Arrived into Mumbai and settled into my room at my aunt's place...this time I had air-con in my room and can't begin to tell you how excited I was. Ready to come home to say the least. Anyways, spent about 6 days in Mumbai altogether....caught up with family, met some of my mom's friends, saw the sites, checked out the nightlife. By now its basically become the same routine over and over in all the places I've been and in some ways I'm glad this was the last time. As most of you know, in November Mumbai faced some terrorist attacks which they refer to as 26/11. Since then there is heightened security everyhwere from the airports, to hotels, and even at the train stations. I think its good, but at times you feel like its lost its charm. Enough of that and more about the city...
17 million+ people, the city is expansive, much bigger than NYC and sooo much dirtier (not as bad as Delhi). Took about 1.5 hour to get from airport to my aunt's place to give you an idea of size. Went out the second night to Leopold's...a bar in the Colaba Causeway area (backpacker zone) for a few beers. Leopold's is actually where the November attacks began...a famous expat/foreigner hangout, the terrorists had dinner there and then after paying their bills began shooting. There are still bullet holes in the wall/glass and its crazy to think of while you are sitting there having a beer. At one table there was a hole just next to my head...I can't even begin to imagine what it would have been like to be there when it all went down. So, here I met a Pakistani guy, Waqas, from New Jersey who was also traveling solo. We ended up hanging out the next few days checking out the sights and nightlife of Mumbai...never did find my Bollywood actress but met many stunning Indian locals ;) Saw the Gateway of India (where the terrorists entered via sea...but strangely still no security here?!?) and nearby Taj Hotel which is probably the nicest hotel I've ever seen. Had a beer in the bar there looking out over the sea and they provide you with unlimited snacks (at $8USD they better!), but enough to fill you up and skip dinner :) Visited the Haji Ali durgah which was nowhere near as crazy as the dargah in Ajmer but certainly impressive. Also checked out Dharavi (slums from Slum Dog Millionaire)...that place was crazy. To see how the people live there...words cannot express! Didn't go to far into the slums since everyone warned of the diseases I could catch just by walking around...found that surprising since I wouldnt be drinking the water, etc, but I listened and stuck to the outskirts which was still more than enough for my eyes. At the end of it all, Mumbai was a great place to end the trip...a little expensive and at times more expensive than the States. The British influence is very evident throughout the city, with Victorian architecture everywhere since they were responsible for much of the growth of this now Western metropolis. There is a stark contrast between the old historic buildings and their architecture to the new buildings of Mumbai and I think everyone will agree they like the charm of the old better. The nightlife was great, everybody spoke English, lounges very posh so I got use the nice clothes for once. Got a leather jacket tailor made in 24 hours after picking out the leather I wanted which was really cool. I missed out on the rainy season, but did get an occasional shower. I was anxious to see the hype of this so called all day rains, but unfortunately its arrived a few weeks to late this year and I'm on my way home. Caught my flight back to Delhi and wrapping up a few last minute things before taking off for the airport for my midnight flight tonight.
So after 8 months of travel through 21 countries I'm signing off...for those that followed along, I hope you enjoyed...I'll share more stories on my return! I'll probably have a few more posts...but this is it from on the road!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Day 237 -- Delhi to Mumbai
Train arrived at I dropped off the shopping suitcase in the cloak room as I was tired of lugging it around. At 10 rupees per day for storage its affordable to say the least, but we'll find out about the safety/security when I pick it up. David and I got out of the train station and made our way to Paharganj, the backpacer neighborhood in Delhi I mentioned before. As it was late and the neighborhood very shady/seedy we found a hotel that was safe for 700 rupees a night only after much negotiation. Tired from a late night last night and a long day of wanderings we watched some soccer (USA vs. Italy) and crashed. Got up at about 10am and he let me use his computer to back up all my pictures. About pictures, internet is really slow in India and I'm having a lot of difficulty uploading them so you guys will have to wait until I get back on the 23rd...they will be up shortly thereafter...sorry!
Checked out, booked my taxi for the airport and wandered outside for some breakfast. Surpisingly Paharganj was shut down and in fact there was a protest in the street. None of the shops/restaurants were open as the government was making plans to demolish many of the shops to widen the road to allow buses to travel to the nearby train station. Needless to say this angered many of the business owners so they staged a protest...a peacefule one, but the military was still called in to secure order. We found a rooftop cafe which was open and provided a good view of the action down on the street and by the end of breakfast it had all calmed down and the shops began to open. I wrote down tons of information for David about Thailand, Malaysia's Perhentian Islands and the infamous Gilis in Indonesia since he was planning to book a ticket out that afternoon...brought back some good memories and I started having feelings of heading back there but I need to get home...its time to get back to reality...not so sure how I feel about that just yet...guess I'll find out next week. Anyways, enough of that, hit the internet and then hopped in the cab to the airport. Flight to Mumbai was good and then after picking up my bag hopped in a taxi to my mom's sister-in-law's flat (condo) in South Bombay. My mom's brother passed away a few years back therefore I'm here staying with his wife, but her son, Bhisham (my cousin) from NYC is also here so it was good to catch up since I haven't seen him since I was like 8. Really nice place with cool views of the sea and should make a good base for exploring Mumbai until its time to head home...Maybe I'll sneak in a quick flight to Goa for a couple of nights!
