Sunday, September 26, 2010
Lombok
I spent 5 days in Kuta motorbiking around, eating chicken satay and nasi campur. it was very quiet there, which was a bit lonely, but it did mean i had pristine beaches to myself. the whole south coast is amazing. motorbiking in either direction from Kuta will take you to some of the nicest beaches i have seen on this trip. after 5 days of feeling like i had lombok to myself, i got bored and somehow ended up back on Gili Trawangan. i arrived yesterday and i plan to leave for Meno tomorrow. There, or Gili Air is where I will spend the remainder of my trip. I can't believe it's almost over... On the 2nd I'll be back in Kuta, Bali, on the 3rd I have an early morning flight to Singapore, and on the 4th at around noon I will be in Vancouver!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Bali and Lombok
We flew then taxi'd into Kuta, the tourist hub of Bali. It is a busy little town with tons of big clubs and a packed beach. Dave tried out the surf for a couple days while I lounged around with an injured toe that I had repeatedly scraped and stubbed for the previous 2 weeks until it became swollen and infected and extremely painful. We ate some really good pizza on more than one occasion (in fact, I think we had at least one pizza a day...)
4 days in Kuta was enough for us, then we rented scoots and scooted through some crazy traffic to Ubud. We stayed there for two nights at an upscale room with a good view of a rice field/duck pond. We ate some really good Nasi Campur (one of the main local dishes in Indonesia. rice, chicken, veggies). for just over two dollars we ate a big meal of this, with peanut sauce and tofu and crackers and veggies all presented beautifully! We doubled up and ordered a second round it was so good. We also perused the cool markets of Ubud where there are tons of items on many different levels (walk through wood carvings then head up some stairs to the masks then hop down a step to the spices and herbs and continue past all of the sarongs and fabrics all the while getting harassed by the sellers). The next day we left Ubud and headed back to Kuta, which took us much less time on the way back since we found the Bali equivalent of a highway.
We realized there were no rooms in Kuta (seriously, every single accommodation was full) so we bussed up to Padangbai on the east coast of Bali. The next day we caught various forms of transport to the Gili Islands (Gili Trawangan first). We spent a few days at this cool island. Snorkelling was really fun. You walk up the island then drift back down with the current. We also walked around the whole island in the dark (about 2 hours) while avoiding horse drawn carts ripping down the sandy roads. One night we indulged in a tuna steak (cooked perfectly) with all you can eat salad buffet. I satisfied one of my cravings with several rounds of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dipping sauce.
The next day we caught a boat to Gili Air and spent two days chilling out in our beachfront resort. We both finished our books and decided it was time to do some exercise: Mt. Rinjani
We left Air and caught transport to Senaru, one of the bases for Rinjani treks. We read that you can do the trek independently and we intended to do this. When we got to Senaru, however, we found out that this is not possible. We had a few arguments with a few people over our false information (stupid lonely planet...) before agreeing to do a 3 day trek with guide and porters. I am really glad we did this because it would have been much more difficult on our own. The porters carried huge loads using bamboo poles with two baskets on either side (they rested the pole on their shoulders) We ate awesome meals of banana pancakes for breafast, copious amounts of tea at all times of the day, rice or noodle soup, chicken and veggies for lunch and dinner. The first day we hiked 5 hours up to near the crater rim (~2600m). It quickly got cold as the clouds rolled in and the sun went down. One miserable sleep then we woke up at 5 am to hike up to the rim for sunrise. The view was pretty cool but clouds kept rolling through the crater and obscuring the view. We hiked down 600m to the lake and a bunch of people went swimming! The landscape reminded Dave and I of Canada as there were lots of pine trees. We walked around one side of the lake and headed to the hot springs! We walked along the springs which were too hot at the source to a waterfall where the water cascaded into a pool. It was amazing sitting under the hotwaterfall! I wish I could post pictures but uploading is extremely slow here. After we got our hot water on we climbed up 700m to the camp below the summit. The going was rough especially as I had an upset stomach. The climbing seemed to last forever and reminded me of lord of the rings. The fog was so thick that you could only see a short way in front and behind, so it created the feeling of a never-ending climb in some sort of purgatory. We finally made it to camp and were greeted by a bunch of macaques(they occupy all camps on the mountain). We went to bed at 6 pm and woke up at 230 am for the summit attempt. We left at 3 am and made our way up 1000m to the peak in the dark. It was tough going up as you would take two steps up and one step back due to the loose volcanic sand. After 2 and a half hours battling muscle pain, darkness and freezing winds we made it to the top! Dave, Alain and I were the first ones to the top! We had the peak to ourselves for 5 minutes as we watched the sun come up. The views from the peak were amazing. To the east the sun was rising and casting light over the green foothills to the north. Looking to the south made you feel on top of the world as it was completely cloud covered. To the west was the crater where you could see the lake and the mini volcano in the center of the crater. An amazing shadow was cast on the clouds to the west that looked like a volcano! You could also make out the Gili Islands in the distance. We stayed up for as long as we could (~20 minutes) and then headed down. As the sun got higher it got a lot warmer and we took our time sliding down the mountain to camp, enjoying the amazing view. Breakfast at camp then we headed down through pine trees, grasslands and rainforest. We took a minivan back to Senaru (we ended up in another village) and then to Sengigi where we are now.
