Around 11:00ish a.m. we arrived back in Pak Bara. Before leaving for Ko Tarutao three days earlier, we purchased tickets for the "big bus" to Krabi. We figured that we would be able to take the 12:00 p.m. bus (the woman promised us the buses ran hourly from 10 am until 1 pm) but in reality the noontime "big bus" didn't exist. Instead the travel agency squeezed Lindsay and I into a crowded mini-bus with two Canadians, two Germans, and three Brits for the four hour rideto Krabi. We drove about three-quarters of the way and then began making stops in the town of Trang. Everyone become confused, not really sure who (if anybody) was supposed to be getting out the bus. At the third stop in Trang (arond 3:00 p.m.), the driver told Lindsay and I plus the two Germans and two of the Brits (Gavin and Susie) to board another bus that would take us all the way to Krabi. We were all a little confused, but did as we were told. The bus to Krabi was a pink double decker with gold dangly decorations in the windows and a tv blaring bad Thai pop music. The bus was pretty attrocious...as was the sour looking Thai woman (or lady boy?) who was constantly skulking through the aisles collecting tickets and moving passengers around.
From Trang the ride to Krabi lasted roughly 2 hours. The ride was longer than we expected because the double decker made local stops along the entire journey. Although the bus looked sturdy it felt a little wobbly and with all of the starts/stops (and the bad Thai music videos), I began to feel car sick. And adding to my amusement, when someone started smoking on the bottom floor of the bus, the ashes traveled through the air con up to the top deck and right onto my clean white shirt! Really classy.
We finally arrived in Krabi around 5:00 pm and along with Gavin and Susie hired a driver to take us to the pier, followed by a longtail boat to Railay Beach. Although Railay Beach isn't on an island, you have to access the area by boat because towering limestone cliffs make overland transportation impossible. We arrived in Railay around 6:30 p.m. after 10 hours of traveling! The longtail boat ride was actually very enjoyable, definitely the best so far. We boarded the boat not from a pier but instead walked onto a mangrove tidal flat and climbed into the vessel from there (actually I don't think anyone liked this but me). It was sunset so the sky and ocean looked beautiful; puttering by the dramatic cliffs rising out of the sea really made me excited for our stay.
Lindsay and I settled into a hotel on East Railay Beach called the Viewpoint Hotel and then tiredly went to dinner next door at the Diamond Cave Resort. I ordered a ham and cheese baguette thinking that I would eat some tasty pork on a French-style baguette. Wrong! Apparently H&C baguette means cheeseburger in Thailand. It was pretty funny and I was so hungry that I didn't argue. Gavin and Susie came down to eat with us after a while and we had a nice time chatting with them (they are from the UK but just recently moved to Sydney). G&S were still eating but Lindsay and I were getting tired, so we decided to pay our tab and hit the hay. Lindsay asked one of the many waiters for our bill but when it didn't arrive after 15 minutes we decided to approach the waiters station to pay there. It seems that we invaded their space because the staff looked ruffled and told us to return to our table. After no one brought us our bill after a few more minutes, Lindsay was on her feet chasing after any server she could find. I continued to sit with G&S and we were all amused watching Lindsay run around the restaurant waving her wallet. Finally we put money into the hands of a waiter and went off to bed. And in case you were wondering, that was the worst restaurant service Lindsay has ever experienced...ever.
The next morning we slept in and then went down towards West Railay Beach for breakfast at the Yaya Resort. While we were waiting for our food to arrive, Lindsay and I were aimlessly chatting when THUD!...something hit the table on the spot where my plate would be and then fell into my lap. Dazed, I looked down and on my leg was a green tree snake! I jumped out of my seat and the snake fell to the ground and slithered away. It was so funny, good thing my pancake hadn't arrived yet!
After breakfast Lindsay and I signed up for a four hour afternoon rock climbing session and then for an all day kayaking trip for the following day (Tuesday). At two o'clock we headed over to the rock climbing place and were happy to see that G&S had signed up to climb as well. The four of us grabbed our shoes and harnesses and headed over to some nearby cliffs. I really love rock climbing! My favorite instructor was named Gob: a cute, Thai, hippie climber. He was really happy that I had climbing experience and loved that I live in a snowy region
of the US. He really challenged me with the climbing routes and said that all of the bruises I gained made me a hardcore climber, rock on! Actually my legs got bruised up pretty badly, definitely the ugliest my stems have looked in a while. Gob insisted that the reason that I bruise is because I'm white...don't Thai people get bruises? The mosquitoes drove us from the cliffs around dusk and then Lindsay and I met up with G&S for dinner at The Rock. Lindsay and I shared a tasty (but spicy) chicken satay with rice, and I also nibbled on about a quarter of Susie's vegetable pad thai...
I will admit that during the four days prior to this evening, my bowel movements weren't what I call normal. But beginning at 3:30 a.m. I began having terrible diarrhea every 45 minutes and that seemed really wrong. Lindsay woke up around 6:30 a.m. and her stomach wasn't feeling 100% great but decided to get ready for our kayaking trip with G&S. Somewhere between my 100th and 101st trip to the ivory tower I decided to bypass kayaking: diarrhea plus paddling makes me anxious. It was around 8 a.m. and Lindsay was asking whether I wanted her to stay with me or whether she should go ahead with the boat trip. As she was speaking I shot of bed and ran into the bathroom to vomit. Great. Well that sealed the deal and Lindsay went down to the kayaking place to reschedule our trip. She met Gavin there, who was looking rather peaked, and he told her that Susie was up in their room with diarrhea and vomiting. It turned out that all eight people that were supposed to go kayaking that morning (four other people besides G&S, Lindsay and I) canceled because of illness! Lindsay's "tourists disease", i.e. food poisoning, kicked in that morning as well and we spent the rest of day depressed and feeling nauseus.
We went to bed early and woke up on Wednesday starving but still feeling a bit queezy. Lindsay felt well enough to go kayaking (as did G&S) but I opted to give my body a little more rest and stay behind. After some interneting, I noshed on a banana and Ritz crackers and headed to Pranang Cave and beach--I had a lovely morning lying in the shade watching some scampering monkeys and reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. When the sun began to peak out from behind the cliffs, I moved on to a nice restaurant on West Railay Beach for something benign to nibble. I decided on French onion soup broth, yum yum. I hung out in the restaurant for a while to finish reading my book and then moved poolside to listen to some tunes (up until that point I was still being plagued by the sappy Thai love songs from the double decker bus). On my way back to the hotel to meet Lindsay I chatted with some friendly Thai hippies and then wandered through Diamond Cave.
