We return to Australia

We are having a great time in outback Australia. A proper update will be posted soon, but here are some quick pictures from the Red Center. For those following the blog they may remember our first campervan “Mad Max” that took us around Western Australia. Meet his sequel, “Thunderdome”; the similar but slightly bigger van we are using to tool around Alice Springs and Uluru.

Singapore… is pretty darn nice!

For more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/tonycesare/Singapore02?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2xvoDdvtjx8AE&feat=directlink

Maybe it is because we had been travelling in South East Asia for almost eight weeks, or maybe it is just a really cool city, but we were more than pleasantly surprised by Singapore. It was by far the most Western place we had been in a while. Things were modern and ran efficiently. No funny smells or trash in the streets. Although it’s a bit pricey, Singapore is a great place for a one or two day layover.

First, the airport is one of the nicest airports in the world, and that is not an exaggeration. There is free internet everywhere. It was fast, efficient and simple to get through… and people are helpful! There was not a single tout to be found and everyone gave accurate and obliging information. Then the biggest shock of the last two months, a taxi with a meter! And he used the meter! What a welcome relief; we didn’t have to haggle for a reasonable price to get us to our hotel. The roads were well marked, the buildings gleamed in the night sky, and there was even an 18-hole golf course we drove by that was completely lit so people could play at night! It was like we had taken a two-hour plane ride from Borneo and been dropped on a different planet.

After arriving at our hotel at 9pm, we decided to see what the nightlife was like so while waiting for a taxi, a friendly local suggested a couple spots and the one area we chose to go (Clark Quay) was hopping. People from all over the world, congregating at a riverside locale with restaurants of every type, bars full of loud and laughing people, and live music. It was awesome! The Singapore slings and beer flowed like wine. We ate Spanish food and went to the “Crazy Elephant” bar and watched a sixties/seventies cover-band absolutely rock the house. The lead singer/guitarist was an American who looked like he ran out of money traveling in Singapore and decided to stay while his backup band looked like the local IT department who in their spare time happened to be the rockin’-est band in SE Asia. It was a great night and we had a lot of fun for our only night in Singapore.

On our one day in Singapore we spent time walking around the city, seeing the sights, drinking cold-coffee beverages, watching baseball at a pub and eating good food. There is really not that much touristy to do in Singapore, but the city is so clean, so efficient, and so friendly it was just a great day. We enjoyed walking down the cleanest city streets in the world (you could eat off the sidewalk) without an assault from touts, paying the fair metered price in taxis and soaking in the equatorial wonder that was Singapore. Forget KL and Hong Kong, Singapore is THE city in SE Asia.

Then, after taking another metered taxi ride to the airport (such a simple joy), Erika flashed her Qantas gold card and got all three of us into the Qantas lounge where we sipped complimentary cocktails, ate complimentary food and used the free internet before boarding the plane back to Oz.

Since April 28th, One or both of us has visited; New York City; Hong Kong; The Philippines (Manila x3, Boracay, Palawan, Cebu); Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai); Siem Reap, Cambodia; Peninsular Malaysia (Penang, Cameron Highlands, Kuala Lumpur); Borneo Malaysia (Sandakan and surrounds, Mt. Kinabalu, Kota Kinabalu); and Singapore. We were now on our way back home to the lucky country.

Up next: the Northern Territories of Australia.

Malaysia Part 4: Looking down on the clouds while climbing Mt. Kinabalu

For more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/tonycesare/MountKinabalu?authkey=Gv1sRgCIaiq9Tw5oWgMA&feat=directlink

After seeing the wildlife in Sabah we undertook a physical challenge -- climbing Mount Kinabalu, the tallest peak in Southeast Asia. To get there we took a 28 minute flight from Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu in the western half of Sabah and a two-hour bus ride to the base of the mountain. Mt. Kinabalu is 4095 meters (13,435 ft) and stands high above the surrounding peaks. We got our accommodation squared away, paid the requisite climbing and park fees and ate a good dinner before settling down at the park headquarters for a night. The following morning we met our guide “Duin” (local guides are requisite for the climb) and the three of us set out for the first part of the ascent

The hike up Mt. Kinabalu is attempted (and often conquered) by many intrepid travelers, so the plan of attack is pretty well established. On the first morning, climbers hike from 1866 meters (6,122 ft) at headquarters (the base of the mountain) up to “base camp” (called Laban Rata or “LR”) at 3,270 meters (10,728 ft); it is about 2/3 of the way up the mountain. The ascent to LR is a 6.0 km hike and is essentially straight up a mix of rock and wooden stairs and tree roots. After arriving at LR the climbers rest, eat dinner and sleep in the dorm style rooms before waking up at 2am to start the 2.8 km summit hike to the top of the mountain in the dark. The goal is to summit as the sun rises above the peaks then start the climb down before the clouds set in on the peak.

