Into Cambodia

Update from the road!

Our tour finished yesterday. Hard to believe 11 days and 3 countries passed already! We have 2 more days in Laos, a few in Sydney, then home sweet home. I am looking forward to a big bed (in my own room! Oh the luxury!), not having to carry around a headlamp and toilet paper all the time, modern plumbing and a lack of biting insects, easy phone calls and free internet- and washing machines!!! But I will be very, VERY sad to leave this part of the world. SE Asia has been incredible. I fell in love with Cambodia and Lao has been amazing. Wonderful people, amazing scenery, temples galore, delicious food... what more could you want?! Definitely a place to come back to.

Banteay Samre

Sunset at Bakheng

Quickie

Tif and I are currently in Bangkok (and current photos are posted! yay!) I also added photos from Kuala Lumpur, and Koh Phi Phi (pee pee) the other night. Singapore and Tasmania are coming, but internet connections (ones that work well enough to upload pics anyways) are few and far between, so those may take a while still.

We met up with our GAP tour group and will be heading off to Cambodia and the Angkor Wat temples in the morning! Following that is a week or so in Laos, a few days in Sydney, and then.... back home to the states! Hard to believe, but these 4 months have really flown by- and I've loved every second of them!

Temple Tours

Friday August 14th (Today!!!)

Bangkok, Thailand

Wat Pho/ Temple of the Reclining Buddha







Andy, our Thai tour leader

The Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha

Bangkok- the first bit

First night in Bangkok and Chao Phraya River Thurs & Fri Aug 13-14



Celebrating the Queen's Birthday- these are all giant photos of her

Venice of Asia- the Chao Phraya River and Canals
Water monitor lizard- we saw a few of these swimming around as well!
Longtail boat like the one we were in

The monks sell bread you can feed to the catfish (which are enormous!)

A house along the canal and the Thai flag

Selling souvenirs to tourists on the river boats

View of Wat Arun

Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

Sunday-Wednesday, Aug 9- 12Thailand! It is everything you expect- and then some. We arrived in the airport, collected our bags, cleared customs, even had a vague idea of where we wanted to go, found an airport shuttle to take us... and then waited. For enough people to fill the shuttle to make it worth their while to take us about 40 minutes to the town of Phuket, which is supposed to be less touristy and seedy than Patong. Finally after a lot of hassling and threatening to just take a taxi instead, and then actually recruiting 2 newly arrived backpackers to come with us so we could all immediately take off, we were on our way. En route we were easily convinced that Phuket town was not worth bothering with, and we would just take the ferry that day to Koh Phi Phi, a smaller island about an hour away that is renowned for its beaches and night life. Tough decision.
Once again, we got a taste for "Thai time". We were dropped off in a hurry, but the ferry didn't leave for about 4 hours and there really wasn't anything there but a semi covered platform with 2 benches, a tiny stand selling drinks and chocolate, and at least a dozen dogs. The time ended up passing fairly quickly as we were distracted with a couple of thunder storms and made a bunch of new friends. There were a couple of Irish guys, David and Paddy, who were on holiday and it was their 4th visit to Koh Phi Phi, so they gave us some good tips (ie don't even brush your teeth with the tap water). We also met Carol from England and Loon from Australia. We actually ran into everyone numerous times on the island it was so small, so it was nice to have familiar faces!
After boarding the ferry and being handed little plastic bags for sickness, we promptly fell asleep as is the best idea. When we arrived we were met by a crush of "tour guides" though apparently here they are a legit group that will pre book everything for you. We were taken to a little stand at the end of the dock where we were shown pictures of all the hotels in our price range (about $20 a night, pricey for Thailand but Koh Phi Phi is for ballers). Carol from the ferry had been told about the Phi Phi Princess and convinced us it was the best so we all booked in and had a man cart our packs over. There are no cars or scooters on the island, so things are much more laid back and peaceful. Also, having someone else move your gear is glorious. Perhaps next time I shall travel with a porter.

The hotel ended up being very nice and in a fantastic location. Even our initiated Irish friends were jealous of our find!
Tiffany, Carol and I made the hike to High Point to watch the sunset. From the top of the mountain you can see the little stip of sand where the ocean comes in on both sides. The view is so expansive you can apparently go there for spectacular sun rise as well as sun set, and while we had the best of intentions, we never actually made that! The natural beauty really is astonishing, even on a slightly overcast evening.