Checked out, booked my taxi for the airport and wandered outside for some breakfast. Surpisingly Paharganj was shut down and in fact there was a protest in the street. None of the shops/restaurants were open as the government was making plans to demolish many of the shops to widen the road to allow buses to travel to the nearby train station. Needless to say this angered many of the business owners so they staged a protest...a peacefule one, but the military was still called in to secure order. We found a rooftop cafe which was open and provided a good view of the action down on the street and by the end of breakfast it had all calmed down and the shops began to open. I wrote down tons of information for David about Thailand, Malaysia's Perhentian Islands and the infamous Gilis in Indonesia since he was planning to book a ticket out that afternoon...brought back some good memories and I started having feelings of heading back there but I need to get home...its time to get back to reality...not so sure how I feel about that just yet...guess I'll find out next week. Anyways, enough of that, hit the internet and then hopped in the cab to the airport. Flight to Mumbai was good and then after picking up my bag hopped in a taxi to my mom's sister-in-law's flat (condo) in South Bombay. My mom's brother passed away a few years back therefore I'm here staying with his wife, but her son, Bhisham (my cousin) from NYC is also here so it was good to catch up since I haven't seen him since I was like 8. Really nice place with cool views of the sea and should make a good base for exploring Mumbai until its time to head home...Maybe I'll sneak in a quick flight to Goa for a couple of nights!
Days 235-236 -- Agra (Taj Mahal!)
So after 4 nights of family time in Ajmer it was time to continue the journey and make my way towards Agra. My uncle helped me book a sleeper bus Agra through a local travel agency. I should have known not to expect much since my sleeper seat only cost 190 rupees (47 rupees = 1USD). Bus wasn't there when I got to the depot so sat around for about an hour before it finally arrived. Got onboard and was surprised to find that my sleeper seat was more like a chicken coop and that you had to carry all your own luggage with you instead of putting it underneath the bus as in most cases. Not sure if I mentioned previously that I went on a massive shopping spree in Ajmer/Pushkar so now I had an extra suitcase...seriously regretting this at this point! Anyways, made it work out by convincing the old man below me that he could use one of my bags to prop up his feet and he happily obliged. Slept on top of my main backpack...not too comfortable, but managed to get some sleep and awoke in Agra about 6:30AM.
Hopped into an auto-rickshaw (tuk-tuk) and headed to my hotel, Hotel Taj Plaza which I had found on Hostelworld. They had a good rating which helped my decision and immediately after seeing my room I could see why. 600 meters from the Taj with an awesome view from the rooftop restaurant and more importantly the rooms were immaculate at only 350 rupees. Slept for a few hours since I was a little tired and then got up, showered, had some breakfast and was ready to do some sightseeing. Walked out of the hotel and jumped in a tuk-tuk towards the bus station to get a bus to Fatehpur Sikri, about 40km outside of Agra. Since it was low-season and not many tourists the driver (after much negotiation) decided to take me the whole way and back as well as wait for me for a few hours for only 300 rupees...not a bad deal if you ask me! Fatehpur Sikri is a historical city which was constructed by Mughal emperor beginning in 1570 and served as the empire's capital from 1571 until 1585, until it was abandoned for reasons that remain unclear. The surviving palace and mosque is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The hour+ ride was bumpy but breezy since the tuk-tuk has no doors/windows. Along the way we had to stop at a police checkpoint where the driver had to bribe his way past (obvious corruption in India) since generally tuk-tuk's from Agra are not allowed to go there, but rather only hired tourist taxis. Next we were pulled into another road block, this time set up by tourist guides who would not take no for an answer. After much argument one decided to come with me for 'free' since I was insistent that I needed no guide...nothing is ever free - something I've certainly learned after traveling for 8 months! Arrived to the site and entered the mosque at first...no shoes and the ground was steaming in the 42+ degree heat but I survived. The main gate was 54 meters high and rather impressive with lots of detail carved into the stone and the massive courtyard inside seemed like it could hold in excess of 20,000 people. The guide explained some of the history and after about 30 minutes I felt like I was being rushed and politely asked him to let me roam on my own. He then pressed me for money which resulted in a small argument...he eventually got no money and stormed off screaming Hindhi curse words in my direction...haha! In my defense I told him repeatedly I wanted no guide and had no intention of paying any money beforehand but he insisted on coming along suggesting that he would have an opportunity to practice his English. Wandered around to the mosque before moving down towards the palace.
At the palace gate I tried to purchase a ticket at the local price of 20 rupees using my few phrases of Hindhi I picked up, however failed miserably and got stuck with the 250 rupee foreigner entrance charge. The palace was expansive and comprised of 20+ buildings and it was here I thought that maybe a guide would have been useful...oh well! I used my Lonely Planet and the map helped me navigate my way around easily as well as provide some history and information about the various buildings which was more than enough. Wandered outside and my driver was waiting as promised and we made our way out of there. He asked if I wanted to meet his family since he was from a nearby area and I happily obliged since he had taken me so far and stood around idle in the heat for 3+ hours. We arrived at his 'home' and I met his 'father' who was busy weaving carpets using very traditional instruments. I was offered tea, met the children and then shown carpets available for purchase...this is where I began to wonder if it really was his family (still don't know...) Either way at the end of it all and on my way out, the mother of the family gave me a carpet for free as a gift for playing with their children which I was forced to take since its rude to say 'no.' There is that free term again but again I didn't pay a single rupee. Made our way back towards Agra and on the way back to the hotel I agreed for the driver to stop at a couple of shops since these shops pay the drivers 20-30 rupees for bringing tourists to their businesses. I spent 10-15 minutes in each store acting interested in a few items, but purchased nothing and he still got his money. Finally reached the hotel at about 3pm and was exhausted from the long journey from Ajmer and all day outside in the heat so I crashed for a few hours.
Woke up and watched a Bollywood film on TV, Namaste London...the entire film was in Hindhi and I probably understood no more than 10% but still was able to understand the movie...I'll spare you the details but just mention that it was about a Indian girl raised in London who faced pressure from her family to marry an Indian but resisted and chose to marry an English boy..lots of disapproval from the family, etc, etc...blah, blah...I'm sure you can figure it out. Anyways, went downstairs and met a Spanish guy, David, also traveling alone who was going to get a beer and food so I tagged along. We found a nearby cafe and I learned that David was only 40 days into his 8 month trip whereas I am 8 days away from the end of my trip! He was tired of the heat in India and in need of some beach time, so I advised him to head to Malaysia/Indonesia and I think by the end of the night and after seeing my pics he was ready to go there a few days...haha! Called it a night and made plans to get up early to see the Taj.