With the help of Duin (who was an excellent guide) we followed this itinerary with great success. We were a little fast up to basecamp and completed the first leg in 3:40, well ahead of the normal 4-6 hours. The hike up was scenic and passed through rainforest, mossy forest and eventually the sparse and stunted trees near the tree line. Along the way we saw carnivorous pitcher plants (a.k.a. “monkey cups”) and some great views of the valley. At base camp we occupied time playing Gin Rummy, drinking tea, eating dinner (food is cooked by the staff and is quite good given the remote mountain location) and looking down on the clouds below. The following morning Duin got us moving at 3 am, expecting a relatively fast climb to the top. It was fun (and somewhat treacherous) climbing in the dark with just our headlights. Soon after leaving we started to run into other climbers and the path to the mountain peak was a line of single headlamps winding their way to the top. After 700 meters we passed the tree line and climbed through the one technical aspect of the ascent that required a rope line and a thin path over a rather steep drop-off. Once we got past that part it was just a long, steady walk up a granite slope for the next two hours. As we climbed, the weather cooled and the sun started to peak over the horizon. Finally we reached the last final push to the top. A steep climb over boulders to the summit and we got there just as the sun started to break the horizon; it was a bit cloudy, but still beautiful. With a handshake from Duin and some group pictures at the top, we had officially summitted the tallest peak between New Guinea and the Himalayas. The dramatic drop into Lowe’s Gully just next to the peak was slightly stomach-turning, but the views from the top were spectacular. At the summit the weather was frigid and the wind strong, but other than a bit of altitude sickness we were no worse for wear. It was amazing to sit above the clouds and feel like we were at the top of the world.

The way back down started off great—the descent from the summit to LR was much easier and more scenic. We had climbers high with a sense of accomplishment as we walked down the granite face towards LR for an 8am breakfast and a short nap. However, once we started the descent from LR to the bottom, the weather took a turn for the worse. It started to rain with 4km to go, and with 2.5 km left it started to pour. We were soaking wet and the path became very slippery so the climb down took a long time. By the end of the long walk to the bottom we were sopping wet and our joints and muscles ached. We were done, though, and it felt pretty good.

For the next three days our legs were tired and climbing up or down stairs hurt. But, Singapore and Australia were on the horizon.

As a side note, one of the most incredible things we witnessed on the hike was watching the ‘mountain porters’ carry ridiculously heavy loads up to the base camp. At LR everything had to be carried up as there was no other way to get goods to base camp. Porters were paid based on how many kilos they carried and some of them must have been carrying 30 or 40 kilos on their backs/heads. Duin told us they did this every day –bringing everything from food to liquid propane to linens up to LR, then coming back down with just as much weight in garbage. Some climbers even had their guides carry their backpacks, and some guides were carrying whole families’ backpacks. We thought that if you’re going to climb then you should have to carry your own bag…..

Malaysia Part 3: The Wilderness of Borneo

For more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/tonycesare/EasternSabahMalaysianBorneo?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzZ6qepz_b68AE&feat=directlink

After exploring some of peninsular Malaysia we headed to Borneo –the island that Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei share. The Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah occupy the northern part of the tropical island, along with a small section in between the two that is Brunei. We went to Sabah specifically to see the endemic wildlife and wilderness and booked a 4-day tour that left from Sandakan, a small city on the east coast. Our incredibly friendly and helpful tour guide “Bert” and driver “Yus” met us at the Sandakan airport and spent the next four days showing us some of the amazing locations in eastern Sabah.

Our first stop was the Gomantong caves that are home to the swallows that make the nests used in “bird’s nest soup”. The Gomantng caves are also home to a large number of bats that produce and equally large amount of guano. The result is a heaping mound of bat excrement teaming with unimaginable numbers of cockroaches. Large and very poisonous centipedes crawl along the cave walls adding to the ambiance. If you have ever seen David Attenborough’s “Planet Earth” episode on caves, this cave was one they filmed. The cave was as creepy as it sounds but interesting because of the significance of the bird’s nests. They are so prized as a delicacy that guards were on patrol 24 hours a day to protect the nests from poachers (why anyone would eat anything from that cave, or bird’s nest soup in general is beyond us). However, the real excitement for us was that outside the cave where we saw our first wild Orangutan slowly moving among the trees high above the cave opening. The possibility of seeing a wild Orangutan was one of the main reasons we came to Borneo and we had mission accomplished on the first day! That evening we stayed at Billet adventure lodge on the Kinabatangan River and were lead on a night walk by a local guide. The jungle at night is always exciting and aside from the usual assortment of frogs, insects, sleeping birds and large spiders, Matt had the good eyes to spot a Leopard cat. This is a small wild cat that roams the jungles and according to our guide was a rare sighting. We felt pretty cool that we spotted something named “leopard” and went to bed with a feeling of accomplishment.

The following morning our good fortune continued on the dawn boat cruise down the Kinabatangan River. We saw heaps of Macaque monkeys (both long-tailed and pig-tailed) jumping around and playing in the trees; three different groups of proboscis monkeys; a crocodile; and two more wild Orangutans! The only disappointment was that we did not spot any wild elephants (local fisherman said a herd was there two days prior). Proboscis monkeys are found only in Borneo and are were a quirky sight with their round bellies and big noses. Some of the smaller Probiscus monkeys bounded between trees while the large males sat in a regal pose high in the trees surveying the land around. Seeing more wild Orangutans was again a thrill. One looked directly at us with indifference in its human like features while we looked back in awe. Adding to the experience was that we were on a beautiful river at sunrise with almost no one else around.

