There is a volcano in Berestagi which is very accessible, a few hours to climb up and down, so, after stocking up on chocolate and peanut pancakes, that is what we did. The trek to the top is a simple if tiring route to the crater where yellow sulphurous vents make the air smell, but look like something from another world. There are thousands of bowling ball sized stones in the crater which had fallen off the cliff face which surrounds the crater. People had arranged them to spell out messages, so we resolved to make the largest message in the whole crater, perhaps I am biased but it must have been 4 metres tall and almost 20 wide.
The trek down was far more difficult, it was slippery, rocky, steep, and in places it was difficult to find the path.
The end was rewarding however, we found a hot spring on the way down, nothing could possibly have been more welcome than some time on the hot water, although we did smell a little of sulphur for a while afterwards.
We got a cab home and spent the evening eating and watching rubbish films.
The following morning we sought started the trip to Lake Toba which entailed changing buses twice, and driving at break neck speed down some of the worst roads I had ever seen.
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Sandakan-Medan-Beristaggi
We arrive in Sandakan that evening and need some money, so we set out to the cash machine only for it to start raining leaving us stuck in supermarket. While not ideal, this did give us a chance to really survey what this particular supermarket had to offer. Turns out this place had a bit of a cash and carry style section where we bought plenty of chocolate straws, and about a million packs of popcorn for about 1 pound, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
That evening we had a nice meal with Tiffany on the waterfront before heading back to the guesthouse to watch Slumdog millionaire. The following morning we were forced to leave very early in the morning back to KK by the bus schedule. Despite the fact that we only needed to be there for about 6 that evening, the only buys that would get us there left at about 7.30. Unfortunately it turned out that bus wasnt in perfect health, and after spending about an our breaking down roughly every 5 minutes we were all shunted onto another bus, which meant sitting on the stairs as you enter the bus, this wasnt too bad in comparison to our previous experience of sitting on the floor on buses.
We still arrived in KK very early and so spent a few hours sitting in a cafe eating roti, drinking the cheapest drinks, and eventualy eating dinner.
At the airport we bumped into Ulrika who was on her way Bali, turns out Amelie had had a passport related nightmare and was stuck in KL.
We were on our way to KL, to spend a night in a cold, bright airport on a bench that simply was not designed with sleeping in mind. Having said that, I slept surprisingly well, and not even with the help of sleeping tablets.
The flight that followed was a bit of a sleepy blur but before we knew it we were in Medan, with a lovely new visa in our passports. We decided to take a hike to find an ATM, that was an error. Unfortunately a combination of a map with few road names, roads with few road names, and sleep deprivation lead to us walking in circles for what felt like hours until finally finding a ATM by complete chance, not the one we were looking for. We spent some time chatting with a guy who told us we were 'his teacher' before eating an unbelievably cheap meal.
There is virtually nothing to do in Medan so we got a tuc-tuc to the bus station and then for a bus to Berestaggi before sitting down in our guesthouse for a well deserved rest, non stop traveling for near enough 2 days had taken its toll.
That evening we had a nice meal with Tiffany on the waterfront before heading back to the guesthouse to watch Slumdog millionaire. The following morning we were forced to leave very early in the morning back to KK by the bus schedule. Despite the fact that we only needed to be there for about 6 that evening, the only buys that would get us there left at about 7.30. Unfortunately it turned out that bus wasnt in perfect health, and after spending about an our breaking down roughly every 5 minutes we were all shunted onto another bus, which meant sitting on the stairs as you enter the bus, this wasnt too bad in comparison to our previous experience of sitting on the floor on buses.
We still arrived in KK very early and so spent a few hours sitting in a cafe eating roti, drinking the cheapest drinks, and eventualy eating dinner.
At the airport we bumped into Ulrika who was on her way Bali, turns out Amelie had had a passport related nightmare and was stuck in KL.
We were on our way to KL, to spend a night in a cold, bright airport on a bench that simply was not designed with sleeping in mind. Having said that, I slept surprisingly well, and not even with the help of sleeping tablets.
The flight that followed was a bit of a sleepy blur but before we knew it we were in Medan, with a lovely new visa in our passports. We decided to take a hike to find an ATM, that was an error. Unfortunately a combination of a map with few road names, roads with few road names, and sleep deprivation lead to us walking in circles for what felt like hours until finally finding a ATM by complete chance, not the one we were looking for. We spent some time chatting with a guy who told us we were 'his teacher' before eating an unbelievably cheap meal.
There is virtually nothing to do in Medan so we got a tuc-tuc to the bus station and then for a bus to Berestaggi before sitting down in our guesthouse for a well deserved rest, non stop traveling for near enough 2 days had taken its toll.
Sepilok Orang-utan sactuary
Unfortunately Sepilok proved the most expensive place so far for both sleeping and eating. That said, i would definitely recommend it to anyone. Watching the orang-utans swinging from trees and eating bananas with amazing dexterity is something you really have to see with your own eyes. Perhaps the funniest moment was when one of the younger orang-utans pushed his bowl of milk off the platform and then after staring at the point where it had fallen for a while, turned to the feeder, gave him a classic shrug of the shoulders and then belly flopped into the rainforest below in search of the bowl. I think perhaps Robbie's highlight will have been when one of the smaller monkeys who roam the sanctuary fearlessly decided to make a jump for me and landed on my back, i immediately flung it off, in my opinion quite gracefully, this didnt stop robbie laughing all the way home.
We saw Tiffany at the sanctuary, still stiff, almost unable to walk from her climb. She was however very proud of herself, and very pleased that she had done it, good for her. Unfortunately her hostel was a bus ride away so we spent a an hour or so with her before going our separate ways. However we resloved to meet in sandakan that evening. Sandakan is only a short local bus journey away and we were there by late afternoon.
We saw Tiffany at the sanctuary, still stiff, almost unable to walk from her climb. She was however very proud of herself, and very pleased that she had done it, good for her. Unfortunately her hostel was a bus ride away so we spent a an hour or so with her before going our separate ways. However we resloved to meet in sandakan that evening. Sandakan is only a short local bus journey away and we were there by late afternoon.
