After we got back from our trek that night both of us were pooped! It wasn’t even a strenuous hike, we were just out of shape and not used to sweating that much. Joey and I wanted to get a good night’s sleep before our early morning bus ride to Medan to catch our flight. That night the people in the room above us for incredibly inconsiderate and loud! Stomping around, laughing loudly and talking/yelling. This started at 11pm when we had just fallen asleep. It went on until about 1:30am. We finally got some decent sleep but were woken up at 4am to the guy upstairs getting ready for work/prayer (I’m not sure). Joey had repeatedly banged on the roof and told them to shut up. At this point, I don’t think it’s impolite.
Our alarm went off at 5am and we dragged ourselves out of bed. We had quite a hike to the bus station and we wanted to be out of Bukit Lawang on the 7am bus. Eventually we found our way to the bus station and pretty much left on the bus as soon as we got there. This is not a common occurrence in Indonesia. Generally the buses wait until the bus is packed, regardless if it was supposed to leave an hour ago. In exchange for a timely bus, we were surrounded by screaming children and techno on the speakers. None of us was going to get the sleep we were depending on! That’s transport for you in Indonesia!
When we finally made it to the airport we found out that our reservations for our flight were cancelled. We couldn’t buy tickets on Batavia’s website because they don’t accept any credit cards that aren’t Indonesian, Malaysian or Singaporean. Joey got one of the girls at our hotel in Danau Toba to make our reservation because the people at the call centre had horrendous English. Despite our tickets being cancelled, we were able to book another ticket anyway. It actually worked out to be better because the tickets were cheaper than originally quoted on the phone.
Around the airport there were lots of warungs (Indonesian word for restaurant/foodstall). Both Joey and I had not had breakfast so we were starving. We chose one place that had an English menu, but unfortunately no one spoke English. We were surprised considering we were at an airport. I ordered nasi goreng (fried rice) but it never came because apparently the server didn’t know I ordered? Now emanciated, we walked to another warung, where no one else spoke English again. I took out our guidebook and attempted to order water and fried rice without meat. I was laughed at. At this point I burst into tears because I was so tired and hungry; I really just didn’t feel like being laughed at. The server probably had no idea what was going on. I felt bad for the guy, but honestly if someone is trying to speak your language don’t laugh at them! It doesn’t make them want to try even if it wasn’t malicious laughter!
Our flight was rather uneventful. We got to Yogykarta just in time to see the sunset. It was just as hot in Yogya as it was in Medan. We went to the common backpacker area and a guy helped us find a place (either because he got commission or because he wanted us to look at his paintings after). I get that Yogykarta is very cultural, but the locals really ruin it by constantly asking to show you their batik or to take you to their friend's batik store. It's even funnier when they try to convince you it's easy to pack around a huge canvas painting when you're backpacking for another 2 months!
The next day we walked around our area of town, but didn't really care to see much because we were in trip planning mode. We needed to know when we would be arriving in Sipadan (an amazing diving place that is heavily protected and only 100 people are allowed to dive a day so things get booked up fast), and also where we wanting to spend the rest of our time in Indonesia. We knew we didn't want to go to Borobodur which is a buddhist temple just outside the temple. Trust me, we've seen enough buddhist temples for a life time. I'm still not even convinced if you say it is as spectacular as Angkor Wat (which I'm sure it isn't). So we only stayed in Yogykarta one full day and two nights.
We booked a 3 day tour that took us to Gunung Bromo (a volcano) and Ijen (a crater filled with a hotspring lake) and then to the ferries where we would go on our way to Bali. It was quite cheap because we mentioned that our friends had told us about it. Only 500,000. We know a lot of other people paid quite a bit more!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monkeys Everywhere!
One thing you have to do when you are in Sumatra is check out the orangutans of Bukit Lawang. We took the public bus to Bukit Lawang from Medan and were immediately pounced on by 3 guides. There are over 150 guides for this one small village and there is usually only 20 tourists at a time so competition is fierce! It was rather unfortunate that the guides have to follow a set price for treks because the price was ridiculous. It was something like 25 euros (Almost $55CDN) for each person to do a full day trek. This is probably the highest we have paid for something like this. Oh well, Joey and I really wanted to see our ginger haired friends of the jungle!
We set out early in the morning and the humidity was very high. We were sweating our skin off by the time we even got to the jungle's edge. The thing about humidity is that your sweat never goes away. I could tell this would be a long, but very exciting day. Our guides for the day were Eddie and Erwin. We also had a german and an austrailian couple on the trek. About 20 minutes in to the hike our group ran into our first orangutans. It was a female named Sassa and her male friend, who was absolutely massive. Most of the orangutans at this park have been part of the pet trade and are now in rehabilitation. Unfortunately being a pet or having so much contact with humans has made these monkeys reliant on people for food which causes them to become aggressive. After Sassa saw that we did not have any bananas for her she started to charge us. It was quite scary. What was the most upsetting about the situation was that our guides kept on going back and asking us if we wanted to take more pictures. We had already alienated Sassa and her mate enough. A few of us were getting upset especially when another treking group came by to take pictures.
They asked us one more time if we wanted to take more pictures and I pretty much said LETS LEAVE THEM ALONE. You pay high regulated prices for "licensed guides" but you can tell that the welfare of the animals in this rehabilitation forest isn't really respected. I was getting quite annoyed that we had bugged this monkey for more than 20 minutes and had put her life and our lives in danger. Really responsible guys. It certainly didn't set the mood for the rest of the trek. Especially for the Australian girl, Hannah, who had been attacked by wild monkeys in Vietnam. She was trying to overcome her fear, but being chased by a 40kg orangutan wasn't helping her any!
After our group got away from the madness it was a nice peaceful trek through the forest. We were lucky to see some cheeky monkeys, a group of macaques, one lone brown gibbon and 10 other orangutans. At one point we were taking a break on a log, when an orangutan named Jackie (who had a tiny tiny baby on her back) came over to Joey and sat on his lap and put her arm around him. She sat on his lap for a good 5 minutes. Joey started to feel a bit uneasy because this is a wild animal and she could kill him with her very strong hands or jaw. Luckily she was a gentle monkey and was just attracted to the kind nature of Joey.
Joey and I were really happy to have seen all those monkeys that day. Although our guides could have been better, the money was worth it to see these amazing creatures being protected in a forest where they can keep on being monkeys instead of pets.
We set out early in the morning and the humidity was very high. We were sweating our skin off by the time we even got to the jungle's edge. The thing about humidity is that your sweat never goes away. I could tell this would be a long, but very exciting day. Our guides for the day were Eddie and Erwin. We also had a german and an austrailian couple on the trek. About 20 minutes in to the hike our group ran into our first orangutans. It was a female named Sassa and her male friend, who was absolutely massive. Most of the orangutans at this park have been part of the pet trade and are now in rehabilitation. Unfortunately being a pet or having so much contact with humans has made these monkeys reliant on people for food which causes them to become aggressive. After Sassa saw that we did not have any bananas for her she started to charge us. It was quite scary. What was the most upsetting about the situation was that our guides kept on going back and asking us if we wanted to take more pictures. We had already alienated Sassa and her mate enough. A few of us were getting upset especially when another treking group came by to take pictures.
They asked us one more time if we wanted to take more pictures and I pretty much said LETS LEAVE THEM ALONE. You pay high regulated prices for "licensed guides" but you can tell that the welfare of the animals in this rehabilitation forest isn't really respected. I was getting quite annoyed that we had bugged this monkey for more than 20 minutes and had put her life and our lives in danger. Really responsible guys. It certainly didn't set the mood for the rest of the trek. Especially for the Australian girl, Hannah, who had been attacked by wild monkeys in Vietnam. She was trying to overcome her fear, but being chased by a 40kg orangutan wasn't helping her any!
After our group got away from the madness it was a nice peaceful trek through the forest. We were lucky to see some cheeky monkeys, a group of macaques, one lone brown gibbon and 10 other orangutans. At one point we were taking a break on a log, when an orangutan named Jackie (who had a tiny tiny baby on her back) came over to Joey and sat on his lap and put her arm around him. She sat on his lap for a good 5 minutes. Joey started to feel a bit uneasy because this is a wild animal and she could kill him with her very strong hands or jaw. Luckily she was a gentle monkey and was just attracted to the kind nature of Joey.
Joey and I were really happy to have seen all those monkeys that day. Although our guides could have been better, the money was worth it to see these amazing creatures being protected in a forest where they can keep on being monkeys instead of pets.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Down to Danau Toba
The night before Joey and I left for Danau Toba we met some locals at the mall who asked us to join them for beer at the park later on. They were our age and seemed really nice so we decided to go. When we got there the park was full of kids who were bmxing on the half pipes and lots of bystanders were either eating or drinking and watching the kids for entertainment. It was actually a lot of fun. The locals we met up with also had really good english so we could pretty much carry on a conversation without having misunderstandings. It was awesome to converse with young people our age from Indonesia. They were pretty much just like us. It's weird to think that despite coming from completely different worlds, how similar we are.