On day three we travelled from Sandakan by speed boat to one of three Malaysian islands in the Turtle Island Sanctuary. The islands are just 2 km from the Filipino Maritime boarder and 10 km from a few small Philippine islands. As the name implies the island we stayed on is a sanctuary dedicated to protecting sea turtles. Each night (mainly green) turtles come ashore to lay eggs. After they dig the nesting hole the turtles enter a trance-like state to lay their clutch of up to 100 eggs. This allows the rangers to collect the eggs for transfer to a protected hatchery (which is good as the island is also home to many very large monitor lizards). After 40 days incubation in specially dug sand-pits the newly hatched baby turtles are collected and returned to the wild.

We spent our day on the island snorkeling, spotting monitor lizards and taking in a spectacular sunset. Around sun-down newly hatched turtles started to appear in the hatchery and teemed with excitement ready to make their dash to the ocean. After dark all the tourists were allowed to go out and watch one turtle lay her eggs and watch the release of one clutch of baby turtles back into the wild (human contact is kept to an absolute minimum to protect the turtles). The little guys ran like hell for the water. Some of the baby turtles even ran across our feet as we stood still before finding their way to the big blue (Matt even got to pick up a wayward turtle and put him in the water at the ranger’s request). After most people went to bed a few of us stayed out a bit later and were allowed to watch another turtle lay her clutch of 93 eggs. We were amazed by the size of a full grown sea turtle and with such a small group the experience was quite intimate –you could hear the large turtle breathing heavily during the laborious process. On the boat ride back to Sandakan early the following morning we spotted two large sea-turtles mating as they came up for a breath – a circle of life type moment.

Our final day of the tour was spent at the Sepilok Orangutan sanctuary just outside Sandakan. Sepilok is on the edge of a large nature reserve and is dedicated to the re-introduction of injured and orphaned orangutans back into the wild. Once the juvenile orangutans acquire the skills to survive on their own in the wild, their interaction with people is kept to a minimum. However, some of the apes refuse to return to the wild and spend the rest of their days near the center. These are the Orangutan we saw during the morning and afternoon feedings. They were amazing to watch closely; graceful, flexible, acrobatic and powerful in the trees; human-like in many ways; and the juveniles were adorable. During the afternoon feeding a group of hungry Macaque monkeys were also on the feeding stand trying to sneak food from the Orangutans. As we walked out in the afternoon, a mother Orangutan with baby in tow was sitting on a railing just off the walkway. It turns out she was having a bad day and had been harassed by a large male. Maybe because of this, she had something against Tony and Matt because she clearly was agitated and kept approaching the two of them. Bert kept us at a safe distance, but it was exciting to see such an incredible animal in such close proximity.

Eastern Sabah was a highlight from top to bottom. We saw the wilderness and wildlife we came to view, had great luck with wild spotting (three Orangutans!) and were able to get up close with the rehabilitated Orangutans. While incredible, the sobering reality is that much of eco-tourism today is trying to see the amazing sights before they disappear. Orangutans are beautiful creatures that are now only found on two islands in the world and their habitat is decreasing steadily. Sea Turtles are in danger and much of Borneo’s wild areas are under threat. We had a fantastic time and hope that the environment remains protected and that the animals have a place to roam without the threat of extinction.

Up next – Mount Kinabalu: The highest peak in South East Asia.

Malaysia part 2: Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur or “KL” is the largest city in Malaysia and home to the iconic “Petronas Towers” – the largest twin tower structure in the world. We spent four nights in KL with Matt joining us for the final two. As tourists passing through, KL appeared to be a very livable city, albeit expensive. There is an established infrastructure, a nice public monorail system and a vibrant multi-cultural society. This view may have been biased by our hotels being located in the trendy and westernized “Bukit Bintang” district. Just outside our hotel door was a dense collection of posh shopping malls that attracted visitors and locals alike. Normally we find malls quite dull, but KL was oppressively hot and the air-conditioning beckoned.

KL, however, is not really a tourist destination and there were limited things to do. We did make it to the Petronas towers and enjoyed the views from the base while sipping cold coffee beverages. We also visited the Batu caves just outside KL city. The largest cave is a Hindu temple but the main attraction was the Macaque monkeys that live at the caves. Numerous mischievous monkeys roam the stairs that lead up to the caves and the cheeky buggers are continuously up to no good. They stole food from tourists and ran around like they owned the place. One even showed its teeth to Erika and charged her when she got to close. It was a bit scary but there was no harm done (we learned later that looking a male macaque in the eyes is perceived as a challenge). The cave and temple were also scenic and it was a good first day for in Asia for Matt.

Next stop: Borneo

Amazing Angkor

For more pictures follow the below links.

