable to me so, other than the cost of the Myanmar visa, the cost of the visa run nearly paid for itself. I got to run the mile I run in each country I visit in Myanmar. The boat back to Thailand went off without a hitch and I got my new 15-day Thai visa no problem. Everything was perfect.
This is when things got interesting. The guy that had to but the US dollars from me had an issue, however. Myanmar forgot to stamp his passport so he had to go back to Myanmar because Thailand would not given him a new visa without the stamp indicating he actually was in another country. (Worked out for me; he needed to buy more US dollars.) He went off back to Myanmar and I headed to my guesthouse in Ranong, Thailand.
Getting to the pier took about 15 minutes. Getting from the pier to my guesthouse, which was right next to the bus station, took 3 hours. My first effort to get there took 1.5 hours but because I had arrived at night I did not recognize the bus station and refused to get off. He took me back to the pier. The next effort took me to the same place, quickly this time, but I obviously still did not recognize it and again refused to get off. The driver eventually pulled over to speak to somebody that I guess he knew spoke English. I told him that I was not actually going to the bus station but that where I was staying, Kiwi, was right near the bus station. He said Kiwi was in fact right near the bus station. The same bus station that I had already been to twice. I finally got off and walked. Eventually I made it there. The visa run portion of my visa run took 2.5-3 hours but in total I spent about 5.5-6 hours in total to actually get back.
As there is not much in Ranong, we left pretty much as soon as we could to go to Krabi.
The reason I was moving so fast in my previous few destination was because I needed to back it to a boarder town by the end of my then-current visa and I did not want to have to backtrack too much along the way. It was a pretty rushed week, especially for the friend that is visiting. He observed that we spent far too long on buses during that time and I could not agree more but I think it was the best plan given the circumstances.
Ranong is a bland, dull town that exists seemingly exclusively for people to do visa runs into southern Myanmar. We arrived at 1AM, after some sleep, I ventured off alone to do my visa run, we spent that night there, then we left. Pretty simple.
The visa run itself, however, was kind of interesting. The going rate for a visa run service in Ranong is 400THB (about US$12). This sounded reasonable to me but I was confident I could do it myself for less so I declined the effortless visa run service and went for by my lonesome.
I got a ride to the pier without issue. At the pier I met up with three other people doing a visa run as well. We could save money by splitting the cost of the boat we needed to take to get to Myanmar. One of the three needed to buy US dollars from me and did so at a rate that was favorable to me so, other than the cost of the Myanmar visa, the cost of the visa run nearly paid for itself. I got to run the mile I run in each country I visit in Myanmar. The boat back to Thailand went off without a hitch and I got my new 15-day Thai visa no problem. Everything was perfect.
This is when things got interesting. The guy that had to but the US dollars from me had an issue, however. Myanmar forgot to stamp his passport so he had to go back to Myanmar because Thailand would not given him a new visa without the stamp indicating he actually was in another country. (Worked out for me; he needed to buy more US dollars.) He went off back to Myanmar and I headed to my guesthouse in Ranong, Thailand.
Getting to the pier took about 15 minutes. Getting from the pier to my guesthouse, which was right next to the bus station, took 3 hours. My first effort to get there took 1.5 hours but because I had arrived at night I did not recognize the bus station and refused to get off. He took me back to the pier. The next effort took me to the same place, quickly this time, but I obviously still did not recognize it and again refused to get off. The driver eventually pulled over to speak to somebody that I guess he knew spoke English. I told him that I was not actually going to the bus station but that where I was staying, Kiwi, was right near the bus station. He said Kiwi was in fact right near the bus station. The same bus station that I had already been to twice. I finally got off and walked. Eventually I made it there. The visa run portion of my visa run took 2.5-3 hours but in total I spent about 5.5-6 hours in total to actually get back.
As there is not much in Ranong, we left pretty much as soon as we could to go to Krabi.
Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand
In Chiang Mai one of the people from Washington DC that I met lives in the small town of Prachuap Khiri Khan and convinced me to go there while working my way south. I thought it would be a good idea to stop in a town that most tourists and backpackers skip over; a good opportunity to get a better feel for a "real" Thai town as opposed to one that so heavily caters to and depends on tourism. Well, am not sure Prachuap Khiri Khan does exactly that but it is probably the closest I am going to find so I will have to take what I can get.