By the time sunset rolled around I was starving and was pleased that my GI tract had experienced minimal flare ups during the afternoon. While sipping my broth at lunch I noticed some very tasty looking pizzas being delivered to tables around me. Therefore we returned to the Railay Bay Hotel for dinner and I promptly devoured an entire pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham, artichokes, mushrooms, onions and garlic = so good). After that Lindsay and I returned to the hotel, prepared our things for the morning departure to Ko Phi Phi and went to bed.
Next stop: Ko Phi Phi.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
January 16-19, Pak Bara and Ko Lipe
On Wednesday, January 16 we left Cameron Highlands and Malaysia for the much anticipated THAILAND. We wanted to begin our Thai experience by sunbathing on one of the 50+ islands in Ko Tarutao National Marine Park. The gateway city to Ko Tarutao is Pak Bara, so that became our destination city for that long day of traveling...
Our morning began easily enough, we boarded an 8:00 am bus to Ipoh. We were told that the bus ride would take about 1.5 hours but since the bus made local stops the ride lasted closer to 2.5 hours. But we rolled with the punches and once reaching Ipoh boarded a bus to Alor Star, a city in northern Malaysia. We were told that in Alor Star we could take a bus across the Thai border to Hat Yai, a crappy border town known for it's prostitutes. Prostitutes weren't very appealing, especially with the hot, sticky weather, but we desperately wanted to make it across the border that day so we climbed aboard and rode the 3 hours to Alor Star. In Alor Star we discovered that no buses cross the border to Thailand, we needed to rent a taxi to drive us to the border. Ok... So we hired a driver and were delivered at the border about 45 minutes later. I think this was my first time walking across a country border, what fun!
On the other side we exchanged our money and looked into how best to continue our journey. Ultimately we decided to hire a taxi driver to take us all the way to Pak Bara (a 4 hour drive) from where we could take the ferry to Ko Tarutao NP the next day. The ride was fairly expensive but the car was new and air conditioned, plus driving to PB meant that we could avoid the Hat Yai prositiutes. We were lucky to hire a very nice driver who helped us practice our Thai and pointed out sites in the rural landscape. We also took that time to work on my Spanish--since Lindsay is fluent, she makes a perfect practice partner. Since the beginning of the trip Lindsay's taken to speaking to me in Spanish when we are being hassled by cab drivers, hotel staff, etc., and we need to consult one another without being bothered. We arrived in PB that evening, ate some very spicy green curry, and then checked into a hotel recommended to us by some German tourists.
Thursday morning we woke up to rain but figured that the clouds would lift by noon time. We purchased speedboat tickets to Ko Lipe: a small island contained in the national park that is open to private development but, rumor has it, remains fairly pristine. We figured, why take the two hour slowboat when we can get there in one hour on the speedboat? Boarding the speedboat proved to be fairly chaotic in the rain. The boat handlers crammed 50+ wet and sulking German, French, Italian and English tourists (plus packs) onto one unimpressive speedboat. This load was definitely beyond capacity and because it was raining no one was sitting out on the sundeck. Instead, everyone was crammed into the sitting/standing room in the center and onto the pitiful benches along the sides (that's where Lindsay and I were) .
Let's just say that it was a bad boat ride, very...Gilligan's Isle. The rain never let up and everyone got soaked despite wearing rain coats and using umbrellas in the boat. Rain was pouring in through the canvas roof, waves were constantly splashing inside and the boat seemed to be dangerously off kilter (too much weight on the port side I'd say). Of course there were absolutely no life jackets in sight. Two rusty poles held up the canvas and there must have been at least 10 people gripping each pole, everytime the boat swayed it looked like the poles were going to snap off. And to top it off the girl sitting beside me began vomitting about 45 minutes into the journey. The hellish boat ride lasted a little over 2 hours but overall it was a fun experience I guess...
Eventually our speed boat pulled up to a large boat anchored off the coast of Ko Lipe. Without the help of the crew we moved off the "speedboat of death" and onto this other vessel. From there we gathered that we were supposed to collect our packs and get them onto one of the feverishly bobbing "longtail boats." A longtail boat is a wooden boat about 20-30 feet in length that sits very low in the water and uses a automotive (or lawnmower?) engine for power. The propeller is located at the end of a five to six foot pole that extends into the water and can be swiveled around by the driver. Lindsay located our luggage and quickly threw it on to the first departing longtail boat. We clamored into the boat with the help of our fellow depressed tourists and puttered off towards the island, joined in our boat by a group of bickering, smoking Italians. Setting off in the loud longtail boat made me feel like we were some of the privelaged few fleeing on a lifeboat from the sinking Titanic, everyone we left behind on the anchored boat was staring at us looking wet, limp and sad.
Our boat ride to Ko Lipe's main beach called Pattaya took about 20 minutes. That doesn't sound long but it was. The smoking Italians took all of the covered seats so the pelting rain was coming down hard on our heads and packs. The driver stopped the boat about a quarter mile off shore and told us that the ride cost 50 Baht per person. The Italians started arguing some more but eventually we all paid up so that the driver would stop holding us hostage and f-ing drive to shore!
After all that we touched down on the beautiful white sands of Ko Lipe. Wet and bedraggled Lindsay and I checked into the overpriced Bundhaya Resort (never shop for accommodation when you are wet and tired...it's like grocery shopping when you are starving). We unpacked our wet clothes, ate lunch at the hotel restaurant and then headed off for Thai massages. Many people told me that I had to get a Thai massage but I still wasn't sure what to expect, except for maybe a happy ending? We settled on a beachside massage parlor (as in we were lying on a platform on the beach) that was providing traditional Thai massages for 300 B per hour (about $10). My massage was great! Actually I found it more reminiscent to a yoga class than to a massage. I'm not sure that all of the positions were great for my alignment but my back and joints didn't feel out of whack the next day, so I guess it was ok. My massage lasted closer to 1.5 hours and really put me at ease after the hectic day.