The next morning we woke up bright and early for our minivan ride to Danau Toba. It was one cramped ride. I think the cheap public bus option could possibly have been more comfortable. Our driver was absolutely an insane driver. Constantly speeding up and slamming on breaks. Passing dangerously. I was so sick. Both Joey and I have gotten used to crazy driving and rarely get car sick, but this guy was nuts. We were certainly glad to arrive at the ferry in Patapan.
The lake was absolutely stunning. So big and vast. It felt like being back home on the lake. I love the smell of lake water and the engine fumes from boats. Brings back good memories of my Papa's Rum Runner on Harrison lake. It was a change from being on a boat in the ocean. The ride wasn't so windy and bumpy! I could relax. On the boat ride there we met a Malaysian couple named CJ and Matthew. We were planning to stay at the same place so we just started talking. They seemed really cool so we planned on renting motorbikes the next day and exploring the island of Samosir.
That night we joined up with our new found friends for some dinner. Matthew and CJ were doing as the locals do and enjoying a magical mushroom omelette. Joey and I decided to pass. By the way, magic mushrooms are completely legal in Indonesia because it is apart of so many indigenous people's culture. Next thing we know Matthew is in La La land and cannot stop laughing. Meanwhile CJ has a headache and doesn't feel anything. I imagine that it was just as fun to watch Matthew as it would have been on mushrooms. It made for an interesting night! I'm sure CJ had a great time trying to take Matthew back to the room that night.
The next morning, Matthew was back to his normal self and we were all ready to set out on an adventure around the island. We stopped to enjoy the scenery and take some pics. Matthew and Joey got to talk about cameras a lot. CJ and I got to pretend we were interested a lot. Haha. The scenery was amazing. Lush green rice fields on the beach and rolling hills in the distance. Such a great place to spend the day.
We headed to the "Batak Museum" which turned out to be pretty lame, but had a toilet so that was cool. We had been told about the hotsprings at the other end of the island that were apparently quite nice. When we got there there was garbage floating in the water and big pipes that redirected the hot water to some pools at this one really dirty looking place. We took one look at the pools and decided it was better not to. There was a lake right there anyways. There had been a really nice beach we had seen along the way that had bright blue water and thats where the four of us decided to go. The water was quite nice. Not too cold, but refreshing!
After our swim we thought it would be a good idea to check out a lake on top of the mountain that apparently changed colours at different times of the year. We headed up a treacherous road where Joey and I nearly bailed off our motorbike a couple of times due to slipperyness and huge potholes. Finally we made it and the scenery paid off. The lake was just a normal lake colour but the rice fields and water buffalo grazing in the pastures was still very beautiful!
The next day we said good bye to our new found Malaysian friends. We spent most of our morning planning out our trip which was quite frustrating. In Indonesia you can only purchase plane tickets online if you have an Indonesian, Malaysian or Singaporean credit card. If you don't have one of these you must brave the english barrier and give the airline a call. It was horrible. It was like calling a call centre in India. I had to spell everything out using the Police Alphabet. Skype also didn't make matters better when it decided to end my call! Joey convinced one of the women that worked at the hotel to help us out. We found out we had to go to the airline's store to pay, or pay on the day we left at the airport.
Later on I took a cooking class with a lady named Hetty. I had a great time learning how to make traditional batak indonesian food. Especially because I chose vegetarian options. Hetty was a really great teacher. She was also very friendly and great to talk to. Joey worked while I played in the kitchen but he joined me for dinner later on. During dinner we met an American couple named Meaghan and Matt. They were really friendly so we invited them to try some of my creations. We invited them to play some cards later on that night.
Meaghan and Matt met us at our hotel to play cards (they were staying there too) and we had a great time just talking and playing rummy. During all of this there was a massive thunder and lightening storm. It was so cool to see the whole sky light up every time lightening struck.
The next morning Joey and I were up bright and early to start our journey to Berastagi. We had to be quite creative to get there by public bus because there is no direct public bus between the two places. We had to transfer a lot and try to get over language barriers. After about 7 hours of traveling we were finally in Berastagi. We had heard so much of this place, but were quite disappointed at what we saw. It just looked like another junky, dirty Indonesian town.
Joey ran into Ali and Rachel who were some Canadian girls from Victoria that we met in Medan. We were trying to plan a trek with them, but Joey and I ended up opting out of the trek and left the next day to Bukit Lawang because we wanted to see monkeys!
Joey and I really enjoyed Danau Toba because it wasn't too hot and it was just so relaxing.
The next morning we woke up bright and early for our minivan ride to Danau Toba. It was one cramped ride. I think the cheap public bus option could possibly have been more comfortable. Our driver was absolutely an insane driver. Constantly speeding up and slamming on breaks. Passing dangerously. I was so sick. Both Joey and I have gotten used to crazy driving and rarely get car sick, but this guy was nuts. We were certainly glad to arrive at the ferry in Patapan.
The lake was absolutely stunning. So big and vast. It felt like being back home on the lake. I love the smell of lake water and the engine fumes from boats. Brings back good memories of my Papa's Rum Runner on Harrison lake. It was a change from being on a boat in the ocean. The ride wasn't so windy and bumpy! I could relax. On the boat ride there we met a Malaysian couple named CJ and Matthew. We were planning to stay at the same place so we just started talking. They seemed really cool so we planned on renting motorbikes the next day and exploring the island of Samosir.
That night we joined up with our new found friends for some dinner. Matthew and CJ were doing as the locals do and enjoying a magical mushroom omelette. Joey and I decided to pass. By the way, magic mushrooms are completely legal in Indonesia because it is apart of so many indigenous people's culture. Next thing we know Matthew is in La La land and cannot stop laughing. Meanwhile CJ has a headache and doesn't feel anything. I imagine that it was just as fun to watch Matthew as it would have been on mushrooms. It made for an interesting night! I'm sure CJ had a great time trying to take Matthew back to the room that night.
The next morning, Matthew was back to his normal self and we were all ready to set out on an adventure around the island. We stopped to enjoy the scenery and take some pics. Matthew and Joey got to talk about cameras a lot. CJ and I got to pretend we were interested a lot. Haha. The scenery was amazing. Lush green rice fields on the beach and rolling hills in the distance. Such a great place to spend the day.
We headed to the "Batak Museum" which turned out to be pretty lame, but had a toilet so that was cool. We had been told about the hotsprings at the other end of the island that were apparently quite nice. When we got there there was garbage floating in the water and big pipes that redirected the hot water to some pools at this one really dirty looking place. We took one look at the pools and decided it was better not to. There was a lake right there anyways. There had been a really nice beach we had seen along the way that had bright blue water and thats where the four of us decided to go. The water was quite nice. Not too cold, but refreshing!
After our swim we thought it would be a good idea to check out a lake on top of the mountain that apparently changed colours at different times of the year. We headed up a treacherous road where Joey and I nearly bailed off our motorbike a couple of times due to slipperyness and huge potholes. Finally we made it and the scenery paid off. The lake was just a normal lake colour but the rice fields and water buffalo grazing in the pastures was still very beautiful!
The next day we said good bye to our new found Malaysian friends. We spent most of our morning planning out our trip which was quite frustrating. In Indonesia you can only purchase plane tickets online if you have an Indonesian, Malaysian or Singaporean credit card. If you don't have one of these you must brave the english barrier and give the airline a call. It was horrible. It was like calling a call centre in India. I had to spell everything out using the Police Alphabet. Skype also didn't make matters better when it decided to end my call! Joey convinced one of the women that worked at the hotel to help us out. We found out we had to go to the airline's store to pay, or pay on the day we left at the airport.
Later on I took a cooking class with a lady named Hetty. I had a great time learning how to make traditional batak indonesian food. Especially because I chose vegetarian options. Hetty was a really great teacher. She was also very friendly and great to talk to. Joey worked while I played in the kitchen but he joined me for dinner later on. During dinner we met an American couple named Meaghan and Matt. They were really friendly so we invited them to try some of my creations. We invited them to play some cards later on that night.
Meaghan and Matt met us at our hotel to play cards (they were staying there too) and we had a great time just talking and playing rummy. During all of this there was a massive thunder and lightening storm. It was so cool to see the whole sky light up every time lightening struck.
The next morning Joey and I were up bright and early to start our journey to Berastagi. We had to be quite creative to get there by public bus because there is no direct public bus between the two places. We had to transfer a lot and try to get over language barriers. After about 7 hours of traveling we were finally in Berastagi. We had heard so much of this place, but were quite disappointed at what we saw. It just looked like another junky, dirty Indonesian town.