The town is pleasant but small. There is not much to do. Renting a motorbike is the way to go, according to the guy, but I was not feeling up to that for no particular reason. So, my friend and I just walked around and absorbing.
We did make an effort to ascend what is called Monkey Hill. The 396 stairs on the way up and at the foot of the hill there are monkeys everywhere. We were warned not to bring any food because they will go after it and while it is very unlikely they will harm you it would be an intimidating experience still. Best to just avoid it all together. So we made sure not to have any food. Given that we were going up 396 stairs in heat of the day I brought a bottle of water; odorless, sealed water. I figured this would be OK. While going up a monkey looked at me, then at the water, then approached. I knew what was happening but kind of did not believe it. The monkey did not smell the water and we had already passed about 100 monkeys that had no interested in my water bottle so how could this one be any different? Well, it was. It reached for the bottle while in my hands, I let go, laughing because there is no way this monkey can drink the water because it is closed with a screw cap. We went a few steps up and then watched the monkey struggle with the cap. It knocked the bottle against the stairs. Then, by magic of some sort, it figured it out; the monkey unscrewed the cap. However, the act of pouring the water into its own monkey mouth was beyond the primate and it just dumped the water on the stairs and drank from there. I guess the monkey won but I sure got a good show.
From the top of Monkey Hill, where there are actually no monkeys for some reason, the view of the town is nice. Prachuap Khiri Khan sits on shore there is no beaches but looking out onto the water from there provided some nice photos.
I could not imagine living in Prachuap Khiri Khan as this guy is but it was a nice place to spend a night. However, I think that if I were to live there I would enjoy my time and discover more about the town to enjoy than I had a chance to during my brief stay.
The town is pleasant but small. There is not much to do. Renting a motorbike is the way to go, according to the guy, but I was not feeling up to that for no particular reason. So, my friend and I just walked around and absorbing.
We did make an effort to ascend what is called Monkey Hill. The 396 stairs on the way up and at the foot of the hill there are monkeys everywhere. We were warned not to bring any food because they will go after it and while it is very unlikely they will harm you it would be an intimidating experience still. Best to just avoid it all together. So we made sure not to have any food. Given that we were going up 396 stairs in heat of the day I brought a bottle of water; odorless, sealed water. I figured this would be OK. While going up a monkey looked at me, then at the water, then approached. I knew what was happening but kind of did not believe it. The monkey did not smell the water and we had already passed about 100 monkeys that had no interested in my water bottle so how could this one be any different? Well, it was. It reached for the bottle while in my hands, I let go, laughing because there is no way this monkey can drink the water because it is closed with a screw cap. We went a few steps up and then watched the monkey struggle with the cap. It knocked the bottle against the stairs. Then, by magic of some sort, it figured it out; the monkey unscrewed the cap. However, the act of pouring the water into its own monkey mouth was beyond the primate and it just dumped the water on the stairs and drank from there. I guess the monkey won but I sure got a good show.
From the top of Monkey Hill, where there are actually no monkeys for some reason, the view of the town is nice. Prachuap Khiri Khan sits on shore there is no beaches but looking out onto the water from there provided some nice photos.
I could not imagine living in Prachuap Khiri Khan as this guy is but it was a nice place to spend a night. However, I think that if I were to live there I would enjoy my time and discover more about the town to enjoy than I had a chance to during my brief stay.
Bangkok, Thailand
Everything was telling people not to go to Thailand and specifically to avoid Bangkok because of all the resistance from the red shirts. Ignored.
I arrived in Bangkok as scheduled. I got on the city bus 77 to the nearest BTS station to take it to the BTS station near where I was couch surfing (I am not sure if that is supposed to be one word or two so which ever one I type is the one I am going with for that instance). I got out of the bus at the BTS stop to discover that the BTS was shut down for the time being because of the red shirts/red shirt situation. So, I walked. I knew it was not far and that it was straight south down the road I was already on so I knew it would work out. I found the place no problem.