Kinabalu National Park
The minibus to the national park from kk is only a few hours so we were there by lunchtime and ready to spend a day walking. Unfortunately the privatisation of the park meant that we would have had to pay about 20 pounds for a dorm bed, and the cheapest meal in the cafe was 10 pounds, we quickly turned our backs and went to find one of the hostels just outside the park set up for people just like us who are apauled by the park prices.
The place we found was nice enough, and the staff couldnt be more helpfull, so we ate quickly and set out for a walk in the park. It was far from strenuous, but fun enjoyable none the less. That evening we spent playing cards and watching BBC world news, mainly interested in the sports headlines. We spent plenty of time chatting with the hostel's newest imployee, a young indonesian guy who was very friendly.
Imagine our surprise when we wake the next morning to find that our beds have been sold to someone else and we have half an hour to leave. In our indignation two chocolate bars miraculously appeared in our pockets, no idea how that happened.
The hostel we found was a much longer walk from the park and after spending a hour or two walking backwards and forwards between place we were finally ready to go. Unfortunately disaster hit. We were walking along the side of the road, facing the oncoming traffic as just the way you are meant to when a taxi behind us tried a risky overtaking manouvre which resulted in Robbie's elbow making contact with the cab's wingmirror at high speed. How he got away with only a few cuts and grazes I have no idea. With blood running down his arm we decided to go back to the guesthouse to clean up his arm. All said and done we were in the park about 4 hours after we planned, nevermind i guess.
The walk we selected was only about 6km, but the last kilometre was almost sheer and we were both pretty tired as we reached our destination, a platform for viewing the impressive mt kinabalu. Neither of us were looking forward the walk back home, fortunately we got chatting to a student living in KL who had spent time stundying in the states. He had his car with him and so offered to drive us back to the park headquarters, at least we had some luck that day!
The plan was to flag down a bus heading to sepilok to see the world famous orang-utan santuary, unfortunatley all the busses were full and we ended up sitting on the floor. Personaly I would have prefered robbies seat, facing sideways, with a drip on his head, but at least he had something to lean on. Robbie disagreed saying that my seet facing forward, but being flung around the bus when going round mountain corners due to my lack of backrest.
The place we found was nice enough, and the staff couldnt be more helpfull, so we ate quickly and set out for a walk in the park. It was far from strenuous, but fun enjoyable none the less. That evening we spent playing cards and watching BBC world news, mainly interested in the sports headlines. We spent plenty of time chatting with the hostel's newest imployee, a young indonesian guy who was very friendly.
Imagine our surprise when we wake the next morning to find that our beds have been sold to someone else and we have half an hour to leave. In our indignation two chocolate bars miraculously appeared in our pockets, no idea how that happened.
The hostel we found was a much longer walk from the park and after spending a hour or two walking backwards and forwards between place we were finally ready to go. Unfortunately disaster hit. We were walking along the side of the road, facing the oncoming traffic as just the way you are meant to when a taxi behind us tried a risky overtaking manouvre which resulted in Robbie's elbow making contact with the cab's wingmirror at high speed. How he got away with only a few cuts and grazes I have no idea. With blood running down his arm we decided to go back to the guesthouse to clean up his arm. All said and done we were in the park about 4 hours after we planned, nevermind i guess.
The walk we selected was only about 6km, but the last kilometre was almost sheer and we were both pretty tired as we reached our destination, a platform for viewing the impressive mt kinabalu. Neither of us were looking forward the walk back home, fortunately we got chatting to a student living in KL who had spent time stundying in the states. He had his car with him and so offered to drive us back to the park headquarters, at least we had some luck that day!
The plan was to flag down a bus heading to sepilok to see the world famous orang-utan santuary, unfortunatley all the busses were full and we ended up sitting on the floor. Personaly I would have prefered robbies seat, facing sideways, with a drip on his head, but at least he had something to lean on. Robbie disagreed saying that my seet facing forward, but being flung around the bus when going round mountain corners due to my lack of backrest.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Kota Kinabalu
Ignoring the fact it took 11 and a half hours, the bus journey to KK was quite exciting. We got I believe 8 passport stamps, the bus went in to Brunei, then back to Sarawak, back into Brunei, back to Sarawak, and then into Sabah. We also made friends with Aidy and Yanis, an English couple in the pus with us. Turns out that I actually had a few drinks with Yanis and some mutual friends back in Cambodia although it tool a while for either of us to remember, that was a strange coincidence.
That evening we managed to meet up with Tiffany again and then allowed Aidy and Yanis to teach us their illegal drinking techniques, for more info please contact Robbie with any questions.
There is depressingly little to really do in KK, but we both felt that we owed it to Anthony to go and see his museum, the Sabah museum. I would be lieing if I said it was the worlds greatest museum, however there were some interesting exhibits and both Robbie and I learned new things about Sabah. Well done Anthony, nice museum.
I spent most of the rest of the evening trawling around shopping centres in the search for flip flops in my size and one again, for the third time in this holiday someone decided to steal mine. The most annoying this was that this time they were rubbish flip flops, I was in need of new ones anyway. Robbie’s are nice and new, much better than mine, the same size, and were right next to mine, why did this drain upon society chose to steal mine despite better options, I will never understand the youth of today.
That evening Robbie Tiffany and myself had a great night out bowling, but we had to get her home early because she was climbing Kinabalu the next day. Kinabalu is SE Asia’s highest peak, we would be going to the national park, but Robbie and I had decided we couldn’t afford the 100 pounds it cost to climb, we were therefore suitably jealous of Tiffany.
Lambir Hills
After spending a single and uneventful night in Miri (during which we managed to see the community shield) we set out for Lambir hills. We had to go via the long distance bus terminal anyway and so decided to book our onward bus ticket to Kota Kinabalu. It turns out only one bus company runs this service and so the price was astronomical. In the search of a discount we tried lying, charming, complaining and flirting as well as offering oral hygiene advice. I am not sure which tac it was, but one of them worked and we were delighted to gain one up on the frustrating Borneo beaurocracy.
We arrived at the park and, after going through another ‘you really want to camp’ episode, pitched the tent and went to get some lunch. For some reason, and I still have no idea what it was it took us about 30 minutes to be served because every time the waitress looked at us she just burst out laughing, Robbie was convinced it had to be my fault.
It was only a 15 minute walk to a beautiful waterfall with a large pool and a beach. We wasted no time in getting into swimming gear and heading over for a relaxing swim in some of the most stunning surroundings I have ever seen.