Joey ran into Ali and Rachel who were some Canadian girls from Victoria that we met in Medan. We were trying to plan a trek with them, but Joey and I ended up opting out of the trek and left the next day to Bukit Lawang because we wanted to see monkeys!
Joey and I really enjoyed Danau Toba because it wasn't too hot and it was just so relaxing.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Sweet Sumatra
After having a not so welcoming first couple of hours in Sumatra, we are warming up to Medan. Despite it being such a city infested by rats and covered in garbage, the people are amazingly nice. A lot of them just want to practice English so they will talk to you about anything. Joey and I are still skeptical when talking to locals in these countries because there have been so many times when the person talking to you just wanted money, and actually didn't care to talk. Here you can tell most of them, if not all are genuine, which is awesome.
Yesterday we decided to go to Hotel Sumatera which turned out to be a nightmare. The room was gross, and their idea of a shower was a bucket with water. Plus the staff was just not friendly at all. We decided to move to a place called Pondok Angel which is a bit better and the staff are a lot nicer. Last night we stayed up having beers with some of the staff and their friends, as well as with 2 Canadian girls (One is from Victoria and we have mutual friends), and 2 Aussie guys. It was nice to have a group of people together talking and drinking beers. This is probably my favourite part of traveling.
That night we went back to our hotel room and had the absolute worst sleep ever. We were right by a karaoke bar and the sound from traffic on the road was horrendous. We had to keep the windows open because our fan barely worked and it was so so so hot. We made many mosquitoes happy last night. Looking at my arms today, I guess I was tasty. Just when traffic had calmed down and the karaoke bar closed the Mosque down the road blared their call to prayer music as they could. Absolutely brutal!
Today has been quite uneventful. We moved to Pondok Angel, and slept most of the afternoon to catch up on much needed sleep. When we walked around the town we met lots of locals wanting to practice their English. They love to ask questions. What would maybe seem invasive back home is totally normal for them. Both of us certainly don't mind being asked every question under the sun because it really is nice to see a piece of life the locals lead.
Tomorrow we are heading of to Danau Toba which is the biggest freshwater lake in South East Asia. Apparently it is beautiful and very relaxing. Both of us can't wait.
Yesterday we decided to go to Hotel Sumatera which turned out to be a nightmare. The room was gross, and their idea of a shower was a bucket with water. Plus the staff was just not friendly at all. We decided to move to a place called Pondok Angel which is a bit better and the staff are a lot nicer. Last night we stayed up having beers with some of the staff and their friends, as well as with 2 Canadian girls (One is from Victoria and we have mutual friends), and 2 Aussie guys. It was nice to have a group of people together talking and drinking beers. This is probably my favourite part of traveling.
That night we went back to our hotel room and had the absolute worst sleep ever. We were right by a karaoke bar and the sound from traffic on the road was horrendous. We had to keep the windows open because our fan barely worked and it was so so so hot. We made many mosquitoes happy last night. Looking at my arms today, I guess I was tasty. Just when traffic had calmed down and the karaoke bar closed the Mosque down the road blared their call to prayer music as they could. Absolutely brutal!
Today has been quite uneventful. We moved to Pondok Angel, and slept most of the afternoon to catch up on much needed sleep. When we walked around the town we met lots of locals wanting to practice their English. They love to ask questions. What would maybe seem invasive back home is totally normal for them. Both of us certainly don't mind being asked every question under the sun because it really is nice to see a piece of life the locals lead.
Tomorrow we are heading of to Danau Toba which is the biggest freshwater lake in South East Asia. Apparently it is beautiful and very relaxing. Both of us can't wait.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Bad luck
So we started the day off with some bad luck. Apparently we are idiots and booked our flight for Thursday, not Tuesday. So we ended up having to buy a ticket today because we didn't want to spend another minute in Snorin' Singapore.
After a mad dash to our gate, we boarded the plane, and now we're here in Medan. Unfortunately Joey's luggage did not arrive, and neither did the raincover for my backpack. Crappy thing is that their English is very limited, so we don't know what the hell is happening with his bag. We're stuck in Medan, when we really wanted to go to Berastagi. Hopefully everything works out.
After a mad dash to our gate, we boarded the plane, and now we're here in Medan. Unfortunately Joey's luggage did not arrive, and neither did the raincover for my backpack. Crappy thing is that their English is very limited, so we don't know what the hell is happening with his bag. We're stuck in Medan, when we really wanted to go to Berastagi. Hopefully everything works out.
Spend Spend Spend Singapore
Joey and I were expecting accomodation in Singapore to be ridiculously expensive so we used our trusty couchsurfing.org account and set up a couch surfing date with a guy named Ren. Getting to the MTR station where we were going to meet him was easy peasy. Transportation in Singapore is something you could in a coma. It's that easy.
Our host, Ren, took us to his place where we dropped off our bags. After we got a bit settled he took us to a couple of local hangout spots in Singapore. It was a Saturday night after all. We decided to hang out total backpacker style. Go to the corner store and buy your beer there and then find somewhere nice to drink. There were tons of young Singaporeans and backpackers in the Clarke Quay party zone. Many were dressed to the nines and the smell of expensive perfume hung in the air. I was content wearing my grubby lululemon's and a tiger beer in hand, while sitting on a bridge. Joey and I like to keep it classy. People watching was fun enough for us anyways.
We walked around the club area and saw quite a few interesting bars. There was one that was hospital themed where the seating area looked like a waiting room and some of the chairs were wheelchairs. The coolest thing was that your drink could come in an IV with it's very own stand. Absolute pure genius. There was also a Burger King bar. If I liked Burger King that would have impressed me. There were lots of other bars, but most of them were just your typical fancy pants ones.
The next day, all three of us checked out Little India. We walked around and took in the sights of beautiful saree's, fresh vegetable and fruits stand, and the scents of curries and incense wafted in the air. Joey and I were craving Indian food. (Not unusual for us) so we went to a vegetarian restaurant for some thali's. For those of you who don't know what a thali is, it's either bread, rice (biryani) or both, with tons of curries, sauces, and chutneys. It's an array of delicious things. They are very filling, and some places also do unlimited refills. Its a cheap way to get ridiculously stuffed.
Later that day, Ren had to go to work, so Joey and I braved Orchard street. We (well, really it was me) had to exercise self control not to buy all the cool things for sale in the many malls on this road. We searched far and wide for the Lonely Planet Indonesia guide but came home with nothing.
Later that night we met up with Ren again and a few of his friends to check out the Mosaic music festival. Ren wanted to see the Philippino band that was playing. I don't know what it is about Singaporeans but they are absolutely the worst audience for music festivals, especially hiphop or any music you can dance to. First off, everyone was sitting. No one was dancing. In a sea of over 200 people, there was maybe 5 people nodding their heads or moving slightly. Another 100 were watching the show through their camera as they took video. The others sat in silence. Joey and I couldn't believe it, so we tried to compensate for their meekness with hooting and hollering. You could tell the artists on stage were quite frustrated with their comatose audience. I felt embarrassed for Singaporeans. This was a very bad representation of their coolness/liveliness. After that luke warm experience, we headed home because we were all tired.
Joey and I had to wake up early to continue our quest for the Indonesia book. Our day was quite uneventful. It involved the MTR and a bazillion malls. Finally we found our book and it was about time to meet Ren for dinner. We met him at city hall and walked to an outdoor market with every food you could possibly imagine. It was awesome. We were really thankful to be with someone who knew a little about the city. Ren is from Manila and only moved to Singapore a couple of months ago. We enjoyed seeing the inside scoop of Singapore despite there not being much. Overall both of us found Singapore to be a very boring city because we didn't have money to buy monetary goods. We were glad to be leaving this morning to somewhere more adventurous. Like Sumatra.
Our host, Ren, took us to his place where we dropped off our bags. After we got a bit settled he took us to a couple of local hangout spots in Singapore. It was a Saturday night after all. We decided to hang out total backpacker style. Go to the corner store and buy your beer there and then find somewhere nice to drink. There were tons of young Singaporeans and backpackers in the Clarke Quay party zone. Many were dressed to the nines and the smell of expensive perfume hung in the air. I was content wearing my grubby lululemon's and a tiger beer in hand, while sitting on a bridge. Joey and I like to keep it classy. People watching was fun enough for us anyways.
We walked around the club area and saw quite a few interesting bars. There was one that was hospital themed where the seating area looked like a waiting room and some of the chairs were wheelchairs. The coolest thing was that your drink could come in an IV with it's very own stand. Absolute pure genius. There was also a Burger King bar. If I liked Burger King that would have impressed me. There were lots of other bars, but most of them were just your typical fancy pants ones.