About my second couch surfing experience: awesome. My host, Peak, is a Thai American from California. She converted her family's 5-story building that was being used for storage as a place to host couch surfers. It is located between the N5 and N7 stops on the BTS route, and as there is no N6 stop currently, she named the place N6. Check out more information here if interested. It is in Bangkok, but not in the central part of the city and outside of the CSers at N6 and a few Westerners that live in the area full-time, there are no falang. I turned down another couch at a fancy apartment building because Peak's place sounded cool. She has beds for 15 surfers but often has as many as 30. The door is never locked and people are always coming and going. N6 was probably the highlight of my time in Bangkok.
That said, I did not do much in Thailand's capital city. The first couple days I was there I slept in because I needed some sleep and spent the time after I woke up lazing around. I explored the area a bit but avoided the backpacker mecca of Khao San Road except for one night out when I was just going with the crowd and did not even know I was in that area until I learned so the following day.
In truth, I did not enjoy Bangkok much. Most backpackers do not like big cities in general but I usually do but Bangkok just does not have any charm. The city is too spread out to explore on foot (plus it is too hot and humid) and a bike would be suicide. City buses would probably work out nicely but do not allow the opportunity do to anything other than look through the windows unless you want to keep getting on and off and pay another fare every time. I probably should have done something like this but I really was just not motivated enough.
After a few nights in Bangkok a friend from Chicago finally arrived in the city for a visit of unknown duration. One-way tickets are wonderful. After a somewhat complicated time meeting up, I brought him to N6, put his bags down, walked around for a couple hours, and then boarded a bus to Kanchanaburi.
After Kanchanaburi my friend and I returned to Bangkok for just a night before heading south so I will include that part here as well. It will be brief as there was only a few items of note.
The plan to get back to Bangkok in time for Jekky's birthday. Jekky is a friend of the CSing host, Peak, who comes to N6 nearly everyday after her work and cooks us dinner. It is pretty awesome of her and I liked the idea of attending the birthday celebration of a Thai person I barely know. However, I quickly learned that after her birthday dinner (which she cooked herself) she would want to go to a club and dance, which is not my scene. "Luckily" for me, I had an excuse not to go. My friend that visited got an infected wounds from his new sandals and was concerned about it. So, we made a quick jut to the hospital instead of the club. It turns out that some German guy also at N6 needed to go to the hospital as well so we were going to split a cab until some Thai girl that was attending Jekky's birthday dinner offered to drive us. The drive there took about four times as long as it should have because of all the increased security because of the red shirts. The hospital we were going to was right in the heart of the "action" and police officers were everywhere. We finally made it to the hospital, my friend got cleaned up and some medication without issue. The German guy refused to pay the cost of an injection he was recommended to get so the Thai girl drove us to another hospital, this one a government one that is less expensive. He ended up not getting the injection and I was not paying much attention when he told me what eventually happened. I hope he is doing well, though. While going to the hospital probably does not sound like a fun-filled evening it was actually cool to see the city at night especially because I had done so little exploring before so I ended up getting a free mini-tour of Bangkok.
Other than the BTS being shut down when I first arrived and the check-points when on the hospital excursion I did not feel the presence of the red shirts' resistance much at all. I assume that the police I saw everywhere I went on the side of the road are not normally there but that is pretty much it. I did not venture into the risk areas during the day, so my view it skewed but I can only judge by what I experienced myself so there it is.
The following day we headed south to the famous Thai islands and beaches.
I arrived in Bangkok as scheduled. I got on the city bus 77 to the nearest BTS station to take it to the BTS station near where I was couch surfing (I am not sure if that is supposed to be one word or two so which ever one I type is the one I am going with for that instance). I got out of the bus at the BTS stop to discover that the BTS was shut down for the time being because of the red shirts/red shirt situation. So, I walked. I knew it was not far and that it was straight south down the road I was already on so I knew it would work out. I found the place no problem.