Everyone said the Taj was best seen at sunrise but since we had a late night, we decided to skip the 5:15am sunrise and meet at 6:15am to be there just as the gates opened. Tried again for the Indian price of 50 rupees but failed and had to pay the foreigner cost of 750 rupees...a little steep if you ask me! Got inside and what an amazing site. Definitely not the best wonder I've seen on the trip, but still magnificent nonetheless. The Taj was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife after she died giving birth to their 14th child. Certainly the most grand structure ever built in the name of love and I'm definitely glad I didn't visit it with a girlfriend/wife since who knows what she'd expect later in life...just kidding! The white marble structure inlaid with semi-precious stones stones is symmetrical from all sides and the small fountain/pond in the front carries a beautiful reflection of the main mausoleum. I don't think anything like this could be replicated and urban legends say that the chief architect had his hands choped off at completion so he could not build anything similar for anyone else. Some estimates suggest that its cost was 32 million rupees at time of construction and in excess of 100 million USD at present. Its very difficult to put into words the feelings and thoughts you feel when you walk around this mega complex, but one thing for sure is that it truly is something special.
After a few hours of walking around inside and out, David and I were hungry so we made our way to the same cafe where we found almost the entire same group of people who were eating their the night before. I guess if you find a place and your stomach doesn't break (as it happens so often in India...) you continue to frequent the establishment. Had some breakfast and then back to the hotel where we had them book our train tickets to Delhi for that evening. Took a nap and then that afternoon I visted the Agra Fort, aka the Red Fort of Agra. The most important fort in India as the great Mughals Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb here as well as since the country was governed from here. It contained the largest state treasury and mint and visited by foreign ambassadors, travellers and the highest dignitaries who participated in the making of history in India. With walls in excess of 70 ft. the fort is truly a walled palatial city and references of its existence date back to 1080AD. Wandering around this was like wandering around a maze. The architecture, level of detail and sheer size make you wonder how this was built so long ago, let alone the time, number of people and money that was needed. Unfortunately the mosque area (very impressive from outside) was under renovation so I could not get inside. After about an hour and half of making my way through this place I had to go as it was time for the train to Delhi.
The train to Delhi was the Shatabdi (sp?) express train, taking only 2 hours versus the inter-city trains at 4-5 hours. The extra cost (total ticket 550 rupees) was well worth it since there was plenty of place for all my luggage (33kg at this point...), reclining seat, dinner, bottles of water, ice cream...I could get used to this! The train was a little delayed and we finally arrived into Delhi shortly before midnight.
I rambled a lot here and it definitely was a long post but now that I'm back with family and got a free computer its a lot easier and much less pressure when you don't see a timer on your screen showing your internet charges add up! I hope you enjoy it!
Hopped into an auto-rickshaw (tuk-tuk) and headed to my hotel, Hotel Taj Plaza which I had found on Hostelworld. They had a good rating which helped my decision and immediately after seeing my room I could see why. 600 meters from the Taj with an awesome view from the rooftop restaurant and more importantly the rooms were immaculate at only 350 rupees. Slept for a few hours since I was a little tired and then got up, showered, had some breakfast and was ready to do some sightseeing. Walked out of the hotel and jumped in a tuk-tuk towards the bus station to get a bus to Fatehpur Sikri, about 40km outside of Agra. Since it was low-season and not many tourists the driver (after much negotiation) decided to take me the whole way and back as well as wait for me for a few hours for only 300 rupees...not a bad deal if you ask me! Fatehpur Sikri is a historical city which was constructed by Mughal emperor beginning in 1570 and served as the empire's capital from 1571 until 1585, until it was abandoned for reasons that remain unclear. The surviving palace and mosque is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The hour+ ride was bumpy but breezy since the tuk-tuk has no doors/windows. Along the way we had to stop at a police checkpoint where the driver had to bribe his way past (obvious corruption in India) since generally tuk-tuk's from Agra are not allowed to go there, but rather only hired tourist taxis. Next we were pulled into another road block, this time set up by tourist guides who would not take no for an answer. After much argument one decided to come with me for 'free' since I was insistent that I needed no guide...nothing is ever free - something I've certainly learned after traveling for 8 months! Arrived to the site and entered the mosque at first...no shoes and the ground was steaming in the 42+ degree heat but I survived. The main gate was 54 meters high and rather impressive with lots of detail carved into the stone and the massive courtyard inside seemed like it could hold in excess of 20,000 people. The guide explained some of the history and after about 30 minutes I felt like I was being rushed and politely asked him to let me roam on my own. He then pressed me for money which resulted in a small argument...he eventually got no money and stormed off screaming Hindhi curse words in my direction...haha! In my defense I told him repeatedly I wanted no guide and had no intention of paying any money beforehand but he insisted on coming along suggesting that he would have an opportunity to practice his English. Wandered around to the mosque before moving down towards the palace.