The next day, all three of us checked out Little India. We walked around and took in the sights of beautiful saree's, fresh vegetable and fruits stand, and the scents of curries and incense wafted in the air. Joey and I were craving Indian food. (Not unusual for us) so we went to a vegetarian restaurant for some thali's. For those of you who don't know what a thali is, it's either bread, rice (biryani) or both, with tons of curries, sauces, and chutneys. It's an array of delicious things. They are very filling, and some places also do unlimited refills. Its a cheap way to get ridiculously stuffed.
Later that day, Ren had to go to work, so Joey and I braved Orchard street. We (well, really it was me) had to exercise self control not to buy all the cool things for sale in the many malls on this road. We searched far and wide for the Lonely Planet Indonesia guide but came home with nothing.
Later that night we met up with Ren again and a few of his friends to check out the Mosaic music festival. Ren wanted to see the Philippino band that was playing. I don't know what it is about Singaporeans but they are absolutely the worst audience for music festivals, especially hiphop or any music you can dance to. First off, everyone was sitting. No one was dancing. In a sea of over 200 people, there was maybe 5 people nodding their heads or moving slightly. Another 100 were watching the show through their camera as they took video. The others sat in silence. Joey and I couldn't believe it, so we tried to compensate for their meekness with hooting and hollering. You could tell the artists on stage were quite frustrated with their comatose audience. I felt embarrassed for Singaporeans. This was a very bad representation of their coolness/liveliness. After that luke warm experience, we headed home because we were all tired.
Joey and I had to wake up early to continue our quest for the Indonesia book. Our day was quite uneventful. It involved the MTR and a bazillion malls. Finally we found our book and it was about time to meet Ren for dinner. We met him at city hall and walked to an outdoor market with every food you could possibly imagine. It was awesome. We were really thankful to be with someone who knew a little about the city. Ren is from Manila and only moved to Singapore a couple of months ago. We enjoyed seeing the inside scoop of Singapore despite there not being much. Overall both of us found Singapore to be a very boring city because we didn't have money to buy monetary goods. We were glad to be leaving this morning to somewhere more adventurous. Like Sumatra.
Don't let the bed bugs bite!
After our brief rendez-vous in the Perhentian Islands it was time to hit the big city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (KL for short). We had heard it was quite a boring city with not much to do. This was definitely the case but Joey and I made the best of it by making an effort to see this sites the city does have.
We arrived by night bus (surprise surprise) quite early in the morning and started to walk over to the monorail through a somewhat sketchy part of town. It was 6 in the morning and not many people were out, which made it even more scary. We made it to the monorail safely and were on our way to the Golden Triangle which is a section of town where all the nightlife and shopping is. It's also apparently where the guesthouses don't have bedbugs, unlike the Chinatown neighbour!
Our guesthouse was on top of what seemed to be an abandoned restaurant. We were greeted by the guesthouse owner who was very nice and helpful. Joey and I still had plenty of time to sleep so we could be refreshed and awake for our day of sightseeing. When we got into our room we inspected for bedbugs because thats what Lonely Planet said to do. It looked like the bed was clear from bugs so we slept soundly!
After our 4 hour nap to make up for the bad sleep on the bus the night before we headed for Chinatown and Little India. Both of which were quite disappointing. It's not like in Canada where there is traditional Chinese architecture and paintings. It's pretty much a modern part of town with a market running through it, not too mention full of other tourists! After that we headed to Little India, which was a little bit more authentic without all the dirt! The smell of curry and incense was delectable.
We decided to make the most of our day and head over to the National Mosque. For those of you who don't know, Islam is Malaysia's official religion and a vast majority of Malays are muslim. The mosque wasn't exactly what Joey was expecting but I thought the architecture was quite modern and pleasing to the eye. Joey was expecting a more traditional looking mosque. Both of us had to wear ugly purple robes. Joey had to cover his tattoos and I had to cover everything but my face. I'm glad the robe was my favourite colour because I may have otherwise been not too pleased. We got a nice tour from a volunteer lady who gave us some insight to the meaning of the architecture in the building. She also showed us some pamphlets on Islam. I am quite curious about this religion for many reasons. This brochures were very informative about why they dress the way the do, what jihad is, what is Ramadan, and why they don't eat pork. It was actually quite interesting.\
That night we woke up to a bedbug feast. Would have been ok if I hadn't been what they were feasting on! We found about 20 bedbugs in the bed. Many of which were full of my blood when we killed them. They weren't attracted to Joey at all, but loved me. After a killing spree we felt ok to go to sleep again. 2 hours later I woke up and turned on the light to see more of the pests in the bed. After another raid, I had a hard time falling back asleep. Despite paying $20 a night for a room, we were still having to deal with bedbugs. It is definitely an apparent problem that guesthouses in KL have to deal with on a daily and weekly basis. We know the place we were staying in was clean and it wasn't because of them (it's more likely other travelers who transfer the bugs) so we decided to stay there for a second night. The next night we just armed ourselves with DEET and checking the bed every 3 hours. We were okay!
The next day Joey and I made our way over to the Petronas Towers which are the 5th tallest buildings in the world. Big whoopty doo. We went quite early in the morning to get our free ticket to go to the bridge that connects the two tours. We had to wait until 4:45 for our showing, so we ended up staying in the mall all day. Both of us bought rash guards for diving and then we saw Alice in Wonderland in the theatre which was quite fun. The bridge itself was only 42 storeys up so it was nothing spectacular, neither was the 3D propaganda Petronas movie we were forced to watch.
The next day we were glad to be getting out of KL. Although it was a nice clean city, there wasn't much to do, and besides it's a city. Joey and I have learned from this trip we don't like cities. Unfortunate for us we were headed to Singapore!
We arrived by night bus (surprise surprise) quite early in the morning and started to walk over to the monorail through a somewhat sketchy part of town. It was 6 in the morning and not many people were out, which made it even more scary. We made it to the monorail safely and were on our way to the Golden Triangle which is a section of town where all the nightlife and shopping is. It's also apparently where the guesthouses don't have bedbugs, unlike the Chinatown neighbour!
Our guesthouse was on top of what seemed to be an abandoned restaurant. We were greeted by the guesthouse owner who was very nice and helpful. Joey and I still had plenty of time to sleep so we could be refreshed and awake for our day of sightseeing. When we got into our room we inspected for bedbugs because thats what Lonely Planet said to do. It looked like the bed was clear from bugs so we slept soundly!
After our 4 hour nap to make up for the bad sleep on the bus the night before we headed for Chinatown and Little India. Both of which were quite disappointing. It's not like in Canada where there is traditional Chinese architecture and paintings. It's pretty much a modern part of town with a market running through it, not too mention full of other tourists! After that we headed to Little India, which was a little bit more authentic without all the dirt! The smell of curry and incense was delectable.
We decided to make the most of our day and head over to the National Mosque. For those of you who don't know, Islam is Malaysia's official religion and a vast majority of Malays are muslim. The mosque wasn't exactly what Joey was expecting but I thought the architecture was quite modern and pleasing to the eye. Joey was expecting a more traditional looking mosque. Both of us had to wear ugly purple robes. Joey had to cover his tattoos and I had to cover everything but my face. I'm glad the robe was my favourite colour because I may have otherwise been not too pleased. We got a nice tour from a volunteer lady who gave us some insight to the meaning of the architecture in the building. She also showed us some pamphlets on Islam. I am quite curious about this religion for many reasons. This brochures were very informative about why they dress the way the do, what jihad is, what is Ramadan, and why they don't eat pork. It was actually quite interesting.\
That night we woke up to a bedbug feast. Would have been ok if I hadn't been what they were feasting on! We found about 20 bedbugs in the bed. Many of which were full of my blood when we killed them. They weren't attracted to Joey at all, but loved me. After a killing spree we felt ok to go to sleep again. 2 hours later I woke up and turned on the light to see more of the pests in the bed. After another raid, I had a hard time falling back asleep. Despite paying $20 a night for a room, we were still having to deal with bedbugs. It is definitely an apparent problem that guesthouses in KL have to deal with on a daily and weekly basis. We know the place we were staying in was clean and it wasn't because of them (it's more likely other travelers who transfer the bugs) so we decided to stay there for a second night. The next night we just armed ourselves with DEET and checking the bed every 3 hours. We were okay!
The next day Joey and I made our way over to the Petronas Towers which are the 5th tallest buildings in the world. Big whoopty doo. We went quite early in the morning to get our free ticket to go to the bridge that connects the two tours. We had to wait until 4:45 for our showing, so we ended up staying in the mall all day. Both of us bought rash guards for diving and then we saw Alice in Wonderland in the theatre which was quite fun. The bridge itself was only 42 storeys up so it was nothing spectacular, neither was the 3D propaganda Petronas movie we were forced to watch.
