Indonesian Paradise

We arrived on the 25th of February from KL on Asia's budget airline, Air Asia. We stayed one night in Seminyak, near the major party town of Kuta. We stayed in a lovely little place called Losmen Inada. It had charm but we wanted to head up to the north of Bali and away from the party antics of south Bali so we headed out. We stayed in Ubud for one night. I came down with my usual fever and weakness that night so we didn't get to see much of Ubud. We left the next morning to Lovina. The bus made its way through the rainy mountains and over to the North coast. We passed a huge lake and possibly a crater. Indonesia has a number of active volcanoes, one of which is on the island of Bali. At the bus stop, which is the hotel of the bus company we arrived to about 10 touts waiting for the bus to try to convince each of the 7 passengers to stay at their place. We enjoyed our yummy and free but basic rice lunch and boarded the bus to get closer to the hotel/hostel that sounded the nicest in our book. We weren't quite close enough! So after a nice little trek in what felt like 30c weather we arrived at a place that lacked a charm about it. Although I was sad to see the hotel quality room with a massive view of the beach from the bed go, it was too much money for a place that the room was the only nice thing about it. We decided the next best option was the place that was furthest from us at that point. So we hopped in a bemo, a local bus/taxi notorious for ripping off tourists. We did get ripped off, we later learned, and he managed to swipe an extra note from us when returning our change. C'est la vie. An expression I have been using a lot lately. We entered Kubu Lalang, the hotel, and decided that at the same price as the last place, the charm of the location and the staff was so much better, we took it. Every day for seven days we thought, should we leave yet? and each day we thought not yet. We did end up going to the hot springs and we looked for a waterfall, but must have missed the sign. The very relaxed place with great staff gave us a chance to get caught up on my reading. Outside the bungalow were daybeds that were perfect for whiling away the day and reading. I read Shantaram which is 900 pages in 5 days. Shantaram is a great book about an Australian escaped convict and eight years in Bombay. It is incredibly well written and gives an insight into a kind of India I will never see. I highly recommend it.

Then we took the same bus back to Kuta near the airport. That is the town that the bombs went off in 2002 and 2005. There is nightlife and beach. We were more interested in the latter. We went to the beach three days in a row. We would sleep in and maybe do an errand or two in the morning, like get post cards or a desperate search for hair bobbles (which was surprisingly difficult) then have lunch and head to the beach for the afternoon. There is so much accommodation in Kuta that the prices are pretty reasonable. The nice hotels with pools and aircon are about eighteen pounds a night. We couldn't afford them, but we did find a little place with our own bathroom and air con for 9 pounds a night. A little more than we have been spending but everything else was cheap enough so we splurged a little. The air con was bliss and felt so luxurious.

Walking at new heights in Taman Negara and KL

Last I wrote we were off to do the canopy walkway in the Taman Negara in central peninsular Malaysia. We made the little trek there (which seemed minuscule after our grueling hike two days before it, and yet I was still sweating through every bit of my clothing) and waited a little while to go up. The canopy walkway is accessible via 20 minute canoe boat or 1 hour trek. I would say about half of the people there had made the trek and the other half took the boat. The boat costs a bit of money and the trek is free. Once you purchase your tickets you have to wait your turn. It is a first come first serve process. We arrived at about 1pm and were lucky to not have to wait more than 20 minutes. Then you climb up some more steps and onto the walkway. The walkway is 45 metres above the ground (and Alex who is afraid of heights was convinced it was at least 50) and 510 metres long, spread over 9 walkways with junctions at trees. The canopy as they call it is literally a rope mesh with steel wire securing it to the tree. You then walk over what is essentially a metal ladder laid over the ropes and wooden boards to guard against wearing them too thin. Each walkway is only supposed to have 4 people on it and some of the tree platforms specify a max number of people. And they swayed regardless of how few were on the platform. I'm not that afraid of heights but I was a little perturbed. I got a few photos of Alex and I will try to upload them. I would go first on the walkway and then when I reached the platform I would turn and take a photo of Alex. I went first because there was a group of about 10 school kids, maybe 14 years old, ahead of us. And like most kids that age they were fearless and prepared to play/scare the girls in the group, who in turn would shriek and then laugh. I have to admit I was not nearly as amused as their friends. We survived and I think Alex is glad he did it.