About my second couch surfing experience: awesome. My host, Peak, is a Thai American from California. She converted her family's 5-story building that was being used for storage as a place to host couch surfers. It is located between the N5 and N7 stops on the BTS route, and as there is no N6 stop currently, she named the place N6. Check out more information here if interested. It is in Bangkok, but not in the central part of the city and outside of the CSers at N6 and a few Westerners that live in the area full-time, there are no falang. I turned down another couch at a fancy apartment building because Peak's place sounded cool. She has beds for 15 surfers but often has as many as 30. The door is never locked and people are always coming and going. N6 was probably the highlight of my time in Bangkok.
That said, I did not do much in Thailand's capital city. The first couple days I was there I slept in because I needed some sleep and spent the time after I woke up lazing around. I explored the area a bit but avoided the backpacker mecca of Khao San Road except for one night out when I was just going with the crowd and did not even know I was in that area until I learned so the following day.
In truth, I did not enjoy Bangkok much. Most backpackers do not like big cities in general but I usually do but Bangkok just does not have any charm. The city is too spread out to explore on foot (plus it is too hot and humid) and a bike would be suicide. City buses would probably work out nicely but do not allow the opportunity do to anything other than look through the windows unless you want to keep getting on and off and pay another fare every time. I probably should have done something like this but I really was just not motivated enough.
After a few nights in Bangkok a friend from Chicago finally arrived in the city for a visit of unknown duration. One-way tickets are wonderful. After a somewhat complicated time meeting up, I brought him to N6, put his bags down, walked around for a couple hours, and then boarded a bus to Kanchanaburi.
After Kanchanaburi my friend and I returned to Bangkok for just a night before heading south so I will include that part here as well. It will be brief as there was only a few items of note.
The plan to get back to Bangkok in time for Jekky's birthday. Jekky is a friend of the CSing host, Peak, who comes to N6 nearly everyday after her work and cooks us dinner. It is pretty awesome of her and I liked the idea of attending the birthday celebration of a Thai person I barely know. However, I quickly learned that after her birthday dinner (which she cooked herself) she would want to go to a club and dance, which is not my scene. "Luckily" for me, I had an excuse not to go. My friend that visited got an infected wounds from his new sandals and was concerned about it. So, we made a quick jut to the hospital instead of the club. It turns out that some German guy also at N6 needed to go to the hospital as well so we were going to split a cab until some Thai girl that was attending Jekky's birthday dinner offered to drive us. The drive there took about four times as long as it should have because of all the increased security because of the red shirts. The hospital we were going to was right in the heart of the "action" and police officers were everywhere. We finally made it to the hospital, my friend got cleaned up and some medication without issue. The German guy refused to pay the cost of an injection he was recommended to get so the Thai girl drove us to another hospital, this one a government one that is less expensive. He ended up not getting the injection and I was not paying much attention when he told me what eventually happened. I hope he is doing well, though. While going to the hospital probably does not sound like a fun-filled evening it was actually cool to see the city at night especially because I had done so little exploring before so I ended up getting a free mini-tour of Bangkok.
Other than the BTS being shut down when I first arrived and the check-points when on the hospital excursion I did not feel the presence of the red shirts' resistance much at all. I assume that the police I saw everywhere I went on the side of the road are not normally there but that is pretty much it. I did not venture into the risk areas during the day, so my view it skewed but I can only judge by what I experienced myself so there it is.
The following day we headed south to the famous Thai islands and beaches.
Sukhothai, Thailand
Ayuthaya may be more visited but the ruins in Sukhothai are better preserved. I wanted a stopping point in between Chiang Mai and Bangkok to avoid the exceedingly long bus ride and to actually experience some culture in Thailand I thought would be a good idea.
I am not an expert by an stretch of the imagination in ruins, history, or any of that stuff that I generally skated through during school but the ruins in Sukhothai are pretty cool and the area is very nice. The cost of admission is kind of outrageous by Thai standards, but I suppose if you are Thai you are not paying the foreigner entrance fee. The ruins are divided into five areas, each with the own entrance fee. I decided to forgo four of the sites as most and the best ruins are in the central region.