At the palace gate I tried to purchase a ticket at the local price of 20 rupees using my few phrases of Hindhi I picked up, however failed miserably and got stuck with the 250 rupee foreigner entrance charge. The palace was expansive and comprised of 20+ buildings and it was here I thought that maybe a guide would have been useful...oh well! I used my Lonely Planet and the map helped me navigate my way around easily as well as provide some history and information about the various buildings which was more than enough. Wandered outside and my driver was waiting as promised and we made our way out of there. He asked if I wanted to meet his family since he was from a nearby area and I happily obliged since he had taken me so far and stood around idle in the heat for 3+ hours. We arrived at his 'home' and I met his 'father' who was busy weaving carpets using very traditional instruments. I was offered tea, met the children and then shown carpets available for purchase...this is where I began to wonder if it really was his family (still don't know...) Either way at the end of it all and on my way out, the mother of the family gave me a carpet for free as a gift for playing with their children which I was forced to take since its rude to say 'no.' There is that free term again but again I didn't pay a single rupee. Made our way back towards Agra and on the way back to the hotel I agreed for the driver to stop at a couple of shops since these shops pay the drivers 20-30 rupees for bringing tourists to their businesses. I spent 10-15 minutes in each store acting interested in a few items, but purchased nothing and he still got his money. Finally reached the hotel at about 3pm and was exhausted from the long journey from Ajmer and all day outside in the heat so I crashed for a few hours.
Woke up and watched a Bollywood film on TV, Namaste London...the entire film was in Hindhi and I probably understood no more than 10% but still was able to understand the movie...I'll spare you the details but just mention that it was about a Indian girl raised in London who faced pressure from her family to marry an Indian but resisted and chose to marry an English boy..lots of disapproval from the family, etc, etc...blah, blah...I'm sure you can figure it out. Anyways, went downstairs and met a Spanish guy, David, also traveling alone who was going to get a beer and food so I tagged along. We found a nearby cafe and I learned that David was only 40 days into his 8 month trip whereas I am 8 days away from the end of my trip! He was tired of the heat in India and in need of some beach time, so I advised him to head to Malaysia/Indonesia and I think by the end of the night and after seeing my pics he was ready to go there a few days...haha! Called it a night and made plans to get up early to see the Taj.
Everyone said the Taj was best seen at sunrise but since we had a late night, we decided to skip the 5:15am sunrise and meet at 6:15am to be there just as the gates opened. Tried again for the Indian price of 50 rupees but failed and had to pay the foreigner cost of 750 rupees...a little steep if you ask me! Got inside and what an amazing site. Definitely not the best wonder I've seen on the trip, but still magnificent nonetheless. The Taj was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife after she died giving birth to their 14th child. Certainly the most grand structure ever built in the name of love and I'm definitely glad I didn't visit it with a girlfriend/wife since who knows what she'd expect later in life...just kidding! The white marble structure inlaid with semi-precious stones stones is symmetrical from all sides and the small fountain/pond in the front carries a beautiful reflection of the main mausoleum. I don't think anything like this could be replicated and urban legends say that the chief architect had his hands choped off at completion so he could not build anything similar for anyone else. Some estimates suggest that its cost was 32 million rupees at time of construction and in excess of 100 million USD at present. Its very difficult to put into words the feelings and thoughts you feel when you walk around this mega complex, but one thing for sure is that it truly is something special.
After a few hours of walking around inside and out, David and I were hungry so we made our way to the same cafe where we found almost the entire same group of people who were eating their the night before. I guess if you find a place and your stomach doesn't break (as it happens so often in India...) you continue to frequent the establishment. Had some breakfast and then back to the hotel where we had them book our train tickets to Delhi for that evening. Took a nap and then that afternoon I visted the Agra Fort, aka the Red Fort of Agra. The most important fort in India as the great Mughals Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb here as well as since the country was governed from here. It contained the largest state treasury and mint and visited by foreign ambassadors, travellers and the highest dignitaries who participated in the making of history in India. With walls in excess of 70 ft. the fort is truly a walled palatial city and references of its existence date back to 1080AD. Wandering around this was like wandering around a maze. The architecture, level of detail and sheer size make you wonder how this was built so long ago, let alone the time, number of people and money that was needed. Unfortunately the mosque area (very impressive from outside) was under renovation so I could not get inside. After about an hour and half of making my way through this place I had to go as it was time for the train to Delhi.
The train to Delhi was the Shatabdi (sp?) express train, taking only 2 hours versus the inter-city trains at 4-5 hours. The extra cost (total ticket 550 rupees) was well worth it since there was plenty of place for all my luggage (33kg at this point...), reclining seat, dinner, bottles of water, ice cream...I could get used to this! The train was a little delayed and we finally arrived into Delhi shortly before midnight.
I rambled a lot here and it definitely was a long post but now that I'm back with family and got a free computer its a lot easier and much less pressure when you don't see a timer on your screen showing your internet charges add up! I hope you enjoy it!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Days 231-234 -- Ajmer/Pushkar
So I took the two hour bus journey from Jaipur to Ajmer and was greeted by mom's cousin, Uncle Prabhu at the bus station. Luckily I went with the air-con bus because today was another scorcher. More importantly, I'm glad I had my ipod b/c they were blasting the Indian tunes, even louder than the Thai night buses. Jumped in the car and headed to the house for what would prove to be an interesting 4 days. So as most of you know, I dont speak any Sindhi/Hindhi, but I thought I could understand a fair bit....not really. I guess the basic talk at home with my parents, 'what do you want to eat,' 'where are you going,' 'when will you be back' don't really help when you are trying to navigate with family you havent seen in 20+ years...haha! Let's just say I found out pretty quickly that there is still a TON I need to learn about my culture, but you have to start somewhere and here I am!