The next day we were glad to be getting out of KL. Although it was a nice clean city, there wasn't much to do, and besides it's a city. Joey and I have learned from this trip we don't like cities. Unfortunate for us we were headed to Singapore!
Diving in the Perhentian Islands
We pretty much had to pry ourselves away from Annie's homestay. We felt like it was paradise and exactly what we needed at this point in our trip. But all good things must come to an end. Both of us were looking forward to sand and sun in the Perhentian Islands on the East side of Malaysia.
One of the sad things about leaving Annie's was that we had to take yet another night bus. Never are these rides ever fun. This busride was especially craptastic because the bus would stop at random stops throughout the country side and the conductor would yell something out. Being all groggy from our sleeping pills, we would walk up in a panic every single time. To make matters worse, the bus was freezing cold. The Asian addiction of A/C is sometimes unbearable, especially on buses and in movie theatres! Of course it's too hot outside to even think of bringing a sweater, so Joey and I always suffer. Such a hard life!
We arrived in Kuala Besut around 6:30, just in time to buy a ticket for the 8am boats leaving to the islands 15 km off the coast. The boatride was quite calm and when we got to the islands the water was amazingly clear. blue Even being in 8 metre deep water you could see the bottom. We arrived at our resort and had a much deserved 3 hour nap so we could deal with the rest of our day of lazying on the beach.
When we woke up Joey and I went on the search for a diving place that had cheap dives for our Advanced open water certificate. We decided to dive with Alu Alu. The owner seemed kind of slimey but our dive instructor Karl seemed really cool and down to earth. The dives we chose were a wreck dive and a dive to practice our buoyancy.
Our first dive involved a 330 foot long ship wreck (Sugar Wreck) in open ocean. I was quite nervous at first because the waves were choppy and the current was strong. When we began our dive my fears were lessened because the ship looked so neat. It is only a 10 year old wreck so it isn't totally taken over by coral but you can see how fast the sea works to make something unnatural part of itself. So many fish and other sea life surrounded the ship. Our plan was was to dive around the side into the cargo areas that were open instead of actually penetrating the inside which is too advanced for Joey and I at this point. It was kind of eerie to go through the small passage and see all the fish that were hiding in the darkness. The dive was great aside from the poor visibility. The dive season in the Perhentian islands just started so visibility is still not at it's best.
The second dive was at Shark Point quite close to the beach where our resort is. The coral was stunning. Just like in a movie. We saw lots of different coloured fish. First we had to do some boring stuff like float upside down and work on our breathing and buoyancy. Then we go to go through an obstacle course to prove our skills to our instructor. It was kind of neat, but what I really wanted to do was see some sharks and some sea turtles. After the instructional stuff was over we did a bit of a fun dive. We ended up seeing lots of cool fish and a reef shark. I was sad that we didn't see a sea turtle though. Hayley and Tim went on two fun dives and saw turtles both times! No fair!
The next day we had a lazy day on the beach and hung out with Hayley and Tim who had arrived a day after us. We knew this would be our last beach for a while and we wanted to savour every moment of it.
One of the sad things about leaving Annie's was that we had to take yet another night bus. Never are these rides ever fun. This busride was especially craptastic because the bus would stop at random stops throughout the country side and the conductor would yell something out. Being all groggy from our sleeping pills, we would walk up in a panic every single time. To make matters worse, the bus was freezing cold. The Asian addiction of A/C is sometimes unbearable, especially on buses and in movie theatres! Of course it's too hot outside to even think of bringing a sweater, so Joey and I always suffer. Such a hard life!
We arrived in Kuala Besut around 6:30, just in time to buy a ticket for the 8am boats leaving to the islands 15 km off the coast. The boatride was quite calm and when we got to the islands the water was amazingly clear. blue Even being in 8 metre deep water you could see the bottom. We arrived at our resort and had a much deserved 3 hour nap so we could deal with the rest of our day of lazying on the beach.
When we woke up Joey and I went on the search for a diving place that had cheap dives for our Advanced open water certificate. We decided to dive with Alu Alu. The owner seemed kind of slimey but our dive instructor Karl seemed really cool and down to earth. The dives we chose were a wreck dive and a dive to practice our buoyancy.
Our first dive involved a 330 foot long ship wreck (Sugar Wreck) in open ocean. I was quite nervous at first because the waves were choppy and the current was strong. When we began our dive my fears were lessened because the ship looked so neat. It is only a 10 year old wreck so it isn't totally taken over by coral but you can see how fast the sea works to make something unnatural part of itself. So many fish and other sea life surrounded the ship. Our plan was was to dive around the side into the cargo areas that were open instead of actually penetrating the inside which is too advanced for Joey and I at this point. It was kind of eerie to go through the small passage and see all the fish that were hiding in the darkness. The dive was great aside from the poor visibility. The dive season in the Perhentian islands just started so visibility is still not at it's best.
The second dive was at Shark Point quite close to the beach where our resort is. The coral was stunning. Just like in a movie. We saw lots of different coloured fish. First we had to do some boring stuff like float upside down and work on our breathing and buoyancy. Then we go to go through an obstacle course to prove our skills to our instructor. It was kind of neat, but what I really wanted to do was see some sharks and some sea turtles. After the instructional stuff was over we did a bit of a fun dive. We ended up seeing lots of cool fish and a reef shark. I was sad that we didn't see a sea turtle though. Hayley and Tim went on two fun dives and saw turtles both times! No fair!
The next day we had a lazy day on the beach and hung out with Hayley and Tim who had arrived a day after us. We knew this would be our last beach for a while and we wanted to savour every moment of it.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Annie's Homestay in Penang
After feeling like an unwanted foreigner in Thailand for the last 6 weeks, Joey and I were in dire need of a place with people who were friendly and wanted to show us a piece of their life. This is where Annie's homestay came into play. It was a little out of the way and our cabbie got lost, but in the end we were on the doorstop of a cute suburban house.
Later on that day after settling into our room and walking around Batu Ferringhi (a suburb/beach are of Penang), we met our other housemates and Annie! Annie was a cute little Indian woman with a big heart and you could feel this from the moment we met her. Both of us felt at home. Her husband Raj and her kids were as equally awesome.
We were able to do what we wanted, which really made if feel like home for us. Able to cook, watch tv, sleep, and lazy around as we pleased. We met another couple named Hayley and Tim who were really awesome. We went out for a couple of meals and just sat around and talked. Joey and I were glad to have friends again! It had been a while since we had another couple to talk to, especially ones that were cool and easy to get on with.
That day Joey and I went for a walk to the Spice Garden that was about 4km out of town. Oh it was so so so hot outside. Joey was sweating buckets and his shirt grey shirt wasn't so flattering. I wasn't feeling to sexy myself. We stopped off a beach to take pictures of a big monitor lizard that we had seen playing in the waves. Little did we know that Joey couldn't get out of the beach because it was surrounded by walls. Finally he used a slimey two by four to climb up! It was quite funny. At the spice garden we got a guide to show us an assortment of spices and herbs. He told us about the origin, related plans, and my favourite: the medicinal purposes! I had a lot of fun, and Joey pretended too. I am glad that he is so supportive of my interests! I don't many people's partners that would join them to see a Spice Garden!
The second night we were in Penang, all four of us met Annie and Raj for some late night cheap beers at a bar close to their house. It was really great conversation on the beach with the stars. Lots of laughter and learning about eachother's culture. We extended the invitation of a place to stay to Annie and Raj if they ever dare to come to Canada. They are a bit too afraid of the cold. The bar that we were in was filled with Malaysians, not expats which is a rarity for most of the bars we've ever gone to. Most SEA countries we have gone to, the locals don't drink that much. We were glad to finally be drinking with some locals again!
The next day me, Joey, Hayley and Tim went to check out Georgetown. Unfortunately the town closes down on Sundays because most people want to spend that day with the family. We went to Little India for some lunch and attempted to look at the limited shops that were actually open. After lunch we decided to take a stroll down Love Lane, which was a road highlighted in our Lonely Planet. Apparently it's an unsafe place at night because travelers have been mugged, so we didn't think that it would be bad in the day. Little did we know that taking a picture of Love Lane would turn into a full on confrontation from a homeless Indian man. Hayley took a picture of the road sign and wasn't really paying attention if anyone was in the picture. Next thing she knows there is a really tall lanky Indian guy running from across the street trying to steal her camera. Yelling at her in broken English.
The other 3 of us went to her rescue. The man started saying that she was "snacking" at him and that Joey and Tim shouldn't allow her to speak to him like that. When in reality all she said was something along of the lines of "what are you doing? I am taking a picture of the sign." He got quite irate and in her face. Pointing his long gross finger at her face and yelling at her. At this point Joey stepped in and said that it was nothing and that Hayley wasn't doing anything wrong. The guy quickly realized there were 4 of us, and 1 of him. That didn't stop him from threatening Hayley by saying "Next time, I will break your head." He walked further down Love Lane and then disappeared. We walked past him a bit later while he was sitting on a chair. We didn't know what to expect, so we just ignored him and went on our merry way.