One more day here then Dave heads to Nepal and I head south to Kuta, Lombok.
4 days in Kuta was enough for us, then we rented scoots and scooted through some crazy traffic to Ubud. We stayed there for two nights at an upscale room with a good view of a rice field/duck pond. We ate some really good Nasi Campur (one of the main local dishes in Indonesia. rice, chicken, veggies). for just over two dollars we ate a big meal of this, with peanut sauce and tofu and crackers and veggies all presented beautifully! We doubled up and ordered a second round it was so good. We also perused the cool markets of Ubud where there are tons of items on many different levels (walk through wood carvings then head up some stairs to the masks then hop down a step to the spices and herbs and continue past all of the sarongs and fabrics all the while getting harassed by the sellers). The next day we left Ubud and headed back to Kuta, which took us much less time on the way back since we found the Bali equivalent of a highway.
We realized there were no rooms in Kuta (seriously, every single accommodation was full) so we bussed up to Padangbai on the east coast of Bali. The next day we caught various forms of transport to the Gili Islands (Gili Trawangan first). We spent a few days at this cool island. Snorkelling was really fun. You walk up the island then drift back down with the current. We also walked around the whole island in the dark (about 2 hours) while avoiding horse drawn carts ripping down the sandy roads. One night we indulged in a tuna steak (cooked perfectly) with all you can eat salad buffet. I satisfied one of my cravings with several rounds of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dipping sauce.
The next day we caught a boat to Gili Air and spent two days chilling out in our beachfront resort. We both finished our books and decided it was time to do some exercise: Mt. Rinjani
We left Air and caught transport to Senaru, one of the bases for Rinjani treks. We read that you can do the trek independently and we intended to do this. When we got to Senaru, however, we found out that this is not possible. We had a few arguments with a few people over our false information (stupid lonely planet...) before agreeing to do a 3 day trek with guide and porters. I am really glad we did this because it would have been much more difficult on our own. The porters carried huge loads using bamboo poles with two baskets on either side (they rested the pole on their shoulders) We ate awesome meals of banana pancakes for breafast, copious amounts of tea at all times of the day, rice or noodle soup, chicken and veggies for lunch and dinner. The first day we hiked 5 hours up to near the crater rim (~2600m). It quickly got cold as the clouds rolled in and the sun went down. One miserable sleep then we woke up at 5 am to hike up to the rim for sunrise. The view was pretty cool but clouds kept rolling through the crater and obscuring the view. We hiked down 600m to the lake and a bunch of people went swimming! The landscape reminded Dave and I of Canada as there were lots of pine trees. We walked around one side of the lake and headed to the hot springs! We walked along the springs which were too hot at the source to a waterfall where the water cascaded into a pool. It was amazing sitting under the hotwaterfall! I wish I could post pictures but uploading is extremely slow here. After we got our hot water on we climbed up 700m to the camp below the summit. The going was rough especially as I had an upset stomach. The climbing seemed to last forever and reminded me of lord of the rings. The fog was so thick that you could only see a short way in front and behind, so it created the feeling of a never-ending climb in some sort of purgatory. We finally made it to camp and were greeted by a bunch of macaques(they occupy all camps on the mountain). We went to bed at 6 pm and woke up at 230 am for the summit attempt. We left at 3 am and made our way up 1000m to the peak in the dark. It was tough going up as you would take two steps up and one step back due to the loose volcanic sand. After 2 and a half hours battling muscle pain, darkness and freezing winds we made it to the top! Dave, Alain and I were the first ones to the top! We had the peak to ourselves for 5 minutes as we watched the sun come up. The views from the peak were amazing. To the east the sun was rising and casting light over the green foothills to the north. Looking to the south made you feel on top of the world as it was completely cloud covered. To the west was the crater where you could see the lake and the mini volcano in the center of the crater. An amazing shadow was cast on the clouds to the west that looked like a volcano! You could also make out the Gili Islands in the distance. We stayed up for as long as we could (~20 minutes) and then headed down. As the sun got higher it got a lot warmer and we took our time sliding down the mountain to camp, enjoying the amazing view. Breakfast at camp then we headed down through pine trees, grasslands and rainforest. We took a minivan back to Senaru (we ended up in another village) and then to Sengigi where we are now.