It turned out we were the only tourists in the entire park that night, the café closed at 6.30 and there was a power cut soon after. We were forced to spend a memorable evening star gazing and having torches shone at us by Malaysians who had never seen a tent before!
Day 2 in Lambir and we resolve to climb the largest hill in the park in order to see the canopy from above. After about 2 hours of wondering aimlessly in the rainforest we arrived back at HQ, we didn’t really realize how lucky we were until later.
The real disaster was the small shower of rain, while the tent is only semi waterproof to begin with, it is not at all waterproof when the window is left open, my sleeping bag liner was soaked , all or Robbie’s stuff was fine. He informed me that the window was after all my responsibility. Hmm, I don’t remember agreeing to that!
So, undeterred we sat down for some lunch and set out for a slightly smaller hill. This time we found the path without incident. Unfortunately out long climb was not rewarded by clear skies, but we saw enough of the canopy to be satisfied.
After arriving back at HQ we packed up the tent and went to stand by the edge of the road to flag down passing coaches back to Miri in order to spend yet another night there. When we got to the guesthouse Alex was already there, avec new girl in tow. We spent the evening chatting and watching movies. We spent a long time chatting with a man named Dennis Along Along who worked at the hostel. Turned out this bouncy and optimistic man used to do very specialized work on Malaysia’s many oil rigs, being flown all round the country for his expertise. When he got kidney failure the poor man was tied to Miri by 4 times weekly dialysis, I could never have guessed something like that had happened to him, such is his outlook on life.
It was a relatively early as we had an 8 o’clock bus the next morning.
The Niah Caves
The journey to Niah was pretty straight forward and soon after lunch we were there, tent erect and all. When we arrived we had to register, when we asked where the campsite was there was a moment of pure comedy as she stood in disbelief that anyone could be stupid enough to want to camp.
After settling in we set off to the caves themselves. We were hoping to see the much talked about ‘bat exodus’. At dusk supposedly all the bats fly out of the cave, and are replaced by birds going in for a nights sleep. Unfortunately a small mathematical problem reared its ugly head. Our campsite was on the other side of a river, the boats stop running at 7, dusk is also about 7, and it is a 45 minute walk back to the boat. In true backpacker style we cut it as fine as possible, leaving only 20 minutes to sprint back the boat, we managed with moments to spare.
You may think that this meant the trip to the cave that evening had been a disappointment, but nothing could be less true. Who did we bump into but our favourite Dutchman Thierry, a slightly wiser, wittier and less gullible model granted, but Thierry none the less. That evening he came up with great quotes as ‘it is very dangerous to eat fireflies, they are very hot’ and ‘alex, I think 53.2% of the things you say are joking’. Unfortunately he couldn’t quite swallow Robbie’s revelation that locals at Gunung Mulu regularly murder unsuspecting tourists, shame.
The night that followed could never be described as a ‘good nights sleep’, but it could certainly have been worse. We woke surprisingly late, had a bit of breakfast and then head off to see the caves, which not even photos can do justice. We followed through the caves to see the cave paintings. The oldest of their kind in Asia. As you can imagine they were a little faded, but still amazing when it is considered just how long they have been there.
Caves finished we returned to the park HQ, who did we find? The Spanish womanizer Alex, and the two Dutch girls we had met in Kuching whose names I am still unsure about. They told us of the idiots staying in the tent In the middle of the sun, only to learn it was us. We agreed to meet them in Miri in a few days and set off, planning on making it to Lambir hills, home of many a beautiful waterfall.
Chif's crib - Miri
After the excitement with the chief et famile we were all in a hurry to get back to civilization, the irish boys had a flight to catch, and Robbie and I didn’t want to have to spend another night in Sibu, this in mind we asked the chief’s son if he could help us organise a taxi back into town, to which he replied that there was one already booked and on its way for 10.30, great we thought. So 10.30 came, and so did the taxi, we were just about to leave when a very sarcastic Italian woman started to make her presence known, turns out the taxi was actually for their package tour and so despite there being room in the van, and knowing they were stranding us there, the Italians got into there precious taxi and drove off, I am sure I saw smug smiles on all of their selfish Italian faces.
Panic over, about 10 minutes later a taxi arrived, he had actually been dropping someone at the village and was so willing to take us back into town for a cut price, bet that will wipe the Italians’ faces clean.
We arrived in Kapit with just enough time to grab some takeaway noodles and jump on the boat back to Sibu. We were treated to such quality motion pictures as ‘Night in the museum – 2’ and something with no English and lots of fighting.
To cut a long story short, turned out we could get to our next stop, the oil town of Miri that day, so we bid farewell to the Irish lads and jumped on the pus, not really thinking things through. We got on a 6 hour bus at 5.30, you do the math. Arriving in Miri predictably late even the schumacheresque driving of our cab driver could not get us to a hostel that was still open. Robbie and I were forced to seriously consider staying in a real hotel, shock horror. As it turned out our luck was in and at almost 1am we somehow stumbled into a lovely little hostel called Mita.
The plan had been to use Miri as a jumping point for Gunung Mulu national park, perhaps Sarawaks most famous tourist site and home to the largest limestone cliffs in the world. After a good nights sleep we walked to the tourist information, only to find that a trip to Mulu would not just stretch our budget, it would tear in to shreds and then burn the remains, Mulu wasn’t an option. There are however several other national parks in the region so we resigned ourselves to going to one of these instead. That night there were some world challenge kids in the guesthouse and they told us of the Niah Caves which sounded pretty cool. Then came a stroke of pure genius. We decided to buy a tent. The cost of camping in Niah is a fraction of a guesthouse. We managed to find the worlds worst (and cheapest) tent. Imagine one of those play tents for kids that you put in the garden, well it looked like that, but worse. I could almost lie straight in it, so spare a thought for poor Robbie. All said and done we loved it. Next morning we set off bright and early for Niah, very excited about our tent.
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Sibu and Kapit - Dinner with the Chief
Alex and I joined Eoghan and Cian, two Irish guys from Borneo B+B, on the 8.30 bus to Sibu; this in itself was a minor miracle as we failed to set an alarm and were still feeling the effects of the night before, even so we slept through most of the 6 hour journey and arrived not so refreshed in Sibu. Sibu is a relatively boring town and is used mainly as a jumping off point to travel up the Batang Rejang river, which is exactly what we intended to do the next day. As a result the highlight of Sibu was an afternoon swim in a local hotel's pool.