Settled into my room in the house (no air-con :( ) and had some lunch with the family. Joint family house, typical to most Indian homes, where there were three families under one roof and one of the children along with his wife and kids were also part of the household. Much different that the traditional Western household we are used to in the States. So enough about that, Ajmer is where my mom went to school, Sophia College and I had a quick chance to check it out. My uncle was cool enough to take me around over the 4 days I was here...and he really should be a tour guide! He knew all the history, dates of construction, best places to get pictures, etc so it was really cool to have him around. I probably learned more about my culture in these 4 days than I have in my whole life...a little exaggeration but it was information overload. We saw Dargah (sp?) a extremely historical Muslim site which was chaos. Tons of pilgrims pushing and shoving in all directions trying to get their chance to pray and give offerings. Old women (age 65+) were pushing me left, right, down to the floor just to get in front of me...something you really have to see. Saw Ann Sagar (sp?) which is a series of marble structures set on the lake at sunset which was marvelous. All the locals were gathered around in the evenings having a picnic, family reunions, etc. Really cool to see how the local people interacted and having a local host definitely highlighted it since I didn't stand out as a foreigner as much. Also checked out an amazing Jain temple with detail that must have taken 30 years to complete....I don't think they build sites like this anymore. There was also a fort here, but unfortunately it was going through restoration so couldn't check out too much of the inside :(
One afternoon, I went with Uncle Ishwar (another uncle in the house) to the Global Mgt College where he is the director as they were celebrating their 10 year anniversary. The held a traditional 'havan' prayer ceremony (a little long) but I hadn't attended one in a while and it was my first true religous exercise on this trip which was really cool. Got to meet some of the families friends, most of whom knew my mom from her days in Ajmer during school. Ajmer is a Muslim dominant city, but also has a huge population of Sindhi's (the type of Indian I am). Another aunt in the city ran a guesthouse out of her home where I stayed one night and it was actually listed in my Lonely Planet as the best place to stay in Ajmer...didn't know it was hers until I got here. So there were two main families here and the primary family was pure vegetarian and the other was non-vegetarian. They both went out of their way to make me have a good time and were so hospitable I have no way of ever thanking them enough for what they did. I got the sense that all the locals here are that way since everyone I met knew who my mom was and basically treated me like they're son. Any home I visited I was given chai (tea), water, snacks until you couldn't eat anymore and then still they would insist you eat more.
One afternoon, we went to nearby Pushkar, a sacred village built around a holy lake. Pushkar is a famous destination for travelers since it has a hippy vibe, very religous and its one of those places where you go on vacation from your vacation. Once we entered I could see why it was soo popular. Hundreds (400+) of temples, priests everywhere (though some were just there to make money...) and just extremely laid back. The entire town has three rules, no drugs, no meat and no alcohol, yet the foreigners come and stay forever. I think the charm of the town overrides any other vices on may have. We saw a few temples and at one I saw more Sindhi plaques devoted to lost family members than I know Sindhis in America. Also visited one of the worlds only Brahma temples which was fascinating along with a temple boasting South Indian architecture. The work and detail are something I've never seen before and reminded me of some of the places I saw in the Middle East way back in November.
So the past 4 days for me were pretty enlightening and I got from here what I hoped to get out of my trip to India. I picked up a few words, met some family, learned some culture and feel much more Indian at the end of it all. I saw a lot of cool sites and had my own private tour guide, but since I wrote so much already I'll spare the details....Its kinda like I've described one temple to you guys...do you really want to hear about every single one?!!? So not sure if I mentioned before, but I had originally changed my flight back to the US to return on the 17th since this heat is unbearable. After this, plans have changed again and I'm staying one more week to get a chance to visit with more family in Mumbai next week. I'll be home June 23rd now and that date is not changing! If it wasn't for the heat and my savings account getting pretty close to zero I think I'd stay in India for a long time since its such a big place and there is sooo much to see.
Next stop....Taj Mahal! Been looking forward to this for a long time!
Settled into my room in the house (no air-con :( ) and had some lunch with the family. Joint family house, typical to most Indian homes, where there were three families under one roof and one of the children along with his wife and kids were also part of the household. Much different that the traditional Western household we are used to in the States. So enough about that, Ajmer is where my mom went to school, Sophia College and I had a quick chance to check it out. My uncle was cool enough to take me around over the 4 days I was here...and he really should be a tour guide! He knew all the history, dates of construction, best places to get pictures, etc so it was really cool to have him around. I probably learned more about my culture in these 4 days than I have in my whole life...a little exaggeration but it was information overload. We saw Dargah (sp?) a extremely historical Muslim site which was chaos. Tons of pilgrims pushing and shoving in all directions trying to get their chance to pray and give offerings. Old women (age 65+) were pushing me left, right, down to the floor just to get in front of me...something you really have to see. Saw Ann Sagar (sp?) which is a series of marble structures set on the lake at sunset which was marvelous. All the locals were gathered around in the evenings having a picnic, family reunions, etc. Really cool to see how the local people interacted and having a local host definitely highlighted it since I didn't stand out as a foreigner as much. Also checked out an amazing Jain temple with detail that must have taken 30 years to complete....I don't think they build sites like this anymore. There was also a fort here, but unfortunately it was going through restoration so couldn't check out too much of the inside :(
One afternoon, I went with Uncle Ishwar (another uncle in the house) to the Global Mgt College where he is the director as they were celebrating their 10 year anniversary. The held a traditional 'havan' prayer ceremony (a little long) but I hadn't attended one in a while and it was my first true religous exercise on this trip which was really cool. Got to meet some of the families friends, most of whom knew my mom from her days in Ajmer during school. Ajmer is a Muslim dominant city, but also has a huge population of Sindhi's (the type of Indian I am). Another aunt in the city ran a guesthouse out of her home where I stayed one night and it was actually listed in my Lonely Planet as the best place to stay in Ajmer...didn't know it was hers until I got here. So there were two main families here and the primary family was pure vegetarian and the other was non-vegetarian. They both went out of their way to make me have a good time and were so hospitable I have no way of ever thanking them enough for what they did. I got the sense that all the locals here are that way since everyone I met knew who my mom was and basically treated me like they're son. Any home I visited I was given chai (tea), water, snacks until you couldn't eat anymore and then still they would insist you eat more.