Later on that night I helped make a feast with the Swedish couple that was staying at the homestay and Annie. We made pouli's (an Indian flat bread), potato curry and a vegetable dish. It was a lot work to do, but thankfully Annie was such an expert and guided us along the whole way. The dinner afterward was very delicious and rewarding. After dinner Annie thought it would be fun to dress me up in one of her saree's. Oh boy was it ever fun. I have always thought that the saree was a very beautiful dress and I was very excited to see how flattering it would be on me. Annie got all of her gold jewelery and bangles for me to put on as well. It was so much fun putting everything on. I could almost compare it to getting dressed for prom!
After I had the saree on, I came down the stairs of the house like I would have on prom night while everyone looked at him, and Joey snapped pictures. It was like playing house! So much fun. I'm so glad that Annie shared this experience with me. I can't wait to go to India one day and maybe wear a saree.
Later on that day after settling into our room and walking around Batu Ferringhi (a suburb/beach are of Penang), we met our other housemates and Annie! Annie was a cute little Indian woman with a big heart and you could feel this from the moment we met her. Both of us felt at home. Her husband Raj and her kids were as equally awesome.
We were able to do what we wanted, which really made if feel like home for us. Able to cook, watch tv, sleep, and lazy around as we pleased. We met another couple named Hayley and Tim who were really awesome. We went out for a couple of meals and just sat around and talked. Joey and I were glad to have friends again! It had been a while since we had another couple to talk to, especially ones that were cool and easy to get on with.
That day Joey and I went for a walk to the Spice Garden that was about 4km out of town. Oh it was so so so hot outside. Joey was sweating buckets and his shirt grey shirt wasn't so flattering. I wasn't feeling to sexy myself. We stopped off a beach to take pictures of a big monitor lizard that we had seen playing in the waves. Little did we know that Joey couldn't get out of the beach because it was surrounded by walls. Finally he used a slimey two by four to climb up! It was quite funny. At the spice garden we got a guide to show us an assortment of spices and herbs. He told us about the origin, related plans, and my favourite: the medicinal purposes! I had a lot of fun, and Joey pretended too. I am glad that he is so supportive of my interests! I don't many people's partners that would join them to see a Spice Garden!
The second night we were in Penang, all four of us met Annie and Raj for some late night cheap beers at a bar close to their house. It was really great conversation on the beach with the stars. Lots of laughter and learning about eachother's culture. We extended the invitation of a place to stay to Annie and Raj if they ever dare to come to Canada. They are a bit too afraid of the cold. The bar that we were in was filled with Malaysians, not expats which is a rarity for most of the bars we've ever gone to. Most SEA countries we have gone to, the locals don't drink that much. We were glad to finally be drinking with some locals again!
The next day me, Joey, Hayley and Tim went to check out Georgetown. Unfortunately the town closes down on Sundays because most people want to spend that day with the family. We went to Little India for some lunch and attempted to look at the limited shops that were actually open. After lunch we decided to take a stroll down Love Lane, which was a road highlighted in our Lonely Planet. Apparently it's an unsafe place at night because travelers have been mugged, so we didn't think that it would be bad in the day. Little did we know that taking a picture of Love Lane would turn into a full on confrontation from a homeless Indian man. Hayley took a picture of the road sign and wasn't really paying attention if anyone was in the picture. Next thing she knows there is a really tall lanky Indian guy running from across the street trying to steal her camera. Yelling at her in broken English.
The other 3 of us went to her rescue. The man started saying that she was "snacking" at him and that Joey and Tim shouldn't allow her to speak to him like that. When in reality all she said was something along of the lines of "what are you doing? I am taking a picture of the sign." He got quite irate and in her face. Pointing his long gross finger at her face and yelling at her. At this point Joey stepped in and said that it was nothing and that Hayley wasn't doing anything wrong. The guy quickly realized there were 4 of us, and 1 of him. That didn't stop him from threatening Hayley by saying "Next time, I will break your head." He walked further down Love Lane and then disappeared. We walked past him a bit later while he was sitting on a chair. We didn't know what to expect, so we just ignored him and went on our merry way.
Later on that night I helped make a feast with the Swedish couple that was staying at the homestay and Annie. We made pouli's (an Indian flat bread), potato curry and a vegetable dish. It was a lot work to do, but thankfully Annie was such an expert and guided us along the whole way. The dinner afterward was very delicious and rewarding. After dinner Annie thought it would be fun to dress me up in one of her saree's. Oh boy was it ever fun. I have always thought that the saree was a very beautiful dress and I was very excited to see how flattering it would be on me. Annie got all of her gold jewelery and bangles for me to put on as well. It was so much fun putting everything on. I could almost compare it to getting dressed for prom!
After I had the saree on, I came down the stairs of the house like I would have on prom night while everyone looked at him, and Joey snapped pictures. It was like playing house! So much fun. I'm so glad that Annie shared this experience with me. I can't wait to go to India one day and maybe wear a saree.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Fast Forward Through Southern Thailand
Ok... We spent another 3 weeks in Southern Thailand. I will do a brief blog because I would rather be writing about present things because it's way easier to do so. My thoughts are fresh and I would really be sad if I forgot some things about Malaysia! I apologize in advance for this very vague blog about Southern Thailand. What you need to know about Southern Thailand is that it is seriously overrun with tourists, people are always trying to rip you off, you can't really trust anyone, there is lots of partying and prostitutes, and most of the food is hit or miss!
Bangkok ---> Krabi
Joey and I decided to skip out on Bangkok and fly directly to Krabi. This involved spending 8 hours in the Bangkok airport. We decided to pamper ourselves. I got my nails done and Joey got a bad haircut :)
In Krabi we arrived late at night and found it hard to find a place to stay. We finally found a place called Guesthouse No. 7. We got an amazing room called Peachy Peach. It was comfy, had bunk beds and had a/c. For only $15 we were in heaven.
Krabi ---> Ko Lanta
Ko Lanta is an island off the coast of Krabi. It's predominantly a muslim island so it is quite conservative there. It's a great place for families and if you're looking to relax and not party. We found a place called New Coconut Resort. Our room was quite gross and quite literally falling apart. We also had a horrible ant infestation. The plus side was that we were on the beach, so who cared.
Joey and I spent 5 days there snorkeling, hiking and exploring the island. It was quite relaxing after being in stressful Myanmar for the last two weeks.
Joey got a tattoo the night before we left with a guy who had a tattoo place by our resort. This Thai guy used to be a monk and lived in England for 10 years as a tattoo artist. He had a clean workspace and told us all about his sanitation standards. Both of us felt comfortable with him so we decided this would be a good option for Joey because the tattoos in Thailand are considerably cheaper than back home.
Joey started his tattoo at 8pm because the guy didn't have any a/c in his tattoo studio. They stopped to have a break at 1am, and then continued on until the early morning at 5 am. Joey and I had to be up bright and early to catch a bus back to Krabi at 6:30.
Krabi ---> Ko Samui and Oklahoma?
Joey had a tough time in Burma trying to work because of the lack of internet and internet speed. His work was unimpressed with his work and was seriously contemplating hiring someone else for Joey's position. Not wanting to jepordize his job any further Joey decided to go to headquarters in Stillwater Oklahoma for a week to fix some big problems that their umbrella company was experiencing.
Joey had a great time with airport delays. He was so fortunate enough to have lost his baggage in Chicago and only have flips flops and shorts to wear to work the next morning in Oklahoma. The next week he spent fixing problems and socializing with work people.
While Joey was away I head to Ko Samui by myself. I stayed at a great place called Samui Dojo Resort which was ran by a British man named Geoff. Over the next week I got to know him and his family. I also explored the beach of Lamai and focused on getting back in shape by going for runs everynight. I really missed Joey though!
Ko Samui (Joey's back!!!)
Joey and I spent another 2 days on Ko Samui. We rented a scooter and explored more of the island. We went to an amazing restaurant called Radiance. We fell in love with their vegan food. We especially loved the Raw Vegan Pizza. It was absolutely to die for.
Ko Samui ---> Ko Tao
We decided to see what Ko Tao was all about. We had heard that it was a smaller island with amazing diving. Both of us didn't intend on doing our Open Water PADI course in Ko Tao, but we were convinced by a sales guys from a diving school called Ban's. Next thing you know we're doing the confined underwater with our instructor Tom (who was awesome by the way). It was only us two in our class which was awesome because we breezed through things and were super comfortable with the pace of the class. Diving in the ocean for the first time was unreal. There is so much life. Most of it in beautiful colours and shapes. Both of us were awestruck and in love with this underwater world. During our dives we saw all kinds of fish, and coral formations. The coolest thing we saw was a Sea Snake. They are one of the most deadly snakes in the world but they are not aggressive towards divers. Thank goodness! It took us 2 days to complete our PADI.