One more day here then Dave heads to Nepal and I head south to Kuta, Lombok.
Singapore
Stopover in Singapore was interesting. Hands down the cleanest city I have ever been to. Singapore also has some pretty interesting architecture. We started our day out by napping (since we didn't get much sleep on the train over) and then went to see an awesome movie (Inception). We walked around town, ate some food and got rejected more than once at the casino (for having flip flops, then not bringing our passport). Next day Dave and I left Paul for another 2 in Singapore and flew to Bali!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Malaysia: Georgetown, Cameron Highlands, Perhentian Islands, Kuala Lumpur
A long bus ride from Krabi brought us to Georgetown, a smallish city on the island of Penang. We spent a couple days here wandering the streets, walking through little india and drinking extremely pricey beers in Chinatown. Malaysia has the most expensive alcohol that we have found so far (three times more expensive than Thailand).
Our next stop in Malaysia was the refreshing cool Cameron Highlands. We welcomed the cool, fresh air and we were actually cold for the first time on the trip (other than on an overly A/C'd bus). We did a tour of strawberry farms (we had the best strawberry shakes we have ever had), insect zoos (I held three giant scorpions on my arm at once!), honey farms, rose gardens and tea plantations.
Across the country to the east coast is the Perhentian Islands. We stayed on the small island at an isolated beach only accessible by boat (and a footpath to the other side of the island). Huge Monitor Lizards roamed in front of our room and chilled below our deck. The beach was a minute from our room and the water was crystal clear. We did another snorkelling tour and saw sharks, giant sea turtles and a school of fish that must have numbered in the thousands. At the center of the school you could look in any direction and only see fish. It was fun diving down through the school and watching the fish react as if they were one entity. A full day of snorkelling tired us out and we spent the rest of the day drinking M&M peanut shakes and eating food.
We are now in KL (Kuala Lumpur) and spent the entire day yesterday walking around the city. We paid to go up a 421m tall telecommunications tower that has an observation deck with an amazing view of the city. Included in the tower visit was a mini-zoo experience. We saw raccoons, pizotes, monkeys and held a huge snake, a cockatoo and a parrot at the same time. We then walked over to the Petronas Towers (the famous twin towers of KL) and checked out the mall at the base. Tonight we are catching a train to Singapore. We will arrive tomorrow morning, on the 5th. Dave and I fly to Bali on the 6th and Paul flies back to Vancouver on the 8th! I am suuuuuuper stoked for Bali and Lombok! I will spend a full month there before I fly back to Vancouver. Dave is thinking that he will leave for Nepal mid-September!
Our next stop in Malaysia was the refreshing cool Cameron Highlands. We welcomed the cool, fresh air and we were actually cold for the first time on the trip (other than on an overly A/C'd bus). We did a tour of strawberry farms (we had the best strawberry shakes we have ever had), insect zoos (I held three giant scorpions on my arm at once!), honey farms, rose gardens and tea plantations.
Across the country to the east coast is the Perhentian Islands. We stayed on the small island at an isolated beach only accessible by boat (and a footpath to the other side of the island). Huge Monitor Lizards roamed in front of our room and chilled below our deck. The beach was a minute from our room and the water was crystal clear. We did another snorkelling tour and saw sharks, giant sea turtles and a school of fish that must have numbered in the thousands. At the center of the school you could look in any direction and only see fish. It was fun diving down through the school and watching the fish react as if they were one entity. A full day of snorkelling tired us out and we spent the rest of the day drinking M&M peanut shakes and eating food.
We are now in KL (Kuala Lumpur) and spent the entire day yesterday walking around the city. We paid to go up a 421m tall telecommunications tower that has an observation deck with an amazing view of the city. Included in the tower visit was a mini-zoo experience. We saw raccoons, pizotes, monkeys and held a huge snake, a cockatoo and a parrot at the same time. We then walked over to the Petronas Towers (the famous twin towers of KL) and checked out the mall at the base. Tonight we are catching a train to Singapore. We will arrive tomorrow morning, on the 5th. Dave and I fly to Bali on the 6th and Paul flies back to Vancouver on the 8th! I am suuuuuuper stoked for Bali and Lombok! I will spend a full month there before I fly back to Vancouver. Dave is thinking that he will leave for Nepal mid-September!