The next morning we got up very early to take the local bus to Jeruntut where we switched to an air con bus to KL. It was incredibly easy and cheap and we arrived in KL around noon. We had heard from Lindsey and Catie (our hiking friends) that they were staying in Chinatown. We headed there to find some accommodation and stopped in a few places to check them out. We saw a couple of places that were lacking charm and when we arrived at the one Lindsay and Catie were at it had so much more charm than most and a ceiling fan that makes the world of difference. As I am signing in Alex asks the desk guy about Lindsay, at first he didn't know who we were talking about, then when we found Catie's name in the book, he then recalled them and said they had checked out. Spooked by the guidebook saying Chinatown has a prevalence of bed-bugs and Catie's propensity for finding them, Alex and I looked at each other and made the excuse that we should go to the Internet place to double check where they are. We headed back to one of the other places we had seen at checked in. The rooms were very basic and we shared the bathroom, but it was cheap and reasonably clean. As we learned later, the reason they left the hostel they had told us about was not because of bedbugs. The bed turned out to be the noisiest bed they had ever come across and actually managed to keep them awake. They did take a video and showed it to us of Lindsay sitting then standing and repeating this over and over again. It could have been a comedy skit. I hope they post the video. They have some great photos and are much better at posting them. Their blog is www.beyondbagot.wordpress.com and they have a link to all of their photos. As it turned out, some of their friends had gotten together to give Lindsay a birthday gift of money to stay in a proper hotel for a few nights. So after their night of no sleep due to noisy furniture it was a very welcome and appreciated present.

We saw some of the sights the next day. We went past the national mosque or masjid, went into Merdeka square (with an unbelievably large flagpole), and we tried to get into one of the museums near Merdeka square, but it had been moved entirely to one of the other museums we had walked so close to! Oh well. It was too hot and we were tired so we decided to do it the next day. We walked back to our area via the central market or pasar seni (Bahasa Malaysia is relatively easy to learn the written words). Alex shocked me when he wanted to do some shopping and we wandered around for at least 2 hours looking for clothes and presents. I asked Alex a couple of times: "Who are you? and what have you done with my boyfriend?" At home when he worked all week at a job he wasn't crazy about he would come home and his time was so precious that shopping just didn't make it in there. Being away and having more time to do enjoyable things he was happy to shop and even initiated it (I've learned over the years not to initiate shopping as Alex is never up for it).

That evening we went home showered (we usually need two showers a day in this heat) and decided to go over the road to a bar that had free wifi to check our emails. We hadn't heard from Lindsay and Catie and where they had gone so we thought we should check in. When we got down there they were at the bar. It is called Reggae Bar and it is known among backpackers as it has a long happy hour and it's in the budget guidebooks. So it wasn't THAT big a coincidence, but it was still surprising and serendipitous. We stayed there to have a couple more beers then headed to the Chinese hawker centre nearby for dinner. We called it an early night as it was Lindsay's birthday the next day and we knew we would have more time to chill the next evening. We made a plan to meet at their hotel the next evening at 8pm. They were going back to the Thai embassy the next day after a failed attempt because they didn't have all the necessary things to get their visa.

We meant to get up early and head to the Petronas towers very early to get a good entry time but after a little drinking the night before we could only get up and out by 10am. We walked to the metro and almost got on the wrong train, then had to run to catch the right one. We didn't get on the set of doors right in front of us as they were full so we went to the next one. You might think this is a lot of info, but there is a reason. At the next stop some people filed out so I moved closer to the back and as I turned around I saw Lindsay. Of all the trains and all the cars and all the doors we managed to get onto the exact same one. They were heading to the embassy and us to Petronas towers. Amazing. We had a chat for a few stops then got off one stop before them.

