Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pai.

Published on Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 in Bangkok and Thailand. 0 Comments

Finally. I’ve acquired wireless (although the provider doesn’t know it) and have some time to write.

Bangkok was crazy. The hostel was great, and the people were nice, but I guess any city with a lot of tourists in South East Asia suffers from the trying-to-sell-shit-to-everyone syndrome. At least they’re nice about it in Bangkok. They smile, even though they might not take no for an answer.

Bangkok is big, dirty, modern, ancient, clean, big, intriguing, friendly, and spectacular. It also appears to be home half of all worldwide tourists at any one time. Traffic is more chaotic than anywhere else I’ve been so far. Giving way is at best a nice thought, and at worst a deadly reliance – particularly for the millions of motorbikes.

Bangkok 010 (Custom)Bangkok 004 (Custom)Bangkok 008 (Custom)

A French guy, and English guy, and myself met one evening over a few beers and decided to investigate the area. Close to the once infamous and now somewhat gentrified Patpong district, we braved the crowds of tourists and the crowded street markets, and the only thing that told us we were in the red light district was the number of guys offering us cheap girls. No, thanks. Cheap girls are the last kind of girl I want. I even went so far as to invent a girlfriend – it’s amazing how a “no, no… my girlfriend” and a finger running across the throat shuts them up, or makes them laugh… but it’s also disturbing how often it only encourages them.

The following day we managed to navigate our way to a canal boat pier using the Sky Train, and enjoyed a uniquely Bangkok experience. Disembarking, a very friendly Thai guy who wasn’t trying to sell us anything at all (yeah, right) asked if we needed directions. Sure. We knew what was happening – he would draw on a map, say some stuff, call over a tuk-tuk driver, "negotiate" a price, and ask for nothing in return. Sure enough, we soon found ourselves on a thirty baht for four hour type deal. It’s really not that bad. We went to some temples, and also went to a tailor (no pressure to buy anything, just look at stuff) and a gem shop (again no pressure to buy, just look at overpriced pieces of glass and aluminium masquerading as gemstones and silver) and the idiotic white guys buying stuff.

Eventually we ended up at a temple near the royal palace. The tuk-tuk driver said he’d wait "over there" for an hour for us. Sure. See you then. As soon as we entered the grounds of the temple, we knew something was up. There was security everywhere, Thai people hanging out waiting for something, and lots of people in uniform. We wandered around, and eventually the two others left (they couldn’t find the tuk tuk driver) but I decided to hang around to see what was going on. Not five minutes after the other guys had left, the nearby roads were closed and a marching band and a bunch of parading soldiers showed up. Intriged (and stuck – I wasn’t allowed ot, and there were no taxi’s around on the closed roads anyway), I hung around and eventually, after a brief rain shower, a prince and princess appeared. The did their thing in the temple, and left – shortly before the rain started again.

Two hours later, the rain stopped and myself and all the other Thai guys emerged from shelter. The tuk-tuk driver had disappeared. The scammer… became the scammed.

The following day we split up. I was heading to Chiang Mai, a large northern city. It’s nice. It’s a huge change from Bangkok.  It’s relaxed and clean and pleasant in the old city, there was no rain, and it was slightly cooler. The place I stayed in was a bit average. Nice rooms, good food – but despite being full of people, not very social. I ended up doing an ATV tour by myself (which was actually pretty cool, just the guide and I) and we rode through forest and jungle and mountains to villages, lookouts, and waterfalls. It was nice.

After a few days in Chiang Mai I’d had enough, and left for a place called Pai. It’s part of the old hippie trail. Tehran, Kabul, Goa, Pai. It’s still a bit of a hippie hangout. It’s a small town, tucked away four hours in to the mountains from Chiang Mai along what would have to be one of the greatest driving roads I’ve ever seen. If you can deal with the occasional bumps, slow traffic, and livestock… it’s 120km of spectacular scenery with switch backs, sharp corners, long straights, and few interruptions. It’s not much fun being stuck in a (nice) minivan, though.

There’s a lot of stuff to do in Pai. It’s possible to rent a bike or motorbike, to trek, raft, cook, drink, eat, visit temples, and do any number of other hippie activities. I rented a bike but immediately was monsooned upon, so my bike rental adventure was short lived. I got a nice view at the end of the ride but discovered I’d left my camera battery in the charger. Whoops.