That night we decided it was an appropriate time to spend money on booze. Period. We situated ourselves at a little place called the Beachside Bar where the friendly Thai hippies happily served us drinks. Soon enough we fell into conversation with two travelers sitting across the way, Marcus and JC. Marcus is an American that has been living/traveling in New Zealand and Asia for the past ten years working as a freelance photographer. JC is a ridiculousluy hyper (but well-intentioned) Bangkok-based French model/swimsuit designer that has been staying on Ko Lipe for over a month. Soon enough JC had us all drinking Sang Som (Thai rum) and cokes and ordering freshly grilled seafood. Marcus and JC elected for kilos of squid while Lindsay and I selected the grouper (my favorite fish). After eating we all decided to move to another hippy bar called "Peace and Love" to meet up with some of their German friends. I had a grand 'ole time at Peace and Love, mingling with the locals and chatting it up with the friendly Germans, Inga and Meekesh. There were some fire twirlers/eaters that performed for us on the beach and this gave me a proper introduction to the "lady boy" of Thailand. At risk of sounding like a prude, the lady boy fire show was bizarre and I hope to never see one again (too much deep throating of the firey batons...). Needless to say Lindsay and I left the crowd drinking buckets of Sang Som at 2 am...
I woke up Friday morning very hung over. Lindsay had made plans for us to go snorkeling with Tong, a friendly Thai guy we met the night before (one of the flame throwers but not the lady boy one). I immediately backed out of those plans and opted for more restful activities: reading under a shady palm tree, swimming in the ocean (really it was just floating), eating greasy noodles with Marcus and JC and (talking about) playing frisbee. I met up with Tong and Lindsay in the late afternoon and we headed to Sunset Beach to watch the sunset (obviously) and then went inland for dinner. One of Ko Lipe's best attributes is the lack of automotive traffic on the island--pedestrians criss-cross the island via a series of circuitous dirt paths. Tong led us to the Banana Tree where we ate the best green curry (ever!), drank fruit shakes, and reclined to watch a screening of Woody Allen's "Matchpoint". After dinner Lindsay and I immediately passed out in our hotel room.
On Saturday morning Tong, Lindsay and I hired a longtail boat and set off for some snorkeling areas off the island. Many of the fish were familiar (parrot, surgeon, clown, needle fish; sea urchins and anemones) but the coral was tinted absolutely brilliant shades of red, fuscia and magenta. Really stunning colors that I had never seen on previous snorkeling excursions. We stopped at several spots to snorkel about and then parked on the shores of Ko Adang to eat lunch and hang on the beach. Overall it was a great day! We wrapped things up with a mellow dinner at our hotel, then Lindsay went down to Peace and Love (Tong was working there that night) to say thanks for tour guiding while I finished up reading Angela's Ashes.
On Sunday morning we boarded a longtail boat at 8:45 am to be taken to our Pak Bara speedboat (oy...). After making a few circles and getting thoroughly wet, we made it to the boat and secured the best seats (a two-seater in the covered section next to the driver). The boat was packed to capacity again but this time it didn't feel quite as cramped because people were able to sit on the deck. The sun was shining and everything seemed alright but the 15-year-old driver proved to be a bit speedy for my taste. The boat kept crashing around on the waves for the first hour--the sound of crunching metal when we came down hard on the water was jarring to say the least. The sadist, I mean boat captian, mellowed out after a while...we made it back to Pak Bara fairly quickly and in one piece.
Next stop Krabi...
Our morning began easily enough, we boarded an 8:00 am bus to Ipoh. We were told that the bus ride would take about 1.5 hours but since the bus made local stops the ride lasted closer to 2.5 hours. But we rolled with the punches and once reaching Ipoh boarded a bus to Alor Star, a city in northern Malaysia. We were told that in Alor Star we could take a bus across the Thai border to Hat Yai, a crappy border town known for it's prostitutes. Prostitutes weren't very appealing, especially with the hot, sticky weather, but we desperately wanted to make it across the border that day so we climbed aboard and rode the 3 hours to Alor Star. In Alor Star we discovered that no buses cross the border to Thailand, we needed to rent a taxi to drive us to the border. Ok... So we hired a driver and were delivered at the border about 45 minutes later. I think this was my first time walking across a country border, what fun!
On the other side we exchanged our money and looked into how best to continue our journey. Ultimately we decided to hire a taxi driver to take us all the way to Pak Bara (a 4 hour drive) from where we could take the ferry to Ko Tarutao NP the next day. The ride was fairly expensive but the car was new and air conditioned, plus driving to PB meant that we could avoid the Hat Yai prositiutes. We were lucky to hire a very nice driver who helped us practice our Thai and pointed out sites in the rural landscape. We also took that time to work on my Spanish--since Lindsay is fluent, she makes a perfect practice partner. Since the beginning of the trip Lindsay's taken to speaking to me in Spanish when we are being hassled by cab drivers, hotel staff, etc., and we need to consult one another without being bothered. We arrived in PB that evening, ate some very spicy green curry, and then checked into a hotel recommended to us by some German tourists.
Thursday morning we woke up to rain but figured that the clouds would lift by noon time. We purchased speedboat tickets to Ko Lipe: a small island contained in the national park that is open to private development but, rumor has it, remains fairly pristine. We figured, why take the two hour slowboat when we can get there in one hour on the speedboat? Boarding the speedboat proved to be fairly chaotic in the rain. The boat handlers crammed 50+ wet and sulking German, French, Italian and English tourists (plus packs) onto one unimpressive speedboat. This load was definitely beyond capacity and because it was raining no one was sitting out on the sundeck. Instead, everyone was crammed into the sitting/standing room in the center and onto the pitiful benches along the sides (that's where Lindsay and I were) .
Let's just say that it was a bad boat ride, very...Gilligan's Isle. The rain never let up and everyone got soaked despite wearing rain coats and using umbrellas in the boat. Rain was pouring in through the canvas roof, waves were constantly splashing inside and the boat seemed to be dangerously off kilter (too much weight on the port side I'd say). Of course there were absolutely no life jackets in sight. Two rusty poles held up the canvas and there must have been at least 10 people gripping each pole, everytime the boat swayed it looked like the poles were going to snap off. And to top it off the girl sitting beside me began vomitting about 45 minutes into the journey. The hellish boat ride lasted a little over 2 hours but overall it was a fun experience I guess...