Early the next morning we headed to Kapit, which is a four hour boat ride up the river and the place to go for longhouse visits, which is what we intended to do - longhouses are the traditional dwellings of the Iban people who inhabit the interior of Borneo. It turns out that it is quite difficult to find a longhouse to stay in because cultural etiquette dictates that you are invited into a longhouse rather than just turning up. While attempting to find a suitable longhouse we met a Dutch guy called Thierrey who wanted to use a tour operator to visit a longhouse, this turned to be too expensive for the four of us so he went off on his own, which we were quite glad of because he was one of the most annoying people we've ever met. In the end we asked the tour operator which longhouse it was and decided to do the one thing you're not meant to do: turn up uninvited. So we hailed a taxi and headed for the Bundong longhouse.
We got the taxi driver to introduce us to the chief, or at least the chief's wife and she allowed us to stay overnight, as long as we checked with the chief when he returned. After a few drinks we were left to spend the afternoon wondering round the longhouse and it was a brilliant experience as we were immersed in the daily life of the longhouse. Eoghan was in his element playing wih all the children in the longhouse and we all joined in before heading down to the river for a swim. When we got back to te longhouse the tour group full of Italians and Thierrey had arrived and we all noticed a marked difference in the atmosphere and it was disappointing that the lively nature of the place suddenly disappeared and everything was more subdued with the arrival of 20 or so Westerners. We tried to get away from the group and ended up chatting with some locals and their English and genuine interest in our lives and home were as remarkable as each other. I found this conversation the most interesting and enjoyable because it is one thing seeing where they live but it is so much more worthwhile chatting and finding about everything from their family and religious beliefs to their education and which football team they support (more often than not Man Utd!).
We heard that the chief had returned so we went to seek his rubber stamp on us being allowed to stay and to our horror he asked for 150 ringitts to stay the night so we made preparations to leave because this was unaffordable. Luckily Eoghan's charm and silver tongue got it down to 40 ringitts so we stayed the night. We had dinner with the tour group and then the breakdown of communication with the chief became evident as we were beckoned back into the house and showed to our sleeping quarters, which were two double beds in the chiefs house! To put this in context everyone else was staying outside on the wooden floor, which is where we were expecting to stay. To make matters even better we were served supper of sweet tea and bread with coconut jam and spent the evening with the chief's family. So while everyone else got comfortable outside we slipped under our mosquito net, turned our fan on and went to sleep, result!
Our luck continued as we woke up and were served breakfast by the chief's wife, we have no idea why we got all this laid on but it seems that the chief thought we were asking to stay in his house rather than the standard procedure of sleeping outside. Either way we weren't complaining and had a nice chat with Thierrey in the morning who turned out to also be the most gullible person in the world and we were in our element with him. Some of the hilarity that ensued cannot be done justice in a blog so please ask Alex or myself at the next opportunity to fill you in. We caught a taxi back to Kapit, the chief saw us off personally, and then jumped straight on a boat back to Sibu.
Rob
Early the next morning we headed to Kapit, which is a four hour boat ride up the river and the place to go for longhouse visits, which is what we intended to do - longhouses are the traditional dwellings of the Iban people who inhabit the interior of Borneo. It turns out that it is quite difficult to find a longhouse to stay in because cultural etiquette dictates that you are invited into a longhouse rather than just turning up. While attempting to find a suitable longhouse we met a Dutch guy called Thierrey who wanted to use a tour operator to visit a longhouse, this turned to be too expensive for the four of us so he went off on his own, which we were quite glad of because he was one of the most annoying people we've ever met. In the end we asked the tour operator which longhouse it was and decided to do the one thing you're not meant to do: turn up uninvited. So we hailed a taxi and headed for the Bundong longhouse.
We got the taxi driver to introduce us to the chief, or at least the chief's wife and she allowed us to stay overnight, as long as we checked with the chief when he returned. After a few drinks we were left to spend the afternoon wondering round the longhouse and it was a brilliant experience as we were immersed in the daily life of the longhouse. Eoghan was in his element playing wih all the children in the longhouse and we all joined in before heading down to the river for a swim. When we got back to te longhouse the tour group full of Italians and Thierrey had arrived and we all noticed a marked difference in the atmosphere and it was disappointing that the lively nature of the place suddenly disappeared and everything was more subdued with the arrival of 20 or so Westerners. We tried to get away from the group and ended up chatting with some locals and their English and genuine interest in our lives and home were as remarkable as each other. I found this conversation the most interesting and enjoyable because it is one thing seeing where they live but it is so much more worthwhile chatting and finding about everything from their family and religious beliefs to their education and which football team they support (more often than not Man Utd!).
We heard that the chief had returned so we went to seek his rubber stamp on us being allowed to stay and to our horror he asked for 150 ringitts to stay the night so we made preparations to leave because this was unaffordable. Luckily Eoghan's charm and silver tongue got it down to 40 ringitts so we stayed the night. We had dinner with the tour group and then the breakdown of communication with the chief became evident as we were beckoned back into the house and showed to our sleeping quarters, which were two double beds in the chiefs house! To put this in context everyone else was staying outside on the wooden floor, which is where we were expecting to stay. To make matters even better we were served supper of sweet tea and bread with coconut jam and spent the evening with the chief's family. So while everyone else got comfortable outside we slipped under our mosquito net, turned our fan on and went to sleep, result!
Our luck continued as we woke up and were served breakfast by the chief's wife, we have no idea why we got all this laid on but it seems that the chief thought we were asking to stay in his house rather than the standard procedure of sleeping outside. Either way we weren't complaining and had a nice chat with Thierrey in the morning who turned out to also be the most gullible person in the world and we were in our element with him. Some of the hilarity that ensued cannot be done justice in a blog so please ask Alex or myself at the next opportunity to fill you in. We caught a taxi back to Kapit, the chief saw us off personally, and then jumped straight on a boat back to Sibu.