Being a slightly alternative town, there’s a big focus on healthy living. Most restaurants are so called organic, and there’s more fruit juice and shake shops than in all of Australia. There’s Italian food, Indian, French, Thai, Chinese, Burmese, bugers, street stalls, restaurants, bakeries, markets, and loads of bars with live music. There’s hippie clothing shops, tour offices, normal clothing shops, big hotels, small riverside bungalows, and the usual guest houses. It’s full of Thai people, white guys, Japanese, old, young, short term and long term. A lot of people seem to have been here forever. It’s a nice place, and very laid back. With better transportation I think I’d spend a little longer here, but after seeing the number of people bandaged and in splits, I decided against renting a motorbike.

I did, however, decide to undertake a two day white water rafting journey to Mae Hong Son. I leave tomorrow morning, and arrive on Tuesday in the afternoon. From there I’ll fly to Chiang Mai, and then from Chiang Mai to some island down south – probably to dive, perhaps to party. On the 12th I fly from Koh Samui (not where I’m staying) to Bangkok, and from Bangkok to Singapore.

After Singapore, I’ll spend a few weeks in Laos before heading back home early. I should be home before Christmas and in time for my cousin’s wedding. I’ll basically be home a month earlier than expected, but that’s fine by me. I can’t get rid of this cold, and I feel as though I’m just spending money to be sick in exotic places.

Mt. Kinabalu Photographs.

Published on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 in Malaysia and Sabah. 2 Comments

Well, it’s taken a while but here they are, finally.

To see everything (without captions) visit the Mt. Kinabalu page in the gallery.

The journey from Kota Kinabalu to Mount Kinabalu takes around two hours and involves a long, steep, twisty road. However, instead of having a sporty car to enjoy the road with, we have a minibus… with dodgy tyres. It makes for an interesting journey. Driving through the mountains, there are peaks as far as the eye can see. Suddenly, rounding a bend, an enormous mountain looms far above everything around it, partially obscured by cloud. My first thought was “uh-oh.”

The record board. Some people  say those times also include the descent.

At the start of the climb, we descend to a small valley.

The smile didn’t last long.

Yeah, we’re headed for the summit…

Past a waterfall.

Five hundred metres! How hard can it be?

Well… it gets more difficult.

Only another 5km to go…

Stairs. Uneven height and endless. From memory (I didn’t count) there are 3500 of them.

Mountain squirrels are everywhere. They’re timid, yet friendly.

Halfway!

We ascend through the clouds and everything becomes shrouded in mist.

While we struggle up the mountain, our female guide has no trouble. She doesn’t even break a sweat. The porter carrying up thirty kilograms isn’t struggling, either.

Our guide, pointing something out.

Looming out of the mist, we spy Laban Rata. It’s a relieving sight, as we’re both exhausted.

In the morning, we can clearly see Laban Rata perched on the side of the mountain.

More rainforest…

A shelter.

Standing next to the shelter, looking up the trail.

Turning around, looking down the trail.

Cloudy.

As I said, there are more photographs in the gallery.

I’m recovering slowly, and I’m feeling a bit better now. I leave Kota Kinabalu for Bangkok tomorrow morning, and I’ve got three days planned there before heading elsewhere. I’m not sure where yet – maybe Chiang Mai, maybe the north east instead.

I’ve been made aware that the Singapore Open golf tournament is going to take place in mid November, so I’m quite tempted to go to that. We’ll see…

Mt. Kinabalu.

Published on Monday, October 20th, 2008 in Malaysia and Sabah. 5 Comments

Well, I was defeated. I’ll try again eventually, but for now I’m just glad that I’ve seen the last of an endless ascent followed by a somewhat more rapid descent.

Of the countless guests at the guest house we’re staying at, some other guy and I were the only two from here who wanted to climb the mountain on Sunday. We left early in the morning, and arrived at the start of the walk at 10am. Guides are compulsory for the expedition, and our guide was a local (as in she lived just outside the national park) woman with a name that escapes me. She’s been doing one ascent (and descent) every week for the past twelve years. That sounds like a lot, but along the way we met a guy who does one ascent and descent every day. It’s training – he carries a minimum of 30kg, and up to 50kg. He’s currently Sabah’s most decorated body builder. I think his legs were about the size of my torso.

Anyway, the walk starts easily enough – by doing downhill. After a pretty waterfall the path heads up, and following the path, so did our party of three. There are dozens of other people heading up the mountain at the same time, and just as many coming down. How hard can it be?