Eventually our speed boat pulled up to a large boat anchored off the coast of Ko Lipe. Without the help of the crew we moved off the "speedboat of death" and onto this other vessel. From there we gathered that we were supposed to collect our packs and get them onto one of the feverishly bobbing "longtail boats." A longtail boat is a wooden boat about 20-30 feet in length that sits very low in the water and uses a automotive (or lawnmower?) engine for power. The propeller is located at the end of a five to six foot pole that extends into the water and can be swiveled around by the driver. Lindsay located our luggage and quickly threw it on to the first departing longtail boat. We clamored into the boat with the help of our fellow depressed tourists and puttered off towards the island, joined in our boat by a group of bickering, smoking Italians. Setting off in the loud longtail boat made me feel like we were some of the privelaged few fleeing on a lifeboat from the sinking Titanic, everyone we left behind on the anchored boat was staring at us looking wet, limp and sad.
Our boat ride to Ko Lipe's main beach called Pattaya took about 20 minutes. That doesn't sound long but it was. The smoking Italians took all of the covered seats so the pelting rain was coming down hard on our heads and packs. The driver stopped the boat about a quarter mile off shore and told us that the ride cost 50 Baht per person. The Italians started arguing some more but eventually we all paid up so that the driver would stop holding us hostage and f-ing drive to shore!
After all that we touched down on the beautiful white sands of Ko Lipe. Wet and bedraggled Lindsay and I checked into the overpriced Bundhaya Resort (never shop for accommodation when you are wet and tired...it's like grocery shopping when you are starving). We unpacked our wet clothes, ate lunch at the hotel restaurant and then headed off for Thai massages. Many people told me that I had to get a Thai massage but I still wasn't sure what to expect, except for maybe a happy ending? We settled on a beachside massage parlor (as in we were lying on a platform on the beach) that was providing traditional Thai massages for 300 B per hour (about $10). My massage was great! Actually I found it more reminiscent to a yoga class than to a massage. I'm not sure that all of the positions were great for my alignment but my back and joints didn't feel out of whack the next day, so I guess it was ok. My massage lasted closer to 1.5 hours and really put me at ease after the hectic day.
That night we decided it was an appropriate time to spend money on booze. Period. We situated ourselves at a little place called the Beachside Bar where the friendly Thai hippies happily served us drinks. Soon enough we fell into conversation with two travelers sitting across the way, Marcus and JC. Marcus is an American that has been living/traveling in New Zealand and Asia for the past ten years working as a freelance photographer. JC is a ridiculousluy hyper (but well-intentioned) Bangkok-based French model/swimsuit designer that has been staying on Ko Lipe for over a month. Soon enough JC had us all drinking Sang Som (Thai rum) and cokes and ordering freshly grilled seafood. Marcus and JC elected for kilos of squid while Lindsay and I selected the grouper (my favorite fish). After eating we all decided to move to another hippy bar called "Peace and Love" to meet up with some of their German friends. I had a grand 'ole time at Peace and Love, mingling with the locals and chatting it up with the friendly Germans, Inga and Meekesh. There were some fire twirlers/eaters that performed for us on the beach and this gave me a proper introduction to the "lady boy" of Thailand. At risk of sounding like a prude, the lady boy fire show was bizarre and I hope to never see one again (too much deep throating of the firey batons...). Needless to say Lindsay and I left the crowd drinking buckets of Sang Som at 2 am...
I woke up Friday morning very hung over. Lindsay had made plans for us to go snorkeling with Tong, a friendly Thai guy we met the night before (one of the flame throwers but not the lady boy one). I immediately backed out of those plans and opted for more restful activities: reading under a shady palm tree, swimming in the ocean (really it was just floating), eating greasy noodles with Marcus and JC and (talking about) playing frisbee. I met up with Tong and Lindsay in the late afternoon and we headed to Sunset Beach to watch the sunset (obviously) and then went inland for dinner. One of Ko Lipe's best attributes is the lack of automotive traffic on the island--pedestrians criss-cross the island via a series of circuitous dirt paths. Tong led us to the Banana Tree where we ate the best green curry (ever!), drank fruit shakes, and reclined to watch a screening of Woody Allen's "Matchpoint". After dinner Lindsay and I immediately passed out in our hotel room.
On Saturday morning Tong, Lindsay and I hired a longtail boat and set off for some snorkeling areas off the island. Many of the fish were familiar (parrot, surgeon, clown, needle fish; sea urchins and anemones) but the coral was tinted absolutely brilliant shades of red, fuscia and magenta. Really stunning colors that I had never seen on previous snorkeling excursions. We stopped at several spots to snorkel about and then parked on the shores of Ko Adang to eat lunch and hang on the beach. Overall it was a great day! We wrapped things up with a mellow dinner at our hotel, then Lindsay went down to Peace and Love (Tong was working there that night) to say thanks for tour guiding while I finished up reading Angela's Ashes.
On Sunday morning we boarded a longtail boat at 8:45 am to be taken to our Pak Bara speedboat (oy...). After making a few circles and getting thoroughly wet, we made it to the boat and secured the best seats (a two-seater in the covered section next to the driver). The boat was packed to capacity again but this time it didn't feel quite as cramped because people were able to sit on the deck. The sun was shining and everything seemed alright but the 15-year-old driver proved to be a bit speedy for my taste. The boat kept crashing around on the waves for the first hour--the sound of crunching metal when we came down hard on the water was jarring to say the least. The sadist, I mean boat captian, mellowed out after a while...we made it back to Pak Bara fairly quickly and in one piece.
Next stop Krabi...
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
January 14-15, Cameron Highlands
Our last two days in Malaysia were spent 2000 meters (about 6000 miles) high in the cool, forested mountains at a "hillside resort" called Cameron Highlands. There are three towns that comprise CH, we stayed at the Hillview Inn in Tana Ratah, the largest of the three towns. After a lunch of chicken satay (so good, the best I've ever had!) and curry udon (a noodle soup) we strapped on our sneaks for a three hour trek. The path was heavily wooded and very steep--we're out of shape and got pretty winded (not surprisingly my strict regimen of daily sit-ups and push-ups hasn't been working out) but overall the hike was great and we caught glimpses of monkeys scampering in the tree tops above. We laid low the rest of the night and typed away at the internet cafe amid dozens of school children playing computer games.