Day 1:http://picasaweb.google.com/tonycesare/SiemReapAndAngkorWatCambodia_Day1?authkey=Gv1sRgCMOPsY6t5YPKkgE&feat=directlink

Day 2:http://picasaweb.google.com/tonycesare/SiemReapAndAngkorWatCambodiaDay2?authkey=Gv1sRgCN-hrpzyvsb1swE&feat=directlink

Day 3:http://picasaweb.google.com/tonycesare/SiemReapAndAngkorWatCambodiaDay3?authkey=Gv1sRgCLjV_qT9x8G5vgE&feat=directlink

When we left Kulua Lumpur for Siem Reap (the gateway to the Angkor Temple Complex) on June 5th, our batteries were running low, but the time we spent in Cambodia turned out to be just the rejuvenation we needed. The Angkor temple complex was breathtaking and exceeded all expectations and Siem Reap was a fantastic place to spend a weekend. The Cambodians we met were warm and genuine; the food was great; and the atmosphere was relaxed; albeit sometimes sad. We left with many fond memories and hope that this once troubled nation will continue to move toward peace and prosperity.

The main draw to Siem Reap is the Angkor temples. Built between 900-1400 AD by the Khmer Empire, the temples are a source of immense pride to the Cambodian people. While troubles abounded in Cambodia in recent history, there is no doubt this country was once home to a powerful empire. Each of the temples was (mostly) unique in style and design and we were delighted by all of them. That is once we wiped the ever-present sweat from our brow; it was HOT!

The first temple we visited was the iconic “Angkor Wat” -- the best preserved of the temples and the centerpiece of the Angkor complex. Over the three days we were in Angkor, we were fortunate to see sunrise, sunset and the rise of a full moon over Angkor Wat; all were differently beautiful. The size of Angkor Wat is hard to appreciate from a picture. Its outer walls are 1024 x 802 meters and are surrounded by a moat 190 meters across. We entered by crossing the original stone bridge through the western gate and once inside were hit by an overwhelming sense of being someplace very special. The temple itself is quite large and is intricately carved on most surfaces. Bas-reliefs span the entirety of the temple walls and depict Hindu epics and Khmer empire historical accounts (The Khmers were Hindu when Angkor began and converted to Buddhism during the reign of the Empire). Facades, pillars, walls, ceilings, etc., are all carved in relief and this holds true for all the temples in the complex. The five major lotus pillars still remain at Angkor Wat and, overall, the building seems to be amazingly well maintained. Monkeys roam the jungle around the temple and we saw a number playing amongst the inner walls. We visited again the second morning to watch sunrise over the temple. While this was beautiful, even more enjoyable was sitting and observing the temple from every angle when the flocks of tourists cleared out and we were able to find some quiet and peaceful spots.

Aside from Angkor Wat, here were some other highlights from around the temples. Angkor Thom: The center of Angkor for many centuries and the biggest city of the empire during the 12th century (according to our driver). Still remaining at this site are the four entry gates guarded by larger-than-life statues depicting the Hindu tale of “the Churning of the sea of milk”; the “Elephant” and “Leaper King” terraces; Bayon Temple and lots of monkeys. All of the structures in this city were impressive and it was fun to imagine what it must have been like during the height of the empire when the stone temples were surrounded by the active city life. Bayon: The central temple in Angkor Thom. Bayon is a complex maze of pillars that depicts four different faces that were important to the empire (we didn’t look this one up). It is a completely different style than Angkor Wat and possibly more stunning at close range. It was a photographer’s dream as with each step you are watched by the ever-present stone faces. Ta Prom: The quintessential jungle temple. Abandoned 500 years ago, it was swallowed by the jungle only to be rediscovered in the early 1900s. Today there are immense centuries-old trees growing off the walls, roofs, and through the middle of some structures – the result is amazing! This temple was used in the movie “Tomb Raider” and we felt the only thing missing was a fedora, a whip and some Indiana Jones background music. Bantay Srei: “The Woman’s Temple” is located 32 km from Angkor Wat. The scenic ride out there in a Tuk-Tuk through the surrounding villages was refreshing and interesting and gave a glimpse into the lives of Cambodians in the countryside. While this temple is quite small in size, the carvings are so exquisite and intricate in detail that it was worth the effort of getting there. Warning: It is also pretty darn HOT there during the day so if you want to visit, plan a trip early in the morning or when the sun isn’t at its peak. We also visited a few other temples including Preah Khan, Pre Rup, and Eastern Mebane that were really nice but too much to write about here.

Aside from the temples, the rest of our time in Cambodia was really memorable. On our second night, we took a boat out on Tonle Sap (largest lake in SE Asia) to see one of the floating villages and watch the sunset from a rooftop of a floating restaurant. It was amazing to have a short glimpse of how the people had to constantly adapt to the changing water levels and to see schools, health centers and even a billiards club floating on the water. The people in these villages were pretty poor and appeared to have to work very hard to live like they did.