Rob
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Bako National Park - Monkeys, Ants and Waterfalls
An early start saw us head off to Bako for a day trip to one of Malaysia's premier parks. A bus and a boat got us in to the park, though the slightly annoying thing was me paying full price and Alex getting a student discount when I'm a student and he isn't!!! Anyway, Bako is most famous for it's probiscus monkeys and we saw two in the trees just as our boat pulled in; quite a positive start we thought. However, it turns out that that was our last encounter with nature, well apart from a trail of ants on our trek and another monkey just as we left. This lack of wildlife was no problem as the park was beatiful in itself. We had to be back for our boat in 6 hours so we decided to walk for 3 hours and see where we ended up and that turned out to be the Tajong waterfalls which followed and climb through the jungle and a scramble up a dry river bed. The waterfalls were...well impressive isn't the right word because they were about 3 foot tall, but they did provide ample swimming opportunity to swim in pool created by the waterfall. Cool and refreshed we headed back to Kuching and what I thought would be an early night due to our 8am bus in the morning but I was very mistaken as Alex and I shared two bottles of whiskey as we socialised back at Borneo B+B with Alex the Spaniard, James the PE teacher, Cian and Eoghan from Ireland and a few others. At some point we stumbled across the road to get some sleep before our early bus in the morning.
Rob
Rob
Kuching - Meow!
With Tom heading home Alex and I headed to Kuching, literally meaning 'cat', the capital city of Sarawak. Finding accommodation was pretty hard but we settled for the Borneo B+B. In the afternoon we headed to the Waterfront, the focal point of Kuching, and walked into a sea of people as the Sarawak Regatta was in full swing. This annual event is an amazing tradition in Sarawak and we witnessed dragon boat racing, local music and a cultural market. All in all it was just good fun for all the family, even though it was just Alex and me there! Seeing that our first day in Kuching was a Saturday we decided to join in on a game of Ring of Fire at our hostel before heading out on the town. By about 2am we ended up in a karaoke bar (about half of all bars have karaoke, it is crazily popular in this part of the world!) and Alex and I used our natural singing talents to clear the place out. With that accomplished we wandered back to our B+B after 3am.
Our late night led us to sleeping to almost midday the next day and this led to a couple of problems: first, we missed the Kuching Sunday market, which actually takes place on a Saturday, and got booted out of Borneo B+B because apparently we needed to re-check-in! Luckily there was place in a dorm across the road so we moved there before heading out to exlpore Kuching with Kevin, a French guy from Borneo B+B, and his Spanish friend who neither of us can remember the name of. The Sarawak Museum showcased all the wildlife in Sarawak but the stuffed animals looked like they hadn't been replaced since the museum was opened in 1912, but the one eyes porcupine was still very impressive... With Kuching being the city of the cat it has a liberal sprinkling of cat statuesso Alex and I decided to take a few of them in, including the Great Cat of Kuching, which overlooks the entrance to Kuching. I never knew cats could be so impressve or big! We planned to head to Bako national park in the morning so we opted for a quiter night and headed out for a meal with people from Borneo B+B before seeing Public Enemies, which we all enjoyed.
Rob
Our late night led us to sleeping to almost midday the next day and this led to a couple of problems: first, we missed the Kuching Sunday market, which actually takes place on a Saturday, and got booted out of Borneo B+B because apparently we needed to re-check-in! Luckily there was place in a dorm across the road so we moved there before heading out to exlpore Kuching with Kevin, a French guy from Borneo B+B, and his Spanish friend who neither of us can remember the name of. The Sarawak Museum showcased all the wildlife in Sarawak but the stuffed animals looked like they hadn't been replaced since the museum was opened in 1912, but the one eyes porcupine was still very impressive... With Kuching being the city of the cat it has a liberal sprinkling of cat statuesso Alex and I decided to take a few of them in, including the Great Cat of Kuching, which overlooks the entrance to Kuching. I never knew cats could be so impressve or big! We planned to head to Bako national park in the morning so we opted for a quiter night and headed out for a meal with people from Borneo B+B before seeing Public Enemies, which we all enjoyed.
Rob
Saturday, 1 August 2009
Kuala Lumpur
On arriving in KL we made a bee line for China town, having been told that it was home to the cheapest digs. To get there we had to take the KL under ground, which is roughly a million times better than the tube, we never had to wait longer than about a minute.
That evening we set out to do something we had been wanting to do for ages, we saw Harry Potter. It maybe didnt quite live up to our expectations, but I dont think any of the reviews have been good, and we were glad to see it. The cinema was in a shopping centre full of western shops, everything from Gucci and Armani to Topshop, marks and spencer and even harrods.
The following day we woke up early to get tickets for the Petronas towers. They are one of the tallest buildings in the world and one can climb up about half way for an amazing view over the city from a sky bridge. We spent the rest of the day shopping in the markets and went out for dinner at the hard rock cafe as a tearful farewell to Tom. Tiffany managed to come and join us for dinner, and it was great to see her.
In the morning Robbie and I went to a Hindu temple, by complete chance we walked in and 'something' (excuse my ignorance) was happening, there was singing and dancing, and we really enjoyed it.
That afternoon we went out for an amaxing curry in Little india, mine came on a Banana leaf instead of a plate. We then went to see a friend of a friend of Robbies who has lived in Malaysia for 30 years. He was unimaginabely knowledgeable, even telling us about the time he guided Attenbrough around Borneo.
That evening we took Tom to the station. It was strange for us both. A guy called Toon who we called the 'dirty dutchman' said travelling is more intense than marriage, maybe he is right, we barely spent a minute apart for 3 months.
Robbie and I spent a night before flying to Borneo, which is where we are now.
That evening we set out to do something we had been wanting to do for ages, we saw Harry Potter. It maybe didnt quite live up to our expectations, but I dont think any of the reviews have been good, and we were glad to see it. The cinema was in a shopping centre full of western shops, everything from Gucci and Armani to Topshop, marks and spencer and even harrods.
The following day we woke up early to get tickets for the Petronas towers. They are one of the tallest buildings in the world and one can climb up about half way for an amazing view over the city from a sky bridge. We spent the rest of the day shopping in the markets and went out for dinner at the hard rock cafe as a tearful farewell to Tom. Tiffany managed to come and join us for dinner, and it was great to see her.
In the morning Robbie and I went to a Hindu temple, by complete chance we walked in and 'something' (excuse my ignorance) was happening, there was singing and dancing, and we really enjoyed it.