I rented a bicycle to explore and to help provide a little wind in the heat. This was a good call. I was able to see more and just riding makes going about more enjoyable. And, of course, the breeze was nice. The main part in the central region of the ruins is surrounded by a moat that was function back in the day and I guess still kind of is in that it prevents people from sneaking in without paying admission (I tried). However, it is now also used for kids to jump in and swim. I saw some kids climbing a tree and jumping in about 10 feet up. Not too high. Of course, I did the same. The water was gross and only a few feet deep but I managed to not injury myself or get sick from the water and was pleasantly cooled off.
I ended up only spending a single night in Sukhothai because I found a night bus to Bangkok. So I was effectively able to spend two days there and save the cost of a night's accommodation by taking the night bus. I would have been happy to spend a couple more days in the town though there is not much to do there but it would have been a nice place to just chill for a bit, at least partially because my room was cheap, spotless, free wifi, and cheap, good food. Alas, it was not to be and I boarded the 11PM, 2nd class bus to Bangkok, due to arrive at 5-6AM to couchsurf for the second time.
I am not an expert by an stretch of the imagination in ruins, history, or any of that stuff that I generally skated through during school but the ruins in Sukhothai are pretty cool and the area is very nice. The cost of admission is kind of outrageous by Thai standards, but I suppose if you are Thai you are not paying the foreigner entrance fee. The ruins are divided into five areas, each with the own entrance fee. I decided to forgo four of the sites as most and the best ruins are in the central region.
I rented a bicycle to explore and to help provide a little wind in the heat. This was a good call. I was able to see more and just riding makes going about more enjoyable. And, of course, the breeze was nice. The main part in the central region of the ruins is surrounded by a moat that was function back in the day and I guess still kind of is in that it prevents people from sneaking in without paying admission (I tried). However, it is now also used for kids to jump in and swim. I saw some kids climbing a tree and jumping in about 10 feet up. Not too high. Of course, I did the same. The water was gross and only a few feet deep but I managed to not injury myself or get sick from the water and was pleasantly cooled off.
I ended up only spending a single night in Sukhothai because I found a night bus to Bangkok. So I was effectively able to spend two days there and save the cost of a night's accommodation by taking the night bus. I would have been happy to spend a couple more days in the town though there is not much to do there but it would have been a nice place to just chill for a bit, at least partially because my room was cheap, spotless, free wifi, and cheap, good food. Alas, it was not to be and I boarded the 11PM, 2nd class bus to Bangkok, due to arrive at 5-6AM to couchsurf for the second time.
Chiang Mai, Thailand, Part II
I returned to Chiang Mai from Mae Hong Son with a "stop-over" in Pai for a few hours. The plan was to stay the night in Pai and catch a bus in the morning but I arrived in Pai early enough to get a bus that same day.
This stint in Chiang Mai was less fun but it would have been impossible to match the atmosphere of songkran so I was not surprised. The sole purpose of returning to Chiang Mai was to do a "visa run" to the Myanmar boarder. A visa run is leaving Country X into Country Y and then returning directly to Country X with a new visa from Country X. This is required when your Country X visa is at or near expiration. My Thai visa expired on 7 May so on that date or prior I needed to do a visa run in order to remain in Thailand past that date. Complicated stuff, I know.
Costs of visa runs vary widely depending on where you are, which boarder you are going into, how far the boarder is, how you are getting there, how you are crossing the boarder, the cost of the visa to the Country Y, and a few other things. Given that I was in northern Thailand the easily accessible boarders are Myanmar, Laos, and China. China requires a visa in advance, and it is expensive, so it was out. A Laos visa for an American is expensive and because I originally entered Thailand from Laos I have already made the trip, just in reverse. So, Myanmar is it. The boarder is pretty close, the cost of the visa is reasonable (US$10), and I was able to combine the visa run with a day trip of the Golden Triangle area so that I was not wasting an entire day merely doing a visa run but was also able to do a little sightseeing as well. That said, the Golden Triangle part of the trip was secondary to me priority of getting the new visa. In addition, the visa run alone costs 600THB (just over US$18) and the tour cost 750THB (about US$22) so I though an extra $4 was worth making a trip out of it.