We were also constantly amazed by the Cambodian children who were outside all the temples trying to sell us cheap goods/provide us with facts and figures about the USA and Australia. Many of them spoke English quite well and had acquired and incredible amount of information (which they happily regurgitated for tourists) about foreign (country) capitals, populations, state capitals, government officials, iconic animals and even the occasional G’day mate. We must have given out at least $40 USD to the adorable kids who were out working hard to help their families. Interesting side note: the most accepted form of currency in Siem Reap is the US dollar and this is what was dispensed from all of the ATM machines. The Cambodian Riel (4000 Riel to 1 USD) is used for small change, but it is a lot easier for a child to say “lady only $4” than “lady, only 16,000 Riel”. While there were definitely touts in Cambodia, and although they could be as relentless as the ones we had come across in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, we didn’t seem to mind them as much as they were all friendly and good-natured.

Lastly, the Cambodian people have been through hell and back in the past 40 years. There is still a lot of poverty in Siem Reap and we assume that the extent of the poverty in even greater in the non-touristy portions of the country. The majority of Cambodian people live in rural villages under the constant threat of land mines detonating while farmers till their fields or when children are playing around the farms or in the jungles. In Siem Reap, one is constantly reminded of what the landmines have done to the country and its people. Landmine victims with missing limbs are a common sight and like cancer in western countries, everyone seems to have a family member who has been affected. Despite the economic hardships and the recent history of foreign and civil wars, the Cambodian people seem to be looking forward with hope. The people seem genuine and the parents are working hard to provide their children with a brighter future. Although it was only one short weekend, the Cambodian people touched our hearts and we were grateful for the opportunity to visit their beautiful country.

Matt has arrived...

We are now in the homestretch of our travels with just three weeks remaining. After a great time in Cambodia (post to be up soon) we are feeling rejuvenated and excited for what comes ahead; Borneo, Northern Territories of Australia, and Sydney, before we head back to the USA.

Adding to our excitement, our good buddy Matt has arrived. He landed in Kuala Lampur yesterday after a short 24 hour trip from New York City. Despite the time change and lack of sleep he is his usual fun self, and is having a good time. He is also turning out to be quite the wildlife photographer.

Tomorrow we are off to Borneo. Expect more stories and lots of photographs.

Malaysia Part 1: Western (Peninsular) Malaysia

To see more pictures follow this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/tonycesare/WesternMalaysiaPenangAndTheCameronHighlands?authkey=Gv1sRgCOyooaeSxc2aywE&feat=directlink

We again fell a bit behind on the blogging (too much to see and do in Siem Reap, Cambodia). To catch up, we’ve done another 2 posts. The Cambodia blog will be up soon.

In our last post we had left South Thailand by bus and entered Malaysia. Malaysia is divided between the Western “Peninsular” portion which is connected to Thailand and the Eastern portion which is located on the north Coast of the island of Borneo. After crossing the Thai border we spent six days in Western Malaysia including Penang, an island off the Northwest Coast; the Cameron Highlands, a centrally located Mountainous region; and one night in Kuala Lumpur, before flying to Cambodia.

Malaysia is a (primarily) Muslim nation. Instead of seeing Buddhist monks in their orange robes everywhere, in Malaysia women in headscarves are common, as are Mosques, and all the hotels rooms have signs pointing the direction towards Mecca. However, Malaysians are hard to define as a people because they are so ethnically diverse. From what we’ve seen, Malaysian culture and people are a mix of SE Asian, South Asian (Indian), Muslim, Chinese and British colonial culture – which has made for an interesting travel experience and great food choices!

Unfortunately we don’t have many great stories from Western Malaysia. The week or so from Phuket to Hat Yai, to Penang, to Cameron Highlands was probably the most trying of our travels so far. We just had to grin and bear many things. Penang had the makings of a good time and came recommended by Erika’s father who travelled through SE Asia in the 70s. Unfortunately, things have changed in the 35 years. Now, Penang is connected to the mainland by a very large bridge (longest in Asia?) and is a destination resort. Most of the nice beaches are owned by hotels who charge for access and the public beaches are manned by touts who persistently try to get you to buy a ride on a jetski, parasail, or a sad-looking horse. Even if you wanted to swim, the warm water appeared dirty and uninviting. We tried to do some fun things but continually ran into roadblocks. The railway to “Penang Hill” was a four hour wait when we got there. The big Buddhist temple near Penang hill was the biggest tourist trap we’d ever seen, so we had a look then got out of there quickly (it is not a recommended stop!). We wanted to go snorkeling at one of the nearby islands. However, we were given such a runaround from touts and hawkers who lied and/or tried to overcharge us that we finally said screw it. We felt it was better not to overpay for an expensive trip with a high potential for disappointment (we were on a bad run with the touts at this point). In the end, our three days in Penang were pretty slow, only highlighted by “Azizun”, the super-friendly and helpful night door-man at our hotel. The one thing that we did that was ultra smile-inducing was getting a therapeutic treatment by “nibbler fish”. To “rejuvenate our skin and increase blood flow” we paid money to stick our feet in a pool of fish that nibble off the dead skin. It feels just as funny as it sounds and while we weren’t sure it did much therapeutically to help our feet, it was surely ticklish and we had tons of fun and couldn’t stop laughing! While Penang did have an incredible mix of Malay, Muslim and Indian Culture, and the night food markets were an amazing site, for us it wasn’t too memorable. If we had to do it over again we would have given it a miss.