One afternoon, we went to nearby Pushkar, a sacred village built around a holy lake. Pushkar is a famous destination for travelers since it has a hippy vibe, very religous and its one of those places where you go on vacation from your vacation. Once we entered I could see why it was soo popular. Hundreds (400+) of temples, priests everywhere (though some were just there to make money...) and just extremely laid back. The entire town has three rules, no drugs, no meat and no alcohol, yet the foreigners come and stay forever. I think the charm of the town overrides any other vices on may have. We saw a few temples and at one I saw more Sindhi plaques devoted to lost family members than I know Sindhis in America. Also visited one of the worlds only Brahma temples which was fascinating along with a temple boasting South Indian architecture. The work and detail are something I've never seen before and reminded me of some of the places I saw in the Middle East way back in November.
So the past 4 days for me were pretty enlightening and I got from here what I hoped to get out of my trip to India. I picked up a few words, met some family, learned some culture and feel much more Indian at the end of it all. I saw a lot of cool sites and had my own private tour guide, but since I wrote so much already I'll spare the details....Its kinda like I've described one temple to you guys...do you really want to hear about every single one?!!? So not sure if I mentioned before, but I had originally changed my flight back to the US to return on the 17th since this heat is unbearable. After this, plans have changed again and I'm staying one more week to get a chance to visit with more family in Mumbai next week. I'll be home June 23rd now and that date is not changing! If it wasn't for the heat and my savings account getting pretty close to zero I think I'd stay in India for a long time since its such a big place and there is sooo much to see.
Next stop....Taj Mahal! Been looking forward to this for a long time!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Days 228-230 -- Jaipur
My train journey to Jaipur was interesting to say the least. Went with third class AC, the cheapest AC option. At 400 rupees (47 rupees = 1USD) for an 7 hour journey, not a bad deal. Glad I went with the AC since its still blazing outside, 110+ everyday. Anyways, back to the train...so the agent sold me an upper berth seat which I didnt realize until there were more people with seats assigned in my section than we had seats...so basically I had a foldout bed/seat up top for the entire journey...not too bad since I could nap, but it would have been nice to know beforehand, more importantly have a seat to sit in when I didn't feel like laying down....no big deal, all part of the experience. Got into Jaipur at about 9pm and checked into a nearby guesthouse, Krishna Palace. Basically a family's home where they converted extra rooms into a small guesthouse...really nice vibe and very clean. Food took FOREVER since they basically cooked it in their kitchen, but at least it was fresh and home-cooked. Didn't do much the first evening since I was pretty tired so just had some dinner and went to sleep early...
Woke up at about 7AM since the sun was shining straight in my room. No air-con in my accomodation budget so it gets pretty hot early in the morning. Decided to wander around the city and to my surprise it was very quiet. Sundays I came to find out are a peaceful day with most people staying home or going to religous services. It was a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of India as I've come to see the past week. In fact, tuk-tuk drivers were begging for business more than I had experienced since it was such a quiet day. No tuk-tuk this morning and I made the 5km trek into the old city of Jaipur...not a good idea! By the time I arrived I was covered in sweat and craving a cold drink, but nothing was open! Found a hotel that had a restaurant, got some cold water, ice cream and just relaxed for about an hour before heading back out. Wandered through the old city, checked out some bazaars, made a stroll around City Palace and then to the Jantar Mantar observatory where they built all sorts of devices to tell time and predict how heavy the rains will be each year...pretty fascinating! Found one of the few restaurants that sold beer and stepped inside for a beer to get away from the heat. Afterwards, I headed back to the guesthouse and called it an early night. Up early the next morning I headed to the Amber fort about 15 minutes outside of town perched atop a hill overlooking the city. India is full of forts from the olden days since each state had their own army, etc. This fort was pretty impressive, very detailed and massive! Too bad it was 43/114 degrees otherwise I would have wandered around for a lot longer. After the fort it was back to the city center to do some shopping, eat some ice cream and just wander around and soak in India.
The cities here are too hard to put into words. First off, the locals throw trash everywhere...no such thing as trash cans. Then you have the cows and elephants wandering around taking care of their business in the road. Beggars coming at every corner tugging at your shirt for money. The street is also the local toilet with kids and adults doing both #1 and #2 just off the side of the road in alleys and sometimes even on the big streets! But dont get me wrong, I'm not complaining about it, but I think its just crazy how many different sides to this country there are...truly is fascinating and I think all of this is what makes this such a special place. Tradition exists and its still really strong and Western influence hasn't taken over like so many other places I have been. Anyways, finished up my tour of Jaipur and caught a bus to Ajmer...time for some family time!
The cities here are too hard to put into words. First off, the locals throw trash everywhere...no such thing as trash cans. Then you have the cows and elephants wandering around taking care of their business in the road. Beggars coming at every corner tugging at your shirt for money. The street is also the local toilet with kids and adults doing both #1 and #2 just off the side of the road in alleys and sometimes even on the big streets! But dont get me wrong, I'm not complaining about it, but I think its just crazy how many different sides to this country there are...truly is fascinating and I think all of this is what makes this such a special place. Tradition exists and its still really strong and Western influence hasn't taken over like so many other places I have been. Anyways, finished up my tour of Jaipur and caught a bus to Ajmer...time for some family time!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Days 225-227 -- Delhi
India...what a fascinating place. After getting picked up from the airport, I had about a 40 minute drive to the area of Paharanj, Delhi's backpacker area. On the ride in I can tell you I was simply blown away...cows loitering in the streets, tuk-tuks/rickshaws all over the place weaving in and around the cars and cows...total madness! Got into my hotel and pretty exhausted I got my room and crashed for the night. Early start the next morning since I was paying way too much for this room, really just wanted someone to pick me up for the airport, I moved down the street a little bit and found a room at Hotel Downtown for 250 rupees (5USD)...solid room with large bed, hot water shower and tv! Channels included Al Jazeera, HBO and Star Movies so I wasn't complaining. No air-con and given this 110 degree weather I wished I had splurged on the upgrade. Settled into the new room and went down the road to Sam's Cafe for some breakfast. Ran into two English guys on their gap year trip who were going to do some site seeing so I tagged along.