Koh Phi Phi was one of the islands greatly effected by the tsunami in 2004. Most of the island was covered in water, destroying most of the buildings and claiming many lives. Always a tourist destination, after the tsunami visitors stopped coming and livlihoods were lost. Thanks to a lot of aid both physical and monetary, the island is coming back to life. Even when we visited 4 years later, you could still see many reminders of the destruction. The Phi Phi Princess along with many other buildings were still under construction and a lot of restaurants and business had signs thanking specific donors for helping them put their businesses back together. At the summit of the mountain there is a photo of the view taken a few days after the tsunami, and it is surreal to see the piles of debris and destruction in what seems to be such a peaceful setting.
After hiking down the hill Tiffany and I decided it was well past time to eat (all we had was McDonalds 14 hrs earlier!) and got a meal at a cute little place built on a platform in the tree canopy. Hellooo mosquitoes! The food was ok, the portions were small, and we were clearly not satisfied. So clearly, we went to a different restaurant and had second dinner. No one would have guessed it was our second meal in an hour, we ate like champs which makes people here really like you! We practically became regulars at Garlic 1992 (clearly the name of the restaurant) over the next few days. The man who seemed to run the place told us to come back tomorrow and go on the boat tour of the surrounding islands, he would offer us the best price and the best value. Turns out he was telling the truth!
We showed up in the morning for breakfast and ran into Loon who decided to come with us on our boat tour. A couple sitting next to us overheard us and decided they would come too. As it turns out, Jodi and Ulysses are from San Francisco! Such a small world.

We were taken through the back streets (ie people's decks and yards) to the longtail boats. We got masks and fins for snorkling, and waited another hour or so to take off. Our driver and guide went by the name Superman. His friend was called Spidermonkey and they would yell at each other whenever their boats got close. While we were waiting to leave Superman would come over, look at us, and say "5 minutes? Every one happy happy?" and then disappear again. We watched as he filled the fuel tank from a barrel he kept under the front plank "seat", using a plastic hose and the classic- stick one end in the fuel barrel, suck on the other and stick it in the boat before it gets in your mouth. I cracked a joke about how I was glad it was a non-smoking section, but then he proceeded to light a cigarette. I kid you not.
We finally got on our way and the beaches we saw were incredible. White sand, turquoise water, monkeys (scary!)... you really couldn't ask for more! Our last stop of the day was the island where the film The Beach was shot with Leonardo DiCaprio. Boats couldn't come onto the actual beach, so we swam from the boat to a rocky outcrop, grabbed onto some ropes to pull ourselves up over the sharpest rocks ever, walked across the island, and finally made it to the beach. It was an effort, but it was outstanding.

We also saw the caves where swallows make their nests out of spit, and men climb rickety bamboo ladders and pick the nests which are worth a lot and used in medicines and birds' nest soup (typically in China). Saw lots of limestone cliffs and beautiful beach huts. It was pretty amazing.
We got back at dusk and the tides were out. The boat got stuck on rocks in the shallow water, so we all had to get out and pull it in then wade to shore. Tiffany and got maybe our most memorable meal. We were starving and ordered enough food for about 4 average people. The waiter didn't seem to believe us, and they had trouble fitting all the plates on our table. We proceeded to eat it all, and women from the kitchen came out to look at us and smile. When we had finished the waiter jokingly asked if we wanted dessert, and we said sure, why not? We ordered the fried bananas (and when offered the choice of chocolate sauce or honey asked for both) and when they brought the plate out there were probably 3 whole bananas on there, even though the menu indicated about half as many. I think they were testing us. Clearly we finished it all, and were well liked in that restaurant.
The night life was no less interesting. There were lots of bars and people handing out fliers for the ubiquitous "buckets", which are, well, buckets that you put a 5th of booze into, a bottle of real Thai Red Bull (it comes in a brown glass apothecary looking bottle and apparently still contains amphetamines) and a can of soda with some ice and a few straws. They are as dangerous as they sound. In addition to typical bars and dance floors, there are DJs on the beach which is pretty amazing, as well as a place that had Thai boxing every night. After real boxers fought, they were open to volunteers. The prize for volunteering was a bucket. It was amazing. Koh Phi Phi lived up to all the hype- and then some!