Our next stop was a town called Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands and to get there we had to take another bus ride. In retrospect two things about this bus ride should not have taken us by surprise: 1) that it took about twice as long to get there as quoted, and 2) that while the travel agent promised us, and sold us first class bus tickets, in actuality the bus was an old and rundown 2nd class bus (first class buses here are more expensive but can be as nice as international business class seats and food is available onboard). Of course no refund was offered at the bus-station because the travel agent was independent of the bus company… as per usual in SE Asia. Also, this bus ride caused our hearts to sit in our throats for at least a couple hours. The big flat freeways were fine but the narrow, winding roads up into the highlands were a different story. The driver was taking turns so fast that bags and suitcases were sliding all over the bus floor and the huge drop-offs immediately next to the road-side were as big as anything we had seen during travels in the Colorado mountains. To top it off, our driver didn’t appear to have gotten enough sleep the night before. He spent the last 2 hours yawning, rubbing his eyes and stretching all the while driving way too fast around the curves of the mountain! We were both actually pretty terrified and were more than happy to get off the bus in the small and quaint town of Tanah Rata.

Once off the bus, we really enjoyed the Cameron Highlands. As the name would suggest, it is a highland region in the middle of Peninsular Malaysia with beautiful gardens and tea plantations on every hill. The weather was a bit cooler, which was a nice break from the sticky temperatures everywhere else. We did a one-day tour led by a half-crazy man who wore rings that would make Ozzy Ozbourne jealous and drove a 4x4 with bull horns on the front. But we met lots of other traveling westerners and saw some cool things including the big flowers –called rufflesia –that are so famous in Malaysia. Rufflesia have the biggest flower of any plant species in the world and have hard, rubbery petals that are amazing to see up close. We also stopped at a tea plantation on the tour and were treated to view of beautifully manicured tea fields covering every hillside in view. In town, there wasn’t much food that we felt comfortable about eating (though the Indian we had one night was very good), but oddly, there was a Starbucks. It was an odd sight in this little highland town but we were more than happy to partake of the blessed frappuccino and make use of the free wireless.

After Tanah Rata, we took an uneventful bus ride down to Kuala Lumpur, where we spent one night before heading to Cambodia. Our first impression of KL was that it is a modern SE Asian city with significant western influences. But, we got to see very little as we were off to Siem Reap in the morning.

The two Thailands

We were a little negligent with the blogging in Thailand and are going to do some catch up with two different posts. One is the stories about our final stops in Thailand (the lower post, read first) the other is our impression of Thailand (the upper post, read second) and how we are feeling 53-days into our journey.

As hinted previously, Thailand is a complicated and paradoxical place.

On one hand there are many wonderful things --beautiful scenery; great food; an interesting and ancient culture; elephants and other amazing wildlife; meeting like-minded travelers; and the genuine, kind, and helpful Thai people like Nick, Tin, Vicky and Miss Little, and of course Om and his family.

On the other hand, some things drove us crazy and/or were quite sad -- complete disregard for safety on the roads; the constant vigilance required to avoid food-poisoning; disparity between the haves and the have-nots and potential for exploitation; the numerous stray dogs who loiter everywhere (the reality of rabies sets in the first time you face an unprovoked aggressive growling and snapping from a stray dog); obnoxious tourists who have no respect for animals, culture, or environment; obnoxious touts who have no respect for animals, culture or the environment; but most of all, the non-stop harassment from touts, hawkers, and everyone who is trying to dishonestly take advantage of the naïve tourists and the tourist dollar.

It is impossible to go five steps in Phuket or Bangkok without being bothered by someone trying to sell you something (Chiang Mai was not nearly as bad). The second you step off a bus or plane you are hounded by taxi drivers trying to charge you too much for a ride. They get in your face and don’t leave you alone until you are rude to them. They will grab your bags before you can tell them not to. If you stop to look at a map they pounce on you like wolves to meat. They will tell you lies and confusing stories to get you to go where they want you to go (e.g. to a store selling over-priced goods). If you make the terrible mistake to ask for help they will lie to take advantage of you. The taxis have a tendency to need to “stop at the office to sign in” which is of course a rouse to get the tourists to go to a travel agent arranging over-priced excursions. We had a tuk-tuk driver take us to a place we didn’t want to go at a price that was too much because he knew we couldn’t argue. Metered taxi drivers “forget” to turn on the meter then charge too much. You try to arrange a tour and then another person comes up to you with a story about “a friend who runs a cheaper tour”. They lie about prices to suck you in then somehow state that original price is no longer valid. You never know who to trust, you never know what things actually cost, and no matter what, they are better at this than you. These people practice lying to and taking advantage of tourists every day. They are professionals and we were “taken for a ride” many times.