The Petronas Towers are free to enter but they give you tickets with time slots in order to stagger the crowds. At first I thought: It's lovely that they don't charge, it gives you a nice feeling. I think this is especially true when you are traveling on a budget and are aware of every ringgit you spend. We had a few hours to kill so we checked out how the rich spend their time. The mall that is part of that complex is huge! Of course, I understood the reason behind the decision to make it free much better once we sat down to watch the video before going up. There is a 10 minute (essentially promo) video that they show before you can go up. The best kind of propaganda. Check out who Petronas are here. Eventually we got up to the 41st floor to the bridge between the two towers. Some good photos because it's cool to see cities from up high. I'm pretty sure that will never get old. Then back to Chinatown to change and head out for dinner.

Lindsay's bday started with some cocktails in their hotel room, then dinner at the hawker centre and drinks and a shisha at the Reggae Bar. It was a really nice night. We got on with them so nicely that since we have left them that night we just refer to them as the guys. We have said to each other, I wonder where the guys are? or I wonder if the guys got their visa? It is the first time that Alex and I have made friends with a couple that neither of us knew beforehand.

The next day we flew to Bali. The second time we managed to get good and drunk the night before we had to travel. Well done us. It is absolutely no fun to travel, especially with 15kgs or 33 lbs on your back, in the sweltering heat and blaring sun when you are hungover.

Sultry Singapore

When I looked up sultry in the dictionary it was the perfect description of Singapore. There is something sexy about the architecture and the beautiful young people, the sleek quality of newness on every corner. And the heat. That's the best part of this definition. characterized by oppressive heat and humidity; "the summer was sultry and oppressive"; "the stifling atmosphere"; "the sulfurous atmosphere preceding a thunderstorm". I can't imagine living in a stifling heat like that all year round. That's all that I could think of in that heat: 'it's like this the whole year round'.

I enjoyed Singapore. It was clean and I felt like I was in a city that I could relate to again. It wasn't much outside of my comfort zone, an idea that was personified by all the of the western expats. We spent two nights in a classic hostel which was very central and pretty clean. On the 3-6th nights we stayed with a friend of Alex's, Lorrie. Lorrie worked with Alex in Ware at GSK. She was just transferred to Singapore for a year. Although Lorrie and I got along really well and I was very glad to have gotten to know her and spend time with her, it was also so nice to stay with her as we got to stay in a home. It's amazing how a home can feel after 6 weeks on the road. We got to do laundry and have music playing in the background, skype our families and generally feel safe and happy.

We ate some fantastic food, both at hawker centres and in restaurants. It is a very nice to place to visit, sorry Dad. Some of the sites we saw: Botanical Gardens (so georgeous, and free), National Singapore museum, Little India, Boat Quay, Clrke Quay, Colonial district and Central Business District, which really felt like Canary Wharf. Two things I want to see if we go back: the zoo, I was sorry we didn't get a chance to see that. and China town.

On our second to last day we went to Parasilk, an electronics store that my father found on through his online research to be the best store in Singapore for such things. And low and behold when I arrived, Lorrie confirmed this to be true. Well done, dad! We had a chat about cameras and we decided on the Panasonic LX3 Lumix. We took the camera out to play the first night and it takes some great photos. It is not as powerful as the proper SLR but because of the size I am so happy with it. We compared the processors with a couple of other small SLR-like cameras and this one had the best processor. It is not a large optical zoom, 3 I think, but the camera is 10 mega pixels, so we can always crop the picture after the fact. I feel like the size is the most important part of it, it is not only small, but it seemed to have better specs than some of its peers. The guy said it was good for night shots. And the brilliant thing is that it does do good photos in low light. If we want to open the shutter for longer, we can, but since it is not a real SLR you can't feel the shutter opening and closing. The result is that it doesn't quite do it as well, but I am so happy with this. The lens is also 24mm so we can take wide angle. The aspect can be changed from 4:3 to 3:2 (original 36mm film aspect) and 16:9. And of course, you can manually change all of the settings if you want. oh and you can set it to auto so it chooses the best setting, eg portrait or macro. Murphy was right about having a camera that takes good pix, it makes the world of difference.