KL Day 2

After an amazing night's sleep (bless that air con) we headed out for some sight seeing. We picked up Chinese steamed buns for breakfast, found our way onto a local bus, and headed about an hour out of the main part of the city (though it is so sprawling you could hardly tell the difference) to the Batu Caves. These huge limestone caves are one of the most visited Hindu shrines outside of India, and the crux of the annual Thaipusan festival. During the festival people show their devotion by piercing themselves all over with skewers or hooking heavy carts to themselves and making the steep climb of 272 steps up to the caves and temples. The show of masochism is for Lord Murugan, who's largest statue is in front of the caves.

Unfortunately we were there at the wrong time of year for the festival, but the caves were still pretty impressive. Tom, a guy from England/New Zealand who we had met the night before came with us and showed us his trick of scaring the local monkeys. It backfired when a monkey went after him. I would not mess with those suckers- they look mean as hell and not afraid to bite you. Avoiding all serious injury, we eventually caught the bus and slowly made our way back to the city center. The guy selling tickets on the bus seemed happy to see us back on there, if a little surprised. It is never entirely clear where one gets on and off a bus- I think the rules change every time, but luckily we found some shade to wait in.
Discarded incense holders

Some of the Hindu kitsch they sell inside

monkeys everywhere!

Tiffany and I had another food court meal- this time at a place that had air conditioning (it becomes a theme, when you are sweating 24/7). The food is so good and so cheap! We also decided to give the ubiquitous fish foot treatment a try, going on strong recomendations from Sarah, who said it wasn't exactly fun or enjoyable, but probably the weirdest thing she's ever felt. For 5 ringgit, or about $1.50, you could have fish nibble on your feet for 10 min. In the mall there was a pool set up with chairs around it and these fish that love dead skin... How could this not be gross? Um, well, it is. Tiffany and I had some serious issues getting our feet in the water. The people running the place thought we were pretty funny and took pictures while we made horrible faces and could not stop giggling. Eventually we did get our feet submerged, and the feeling of fish scraping at your soles with their non-teeth was one of the most uncomfortable things I've subjected myself to, both mentally and physically. 10 minutes was more than enough (though really it was closer to 2 after all the squeamishness) but Sarah was right. Definitely an experience!

We met up with her for dinner and meant to make it to an Indian weekend market. Ended up getting food in a real restaurant and had a very pleasant meal. Some of the waiters tried to practice their English on us, but I think the only words they really knew were "hello" and "Michael Jackson" (his untimely death means his music will forever be linked with that part of the world in my head) so needless to say, they were pretty short conversations.

We went back and hung out on the roof, drinking expensive beers and talking for hours until we noticed that there was a man with a monkey wearing a diaper sitting next to us. He let us play with 4 month old Jojo who he got from a pet shop in Chinatown. Apparently it is legal to own a monkey as long as you register it and send it to behavior classes. Jojo had gone to his first month of class, and was scheduled to go for another month soon. Basically, these classes train monkeys not to bite people, an urge they must constantly struggle with. I am not in favor of pet monkeys, but couldn't really pass up the opportunity to hold the baby for a few minutes.

A bunch more people eventually came up to the roof, and we all hung out under the Christmas lights until way past our bedtime. Heard some horrifying stories of robbery on buses and police corruption in Thailand, learned you can live like a king teaching English in Taiwan, and all sorts of other tidbits from more seasoned Asia travelers.

We got a few (very few!) hours of sleep before being picked up by our taxi at 4am (pre-arranged through the hostel so as to avoid major scams) and taken to the airport. We spent our last few ringgit on McDonald's breakfast (noooooooo. But we couldn't stomach spicy fish soup, the only alternative, at that hour) and flew off to Phuket, Thailand!

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

We boarded the early bus for Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, which is only about a 4 hour drive from Singapore. The bus was luxurious with giant reclining seats and wonderful air conditioning! This was the first border we crossed by land, and the bus stopped so we could check out of Singapore and then 20 min later stopped again so we could get stamped into Malaysia. There was a huge crush of people but it was still civilized enough. Once we got into KL though, all bets were off.

The bus didn't actually stop in the terminal as one would expect. We thought we could pick up a map, ask for some directions, no worries. Stepping onto the street was like stepping into a whole new world. Hot, humid, polluted, crowded, loud, FAST. Everything about Kuala Lumpur was in-your-face, including all the people who literally got in your face about taking a taxi, exchanging money, trying to sell you something or take you somewhere. I guess overwhelming would really be the best word to describe it. We trekked around that neighborhood for almost an hour trying to figure out where our guest house was, sweating off a third of our body weight while we hauled around all of our worldly possessions. After asking 20 people and literally walking by the place 3 times, we found our diamond in the rough, Wheeler's Guest House. We couldn't really be blamed for missing it- there was a sign the size of a piece of paper at about the 4th floor level announcing it's name. The front was a little convenience stand you squeeze by, then head up some really dodgy stairs to the 3rd floor where we found reception. The decor was an interesting mix of fake flowers, fish tanks, and twinkle lights, but it worked better than I would have expected.