The total walk for the day is six kilometres. It doesn’t sound like much, and to be honest it’s not. I can and do quite happily walk about six kilometres several times a week. The six kilometres on this mountain is in another league. To begin with, the walk starts at nearly 2000m above sea level. I live only 300m above sea level. The walk is up a mountain, rather than simply around it. It’s hard work.

Every five hundred metres are small shelters, with a toilet and water tank and shelter and a bunch of people sitting around under cover complaining about the ascent, and just as many complaining about the walk down. We struggled to lunch at the 3km shelter, and wondered what was in store next.

The climb became even steeper, up rocks and steps and a rocky path through a changing environment. Rainforest became semi alpine trees – short and stunted, twisted by the wind. It was wet – pools of water lay across the path, and a mist hung in the air that enveloped everything and made trees, rocks, ropes, and us damp to the touch.

I can’t remember too much more about the walk up. It was hard work, it was very pretty, and even with a light load, I was very sore. The scenery changed almost step by step, and all around us were fascinating sights and sounds.

We reached the overnight… chalet, I guess… after 6km and about four and a half hours. The theory is to arrive early, eat early, and sleep early – to trick the body in to thinking it’s morning at 2am, so the final ascent to the summit can be commenced at 3am. The final 2km to the summit is undertaken in the dark, so the sunrise is the reward for the trek.

The Laban Rata rest house was large and comfortable and warm. Everything there had to be transported on someone’s back. Dinner for 80 people probably came up on the back of a few dozen porters. Beer cost twenty ringgit each (the place I’m staying at now sells cans for four ringgit, about $AU1.60), bottles of water (although why you’d bother I don’t know, since clean and pure water was everywhere) were ten ringgit. I didn’t bother to look at some of the heavier items. There is a helipad, but it’s only used for medical emergencies. Electricity comes from an electricity generation station at the base of the mountain, water is collected locally, and sewerage disappears down the mountain in a pipeline that’s hidden from view for most of the walk. The chalet was built in 1986, and I expect all of the material used in construction and the stuff inside now was taken up by hand, so to speak.

I ate, and went to bed early, ready to reach the top. In dorms of six persons, we had one spare bed. One was occupied by a guy from Sabah who had also been complaining about a cold, and after a brief talk to establish names, starting points, and why the hell we were both coughing and spluttering so much, we both became more determined to make it to the top.

Upon waking at 2am, I knew I wasn’t going to. My head pounded from crown to throat, I could feel my lungs aching, my body was sore – not from exhaustion, but from what I think was a combination of altitude and the cold I thought I was recovering from.

The other ill guy and I ventured down to meet our guides. One look at me and mine told me that I was not going up. To be honest, it was kind of a relief. Rather than struggle, I’d sleep – and still catch an awesome sunrise from 1km below the ideal view point. I protested, but she was adamant that I was to stay put. My sick friend started the climb.

A couple of hours later he was back in the room, worse than before he left. I was glad I didn’t try to make the summit, I probably wouldn’t have made it and was likely to have returned feeling even worse. A large number of us hung around the overnight place waiting for the sunrise, and we were all ill in some way – altitude sickness, injuries, a cold, or any number of other ailments.

My guide and friend from the hostel returned from the summit at 8, and at 9:30 we begun the 6km descent to the bus. Going down was difficult, but fast. We made good time and arrived back to the hostel (a 100km drive away) by about 2pm.

After a shower, the deposit of some laundry, I feel somewhat more alive but still very much as though I’m sick. My body is sore in the odd way that comes from a cold, although my legs and shoulders are fine (so far!), and my ear is giving me trouble – perhaps I have an ear infection? I’ll find out soon.

I’m trying to decide my next move. If I recover quickly, I’ll head from here to Singapore or KL to use it as a jumping off point for Bangkok and Laos, and I’ll probably be entering Laos this time next week. If I don’t recover quickly, I’ll return to Singapore and the place I was staying at there to spend time recovering in a less chaotic environment. We’ll see.

I’m sorting through the ton of photographs I’ve taken, so expect a new post in the next day or two with lots of photos and not much writing!

Kota Kinabalu.

Published on Saturday, October 18th, 2008 in Malaysia and Sabah. 0 Comments

Well, I’m here. It seems like a nice place. The place I’m staying at is located very well – a little too well at the moment, it seems. It’s across the road from a large park, where some kind of cultural festival is taking place. There’s singing and dancing from 7am to midnight, and it’s loud. Interesting, though.

The plan is to suss out the rest of the Sabah adventures today, but we’ll see how that goes. There’s a lot to decide upon.