Hopped into a tuk-tuk and headed to the Gandhi Memorial where we learned tons of information about the leader and then saw the areas where we was killed and later cremated. Also here was an outline of his last steps before he was killed. Headed back to Paharanj and got some dinner off the street before calling it an early night. The heat here is unreal. In the daytime its about 110 and close to 100 in the evenings....not sure if I can handle a month of this, but I'm going to try. The next morning got up early again since my room was baking and headed for breakfast. This time I ran into a Dutch girl who was going to see the Red Fort and Jasmid Mosque. The Red Fort was really impressive, massive fort within Old Delhi and beautiful gardens on the inside. Certainly didnt feel like India especially based on what I had seen outside the fort with all of the beggars, pollution, etc. Don't get me wrong, India is a great place, but by far the poorest of all the places I've visited so far. Moving to the Jasmid Mosque where we had to cover up since we had shorts, we climbed the south tower for some great views of the city. Didn't stay here too long since we had to go around in our bare feet and the floor was REALLY hot. Again it was back to Paharanj for an early night.
This morning I woke up and booked a train to Jaipur...leaving this afternoon and hopefully its a little cooler. Some things I have yet to figure out about India...how all the locals walk around in pants or saris in this heat....the colors of the saris and how they don't get dirty since my sandals and clothes are covered in dust when I get home...I've got a few weeks to figure it out along with many other things.
Hopped into a tuk-tuk and headed to the Gandhi Memorial where we learned tons of information about the leader and then saw the areas where we was killed and later cremated. Also here was an outline of his last steps before he was killed. Headed back to Paharanj and got some dinner off the street before calling it an early night. The heat here is unreal. In the daytime its about 110 and close to 100 in the evenings....not sure if I can handle a month of this, but I'm going to try. The next morning got up early again since my room was baking and headed for breakfast. This time I ran into a Dutch girl who was going to see the Red Fort and Jasmid Mosque. The Red Fort was really impressive, massive fort within Old Delhi and beautiful gardens on the inside. Certainly didnt feel like India especially based on what I had seen outside the fort with all of the beggars, pollution, etc. Don't get me wrong, India is a great place, but by far the poorest of all the places I've visited so far. Moving to the Jasmid Mosque where we had to cover up since we had shorts, we climbed the south tower for some great views of the city. Didn't stay here too long since we had to go around in our bare feet and the floor was REALLY hot. Again it was back to Paharanj for an early night.
This morning I woke up and booked a train to Jaipur...leaving this afternoon and hopefully its a little cooler. Some things I have yet to figure out about India...how all the locals walk around in pants or saris in this heat....the colors of the saris and how they don't get dirty since my sandals and clothes are covered in dust when I get home...I've got a few weeks to figure it out along with many other things.
Days 223-224 - Bangkok to Delhi
Time to the leave the islands and make my towards Bangkok to catch a flight to India. Took a ferry from Koh Phangan to the mainland then a night bus to Bangkok. Only 6 people on my bus and being pretty exhausted I crashed once I hit in my seat. Not so lucky for me since somehow somebody opened my bag and snatched some cash and a card...I must have been out cold. Anyways, I noticed early in the morning when we got into Bangkok so was able to cancel everything immediately and more importantly they didnt take my passport. Arrived into Bangkok at about 4:30am and got a room for the day just near Khao San Road. Spent the day doing last minute things like laundry, research on India and picking up some souveneirs since I hadn't done much shopping in all of SE Asia. Ran into some people on Khao San that I met in Perhentian and we had a few beers before I had to take off for the airport...no changing my flight this week.
About 8pm I jumped in the shuttle for my midnight flight. Not a fun day of flying ahead since to get to Delhi I had to connect in London, damn British Airways. Airport staff had fun with that asking me why I chose to do a 24 hour journey when Delhi is only 4 hours away...like I really wanted to do that! First flight was easy, slept most of the way and towards the end I got up and watched Ferris Beuller's Day Off. Landed in London and had a few hours to kill before heading in the right direction back towards India. Second flight was good, had a few Carlsbergs and watched a handful of episodes of 30 Rock before arriving in Delhi near midnight...after a full 24 hours it was really nice to see a guy holding my name on the sign and my car ready to take me to the hotel!
About 8pm I jumped in the shuttle for my midnight flight. Not a fun day of flying ahead since to get to Delhi I had to connect in London, damn British Airways. Airport staff had fun with that asking me why I chose to do a 24 hour journey when Delhi is only 4 hours away...like I really wanted to do that! First flight was easy, slept most of the way and towards the end I got up and watched Ferris Beuller's Day Off. Landed in London and had a few hours to kill before heading in the right direction back towards India. Second flight was good, had a few Carlsbergs and watched a handful of episodes of 30 Rock before arriving in Delhi near midnight...after a full 24 hours it was really nice to see a guy holding my name on the sign and my car ready to take me to the hotel!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Days 220-222 -- Koh Phangan
Wow! Where to begin...so I took off from quiet Koh Tao and headed over to Koh Phangan. I think I mentioned last time I was here that I heard about an secluded beach accessible only by water that I never quite had a chance to make it to. Well it had bothered me and part of the reason I changed my flight was because I really had to see what this place was all about....So after a two hour ferry in seas that made the boat move like a roller coaster, I arrived into Koh Phangan and took a bus to Haad Rin, home of the infamous Full Moon Party. Spent no more than 5 minutes there...just booking my return ticket back to Bangkok since I didn't know if I'd be back in civilization anytime soon and jumped in the boat taxi to Haad Yuan. I arrived at Big Blue Guest House and got a bungalow near the beach for 350 baht, 10USD. What an amazing place....Its the nearest beach (by boat) to Haad Rin, about 10 minutes, but whats so crazy is that its relatively unheard of...very few tourists, and VERY laid back! The beach is clean, clear water, you can swim, not too crowded....I can go on forever, but really guys, this place has to be the highlight of my entire SE Asia trip. Parts of me are glad I came at the end since soo many people I met got there and have been stuck for two weeks plus.