Southern Thailand: Khao Sok, Phuket, Phi Phi, Krabi
Partying on Ko Phangan was amazing but it was time to recover and move on. We made it to the mainland then caught a minibus to Khao Sok National Park. We arrived late at night and an owner of a hotel insisted we stay with him. We got a good price (one of the cheapest places in southern Thailand) for two rooms up in a tree. The 'hotel' was surrounded by jungle and the sketchily built rooms had a constant swaying motion to them. The next morning I woke up and found a giant green bug clinging onto my toilet. It looked dangerous at first but it was actually quite friendly and we became good friends. We spent the day walking several kilometers through the park on a marked road. There were supposed to be a bunch of waterfalls, but they turned out to be nothing more than rapids...
The next day we made our way down to Phuket with the intention of surfing. We arrived at Kata beach and found that the whole place was extremely developed, overpriced and meant for old single guys looking for Thai girls. We searched around for a good hour for 'Lucky Guesthouse' which was in our guidebook and a lot of people knew about. We followed people's directions but we ended up walking in circles. We did find it but decided to stay at another place that was a lot nicer for slightly more money. We got an A/C'd room with high ceilings, Wifi and lots of floorspace for a decent price. We made it down to the beach and found that the waves weren't very good for surfing, but they were better than nothing. We swam out, bodysurfed and tumbled around in the waves. We came back later that night and went swimming again. We could see a dark island in the distance and used it to determine if a big wave was coming (if it ducked out of site, we knew there was one incoming). We were conscious of the riptides and didn't have any problems staying in chest deep water.
Our next destination was Ko Phi Phi, a cool little island off the west coast of Thailand. We got off the boat and were guided through narrow, disorganized streets to our guesthouse. We got a nice patio with a good view of a man made lake. We spent most of our time here wandering the streets checking out souvenir stalls, eating crepes (sugar and lime is my favourite), buying beer from 7-11 and partying on the beach. The scene was good and we had tons of fun wandering through the beachfront bars. One day we joined a snorkelling tour that took us to the smaller Phi Phi island (there is two, we stayed on the bigger one). The smaller one is much nicer and was the main shooting location for the movie 'The Beach'. Huge limestone cliffs line the shores of the island and gorgeous, secluded white sand beaches occupy hidden coves. We got dumped at one side of the island and swam over to a staircase, made our way over some rocks, ran through the jungle and popped out at an amazing beach (The Beach). It was raining and slightly cold so we ran into the water where it was much warmer. After some time we made our way back to the drop off point and snorkelled with aggressive fish and bright coral. We stopped off at a few more places on the way back and saw a wide range of creatures including Lion Fish and a weird squid-like/cow thing that grazed the ocean floor.
We left for Krabi, our last destination in Thailand and realized that there is nothing to do in Krabi. We day tripped to Ao Nang, a touristy beach town nearby where we should have been staying and then left for Malaysia!
The next day we made our way down to Phuket with the intention of surfing. We arrived at Kata beach and found that the whole place was extremely developed, overpriced and meant for old single guys looking for Thai girls. We searched around for a good hour for 'Lucky Guesthouse' which was in our guidebook and a lot of people knew about. We followed people's directions but we ended up walking in circles. We did find it but decided to stay at another place that was a lot nicer for slightly more money. We got an A/C'd room with high ceilings, Wifi and lots of floorspace for a decent price. We made it down to the beach and found that the waves weren't very good for surfing, but they were better than nothing. We swam out, bodysurfed and tumbled around in the waves. We came back later that night and went swimming again. We could see a dark island in the distance and used it to determine if a big wave was coming (if it ducked out of site, we knew there was one incoming). We were conscious of the riptides and didn't have any problems staying in chest deep water.
Our next destination was Ko Phi Phi, a cool little island off the west coast of Thailand. We got off the boat and were guided through narrow, disorganized streets to our guesthouse. We got a nice patio with a good view of a man made lake. We spent most of our time here wandering the streets checking out souvenir stalls, eating crepes (sugar and lime is my favourite), buying beer from 7-11 and partying on the beach. The scene was good and we had tons of fun wandering through the beachfront bars. One day we joined a snorkelling tour that took us to the smaller Phi Phi island (there is two, we stayed on the bigger one). The smaller one is much nicer and was the main shooting location for the movie 'The Beach'. Huge limestone cliffs line the shores of the island and gorgeous, secluded white sand beaches occupy hidden coves. We got dumped at one side of the island and swam over to a staircase, made our way over some rocks, ran through the jungle and popped out at an amazing beach (The Beach). It was raining and slightly cold so we ran into the water where it was much warmer. After some time we made our way back to the drop off point and snorkelled with aggressive fish and bright coral. We stopped off at a few more places on the way back and saw a wide range of creatures including Lion Fish and a weird squid-like/cow thing that grazed the ocean floor.
We left for Krabi, our last destination in Thailand and realized that there is nothing to do in Krabi. We day tripped to Ao Nang, a touristy beach town nearby where we should have been staying and then left for Malaysia!
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