The trip itself was OK. Nothing too exciting or interesting with the exception of the White Temple. Stunning from the outside, the White Temple really separates itself from other temples by the interior painting. The back of the room is where evil is and the front is where peace (Buddha) is. Makes enough sense except when you look at the paintings at the back/evil end. Here is a incomplete list of images painted at the back/evil end: Superman, Batman, Neo from The Matrix, the Twin Towers after the first hit with the second plane on its way, Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars, and a gasoline pump. There are plenty more but those are the ones I can recall. It was weird.
The tour was fine and I got my visa no problem and that was all I really cared about so all worked out well.
This stint in Chiang Mai was less fun but it would have been impossible to match the atmosphere of songkran so I was not surprised. The sole purpose of returning to Chiang Mai was to do a "visa run" to the Myanmar boarder. A visa run is leaving Country X into Country Y and then returning directly to Country X with a new visa from Country X. This is required when your Country X visa is at or near expiration. My Thai visa expired on 7 May so on that date or prior I needed to do a visa run in order to remain in Thailand past that date. Complicated stuff, I know.
Costs of visa runs vary widely depending on where you are, which boarder you are going into, how far the boarder is, how you are getting there, how you are crossing the boarder, the cost of the visa to the Country Y, and a few other things. Given that I was in northern Thailand the easily accessible boarders are Myanmar, Laos, and China. China requires a visa in advance, and it is expensive, so it was out. A Laos visa for an American is expensive and because I originally entered Thailand from Laos I have already made the trip, just in reverse. So, Myanmar is it. The boarder is pretty close, the cost of the visa is reasonable (US$10), and I was able to combine the visa run with a day trip of the Golden Triangle area so that I was not wasting an entire day merely doing a visa run but was also able to do a little sightseeing as well. That said, the Golden Triangle part of the trip was secondary to me priority of getting the new visa. In addition, the visa run alone costs 600THB (just over US$18) and the tour cost 750THB (about US$22) so I though an extra $4 was worth making a trip out of it.
The trip itself was OK. Nothing too exciting or interesting with the exception of the White Temple. Stunning from the outside, the White Temple really separates itself from other temples by the interior painting. The back of the room is where evil is and the front is where peace (Buddha) is. Makes enough sense except when you look at the paintings at the back/evil end. Here is a incomplete list of images painted at the back/evil end: Superman, Batman, Neo from The Matrix, the Twin Towers after the first hit with the second plane on its way, Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars, and a gasoline pump. There are plenty more but those are the ones I can recall. It was weird.
The tour was fine and I got my visa no problem and that was all I really cared about so all worked out well.
23 April 2010
I Must Like this Travelling Thing
When first planning this trip it was going to be 8-9 months. Then, following some more planning, it became 15. After about 5 months on the road it increased yet again to 22. And, now, it is changing once again to 27 months. 2.25 years (!). Since travelling I have added a year (!) to my expected trip. A year (!). I have already been gone for about 9 months (!), which is only 1/3 (!) of my trip. Man, that sounds crazy.
This change is so that I can go to India when the weather is tolerable instead of during the hot season. I was going to be there around now but will instead go for 3-4ish months starting around October 2010. I think I made the right choice as India is currently experiencing a heat wave so it is hot there even for the hot season in India.
Well, that all that is the plan. That long of a trip is really going to stretch my funds so it could change again, but likely will not get any longer.
Also of note is that a friend on mine from home is flying to Bangkok, Thailand on 30 April to meet up with me. He bought a one-way ticket. Maybe I can convince him to do a guest post but I would not count on it.
This change is so that I can go to India when the weather is tolerable instead of during the hot season. I was going to be there around now but will instead go for 3-4ish months starting around October 2010. I think I made the right choice as India is currently experiencing a heat wave so it is hot there even for the hot season in India.
Well, that all that is the plan. That long of a trip is really going to stretch my funds so it could change again, but likely will not get any longer.
Also of note is that a friend on mine from home is flying to Bangkok, Thailand on 30 April to meet up with me. He bought a one-way ticket. Maybe I can convince him to do a guest post but I would not count on it.
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