Something has been decided, though. I start the Mt. Kinabalu ascent tomorrow.

Still in Kuching.

Published on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 in Malaysia and Sarawak. 0 Comments

I’m still in Kuching. After hearing some stories from people who had recently endured the Belaga adventure, one of the English guys and myself have decided to stay here tonight and then fly to Kota Kinabalu tomorrow, skipping the river trip. I really wanted to travel to Belaga, but recent reports say it’s not worth it – the guides there now are terrible, and have a tendency to spend all the money meant to go to the long houses they visit on booze. As such, they get drunk and angry and try to extort more money from tourists who don’t really have a choice.

No, thanks!

We’ll arrive in Kota Kinabalu tomorrow afternoon, and then decide what to do from there. If we can, we’ll visit Gunung Mulu National Park first, then explore the rest of Sabah.

Edit: Later today, I went to a place to check out some Orang Utans. They are awesome. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people checking them out with me…

My plans are still a bit vague. The English guys are heading to Belaga, but I’m feeling terrible and I think I might just go to Kota Kinabalu and figure things out from there…

Kuching, again.

Published on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 in Malaysia and Sarawak. 2 Comments

I’m still feeling very… terrible, I guess is the best word. I haven’t done much today other than rest, although I went for a short walk around the waterfront before retreating to the airconditioned goodness of my room.

Tomorrow I think some English guys and I will head up river to Belaga, a small village of about eight thousand people. There we’ll spend some time trekking, and then head to Miri – so I suspect I’ll be out of touch for a  week (but you can call me or SMS me I think).

From Miri I want to head to the Gunung Mulu National Park, and from there to Kota Kinabalu.

After Kota Kinabalu, who knows… but I am aware of a very cheap fare from Hong Kong to London, but Europe is expensive and I’m not equipped for cold weather and if I got to Europe, I’ll have to skip Laos and/or Thailand. The positive side is that I’ll escape the humidity (I’ve decided that I am a cool weather person) and get to go to more places… but who knows? I’ll think about it later.

Kuching.

Published on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 in Malaysia and Sarawak. 0 Comments

Ah, Kuching – the cat city. Literally, I guess, because Kuching means “cat” in Malay. Monuments to to the namesake are everywhere, although the local feline population looks as though it’s seen better conditions.

The city is nice. From an ultramodern International airport the twenty three ringgit taxi ride to the city centre shows the affluence of the area: big, modern buildings, large houses, and a disproportionate number of super expensive cars. For anything imported, think of the Australian price and double or even triple it. In the case of the car I drive, a VW Golf GTI, the forty thousand Australian dollars it’s worth new back home translates to about eighty thousand Australian dollars new here. Big BMW and Benzes cost half a million or more – and they’re everywhere.

Kuching Waterfront.Kuching Waterfront.

Fortunately, not everything is that expensive. For convenience, 100 ringgit is about $AU35, or thereabouts. The place I’m staying at is 85 ringgit for a twin room (so imagine going halves with someone), the rooftop bar here sells beer for 5 ringgit per can, and I think last night’s dinner was 15 ringgit. It’s possible to live very well for very little, which I guess is good news for me because I think I’m coming down with a cold. I woke up this morning feeling pretty terrible.

Rooftop bar.Writing on the bar walls.Kuching at night.

However, that didn’t stop me from joining an English couple I met last night for a brief jungle adventure: a 2km walk though the jungle nearby. I’m having second thoughts about spending 4 days in the jungle now – within only a few hundred metres we were all soaked in sweat, and stayed that way until we returned “home” for a cooling, cleansing shower and a kilogram of express laundry service (5 ringgit).

Jo and Richard, dashing ahead.Rocky.The trail.A riverbed.Bridge.Waterfall.Walkway.Dark jungle.Mountains.

Some resort.Resort, jungle, beach, and ocean.Village.

Still, it’s a nice place and has far more going for it than Kuala Lumpur. The streets are more clean, the people seem to be  more friendly, and despite  lacking three big towers it’s got a great river front location and is more picturesque.

We’ll see how I feel tomorrow before deciding on when or where to go from here. The English guys are basically mirroring my planned itinerary up the river to Belaga, so we might do that together and split up at Miri before meeting again in Kota Kinabalu.

To Kuching.

Published on Monday, October 13th, 2008 in Malaysia and Sarawak. 0 Comments

Kuala Lumpur has been fun. Kelvin and his girlfriend have showed me a great time, at the expense of my waist line – so much food!