On Tuesday morning we took a very early morning train out of Singapore and into Malaysia. it was a fine train ride other than the fact that we had said a proper goodbye to Lorrie with lots of drinks. It felt like an eternity on the train. We arrived in Jerantut around 1pm. We found a hotel and crashed. Jerantut is only a stopping point on your way to Taman Negara. We are currently in the little village that serves this national park. Taman Negara is apparently the oldest rainforest in the world, at 130 million years it survived the ice age. We hired a guide and went with a couple we met on our way up to the park. The couple, two Aussies, at the beginning of their year of travel, were the perfect hiking companions. The boys carried the heavy packs and the girls trudged along in our day packs. We trekked for 7 hours and made it to a hide, which is as it is described, a hut on concrete stilts to hide from animals. It was 12 wooden bunks and that's it. The toilet didn't flush. If no one is going to go out there every day (and they shouldn't) the park should put in squat toilets. It's much cleaner. Unfortunately we didn't see anything more than a Tapir, but it was worth the trek and the excitement of going out there. Today we hiked another hour to a jetty and got motorised canoe back to Kuala Tahan where our hostel is. Most of the last 36 hours can be better described with pictures. I haven't downloaded them yet, but I will, hopefully. I think one thing that can not be fully described is the amount of liquid our bodies expelled in this heat. It looked like each of us had gone swimming in our clothes. Alas it was only sweat. literally dripping. quite a picture. Canopy walkway tomorrow then off to KL.

If I have forgotten to tell everyone about anything in particular you were looking forward to hearing about, maybe I mentioned it to you or someone else? feel free to remind or ask me.

Off to bed to sleep in a mediocre mattress that will feel like the softest foam mattress after the wooden planks last night.

And then there were two...

After 2 days in Delhi, with a whirlwind tour of the sights we headed to Agra.  We saw the immense but incredibly beautiful Taj Mahal.  It was crowded, with mostly Indians, but the awesome presence was still there. The sheer amount of work that went into it is just amazing and totally pretty. That afternoon we were very skillfully tricked into going to look at a man's shop.  He was a very sweet man who showed us his entire collection of old coins and money from around the world.  We did end up buying a little necklace from him, well mom did.  but he was so sweet I just had to share him with you all.  The next day we went to Fatepur Sikhri.  This was one of the capitals of the Mughals.  If I remember correctly, Akbar was not producing heirs so he went to visit a holy man to bless his wife.  When she had three sons after that, he moved his capital there and built an immense fort (as all of them were immense).  The fort was only maintained for 13 years as there was not a great water supply.  Then back to Delhi.  NO MORE GUIDES!  we were totally guided out at this point. Our final day we went to see the red fort in Delhi.  And had the first rain in 6 weeks! Had a lovely final dinner at a revolving restaurant in Connaught Place.  It's a little hokey, but worth seeing Delhi from that viewpoint.

Today will be our first full day without any family.  We left Aleen yesterday, albeit at 5 in the morning, for the international airport in Delhi.  We had a painless flight to Singapore.  My first City-State.  Is that the right term for a city that is also the country?

The aiport is by far the nicest airport i've ever seen.  Now, it's possible that since I came straight from India the cleanliness surprised me more than I thought it would.  So if that was the case, it is in my top five nicest airports.  The design, cleanliness, layout, cleanliness, amenities, and oh yeah, cleanliness were all so beautiful.  I know the clean impact wasa reaction from India.  Alex has a friend who is on a graduate trainee program here with Glaxo Smith Kline so we first made our way to the McDonald's after Customs and Immigration to check our email, for free.  We couldn't stay with her immediately, so we headed to the Backpackers Cozy Corner on the edge of the colonial district.  The MRT was easy to navigate, and cheap at S$1.48 to go for a half hour to our stop from the airport.  Upon arrival, they had my reservation (Sorry dad, I had to book somewhere the first time, to ease leaving you guys, but you should know I don't have any others booked).  We freshened up and headed out.  We ate in one of the food courts.  Delicous food! I could be happy eating in Singapore for a long time.  The culture here is from many Asian countries so the food here is usually pretty good.  We had Bibimbab and a duck noodle dish for S$11 total.  We then walked around for about an hour.  Alex said a few times how he really felt like he was in the USA.  The feel of the streets has a strange western feel. But when that humidity wave comes over you, you remember you must be in SE Asia.  We are meeting up with Lorrie, Alex's friend this afternoon after work.  And hopefully we'll stay with her for a few more nights so we can afford to stay in Singapore. 