Ko Tao ---> Ko Samui
Joey and I were desperate to see the Canada vs. USA hockey game. We looked everywhere and had convinced a Swiss guy who owned a restaurant to stay open until 6 am in the morning so we could watch the game. We realized that we didn't want to watch it by ourselves, so we opted to watch a recorded game the next morning in a bar where we knew there would be other Canadians. There was us, 3 other Canadians and 1 American in the bar at 9am. It was a very intense 3 hours. None of us knew the outcome and were willing to kill anyone who dared tell us. When Canada finally won all the Canadians were super stoked! We sang the national anthem and jumped around like crazy. The American guy left before the awards with a pissed look on his face. The staff in the bar were unimpressed by hockey and kept on asking us if it was over so they could put on MTV. We held our own and continued to watch the festivities!
Ko Samui ---> Ko Phagnan
Full Moon party was next on our agenda. We weren't sure what to expect from the biggest party in the world. It was basically a huge drug and drunk fest. Not really our cup of tea! We did have fun taking in the sights and having a few beers. We found some other Canadians during the party and danced with them for a bit. Other than that, we pretty much just walked around and laughed at the craziness of it all.
Islands ---> Krabi
Yet again we were back at good old Krabi. This time we were there for the rock climbing which is some of the best in the world. The scenery is amazing. Climbing up rock right on the beach couldn't have gotten any better. We met up with a really awesome pair of Canadians called Wade and Kerry. Both of us were starting to get homesick and really just wanted to talk to other Canadians. We had a great time discussing hockey, ice fishing and hunting for wild game.
Krabi ---> Malaysia!
Pretty much sat on a bus all day. It was quite uneventful!
Bangkok ---> Krabi
Joey and I decided to skip out on Bangkok and fly directly to Krabi. This involved spending 8 hours in the Bangkok airport. We decided to pamper ourselves. I got my nails done and Joey got a bad haircut :)
In Krabi we arrived late at night and found it hard to find a place to stay. We finally found a place called Guesthouse No. 7. We got an amazing room called Peachy Peach. It was comfy, had bunk beds and had a/c. For only $15 we were in heaven.
Krabi ---> Ko Lanta
Ko Lanta is an island off the coast of Krabi. It's predominantly a muslim island so it is quite conservative there. It's a great place for families and if you're looking to relax and not party. We found a place called New Coconut Resort. Our room was quite gross and quite literally falling apart. We also had a horrible ant infestation. The plus side was that we were on the beach, so who cared.
Joey and I spent 5 days there snorkeling, hiking and exploring the island. It was quite relaxing after being in stressful Myanmar for the last two weeks.
Joey got a tattoo the night before we left with a guy who had a tattoo place by our resort. This Thai guy used to be a monk and lived in England for 10 years as a tattoo artist. He had a clean workspace and told us all about his sanitation standards. Both of us felt comfortable with him so we decided this would be a good option for Joey because the tattoos in Thailand are considerably cheaper than back home.
Joey started his tattoo at 8pm because the guy didn't have any a/c in his tattoo studio. They stopped to have a break at 1am, and then continued on until the early morning at 5 am. Joey and I had to be up bright and early to catch a bus back to Krabi at 6:30.
Krabi ---> Ko Samui and Oklahoma?
Joey had a tough time in Burma trying to work because of the lack of internet and internet speed. His work was unimpressed with his work and was seriously contemplating hiring someone else for Joey's position. Not wanting to jepordize his job any further Joey decided to go to headquarters in Stillwater Oklahoma for a week to fix some big problems that their umbrella company was experiencing.
Joey had a great time with airport delays. He was so fortunate enough to have lost his baggage in Chicago and only have flips flops and shorts to wear to work the next morning in Oklahoma. The next week he spent fixing problems and socializing with work people.
While Joey was away I head to Ko Samui by myself. I stayed at a great place called Samui Dojo Resort which was ran by a British man named Geoff. Over the next week I got to know him and his family. I also explored the beach of Lamai and focused on getting back in shape by going for runs everynight. I really missed Joey though!
Ko Samui (Joey's back!!!)
Joey and I spent another 2 days on Ko Samui. We rented a scooter and explored more of the island. We went to an amazing restaurant called Radiance. We fell in love with their vegan food. We especially loved the Raw Vegan Pizza. It was absolutely to die for.
Ko Samui ---> Ko Tao
We decided to see what Ko Tao was all about. We had heard that it was a smaller island with amazing diving. Both of us didn't intend on doing our Open Water PADI course in Ko Tao, but we were convinced by a sales guys from a diving school called Ban's. Next thing you know we're doing the confined underwater with our instructor Tom (who was awesome by the way). It was only us two in our class which was awesome because we breezed through things and were super comfortable with the pace of the class. Diving in the ocean for the first time was unreal. There is so much life. Most of it in beautiful colours and shapes. Both of us were awestruck and in love with this underwater world. During our dives we saw all kinds of fish, and coral formations. The coolest thing we saw was a Sea Snake. They are one of the most deadly snakes in the world but they are not aggressive towards divers. Thank goodness! It took us 2 days to complete our PADI.
Ko Tao ---> Ko Samui
Joey and I were desperate to see the Canada vs. USA hockey game. We looked everywhere and had convinced a Swiss guy who owned a restaurant to stay open until 6 am in the morning so we could watch the game. We realized that we didn't want to watch it by ourselves, so we opted to watch a recorded game the next morning in a bar where we knew there would be other Canadians. There was us, 3 other Canadians and 1 American in the bar at 9am. It was a very intense 3 hours. None of us knew the outcome and were willing to kill anyone who dared tell us. When Canada finally won all the Canadians were super stoked! We sang the national anthem and jumped around like crazy. The American guy left before the awards with a pissed look on his face. The staff in the bar were unimpressed by hockey and kept on asking us if it was over so they could put on MTV. We held our own and continued to watch the festivities!
Ko Samui ---> Ko Phagnan
Full Moon party was next on our agenda. We weren't sure what to expect from the biggest party in the world. It was basically a huge drug and drunk fest. Not really our cup of tea! We did have fun taking in the sights and having a few beers. We found some other Canadians during the party and danced with them for a bit. Other than that, we pretty much just walked around and laughed at the craziness of it all.
Islands ---> Krabi
Yet again we were back at good old Krabi. This time we were there for the rock climbing which is some of the best in the world. The scenery is amazing. Climbing up rock right on the beach couldn't have gotten any better. We met up with a really awesome pair of Canadians called Wade and Kerry. Both of us were starting to get homesick and really just wanted to talk to other Canadians. We had a great time discussing hockey, ice fishing and hunting for wild game.
Krabi ---> Malaysia!
Pretty much sat on a bus all day. It was quite uneventful!
Yangon again!
Joey and I got back to Yangon on Feb 6th because we wanted to have a day to spend with our monk friend. We had told him that we would be back on the 4th but weren't able to make that deadline. Apparently he was quite worried and had called our guesthouse looking for us. He was worried that we were hurt.
We went over to his monastery to find him but he wasn't there. So we hung out in a tea shop from across the street hoping we could see him walking there before his polyscript class in the afternoon. We finally found out from another monk that he was sleeping! So we waited a bit more and then decided to brave the monastery. We accidentally interrupted a prayer class trying to get to his room. Joey and I decided not to go any further because we didn't want to disturb anyone. Next thing we know our monk friend is running after us!
He invited us into his room and we showed him all the pictures we took of Myanmar. We also showed him pictures of our travels in Cambodia and Vietnam. He was especially interested in the temple pictures. Burmese people can have no dreams of traveling because most of them are either not allowed to leave the country, or don't have the money to do so. Joey and I decided we would show him what we had seen, and even some pictures of Canada. He was very happy. By the end we even had an audience of novice monks who came to look at the pictures. It was really fun.
We said goodbye to monk friend because we had to get ready for our flight the next day and he had to go to prayer. It was quite sad because we truly felt like we made a friend in a foreign country. We also felt sad because we wanted to show him the world and what else is out there. It felt silly to say "Any time when you're in Canada give us a call." It's just not simple like that with the Burmese which is sad.
That night Joey and I got ready to leave Myanmar. Both of us felt like we could have spent more time there, but with Joey's work 2 weeks was all it could be. Maybe one day we will visit this country again and come see our monk friend in his old age. I hope so.
We went over to his monastery to find him but he wasn't there. So we hung out in a tea shop from across the street hoping we could see him walking there before his polyscript class in the afternoon. We finally found out from another monk that he was sleeping! So we waited a bit more and then decided to brave the monastery. We accidentally interrupted a prayer class trying to get to his room. Joey and I decided not to go any further because we didn't want to disturb anyone. Next thing we know our monk friend is running after us!