The entrance to the Guest House- which was hidden behind a convenience store/cartThe pile of bricks holding our bed up on one side
The whole place was heavier on the rustic than the charm- our room had a double bed with one side held up by a pile of bricks. But we did have air con AND a fan, which was heaven on earth. The toilets were down the hall and worked maybe 20% of the time. The showers were in the toilet stalls which is a space saving innovation. They were built on a concrete slab with some plywood slapped up as separators. Shower shoes are a definite must! For all of the griminess the place still had some charm. The rooftop was a deck and they had free catered dinner for everyone on Friday night. The food was good and we were encouraged to eat as much as we could, and ended up meeting some really nice people.

After dinner we wanted to explore the city a bit and set off with Sarah from Australia and two German girls who had just arrived from Europe that day after 4 connecting flights. Sarah had been to KL a few years before, and knew her way around a bit. We took the monorail downtown to see the Petronas Towers all lit up at night. They are gorgeous structures and were the tallest buildings in the world until being surpassed in 2004 (they are still the tallest twin towers!). At night they have lights running up and down and are pretty remarkable. Quite a contrast from other parts of the city! We checked out the ridiculously expensive shopping center located on the first floor, the dancing fountain show out back, and hung out with tons of other tourists for a little while before deciding to take the scenic route, aka walk, back to the hostel.

We were staying in one of the rougher parts of the city it seems, and on the way back passed a long building where one unit had the biohazard sign painted on the front, another was burnt out and you could see KL's other major building, the sky tower, through the windows because there was no roof to obstruct the view of the sky. The units at the end of the building were, of course, occupied.

Returning to the hostel we said goodnight to the other girls and were getting ready to go bed ourselves when we met some guys who were heading across the street for a drink. Somehow or other we wound up at a bar til 3am. Drinks in Malaysia are very expensive because it is a Muslim country and they have very high taxes on alcohol. I guess it all balances out when we paid less than $5 a night for a place to sleep!

Singapore

Todo... We're not in Kansas Anymore

Singapore! Tiffany and I both found our new favorite airline (sorry JetBlue)- Thai Air. Not only was the plane empty enough we got our own rows, they wined and dined us the whole way to Singapore (via Bangkok). The flight cleared up the misconception that Australia and Asia are close together- at least not the parts we were heading to. Oops.

Our arrival card for Singapore was pretty standard, except for the fact that it said in big bold letters: welcome to Singapore. DRUG SMUGGLING IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH. We heard chewing gum was also illegal, but hopefully that was perceived as a lesser crime- one can never be too sure. But aside from the slightly sobering welcome, the city was great. We took the MRT- their subway equivalent- from the airport to our downtown stop. When the doors opened and we stepped out was the first time we really realized what we were in for. It was HOT. And it was HUMID. Welcome to Southeast Asia, where you won't stop sweating!

Our hostel was in Little India, a very colorful and slightly chaotic neighborhood. The place was clean and efficient, and like the city as a whole, not as different as we had expected. Though we had to leave our shoes at the door and our bags on the balcony, they did provide free internet and breakfast- always a plus!

After showering but not really getting any drier, we set out armed with our 3x3' map of the city. We got interesting iced drinks down the street at probably the only place in the city where they don't speak English. We pointed at some pictures and wound up with one tea and one coffee drink, both with plenty of condensed milk- pretty standard. Visited our first (of about a million) temples, checked out a food court and started the trend of stuffing our faces that didn't stop for the next month. A local guy came and actually asked what we ordered and got it for himself- score! He clearly had daughters around our age, and sat with us for a while telling us how to be careful and not get into trouble. Can never have too many parent lectures, I suppose!

Over the course of the next few days we saw as much as we could and spent an extraordinary amount of time walking- in a city with great public transportation, 100 degree heat and 90% humidity. There were stops at the famous Raffles Hotel, Clark Quay, the 72nd floor of the Stamford Westin for panoramic views of the city, Chinatown and the Buddha Tooth temple, more food markets as well as the National Museum with an "interactive" exhibit on food, and my favorite, the Night Safari!