The next morning we joined a group of tourists for a half day tour of the CH region. Our guide, whose name unfortunately I am unable to recall, picked us up at 9:30 am and we made our first stop at some tea growing fields. The view of steep hills tiered with rows of tea bushes was really stunning. The guide explained all about how tea bushes are grown and maintained and how the tea is processed; these fields grew black tea bushes. We continued our drive up to the "mossy forest" and walked around on a muddy track, yeah for getting dirty! Apparently we were walking through primary forest that is about one million years old. We drove up to the highest point in CH, Gunung Brinchang, and climbed up the look-out tower. Clouds were passing through us while surveyed the landscape, it was awesome. While we were in the forest our guide pointed out "pitcher plants" (or "monkey cups" in Malay English), carniverous plants that devour insects by luring them to drink the water collected in their petals. After a tasty snack of strawberry tarts (strawberries are a major crop in CH) we drove to the Boh Tea Plantation to watch how the tea is transformed from the raw materials picked out in the fields to what we drink. We hung out on the picturesque plantation and of course, drank a cup of tea. I selected peppermint, it's my favorite. Finally we drove to a Orang Asli resettlement village. The Orang Asli are the indigenous people of Malaysia. The government is trying to move the OA from jungle settlements to towns in order to educate the children, provide medical care, etc...I'm sure there are other political motivations here as well. The village wasn't so great, most people live in small houses/shanties up in the hills and we didn't get to speak with any of the villagers. It would have been more interesting to visit a village in the jungle in order to gain a greater appreciation for the OA way of life.
Our guide was probably the best part of the tour package. He served in the Malaysian army for 12 years and fought the communists during the 60's and 70's (I'm talking serious guerrilla warfare here). He was really great at telling old army anecdotes, providing jungle remedies for common ailments and reminding us that you'll never survive an attack by a tiger (or panther for that matter).
After visiting the OA village our guide dropped Lindsay and I off in the town of Brinchang. There wasn't a ton to see so we just strolled through a Hindu temple and then walked the 4K back to Tana Ratah. We ate a mediocre lunch back in town and then laid low again, enjoying the cool mountain air. Back at the hotel that I night I ordered banana and honey pancakes and discovered that pancakes in SE Asia are actually crepes, what a pleasant surprise! All of the fruit here is delicious, I've enjoyed a lot of papayas, dragonfruit, apples, pineapple and bananas.
Thailand adventures coming up next...
The next morning we joined a group of tourists for a half day tour of the CH region. Our guide, whose name unfortunately I am unable to recall, picked us up at 9:30 am and we made our first stop at some tea growing fields. The view of steep hills tiered with rows of tea bushes was really stunning. The guide explained all about how tea bushes are grown and maintained and how the tea is processed; these fields grew black tea bushes. We continued our drive up to the "mossy forest" and walked around on a muddy track, yeah for getting dirty! Apparently we were walking through primary forest that is about one million years old. We drove up to the highest point in CH, Gunung Brinchang, and climbed up the look-out tower. Clouds were passing through us while surveyed the landscape, it was awesome. While we were in the forest our guide pointed out "pitcher plants" (or "monkey cups" in Malay English), carniverous plants that devour insects by luring them to drink the water collected in their petals. After a tasty snack of strawberry tarts (strawberries are a major crop in CH) we drove to the Boh Tea Plantation to watch how the tea is transformed from the raw materials picked out in the fields to what we drink. We hung out on the picturesque plantation and of course, drank a cup of tea. I selected peppermint, it's my favorite. Finally we drove to a Orang Asli resettlement village. The Orang Asli are the indigenous people of Malaysia. The government is trying to move the OA from jungle settlements to towns in order to educate the children, provide medical care, etc...I'm sure there are other political motivations here as well. The village wasn't so great, most people live in small houses/shanties up in the hills and we didn't get to speak with any of the villagers. It would have been more interesting to visit a village in the jungle in order to gain a greater appreciation for the OA way of life.
Our guide was probably the best part of the tour package. He served in the Malaysian army for 12 years and fought the communists during the 60's and 70's (I'm talking serious guerrilla warfare here). He was really great at telling old army anecdotes, providing jungle remedies for common ailments and reminding us that you'll never survive an attack by a tiger (or panther for that matter).
After visiting the OA village our guide dropped Lindsay and I off in the town of Brinchang. There wasn't a ton to see so we just strolled through a Hindu temple and then walked the 4K back to Tana Ratah. We ate a mediocre lunch back in town and then laid low again, enjoying the cool mountain air. Back at the hotel that I night I ordered banana and honey pancakes and discovered that pancakes in SE Asia are actually crepes, what a pleasant surprise! All of the fruit here is delicious, I've enjoyed a lot of papayas, dragonfruit, apples, pineapple and bananas.
Thailand adventures coming up next...
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
January 12-13, Kuala Lumpur (KL)
On Friday Lindsay and I road two hours north to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital city. The capital houses about 2 million people, and occupies a fairly large expanse of land but is pretty well connected by elevated trains and monorails.
We took an overpriced taxi (Lindsay has since become a bartering pro) to the Heritage Station Hotel. The hotel occupied the former train station, a large building of Islamic design. The hotel was more expensive than we wanted and Lindsay was slightly skeeved by the dark interior, so we decided to look for cheaper accommodation in Chinatown. We headed to Wheeler's Guest House since it was recommended by my Rough Guide, BIG MISTAKE. We noticed that the Malay man that checked us in kept his ring and pinky fingernails really long and painted red, a man was sleeping/passed out on the stairs, and the stairwell smelled like a dog kennel. But our room appeared to be pretty clean and had a private bathroom, so we decided to suck it up and act like "real" backpackers. However immediately following payment to fingernail man, Lindsay began to regret our decision. I thought that the place was gross but wasn't nearly as surprised as Lindsay; I've stayed in sub-par hostels in the past (I was reminded of the hostel in Amsterdam that reaked of sewage and it's fat, mean cat that wouldn't get off my bed). I was however becoming increasingly cranky from hunger, so we stuffed our valuables into day packs and headed to a nicer part of town for food and to search for more suitable accommodation for the next night.