He invited us into his room and we showed him all the pictures we took of Myanmar. We also showed him pictures of our travels in Cambodia and Vietnam. He was especially interested in the temple pictures. Burmese people can have no dreams of traveling because most of them are either not allowed to leave the country, or don't have the money to do so. Joey and I decided we would show him what we had seen, and even some pictures of Canada. He was very happy. By the end we even had an audience of novice monks who came to look at the pictures. It was really fun.
We said goodbye to monk friend because we had to get ready for our flight the next day and he had to go to prayer. It was quite sad because we truly felt like we made a friend in a foreign country. We also felt sad because we wanted to show him the world and what else is out there. It felt silly to say "Any time when you're in Canada give us a call." It's just not simple like that with the Burmese which is sad.
That night Joey and I got ready to leave Myanmar. Both of us felt like we could have spent more time there, but with Joey's work 2 weeks was all it could be. Maybe one day we will visit this country again and come see our monk friend in his old age. I hope so.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Sorry for being tardy on blog posts
Hey everyone,
I just wanted to apologize for being behind on the blogs. In Burma I wasn't able to write on the blog because it was blocked and I kind of got out the routine. Also, I've been really busy applying for Universities which as taken up a lot more of my time than expected. I will try to get back on track! Just bear with me.
Cheers!
I just wanted to apologize for being behind on the blogs. In Burma I wasn't able to write on the blog because it was blocked and I kind of got out the routine. Also, I've been really busy applying for Universities which as taken up a lot more of my time than expected. I will try to get back on track! Just bear with me.
Cheers!
Mandalay to Inle Lake
After all the temple fun in Bagan we headed to Mandalay where we parted ways with Andrew, Germaine and Eugenie. We arrived quite late but didn't have trouble finding a place to stay. We decided to check out a food stall mentioned in our Lonely Planet called the Chapati Stand. Oh my, was I ever glad that we did. It was just a couple of cooks cooking outside in a make shift kitchen with a bunch of children's plastic chairs scattered around the side walk. Nothing too fancy that is for sure. The food itself was absolutely amazing. We got chapatis, curried chicken and bottomless dhal. We were in heaven. Along with a Myanmar beer, our meal cost us less than $5.
The next day Joey and I did not do much. Most of the sights to see in Mandalay you have to pay a fee. This fee goes straight into the government's pocket. This is something we would rather avoid. So instead, we walked around in the less touristy places of Mandalay and looked through markets scattered around the city. I could see that Mandalay was not as friendly as Yangon, and it was certainly more dirty. We sort of wished that we had gone to see the Amanpura bridge, but we were feeling cheap and didn't want to risk getting caught without a ticket issued by the government.
That night we left on a sleeper bus. All throughout Asia the word "sleeper bus" has it's own meaning. In Vietnam the buses actually had beds, Cambodia had really soft and cushy chairs with blankets and pillows, Thailand had hard chairs that recline really far and sometimes with a pillow... Myanmar, I don't think got the memo. It was pretty much an old transit bus from Korea. The seats were so tiny and they didn't even have a head rest. It's great if you're a midget, but it's a real neck breaker for tall people like us. haha.
We watched a Burmese movie for 2 hours at a very loud volume. We felt kind of left out because the whole bus was laughing quite hard. Joey and I took a couple of sleeping pills and we were out like lights. It was probably the bumpiest ride we have been on and probably the least comfortable. We were glad to have reached the outskirts of Inle Lake at 4 am which was 3 hours earlier than expected. What we didn't expect was the absolute FREEZING cold. Both wearing shorts and a t-shirt with sandals we got out of the bus to catch a songtheaw (a truck taxi with seats in the back box) where we attempted to put on every piece of warm clothing we owned in the pitch black.
The taxi driver drove us around town trying to find a place that would take us in this early in the morning. Unfortunately this involved waking up a lot of people. We finally found a place that had a room available for us. We were so so so glad to be laying our heads down on a bed.
The next morning we walked around the cute town in Inle Lake. It was quite small and not much to see. Joey was glad that they had an internet cafe with internet that wasn't entirely slow. Internet in Myanmar is still agonizingly slow, but it was almost bearable at this one place.
We found a longboat driver to take us for a tour of Inle Lake the next day. He was pretty excited because he hadn't had a customer for 7 days. We promised to meet him in the morning at 8am.
We set off with our boat driver the next morning. It was quite cold so we were bundled up with hoodies and scarves. We first went to the floating gardens which were pretty impressively. Basically they are gardens that float on water. Our driver didn't speak English very well so we never actually learned why they floated like that. It was definitely neat to see all their veggies, herbs and flowers floating beds. It would be be a cool thing to attempt at home but I think it would take practice.
After that we checked out some silver and silk shops. We watched them make silk scarves and silver jewellery. I was more interested in the silk but most of it was quite expensive. The silver jewellery was nothing special. After that we went to a cigarette making place. Joey and I had already bought a big pack of cigarettes from the market to share with all our smoking relatives (you know who you are haha). They are made out of grape leafs, tabacco, bamboo filter and glutinous rice glue to keep it together. We bought 20 or 30 of them for 20 cents. At the cigarette making place they wanted $4 and they were the exact same brand.
We finished the day with a temple and headed back home. All along the way we saw fisherman using different techniques to catch fish. Some of them were even rowing the boats with their legs, which was quite impressive.
That night we had a tasty dinner at a tea shop and went to bed early because we had a flight back to Yangon the next day.
The next day Joey and I did not do much. Most of the sights to see in Mandalay you have to pay a fee. This fee goes straight into the government's pocket. This is something we would rather avoid. So instead, we walked around in the less touristy places of Mandalay and looked through markets scattered around the city. I could see that Mandalay was not as friendly as Yangon, and it was certainly more dirty. We sort of wished that we had gone to see the Amanpura bridge, but we were feeling cheap and didn't want to risk getting caught without a ticket issued by the government.
That night we left on a sleeper bus. All throughout Asia the word "sleeper bus" has it's own meaning. In Vietnam the buses actually had beds, Cambodia had really soft and cushy chairs with blankets and pillows, Thailand had hard chairs that recline really far and sometimes with a pillow... Myanmar, I don't think got the memo. It was pretty much an old transit bus from Korea. The seats were so tiny and they didn't even have a head rest. It's great if you're a midget, but it's a real neck breaker for tall people like us. haha.
We watched a Burmese movie for 2 hours at a very loud volume. We felt kind of left out because the whole bus was laughing quite hard. Joey and I took a couple of sleeping pills and we were out like lights. It was probably the bumpiest ride we have been on and probably the least comfortable. We were glad to have reached the outskirts of Inle Lake at 4 am which was 3 hours earlier than expected. What we didn't expect was the absolute FREEZING cold. Both wearing shorts and a t-shirt with sandals we got out of the bus to catch a songtheaw (a truck taxi with seats in the back box) where we attempted to put on every piece of warm clothing we owned in the pitch black.
The taxi driver drove us around town trying to find a place that would take us in this early in the morning. Unfortunately this involved waking up a lot of people. We finally found a place that had a room available for us. We were so so so glad to be laying our heads down on a bed.
The next morning we walked around the cute town in Inle Lake. It was quite small and not much to see. Joey was glad that they had an internet cafe with internet that wasn't entirely slow. Internet in Myanmar is still agonizingly slow, but it was almost bearable at this one place.
We found a longboat driver to take us for a tour of Inle Lake the next day. He was pretty excited because he hadn't had a customer for 7 days. We promised to meet him in the morning at 8am.
We set off with our boat driver the next morning. It was quite cold so we were bundled up with hoodies and scarves. We first went to the floating gardens which were pretty impressively. Basically they are gardens that float on water. Our driver didn't speak English very well so we never actually learned why they floated like that. It was definitely neat to see all their veggies, herbs and flowers floating beds. It would be be a cool thing to attempt at home but I think it would take practice.
After that we checked out some silver and silk shops. We watched them make silk scarves and silver jewellery. I was more interested in the silk but most of it was quite expensive. The silver jewellery was nothing special. After that we went to a cigarette making place. Joey and I had already bought a big pack of cigarettes from the market to share with all our smoking relatives (you know who you are haha). They are made out of grape leafs, tabacco, bamboo filter and glutinous rice glue to keep it together. We bought 20 or 30 of them for 20 cents. At the cigarette making place they wanted $4 and they were the exact same brand.
We finished the day with a temple and headed back home. All along the way we saw fisherman using different techniques to catch fish. Some of them were even rowing the boats with their legs, which was quite impressive.
That night we had a tasty dinner at a tea shop and went to bed early because we had a flight back to Yangon the next day.
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