The zoos in Singapore are world class, and we checked out the nocturnal park. It is set up brilliantly with amazing animals that are active at night, and they have different walking loops to go by all of the habitats which look pretty natural but designed to give maximum viewing. There is also a tram that runs to the further, bigger exhibits of hyenas, lions, and my favorite, tapirs! They look kind of like a cross between an elephant, a pig, and an Oreo. I had no idea they were so huge! We stayed in the park until it closed around midnight, then were shuttled the hour or so back into town.

A few days is hardly enough time to spend in Singapore, but it was a good introduction to Asia. It is clean, modern, organized, efficient, and so much less foreign than I had imagined. It seemed even less intimidating than wandering into Chinatown- and I think more people spoke English! It certainly set the tone for the rest of the trip.

Western Wilderness

Sunday August 2nd

Another long drive to Cradle Mountain. This one took us through a lot of forests, mountains, and- surprise!- more narrow, windy roads. Coming into Cradle Mountain the landscape really changed as we reached higher elevations. There was a lot of tussock grass and everything had a deep reddish-brown color. It was grey and raining, not the best day for hiking. We weren't feeling particularly motivated, but the weather in this part of the island is unpredictable year-round, so we figured we might as well give it a go.

We stopped by the information center for a new park pass, and asked the girl at the desk about the chance of the weather clearing for the morning. She laughed and said there was a snow warning, but there had been plenty of those lately and no snow, so not really anything to worry about, but tomorrow could be just as bad as today. So with that exciting news we geared up and set off.

Thankful again for winter clothing, we did the 2 hour circuit of Dove Lake with great views (when the fog parted) of Cradle Mountain. It was kind of a spooky area in all the mist. The lake and sky were dark grey, the woods slightly foreboding. We had just watched Harry Potter where all the dead bodies come out of the lake, which wasn't the best thing to be thinking about at the moment, as the boardwalk dipped to the edge of the water in more than one spot.

This area is the start of the Overland Track, multi-day hike through the area (open only in summer). Tasmania seems so much more wild and untouched than any of the places that I've visited thus far, even than the South Island of New Zealand, definitely more so than any place in mainland Oz. It is really beautiful in that way, but there is a struggle between conservation groups and the logging and mining industries that have an interest in the 2/3rds of the island that is not protected as National Parks. Cradle Mountain and much of the land in the west is protected as UNESCO Wilderness World Heritage Area, and it is one of the last pristine temperate zones in the world.

After spending the evening sitting by the fire and drinking local brews at the rather posh Lodge just up the road from our little cabin accommodation, we woke in the morning to see... snow. And kind of a lot of it. Tiffany later pointed out this was the first time we woke up to white without getting exited. Instead we said "oh ****" because we had a flight out of Launceston late in the afternoon, and had a 2 wheel drive car with no snow chains. Luckily we were told the snow should melt on the roads by the afternoon, so we went for a little walk down the road and got to see some wallabies hopping around in the snow, which really was quite lovely.

We made it back to Launceston without any problems. We checked out Cataract Gorge, a beautiful park just on the edge of the city. It has the worlds longest single span chair lift (it didn't look THAT long, but I'm no expert) as well as a lovely bridge and lots of walking trails.

We got our little car to the airport and realized we didn't know where to drop it off. It was from a no-name rental place that didn't have a desk or spaces at the airport. We stopped across the street at the Budget mechanics to ask if they knew what to do. The guy there told us to park it in the regular lot, and leave the parking ticket and keys in the glovebox with the doors unlocked. He called the rental company to check, and assured us this was how it is done. Seeing the doubt on our faces he said "what, you've never done that before?" We were a little wary that a few minutes later he and his buddy he had called would run across the street, find the little red car, and have a new toy for themselves. So we took pictures of it in case the car company couldn't find it later, but apparently it all worked out ok.

The number one question I got when I told someone I planned on going to Tasmania was- "why?". It is the brunt of many jokes (from both the Aussies and Kiwis- they are really ones to talk) about hillbilly, inbred, toothless farmers. But I found it to be incredibly beautiful, full of friendly people, and almost unspoiled wilderness, activities, animals, with a healthy pride in local beer and wine. Really, there was no possible reason NOT to like Tasmania, and it is definitely one of my favorite places in Oz.