I’m now sitting in the terminal at KL’s low cost carrier terminal waiting for my plane to Kuching to leave in a few hours. I’ve been told the weather in Sarawak is marginal for trekking at the moment and that it’s probably too wet, so I might head to Laos early. Who knows.

Expect a bigger update with more photographs soon!

Kuala Lumpur.

Published on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. 1 Comment

I’m in Kuala Lumpur. I Arrived here on Thursday from Singapore. If you’re flying Tiger or Air Asia to Kuala Lumpur any time soon, watch out for the airport. The Low Cost Carrier Terminal is in the middle of renovations, and it’s an absolute mess. It took me about two hours to figure out where the bus to the city was (around the corner at a temporary bus stop without any signage) but then I had to fight my way back inside the terminal through the “exit only” doors to get a ticket.

Yeah, it’s Asia.

The place I’m staying at is pretty good. It’s in the guest house ghetto in the Golden Triangle, and it’s close to the monorail. I met a couple of American girls and an Australian guy yesterday morning and we wandered around the city, eventually visiting the top of KL Tower. It was alllllright – great views across the city.

Last night I met up with Kelvin and his girlfriend, and we went out for a while but had a relatively early night. It’s his girlfriend’s friend’s birthday tonight so we’re heading out, and I’m cutting my 4 days at this guesthouse short to stay with them for a while. Apparently it’s not easy to get from the party back here at 4am… yikes.

Today I found my way to the shopping mall beneath the Petronas Towers and bought some clothes – I needed shorts, and a nice shirt. The mall is huge, and full of all the big designer labels, but some cheaper department stores as well.

Check out my photos from Kuala Lumpur here.

Right now I’m sitting under the umbrella outside in the rain, eating 1 ringgit worth of roti and chicken curry from the place next door. Order through the fence!

Kuala Lumpur is interestiing. Not as clean or as pretty or as orderly as Singapore, and the rain lasts longer and is far more intense. It’s more hot and more humid, too. It’s nice, though – after the rain the temperature drops significantly.

I have to hang around here for another few hours before Kelvin comes to pick me up, and there are a bunch of people inside hiding from the rain watching some Harry Potter movie on the enormous plasma TV, so once the curry is gone I think I’ll join them.

Kelvin is taking me to the Batu Caves tomorrow, and then on Sunday I depart Kuala Lumpur for Kuching.

Oh, and for what it’s worth I actually can spell, it’s just that typing on this tiny laptop keyboard can be a little problematic and th weblog software has a unique method of spell checking that is far too much trouble to use…

To Kuala Lumpur.

Published on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. 0 Comments

Right now I’m sitting in the budget terminal of Singapore’s airport, waiting two and a half hours for my flight to Kuala Lumpur. I’ll be there until Monday, when I head across to Malaysian Borneo, and more specifically to Kuching, the capital of the state of Sarawak.

I did meet up with my friend the other night, and we feasted on black pepper crab and prawns in the chilli crab sauce (cheers Tim!). We just made the last train on the MRT… if you were at Clarke Quay MRT station on Tuesday night, we were the two whiteys taking four or five steps at a time and running madly through the station. Sorry.

The walking tour of Little India was interesting. The group was smaller, which was good – but bad because the other four people on the tour were all older, camera happy women. I tried to disassociate myself from them when all four were blazing away with their cameras – that kind of thing isn’t for me, so I don’t have many photos from the last day or so.

Little India is a very interesting place. As the name suggests, it’s predominantly Indian in population and services, although there is, as always in Singapore, a large Chinese population. The streets are narrow and crowded, the smell of spices and vegetables and goods emanate from the shop fronts,  it’s noisy and chaotic, dirty by Singapore standards, but fascinating. The tour took us from markets to spice shops, temples to shrines, down the back streets to an Indian confectioner, and a textile shop sponsored by the Indian government that sells goods made in India by people who wouldn’t otherwise be employed. There was nice stuff to buy everywhere, but maybe when I’m back here in four months time…

I met a couple of English guys (G’day Ben and John) on the roof of the hostel when I was doing some work, and we ended up hanging out for a while. Our crowd of three turned in to five, a Qantas 747 pilot and a Swiss guy joined us for a few beers and an awesome curry in Little India.

Anyway… I need to wait for the check in counter to open, and I need to get some form of breakfast (at 1pm – slacker), and I need to find a way to insulate myself from the annoying Australian and English kids who seem to have picked the row of chairs I’m sitting on to climb all over.

See you in Kuala Lumpur!