That afternoon we went out for an amaxing curry in Little india, mine came on a Banana leaf instead of a plate. We then went to see a friend of a friend of Robbies who has lived in Malaysia for 30 years. He was unimaginabely knowledgeable, even telling us about the time he guided Attenbrough around Borneo.
That evening we took Tom to the station. It was strange for us both. A guy called Toon who we called the 'dirty dutchman' said travelling is more intense than marriage, maybe he is right, we barely spent a minute apart for 3 months.
Robbie and I spent a night before flying to Borneo, which is where we are now.
Railay bay-Hat ton Sai
Railay is split into three parts, Railay west - full of expensive resorts, not quite our scene, Railay east - full of expensive resorts, not really our scene, and Hat ton sai, full of climbing enthusiasts with fishing trousers and dread locks, exactly our scene.
After getting off the boat we were just getting started on the rock scramble one must pass in order to get to ton sai, when we noticed another beach football match, while not quite as fun as the one o Phi Phi, it was a welcome way of running around and using some energy, even if the Thais didn't trust us enough to actually pass the ball.
Once we got were we wanted to go we found admittedly basic bamboo bungalows for 100b, that 2pounds for a whole bangalow. I strung up my hammock outside and I think we all realised immediately this was going to be somewhere we enjoyed, away from the hectic tourism business. This place has what must be one of the most chilled out vibes in the world.
Unfortunately we were not blessed with good weather on our one full day on the bay so we didnt get out onto the beach, nor did we manage to learn to climb, yet we still enjoyed the place, that tells a story.
The following day we checked out of our rooms early, knowing we had to be in Krabi that evening, but happy to spend a day on the beach first. Yes the beach was great, but that was not the most exciting thing to happen, a hurricane hit the beach! We were looking into the distance at the storm clouds coming when suddenly we noticed a tiny tube in the sky. I went off for a walk, and then suddenly the hurricane was on the water, throwing spray all over the beach before moving onto the beach and throwing towels everywhere. Dont worry mothers, it didnt cause any real damage, their was no real danger, but it was still very exciting!
That afternoon we headed to Krabi to spend a night before jumping on a flight to KL in the morning. That evening we somehow stumbled into a restaurant playing Dirty Dancing on the TV. Tom was so appalled that I had never seen it that we stayed and watched it all the way to the end.
After getting off the boat we were just getting started on the rock scramble one must pass in order to get to ton sai, when we noticed another beach football match, while not quite as fun as the one o Phi Phi, it was a welcome way of running around and using some energy, even if the Thais didn't trust us enough to actually pass the ball.
Once we got were we wanted to go we found admittedly basic bamboo bungalows for 100b, that 2pounds for a whole bangalow. I strung up my hammock outside and I think we all realised immediately this was going to be somewhere we enjoyed, away from the hectic tourism business. This place has what must be one of the most chilled out vibes in the world.
Unfortunately we were not blessed with good weather on our one full day on the bay so we didnt get out onto the beach, nor did we manage to learn to climb, yet we still enjoyed the place, that tells a story.
The following day we checked out of our rooms early, knowing we had to be in Krabi that evening, but happy to spend a day on the beach first. Yes the beach was great, but that was not the most exciting thing to happen, a hurricane hit the beach! We were looking into the distance at the storm clouds coming when suddenly we noticed a tiny tube in the sky. I went off for a walk, and then suddenly the hurricane was on the water, throwing spray all over the beach before moving onto the beach and throwing towels everywhere. Dont worry mothers, it didnt cause any real damage, their was no real danger, but it was still very exciting!
That afternoon we headed to Krabi to spend a night before jumping on a flight to KL in the morning. That evening we somehow stumbled into a restaurant playing Dirty Dancing on the TV. Tom was so appalled that I had never seen it that we stayed and watched it all the way to the end.
Koh Phi Phi
After a quiet few days on Lanta we were all looking forward to a bit more activity on the very tourist Phi Phi. The Island was used as the location for the film 'the beach'.
We only spent two full days on Phi Phi, I think we were slightly put off by the english lager louts, but nonetheless we all had a great time. On the first day we enjoyed the weather on the beach. We spent a day reading, playing frisbee, swimming, bat and ball, all the normal sort of beach 'stuff'. That evening we hit the town, particularly enjoying the bar with layed on thai boxing, and the beach party. I cannot speak for Tom or Robbie, but I only got home at about 8am that morning, the sign of a good night I think.
Predictabely most of the following day was spent asleep, although we did venture down to the beach at about 4 to find a hugely competetive game of beach football (faring vs thai) and played long enough that we could barely move for exhaustion. As I remember we then went for a treat, some rare western food before retiring early to play our favourite card game which has become a bit of an obsession.
With a few days to kill untill our flight to Kuala Lumpur we decided to go to Railay bay, a tiny little peninsula about an hour from Krabi. We had decided to get the boat at 9, but after waking up at 9.15 that was no longer an option, we started the journey at 2.
We only spent two full days on Phi Phi, I think we were slightly put off by the english lager louts, but nonetheless we all had a great time. On the first day we enjoyed the weather on the beach. We spent a day reading, playing frisbee, swimming, bat and ball, all the normal sort of beach 'stuff'. That evening we hit the town, particularly enjoying the bar with layed on thai boxing, and the beach party. I cannot speak for Tom or Robbie, but I only got home at about 8am that morning, the sign of a good night I think.
Predictabely most of the following day was spent asleep, although we did venture down to the beach at about 4 to find a hugely competetive game of beach football (faring vs thai) and played long enough that we could barely move for exhaustion. As I remember we then went for a treat, some rare western food before retiring early to play our favourite card game which has become a bit of an obsession.
With a few days to kill untill our flight to Kuala Lumpur we decided to go to Railay bay, a tiny little peninsula about an hour from Krabi. We had decided to get the boat at 9, but after waking up at 9.15 that was no longer an option, we started the journey at 2.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Koh Lanta
Koh Lanta is a large island very near the famous Ko Phi Phi, however for some reason it has not developed into such a tourist spot and when we arrived in what is the off season the place was virtually deserted. With a little bit of encouragement we managed to negotiate a bungalow for the three of us, with air con, cable tv and a the nicest bathroom so far for 300b, that is 2pounds each! Consider we have paid more that that for a bamboo shack in need of waterproofing.