This is the maddening part of travel in Thailand. There is so much good to see and do in the country and we did enjoy much of it. But, is it worth it? Do the positives outweigh the negatives? Much of the time we were not really sure in Thailand.

First, Thailand was more expensive than we expected. Maybe this is because we are not good at haggling or just couldn’t be bothered. We did do lots of haggling (mostly Erika, Tony just gets too mad), but it gets pretty exhausting after a while. Either way, we have found Malaysia to be cheaper than Thailand and this was unexpected. Second, the non-stop barrage from touts is annoying and rude. We wanted to return home telling people how great Thailand is and how much we loved it. However, it is so infuriating having to deal with the tout’s non-stop harassment that it ruins the experience. Even when there are beautiful, interesting surroundings, the touts make it un-enjoyable. Maybe some people love the haggling, and if they do, they should come to Thailand and enjoy the experience. However, for us after the first 5 minutes, we were tired of it. We would rather be charged a fair price to ensure an enjoyable experience. We found that when we paid a reasonable amount of money with a respectable establishment (usually having a website), we were not disappointed --Bicycling in Bangkok, Cooking in Bangkok, Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Fern Paradise in Chiang Mai. However, when we had to haggle, it means either we overpaid or were disappointed (e.g. our longboat ride in Bangkok) or the experience wasn’t worth the money or our time. Generally, if someone is willing to haggle over something, then they are not taking the time and effort to provide a good service.

Thailand was beautiful and amazing in some ways, but it was also disappointing. It definitely wasn’t our favorite country. We decided that (if there is a) next time we will need to get off the beaten path a lot more, and be willing to pay more to really be able to enjoy the country.

Chiang Mai and Phuket: two very different Thailand tourist destinations

We were a little negligent with the blogging in Thailand and are going to do some catch up with two different posts. One is the stories about our final stops in Thailand (the lower post, read first) the other is our impression of Thailand (the upper post, read second) and how we are feeling 53-days into our journey.

Our post-Bangkok travel in Thailand included four nights in Chiang Mai in North Thailand; three nights on Phuket Island on the Southwest Coast and one night in Hat Yai in the far south near the Malaysian Border.

What you will read in the other post is that we found Thailand to be a vexing and complicated place. The one stop in our travels in Thailand where this did not universally apply was Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai was fantastic and we truly enjoyed it. In retrospect this was because the people there seemed to be more genuine and honest than elsewhere in Thailand. The city definitely had a Mountain/Hippie vibe and the tourists/western locals appeared to be seeking inner peace – Thai massage, vegan dining, and eco-tourism is what we saw in our 4 days there.

For us, a big reason Chiang Mai was so great was “Om” and “Fern Paradise”. Fern Paradise is a bed and breakfast accommodation located 15 min out of the city and Om is the day-to-day manager (it is owned by his father). The property is essentially a small botanical garden maintained with love and care by Om’s father. Our room was a small cabin built in a tree that contained air-con, a flat screen TV and a mosquito net over the bed. At Fern Paradise the birds sang, the squirrels ran around, the largest snails we ever saw oozed down the sidewalk at night, and breakfast was served every morning on verandah next to a running stream. It was peaceful and refreshing, especially after the hustle and noise of Bangkok. On top of all this, Om was a shining star. He picked us up at the airport (and drove responsibly), ensured transport to and from the city at a fair price, and protected us like a friend. In fact, he is now our friend on facebook! He was genuine and helpful and was a major reason we enjoyed Chiang Mai so much. We also met another American Couple (Kurt and Kristen) at Fern Paradise and had a good time with them over some beers and breakfast conversations.

As a location, Chiang Mai is an interesting place to spend some time. The city center is historically significant. The first buildings dates to the late 13th century and the old wall and moat still remain. The oldest temple reportedly contains a Buddha relic and the City Pillar Temple is impressive despite being mostly destroyed in an earthquake in the 1500s. We were fortunate to be at City Pillar during a Buddhist festival to observe the religious rituals and experience the excitement of what seemed to be a celebratory event. Night markets were the main evening activity in the city. Most of the stalls were filled with hippy clothing, lots of jewelry and silk scarves abounded. We wished that we had space in our bags to take home some of the great buys but alas we did not. Erika decided to ditch some other stuff in Chiang Mai, though, so that she could do a little shopping. The food in Chiang Mai was pretty amazing as well! A lot of the food was sold on the streets and some of it looked delicious while some of it was just interesting --particularity the deep fried beetles, worms and grubs (we did not partake). The weekly Sunday market was a bit different, being more like a festival than a market. Blind musicians played the streets and people performed various talents for large crowds. However, after several nights (and days) spent perusing the many markets, we were marketed-out (well, Tony was…)