We ate a delicious lunch of pad thai in Central Market and then took the train and monorail to Bukit Bintang, a tourist-drawing commercial district. As soon as we stepped off the train it began monsooning, and we were forced to seek refuge in one of the many shopping malls. Not much to report about that...as in the US, Malaysian teenagers appear to enjoy hanging out in malls. After the monsoon subsided we began hotel hunting and settled on the Replica Inn, a moderately priced hotel that was very clean. We then ate a late dinner at an Irish pub and began the (long) journey back to our crappy guest house in Chinatown.
Why was the return journey long you ask? Well, we got lost. We left the hotel in such a hurry earlier in the afternoon that we didn't take note of its surrounding landmarks. We assumed that my guide book's map would lead us back to the hotel without a problem. BIG MISTAKE. It turns out that the guest house is mislabeled on the map--we ended up wandering around the streets of Chinatown mingling with the rats and roaches for over an hour (and lucky for us, the next morning was garbage day...you get the picture). There were some people out on the streets but thankfully nobody acted in a threatening way or even took notice of us. Definitely the scariest events of the night involved Lindsay screaming and running away from/pushing me towards the RR (rats and roaches). I called Wheeler's on our cell phone but the man's broken English was really difficult for me to decipher, so that wasn't much help. We finally flagged down a cab and asked him to find our guest house. The driver said that he didn't know where it was located and indicated that he didn't want to be bothered with our problem, but I refused to get out of the cab and kept saying "1-3-1 Jalan H.S. Lee!". Our cell phone became the saving grace, I called the guesthouse again and the man at the desk gave directions to our cabby in Malaysian. It was an interesting night to say the least, hopefully not one to be repeated. Oy.
We woke up early the next morning and killed a few scurrying roaches that were hiding beneath our packs and headed to our new digs in Bukit Bintang. We dropped off our bags and took a cab to the Petronas Twin Towers, Malaysia's architectural landmark (Petronas is Malaysia's national oil company). The building is the second tallest architectural structure in the world, second to a tower in Taipei. Even though we got there at 8:45 am, the earliest lift tickets we could acquire were for 12:45 pm. So we took some pictures of the towers from the park outside, did a little bit of shopping for snacks at the the grocery, and ate lunch in the high class mall that occupied the first four floors of the building. We sampled curry laksa, a traditional Malay noodle soup. I really liked it, probably my favorite meal so far. After lunch it was time to ride the fast elevators up to the skybridge on the 41st floor to enjoy the panoramic views of KL.
We then rode the train to Sentral Station in order to buy rail tickets for the next day's journey to Taman Negara National Park, an area renowned for its primary rainforest. The only train going to TN was an overnighter, so we opted to try for a bus. Instead of heading immediately to the Pruduraya Bus Terminal, we took a taxi to the National Museum (Muzium Negara). Actally our intention was to go the National Mosque but the driver misunderstood us--we didn't realize this until after he had driven off. It was beginning to monsoon again so we decided to look around the museum since we were there and it cost less than a US dollar. It wasn't a great museum but provided a fairly extensive overview of Malaysian history, especially from WWII through the present. We then took a taxi to the beautiful National Mosque, a white building with tall, thin turrets and a blue tiled roof. We had to put on hooded robes and weren't allowed to enter the main prayer room but we were able to meander through the many long, open corridors. I think that Islamic architecture is absolutely beautiful, the geometry and symmetry of the designs really appeals to me.
After the mosque we took another taxi to the bus station--it was totally chaotic (and fantastic!), a fairly small space with about 100 bus vendors selling tickets to various locales. We squeezed our way up to the main bus company booth and were told that we would have to go to a different bus station on the opposite side of town in order to purchase tickets to TN. Ultimately we decided to cut out the trip to TN: transportation to the park was proving to be very difficult to arrange (it would require a 4 hour bus ride to Jerantut and then a three hour boat ride to the park) plus it is still rainy season there and apparently the leeches are horrendous. Instead, we purchased bus tickets to Cameron Highlands, a hillside settlement situated at about 2000 meters altitude.
We left the bus station with a renewed sense of purpose and walked to Merdeka Square. The square is significant because it marks the location where the Malaysian governement declared independence from the British in 1957 and is lined by the high court's Sultan Abdul Samad Building. When we reached the square we realized that a cycling race was just ending, we got to watch the awards being given out to the winners and a celebratory water fight in the streets. We then headed to Little India to puruse the food stalls and sari stores but ultimately returned to Bukit Bintang for dinner. Lindsay and I each opted for "comfort food", Lindsay chose Subway while I elected for falafal and stuffed grape leaves. Yum yum.
On Monday we took the four bus ride up to Cameron Highlands...
We took an overpriced taxi (Lindsay has since become a bartering pro) to the Heritage Station Hotel. The hotel occupied the former train station, a large building of Islamic design. The hotel was more expensive than we wanted and Lindsay was slightly skeeved by the dark interior, so we decided to look for cheaper accommodation in Chinatown. We headed to Wheeler's Guest House since it was recommended by my Rough Guide, BIG MISTAKE. We noticed that the Malay man that checked us in kept his ring and pinky fingernails really long and painted red, a man was sleeping/passed out on the stairs, and the stairwell smelled like a dog kennel. But our room appeared to be pretty clean and had a private bathroom, so we decided to suck it up and act like "real" backpackers. However immediately following payment to fingernail man, Lindsay began to regret our decision. I thought that the place was gross but wasn't nearly as surprised as Lindsay; I've stayed in sub-par hostels in the past (I was reminded of the hostel in Amsterdam that reaked of sewage and it's fat, mean cat that wouldn't get off my bed). I was however becoming increasingly cranky from hunger, so we stuffed our valuables into day packs and headed to a nicer part of town for food and to search for more suitable accommodation for the next night.