Day one on Ko lanta was a lazy affair, walking from bungalow to pool (we had a pool!) and back all day, before collapsing into bed with a few beers to watch england claim the second test, with english commentaty.
On day two we were a little more adventurous, getting out to explore the island and discovering a completely deserted beach. On it we found what i can only describe as a lump. I thought it was a washed up banana, Tom was convinced it was allive, but every time we tried to save it by throwing it into the sea it somehow found a way to roll back to us.
The Final Day on Lanta was some what of a dissapointment, a day of rain meant we could not really go to the beach, and the local football game we hed been invited to was cancelled.
Next stop Ko Phi Phi
Day one on Ko lanta was a lazy affair, walking from bungalow to pool (we had a pool!) and back all day, before collapsing into bed with a few beers to watch england claim the second test, with english commentaty.
On day two we were a little more adventurous, getting out to explore the island and discovering a completely deserted beach. On it we found what i can only describe as a lump. I thought it was a washed up banana, Tom was convinced it was allive, but every time we tried to save it by throwing it into the sea it somehow found a way to roll back to us.
The Final Day on Lanta was some what of a dissapointment, a day of rain meant we could not really go to the beach, and the local football game we hed been invited to was cancelled.
Next stop Ko Phi Phi
Kanchanaburi-Koh Lanta
Normally we don't bother blogging about journeys, but this was pretty epic, more our fault than anyone else's.
The idea was to go to a fishing village called Ranong, and from there get a boat to a tiny and rarely visited island called KO Chang. To get there was a few hours from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok, followed by a very long night bus. On arrival we found virtually no boats will actually agree to go to the island, the sea was too rough. So we hopped on a local bus which we thought would take us the Krabi (the port town for the next island - Koh lanta) Unfortunately it only took us part of the way, as did the next one, and the next one, and the next one. After Finlay arriving in krabi we spend a night before taking a bus to Lanta. After almost 48hours on the road we Finlay arrived, strangely I think we quite enjoyed it.
The idea was to go to a fishing village called Ranong, and from there get a boat to a tiny and rarely visited island called KO Chang. To get there was a few hours from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok, followed by a very long night bus. On arrival we found virtually no boats will actually agree to go to the island, the sea was too rough. So we hopped on a local bus which we thought would take us the Krabi (the port town for the next island - Koh lanta) Unfortunately it only took us part of the way, as did the next one, and the next one, and the next one. After Finlay arriving in krabi we spend a night before taking a bus to Lanta. After almost 48hours on the road we Finlay arrived, strangely I think we quite enjoyed it.
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Kanchanaburi - Ianapa, Kandahar or Cayman Islands?
Early the next day we headed off to Kanchanaburi which is the sight of the Bridge on the River Kwai and the POW camp that housed the workforce for the infamous Japanese death railway. We rented some bicycles and toured the city. We went up to the bridge, which looks nothing like the film, and crossed it to see the terrain the railway passes through which highlights the work it took to build it. Crossing the river we headed to Wat Phrae Noon, which is a cave temple - pretty self explanatory. An intricate system of caves houses hundreds of religious icons, mainly buddhas but a few others. Having already cycled a good 15km we decided to make our way back to our hostel via one of the war cemetries commemorating some of the 16,000 commonwealth POW who died building the railway. The cemetry itself was well kept and provided quite a moving moment for all three of us seeing the names of boys who had died, many younger than us now. Unfortunately, the respect and remembrance they deserved wasn't fully shown by the Thai family there who treated it as a play park.
Our map indicated a cinema in Kanchanaburi and being off season and not wanting to miss Harry Potter we tried to find it, with no luck so we headed back to our hostel. Having seen the sights of Kanchanaburi we headed back to Bangkok the next afternoon.
Rob
Our map indicated a cinema in Kanchanaburi and being off season and not wanting to miss Harry Potter we tried to find it, with no luck so we headed back to our hostel. Having seen the sights of Kanchanaburi we headed back to Bangkok the next afternoon.
Rob
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Bangkok - Wat Wat?
The so where next blog has an exciting moment today as Tom and Alex met up with none other than Robbie (ie me), not that fake one who they mentioned earlier but the real one. Anyway, Bangkok, how best to describe this most oxymoronic of cities?
After meeting Tom and Alex in Bangkok airport we took a cab ride into Bangkok with officially the craziest cab driver in the world - lane markings meant nothing to this guy! The Khoa San road is famed as backpackers central in Bangkok as this is where we duly headed and found a Spartan but relatively cheap room. The evening was spent ambling down Khoa San being offered everything from genuine ray bans and Armani suits to tasers and ping pong shows. Personally I wasn't in the mood for table tennis.
Our first full day in Bangkok was spent touring the sights that made Bangkok what it is. Rama I decided to move the Thai capital to Bangkok in the 18th century and build his royal palace and this is where we duly headed, despite at least 3 locals claiming it was closed, we weren't going to fall for their scams! The 90 acre sight contains an array of temples and royal residences all of which are as opulent as the next. The crowning glory of the palace is the 3 metre tall emerald Buddha which was made from a solid block of jade in the 15th century. After ambling round the palac we went to Wat Pho which houses a 49 metre long reclining buddha plated in gold, pretty impressive! Apart from his toes, which were all the same length, weird! In the afternoon we went to Siam Center which has 4 large malls adjacent to each other and enjoyed trying to brter with the stall holders who were selling 'genuine' designer clothes and goods. A few drinks back on Khao San and a great first day for me was done.
A nice lie in on our second day helped me get over my jet lag and in the early afternoon Alex and I headed off to Wat Traihit to see the Golden Buddha, which is a 3 metre solid gold statue, very impressive! We had rranged to meet Tom in Chinatown, or at least what we thought was Chinatown. The only problem was that we walked the wrong way for about 45 minutes! While it gave Alex and I a great opportunity to see the real Bangkok, away from the tourist trail, it did mean we were 50 minutes late meeting tom. Due to Chinatown not being where we thought it was we headed off to the night market. Unfortunately this involved heading through Patpong - Bangkok's red light district. We were constantly bombarded not only by seedy looking men offering us ping pong shows but the bars themselves bringing the so called entertainment right upto the street's edge. I think we all died a little inside while walking through.