That's all for now.

love,
K

Correction

I would like to make it absolutely clear that the fantastic term "Globalia", used in my last entry was not created by me, but my witty brother Murphy.  On our second night in Kolkata, five of us went to dinner in a nice restaurant in a mall.  Yes, it is fairly normal to have nice restaurants in malls as it is where the upper crust go shopping. Opon arrival in the mall, we were all quite surprised that the stark difference between outside and inside.  The mall and its contents could have been anywhere in the globe.  When we entered the restaurant (Oh, Calcutta, it was named), Murphy declared: "oh, it's Indian Night at Globalia".  By far one of the best quotes from the trip.  I have now appropriated the term for the homogenising places around the world in my vocabulary.  Thanks Murphy.  And now it's clear who the term belongs to originally. 

K

Mumbai

I have to admit I was a little apprehensive of coming to Mumbai after the attacks.  I was in NY and London during their respective terrorist attacks.  I'd like to think that I have come a ways forward since I was so negatively affected in 2001 and 2005.  Retrospectively, I probably should have been more worried about going to Goa, as that would be a prime target for western tourists.  Now that I'm here I think this is my favorite Indian city.  Granted I have not been to most of the Indian cities, but I like this so much, I don't think any will surpass it.  I enjoyed Kolkata, it challenged me to be there, in a good way, and I came to appreciate the city, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't live there.  Mumbai on the other hand, I think I could live here.  Leave it to me to like the most expensive Indian city, where you end up paying half a million dollars for a flat! There is just the right mix here of cosmopolitan Globalia and traditional Indian. 

 

We are staying in Colaba, a trendy shopping area in the southern part of Mumbai.  We are only a few blocks away from the Taj Palace, which of course we had to go in when we saw it.  It is a huge imposing building on the waterfront opposite the gateway of India.  I loved that the tourists (all Indian) on the first night we saw it were taking two photos.  First, one with everyone in front of the Gateway of India, then another with everyone in front of the Taj.  (Then sometimes a third,  with us.)

 

Although the internet cafe I'm in is cool, why travel if I'm going to sit on the computer? so I will just mention a few things I'd like to share. 

 

The Dhaba-Wallahs, go look them up.  They are amazing.  They deliver lunches all over Mumbai and despite making 5000 deliveries a day, their system is so well designed, they make one mistake in 6 million. 

 

The dhobi ghats - a laundry place.  I can't describe the place, you've gotta look them up, hopefully there will be a picture. 

 

Tomorrow we are taking a tour through Asia's largest slum.  I know that sounds a little strange, but you do it with a guide company that puts 80% of its profits back into the community.  And I should also mention that even though it is a "slum", because of its lack of infastructure, it has a turnover of $700 million due to the small scale enterprises run within the slum.  We can't take pictures inside, which I think is fair enough, so I'll try to explain more once we see it.

 

We have seen more and eaten fantastic food, but I think that's it for now. 

 

All the best,

Katie

Alex's birthday

We went to a spice plantation two days ago which was wonderful to see the different kinds of spices all around, but i'm pretty sure it was almost identical to the one we happened to walk through in Kerala a few weeks ago.  oh well! the elephants up close made it worth the 6 dollars. 

Yesterday was Alex's birthday so we went to a south beach in Goa.  I'm pretty sure this beach (Utorda beach) will be in the top 5 best beaches I ever go to, if not the best.  it was idyllic, hot, free sun beds (with the purchase of drinks) with an umbrella, delicious seafood that i even enjoyed and last but certainly not least the arabian (!) sea was the most comfortable temperature with soft soft soft sand.  It was such a lovely day.

More to come soon. 

K