We ate a delicious lunch of pad thai in Central Market and then took the train and monorail to Bukit Bintang, a tourist-drawing commercial district. As soon as we stepped off the train it began monsooning, and we were forced to seek refuge in one of the many shopping malls. Not much to report about that...as in the US, Malaysian teenagers appear to enjoy hanging out in malls. After the monsoon subsided we began hotel hunting and settled on the Replica Inn, a moderately priced hotel that was very clean. We then ate a late dinner at an Irish pub and began the (long) journey back to our crappy guest house in Chinatown.
Why was the return journey long you ask? Well, we got lost. We left the hotel in such a hurry earlier in the afternoon that we didn't take note of its surrounding landmarks. We assumed that my guide book's map would lead us back to the hotel without a problem. BIG MISTAKE. It turns out that the guest house is mislabeled on the map--we ended up wandering around the streets of Chinatown mingling with the rats and roaches for over an hour (and lucky for us, the next morning was garbage day...you get the picture). There were some people out on the streets but thankfully nobody acted in a threatening way or even took notice of us. Definitely the scariest events of the night involved Lindsay screaming and running away from/pushing me towards the RR (rats and roaches). I called Wheeler's on our cell phone but the man's broken English was really difficult for me to decipher, so that wasn't much help. We finally flagged down a cab and asked him to find our guest house. The driver said that he didn't know where it was located and indicated that he didn't want to be bothered with our problem, but I refused to get out of the cab and kept saying "1-3-1 Jalan H.S. Lee!". Our cell phone became the saving grace, I called the guesthouse again and the man at the desk gave directions to our cabby in Malaysian. It was an interesting night to say the least, hopefully not one to be repeated. Oy.
We woke up early the next morning and killed a few scurrying roaches that were hiding beneath our packs and headed to our new digs in Bukit Bintang. We dropped off our bags and took a cab to the Petronas Twin Towers, Malaysia's architectural landmark (Petronas is Malaysia's national oil company). The building is the second tallest architectural structure in the world, second to a tower in Taipei. Even though we got there at 8:45 am, the earliest lift tickets we could acquire were for 12:45 pm. So we took some pictures of the towers from the park outside, did a little bit of shopping for snacks at the the grocery, and ate lunch in the high class mall that occupied the first four floors of the building. We sampled curry laksa, a traditional Malay noodle soup. I really liked it, probably my favorite meal so far. After lunch it was time to ride the fast elevators up to the skybridge on the 41st floor to enjoy the panoramic views of KL.
We then rode the train to Sentral Station in order to buy rail tickets for the next day's journey to Taman Negara National Park, an area renowned for its primary rainforest. The only train going to TN was an overnighter, so we opted to try for a bus. Instead of heading immediately to the Pruduraya Bus Terminal, we took a taxi to the National Museum (Muzium Negara). Actally our intention was to go the National Mosque but the driver misunderstood us--we didn't realize this until after he had driven off. It was beginning to monsoon again so we decided to look around the museum since we were there and it cost less than a US dollar. It wasn't a great museum but provided a fairly extensive overview of Malaysian history, especially from WWII through the present. We then took a taxi to the beautiful National Mosque, a white building with tall, thin turrets and a blue tiled roof. We had to put on hooded robes and weren't allowed to enter the main prayer room but we were able to meander through the many long, open corridors. I think that Islamic architecture is absolutely beautiful, the geometry and symmetry of the designs really appeals to me.
After the mosque we took another taxi to the bus station--it was totally chaotic (and fantastic!), a fairly small space with about 100 bus vendors selling tickets to various locales. We squeezed our way up to the main bus company booth and were told that we would have to go to a different bus station on the opposite side of town in order to purchase tickets to TN. Ultimately we decided to cut out the trip to TN: transportation to the park was proving to be very difficult to arrange (it would require a 4 hour bus ride to Jerantut and then a three hour boat ride to the park) plus it is still rainy season there and apparently the leeches are horrendous. Instead, we purchased bus tickets to Cameron Highlands, a hillside settlement situated at about 2000 meters altitude.
We left the bus station with a renewed sense of purpose and walked to Merdeka Square. The square is significant because it marks the location where the Malaysian governement declared independence from the British in 1957 and is lined by the high court's Sultan Abdul Samad Building. When we reached the square we realized that a cycling race was just ending, we got to watch the awards being given out to the winners and a celebratory water fight in the streets. We then headed to Little India to puruse the food stalls and sari stores but ultimately returned to Bukit Bintang for dinner. Lindsay and I each opted for "comfort food", Lindsay chose Subway while I elected for falafal and stuffed grape leaves. Yum yum.
On Monday we took the four bus ride up to Cameron Highlands...
Saturday, January 12, 2008
January 8-12, Singapore and Malacca
On Tuesday, January 8, 2008 Lindsay and I began our 9 weeks of traveling in Southeast Asia. We met in Singapore and stayed in a commercial district called Clarke Quay that's known for its restaurants, bars and lounges. I arrived late on Thursday so we didn't have time to do much else than to slurp down a plate of fried noodles.
On Wednesday we met up with Lindsay's Sri Lankan friend Ruchi and his German friend Phillip to explore the Singapore Zoo. The zoo is unique in that it limits caged enclosures in favor of moats to divide the animals from the people. In addition, the grounds were heavily wooded and situated on a large lake which added to the "wild" and jungle-like atmosphere. The zoo held a wide variety of animals--we mingled with lots of primates, some kangaroos and had a close-up view of swimming polar bears, overall it was a nice experience. We then took a cab to Little India and ate lunch at a small restuarant. There were not very many patrons at our restaurant but the food was inexpensive and tasty, I especially enjoyed the mutton and beets. After some downtime at the hotel and a (cheap!) sushi dinner, Lindsay and I headed to a bar on the 70th floor of the Swissotel to meet up with Ruchi, Phillip, and two Germans (a pair of siblings named Anna Carolina and Sebastian) that Lindsay met upon her arrival into Singapore. Anna and Basti were both very friendly and welcoming, hanging out with them was definitely a great way to start our trip. After a drink and panoramic views of the city we all headed to the British colonial-era bar at Raffles Hotel where we sampled the infamous Singapore Sling. I was trepidatious at first...the Sling contains about 10 ingredients. But my fears were for not, the Singapore Sling tastes like a delicious fruit punch and is very easy to drink. Fortunately for my liver, jetlag hit and I started falling asleep after guzzling my first SS.