Aside from the great experience with the elephants (see past post) we also got out of Chiang Mai for a long trek through the jungle. Two local guides --“Bond” and “Yo”-- led us for about 5 hours through the jungle. The scenery was deep green jungle, with lots of bamboo and farms cultivated by the local villages. Bond explained that 20 years ago almost all the agriculture in the region was the famous “Golden Triangle” Opium (the golden triangle is the border region between Laos, Burma and Thailand that was a major Heroin producing region). However, in the last 20 years the King of Thailand established programs to promote the farming of legitimate cash crops. We walked through farms growing all the tropical fruit you could imagine and past a number of rice fields. Bond found one very large tarantula. Thankfully, Bond was unable to locate other jungle creatures, particularly the scorpions and Cobras which live in the area. Yo was also very entertaining. She grew up in a hilltop village and spent the majority of the hike collecting almost everything in the jungle for that evening’s dinner. She brought home wild ginger, lemongrass, wild fruits of all kind (Bond would climb the trees to knock down the fruit for her), and many bamboo shoots. She came home with a backpack and a plastic bag full of wild food, and both arms laden with bamboo shoots. She told us all about what each of the foods could be used for and was incredibly happy with her spoils of the day. It was fun to share in the experience. We did trek through one village, which was an interesting experience but not in a good way. The poverty was upsetting, the animals were sick or diseased (one dog was paralyzed in his back legs and was reduced to dragging himself around and begging for food), and a house in the village had burned down two days prior. We felt the village was being exploited as a tourist stop, which is a growing sentiment amongst Chiang Mai visitors. We gave a family there one of our portions of food and left feeling a bit down. Also saddening was the elephant tourist camp on the way out. The vacant look in the elephant’s eyes, the lack of water and the heavy chains on their legs made us feel that all the negative stories we heard about elephant tourism in Thailand were correct. This same scene played out several times in Phuket, and it never fails to upset us. Elephants are beautiful, amazing creatures and they deserve better.

Feeling good after Chiang Mai we moved on to Phuket -- which immediately reminded us why travelling in Thailand can be so confounding (see the above post).

World famous for its beaches, night-life and the devastation of the 2004 Tsunami, Phuket is the most hyped travel destination in all of Thailand. Admittedly our time there was dampened by bad weather resulting from a cyclone off the cost of Bangladesh. Rough seas and tons of rain meant we couldn’t snorkel, swim or do much of anything. We didn’t get to see the famous lime-stone formations or enjoy the beaches. Even dampening our expectations because of the weather, we felt like Phuket was over-rated, over-priced (compared to the other parts of Thailand) and somewhat disappointing.

The first day was literally awash, so we spent the time having a western day, watching “Star Trek” at the local western shopping centre and eating Pizza. The most memorable moment of the day was during the advertisements before the movie when we were prompted to “show our respect for the King”. Everyone in the theater stood up, and so did we. It is illegal to insult or show disrespect to the King in Thailand. To do so can result in being arrested and possible jail time -- if they say show respect, we were going to show respect. A montage of photos of the king was shown and a song was played, then everyone sat down and the adverts continued.

The second day the terrible weather continued so we had an enjoyable time being shown around by “Tin” in his Taxi/personal car. The scenery in Phuket is very impressive in places and we were treated to some great vistas (the flight in was also spectacular where the limestone formation were visible from the air). The gibbon rehabilitation center was a highlight and very moving. These apes are acrobatic masters swinging without effort and at great speed through their pens. Like the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, the Gibbon Rehabilitation center was doing great work trying to save Thailand’s Gibbons from the cruelty of Thailand’s tourist trappings and environmental destruction. They had very modest resources but are doing their best and we walked away happy that some people were working to save this intriguing animal. However, the rest of Phuket was quite ordinary. Patong (the main tourist city) was a dirty red-light district full of touts, hawkers and people who like cheap accommodation, food, drinks and sex. We spent one hour there and it was one hour too much. The beaches were okay but not spectacular, and the experience was sullied by the constant harassment by touts. Overall we left Phuket feeling it was a once beautiful island that was slowly losing its soul to Western tourists whom were all too happy to ruin it.

Before leaving Thailand we had a stop in Hat Yai, which is home to both the largest transport hub in South Thailand and a strong Muslim insurgency responsible for multiple fatal bombings and other attacks over the past several years. Because of the latter, the USA State department specifically asks its citizens to avoid the city. Our only reason for going to Hat Yai was because we needed to get to Penang, Malaysia and the bus was the only way from Phuket. Seven hours on a bus from Phuket to Hat Yai meant we needed to spend the night there. The one good thing about a strong terrorist presence is it gave us a perfect excuse to stay in our fancy hotel, eat at the tasty buffet, listen to live music in the bar and watch movies on TV (“We are Marshal”). Also… Hat Yai isn’t that nice and from our very brief transit through town, there didn’t appear to be anything that we wanted to visit.

The following morning we took a mini-van to Penang, Malaysia. To Tony’s great surprise this was not a completely miserable experience. While the driver was an hour late, smoked in the car and we had to share with 7 other passengers in a small van without seatbelts, at least the driver was only a speed-demon and not a complete maniac. Crossing the border was interesting. The Thai border was chaotic, dirty and the essence of a developing country… and then peaceful bliss on the Malaysia side. Manicured, clean, well presented and orderly. Malaysia was a welcome change. Thailand had started to wear on us as detailed in the post above.