Rob
After meeting Tom and Alex in Bangkok airport we took a cab ride into Bangkok with officially the craziest cab driver in the world - lane markings meant nothing to this guy! The Khoa San road is famed as backpackers central in Bangkok as this is where we duly headed and found a Spartan but relatively cheap room. The evening was spent ambling down Khoa San being offered everything from genuine ray bans and Armani suits to tasers and ping pong shows. Personally I wasn't in the mood for table tennis.
Our first full day in Bangkok was spent touring the sights that made Bangkok what it is. Rama I decided to move the Thai capital to Bangkok in the 18th century and build his royal palace and this is where we duly headed, despite at least 3 locals claiming it was closed, we weren't going to fall for their scams! The 90 acre sight contains an array of temples and royal residences all of which are as opulent as the next. The crowning glory of the palace is the 3 metre tall emerald Buddha which was made from a solid block of jade in the 15th century. After ambling round the palac we went to Wat Pho which houses a 49 metre long reclining buddha plated in gold, pretty impressive! Apart from his toes, which were all the same length, weird! In the afternoon we went to Siam Center which has 4 large malls adjacent to each other and enjoyed trying to brter with the stall holders who were selling 'genuine' designer clothes and goods. A few drinks back on Khao San and a great first day for me was done.
A nice lie in on our second day helped me get over my jet lag and in the early afternoon Alex and I headed off to Wat Traihit to see the Golden Buddha, which is a 3 metre solid gold statue, very impressive! We had rranged to meet Tom in Chinatown, or at least what we thought was Chinatown. The only problem was that we walked the wrong way for about 45 minutes! While it gave Alex and I a great opportunity to see the real Bangkok, away from the tourist trail, it did mean we were 50 minutes late meeting tom. Due to Chinatown not being where we thought it was we headed off to the night market. Unfortunately this involved heading through Patpong - Bangkok's red light district. We were constantly bombarded not only by seedy looking men offering us ping pong shows but the bars themselves bringing the so called entertainment right upto the street's edge. I think we all died a little inside while walking through.
Rob
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Ko Tao
We heard that the weather on Ko Tao was going to be slightly worse then on Ko Pha Ngan and this quickly became evident went our boat was bouncing around like a tennis ball. I, rather luckily seem to be immune from sea sickness but the same could not be said for alex who was using all his concentration on not throwing up. NICE!
We arrived and checked in to Mr. J's guesthouse but decided against buying his homemade condoms (buy 10 get 1 free). He was weird. During bad weather is not the best time to see Ko Tao and so we were unfortunate not to see it's true beauty. We made the most of what we could though, meeting up with Tiffany to explore the island; we found a beauiful secluded bay and also mini golf!!! Alex won :( but only just.
Next stop Bangkok to pick up Robbie, all that stands in the way is a 9 hours night boat to Surat Thani followed by a day of waiting for our flight bad times.
Tom
We arrived and checked in to Mr. J's guesthouse but decided against buying his homemade condoms (buy 10 get 1 free). He was weird. During bad weather is not the best time to see Ko Tao and so we were unfortunate not to see it's true beauty. We made the most of what we could though, meeting up with Tiffany to explore the island; we found a beauiful secluded bay and also mini golf!!! Alex won :( but only just.
Next stop Bangkok to pick up Robbie, all that stands in the way is a 9 hours night boat to Surat Thani followed by a day of waiting for our flight bad times.
Tom
Ko Pha Ngan
I think upon our arrival we proved what seasoned travelers we are now. Whilst everyone else was frantically running around searching for accommodation Alex and I decided to get some food and then leisurely took a stroll and managed to find the cheapest accommodation on the entire of Haad Rin beach (where the full moon party happens) and it came with a free hammock.
We spent the next couple of days on lying on the beach, inventing a new sport called "Alex and Tom's beach tennis", disturbing other people with our poorly aimed frisbee throws and generally relaxing. In the area there was an abundance of bars and restaurants that play friends all day (you thought e4 was bad) which originally we mocked but soon found ourselves strangely drawn to not mentioning an awesome falafal joint.
The night life on Ko Pha Ngan is something special. You start out with a couple of drinks in a bar before heading down to the beach to drink whiskey buckets. The leading entertainment, aside from the music is to watch thai men playing with fire in different ways the most intresting of which is a rope swing which tourists leap over until the eventually get hit by a flaming rope. We gave it a miss ourselves...
The climax of the weeks fun was the Full Moon Party on thursday. Early in the day the multiple bars and resorts along the beach begin erecting stages and dance floors in preperation for the evening. The party technically begins at about 5pm when the music starts but it's not until about 10.30-11 when everyone is suitibly drunk, suitibly painted in glow amd the moon comes up that the real fun begins. Alex and I spent most of the evening with Mark and Owen who we'd met on the beach a couple of days before. Eventually, well after the sun rises, the party begins to wind down and the last few ravers stumble back to their guest houses.
Too soon the party was over and we were making our way to Thong Sala port to go to Ko Tao
Tom
We spent the next couple of days on lying on the beach, inventing a new sport called "Alex and Tom's beach tennis", disturbing other people with our poorly aimed frisbee throws and generally relaxing. In the area there was an abundance of bars and restaurants that play friends all day (you thought e4 was bad) which originally we mocked but soon found ourselves strangely drawn to not mentioning an awesome falafal joint.
The night life on Ko Pha Ngan is something special. You start out with a couple of drinks in a bar before heading down to the beach to drink whiskey buckets. The leading entertainment, aside from the music is to watch thai men playing with fire in different ways the most intresting of which is a rope swing which tourists leap over until the eventually get hit by a flaming rope. We gave it a miss ourselves...
The climax of the weeks fun was the Full Moon Party on thursday. Early in the day the multiple bars and resorts along the beach begin erecting stages and dance floors in preperation for the evening. The party technically begins at about 5pm when the music starts but it's not until about 10.30-11 when everyone is suitibly drunk, suitibly painted in glow amd the moon comes up that the real fun begins. Alex and I spent most of the evening with Mark and Owen who we'd met on the beach a couple of days before. Eventually, well after the sun rises, the party begins to wind down and the last few ravers stumble back to their guest houses.
Too soon the party was over and we were making our way to Thong Sala port to go to Ko Tao
Tom
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