On Thursday Lindsay and I walked around Chinatown and did a little bit of necessary shopping. We ate lunch at Lau Pa Sat, the old train station that has been converted into a food hawkers center. It's similar to a food court but much larger and with all kinds of Asian fare (Chinese, Indian, Korean, Japanese, etc). I'm not really sure what we ate, I think they were some kind of Chinese noodles. They were pretty good, although I was not a fan of the dried anchovies that were mixed in with the noodles. Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are really common here so I indulged in a carrot juice and then a banana juice to wash down the fish flakes. There was one food stall that specialized in dishes that used pig organs, yum yum. The rest of the day was pretty mellow: more eating, bikini waxes (a mildly heinous experience) and then a little down time at the hotel. We met Ruchi for dinner at Jumbo's, a seafood restaurant that served mainly Chinese dishes. Upon recommendation of a friend, we ordered the chili crab: an entire Sri Lankan king crab covered in spicy chili sauce. Of course Lindsay and I got chili sauce everywhere, however Ruchi maintained a tidy appearance while cracking and eating the crab, I'm really not sure how he accomplished that feat. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to load up our packs and to catch some z's.
On Friday we bought bus tickets and headed north to Malaysia to a port city called Malacca. The bus ride lasted about four hours and was pretty uneventful. The hilly, volcanic terrain is covered in rows of palm trees--I'm guessing that the palm kernels are harvested to produce palm oil. We arrived in Malacca around 2 pm, checked into Hotel Puri and immediately went out for lunch. We were keen on sampling Baba-Nonya cuisine, a mix between Chinese and traditional Malay food, and found our rendeng to be very tasty. After lunch we started a walking tour of historic Malacca--the port was a major trading destination between the 13th to 19th centuries and was colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch and British--and discovered an absolutely charming city. The buildings are painted in vibrant colors, the roads narrow and windy, and the squares packed with brighly decorated rickshaws. Probably the best part of Malacca was the exposure to the three dominant sects of Malaysian society: the Malays (Muslims), Indians (Muslims and Hindus) and Chinese (Buddhists). Between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, we visited a Buddhist temple, strolled down Chinese-dominated Jonkers Street (famous for antiques), stopped into an art gallery, and visited a relic church, dilapidated fortress and replica of a sunken ship from the days of European colonization.
We took the two hour bus ride to Malaysia's bustling capital, Kuala Lumpur, this afternoon. You'll hear more from me soon...
On Wednesday we met up with Lindsay's Sri Lankan friend Ruchi and his German friend Phillip to explore the Singapore Zoo. The zoo is unique in that it limits caged enclosures in favor of moats to divide the animals from the people. In addition, the grounds were heavily wooded and situated on a large lake which added to the "wild" and jungle-like atmosphere. The zoo held a wide variety of animals--we mingled with lots of primates, some kangaroos and had a close-up view of swimming polar bears, overall it was a nice experience. We then took a cab to Little India and ate lunch at a small restuarant. There were not very many patrons at our restaurant but the food was inexpensive and tasty, I especially enjoyed the mutton and beets. After some downtime at the hotel and a (cheap!) sushi dinner, Lindsay and I headed to a bar on the 70th floor of the Swissotel to meet up with Ruchi, Phillip, and two Germans (a pair of siblings named Anna Carolina and Sebastian) that Lindsay met upon her arrival into Singapore. Anna and Basti were both very friendly and welcoming, hanging out with them was definitely a great way to start our trip. After a drink and panoramic views of the city we all headed to the British colonial-era bar at Raffles Hotel where we sampled the infamous Singapore Sling. I was trepidatious at first...the Sling contains about 10 ingredients. But my fears were for not, the Singapore Sling tastes like a delicious fruit punch and is very easy to drink. Fortunately for my liver, jetlag hit and I started falling asleep after guzzling my first SS.
On Thursday Lindsay and I walked around Chinatown and did a little bit of necessary shopping. We ate lunch at Lau Pa Sat, the old train station that has been converted into a food hawkers center. It's similar to a food court but much larger and with all kinds of Asian fare (Chinese, Indian, Korean, Japanese, etc). I'm not really sure what we ate, I think they were some kind of Chinese noodles. They were pretty good, although I was not a fan of the dried anchovies that were mixed in with the noodles. Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are really common here so I indulged in a carrot juice and then a banana juice to wash down the fish flakes. There was one food stall that specialized in dishes that used pig organs, yum yum. The rest of the day was pretty mellow: more eating, bikini waxes (a mildly heinous experience) and then a little down time at the hotel. We met Ruchi for dinner at Jumbo's, a seafood restaurant that served mainly Chinese dishes. Upon recommendation of a friend, we ordered the chili crab: an entire Sri Lankan king crab covered in spicy chili sauce. Of course Lindsay and I got chili sauce everywhere, however Ruchi maintained a tidy appearance while cracking and eating the crab, I'm really not sure how he accomplished that feat. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to load up our packs and to catch some z's.
On Friday we bought bus tickets and headed north to Malaysia to a port city called Malacca. The bus ride lasted about four hours and was pretty uneventful. The hilly, volcanic terrain is covered in rows of palm trees--I'm guessing that the palm kernels are harvested to produce palm oil. We arrived in Malacca around 2 pm, checked into Hotel Puri and immediately went out for lunch. We were keen on sampling Baba-Nonya cuisine, a mix between Chinese and traditional Malay food, and found our rendeng to be very tasty. After lunch we started a walking tour of historic Malacca--the port was a major trading destination between the 13th to 19th centuries and was colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch and British--and discovered an absolutely charming city. The buildings are painted in vibrant colors, the roads narrow and windy, and the squares packed with brighly decorated rickshaws. Probably the best part of Malacca was the exposure to the three dominant sects of Malaysian society: the Malays (Muslims), Indians (Muslims and Hindus) and Chinese (Buddhists). Between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, we visited a Buddhist temple, strolled down Chinese-dominated Jonkers Street (famous for antiques), stopped into an art gallery, and visited a relic church, dilapidated fortress and replica of a sunken ship from the days of European colonization.
We took the two hour bus ride to Malaysia's bustling capital, Kuala Lumpur, this afternoon. You'll hear more from me soon...
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