Haad Yuan, is a really small beach on the southern side of Koh Phangan. Can't find much about it on the internet and its guests primarily all come only by word of mouth from other travelers (thanks Jason in Langkawi!). Very laid back, very chill, very beautiful and an amnesty agreements with the locals for parties 2 nights a week (Friday/Sunday). Only one internet cafe (extremely expensive), no cell phone service, no scooters, no taxis...literally the only way to get out of here is take a boat taxi at 150 baht to Haad Rin or another part of the island. Everyone I met here was more interesting than most of the people I met in most of SE Asia (referring to the typical meathead travelers here)....I learned my Mayan Galactic sign (Yellow Spectral Seed) but missed out on the chance for meditation, yoga and a spiritual massage. All of this is available, along with anythign else you can dream of, making it very similar to the Gili islands. From what I heard from the locals the beach has not been overdeveloped and infiltrated by the tourists since there is no mention in any Lonely Planet making it such a relaxing place..hopefully that doesnt change before I get back here...Unfortunately I had to take off after 3 nights there, one night before the famous jungle Half-Moon Party. Oh well, at least I made it here and I know that on my next trip to Thailand I won't waste any time at any other beach....
Haad Yuan, is a really small beach on the southern side of Koh Phangan. Can't find much about it on the internet and its guests primarily all come only by word of mouth from other travelers (thanks Jason in Langkawi!). Very laid back, very chill, very beautiful and an amnesty agreements with the locals for parties 2 nights a week (Friday/Sunday). Only one internet cafe (extremely expensive), no cell phone service, no scooters, no taxis...literally the only way to get out of here is take a boat taxi at 150 baht to Haad Rin or another part of the island. Everyone I met here was more interesting than most of the people I met in most of SE Asia (referring to the typical meathead travelers here)....I learned my Mayan Galactic sign (Yellow Spectral Seed) but missed out on the chance for meditation, yoga and a spiritual massage. All of this is available, along with anythign else you can dream of, making it very similar to the Gili islands. From what I heard from the locals the beach has not been overdeveloped and infiltrated by the tourists since there is no mention in any Lonely Planet making it such a relaxing place..hopefully that doesnt change before I get back here...Unfortunately I had to take off after 3 nights there, one night before the famous jungle Half-Moon Party. Oh well, at least I made it here and I know that on my next trip to Thailand I won't waste any time at any other beach....
Days 217-219 -- Koh Tao
So my last day in Bangkok didn't end up being my last day in Bangkok. Basically en route to the airport I decided I wasn't quite ready to leave SE Asia and had my flight changed to have an extra week in Thailand. Met some Americans at a nearby expat hangout who were cool enough to let me crash at their place for the night since I had an early flight to Koh Samui in the morning...back to the beaches! Really cool how hospitable they were considering they knew me for less than an hour...the beauty of travel! Anyways, got up the morning of the 27th about 4am after only a couple hours of sleep and caught my flight south. Arrived into Koh Samui and hopped on the ferry to Koh Tao where I ran into a couple of people from the Perhentian Islands who were headed to Koh Tao for some diving. Got into Koh Tao, Thailand's diving capital, and was surprised that the majority of the accomodation options were linked to dive shops and if you weren't diving you'd be paying a lot. Signed up to do some dives, but eventually cancelled after rough seas and low visibility made me skeptical about how it would go.
So more about Koh Tao...really nice island and I've heard many great things but unfortunately this wasnt the best season since the rainy season has begun. Came here since my friend Emily whom I met in South Africa was in Thailand for two weeks and I could run into them here before heading to Koh Phagnan for one last time!! It seems like everyone in Koh Tao was doing a dive course so in the day time, there wasn't much to do unless you were diving. Spent two nights there, had a good time, ran into my friends and one late night out! Spent the days lounging around at the beach and the pool enjoying the last few days of Thailand's islands. Not really much else to say though other than if you don't feel like diving, you're better off at what's coming next...
So more about Koh Tao...really nice island and I've heard many great things but unfortunately this wasnt the best season since the rainy season has begun. Came here since my friend Emily whom I met in South Africa was in Thailand for two weeks and I could run into them here before heading to Koh Phagnan for one last time!! It seems like everyone in Koh Tao was doing a dive course so in the day time, there wasn't much to do unless you were diving. Spent two nights there, had a good time, ran into my friends and one late night out! Spent the days lounging around at the beach and the pool enjoying the last few days of Thailand's islands. Not really much else to say though other than if you don't feel like diving, you're better off at what's coming next...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Day 216 -- Bangkok
Got out of the Perhentians and headed back to Bangkok for 1 last night before my flight to India. After a week of cold, spring water showers and no fan in my room I decided to cash in some Marriott points for a room at the JW Marriott. What better way to end 4 months of slumming SE Asia?!!? So I got into Bangkok after a long day and half of traveling, boat from Perhentian to Kuala Besut, night bus to KL, flight to Bangkok which was delayed three hours....once I got in, I enjoyed the splendors of Platinum membership, free happy hour and apetizers and then hit the streets to drop off a week's worth of laundry and get a haircut. Spent most of my last day in Bangkok finishing up last minute things, sending some mail, picking up malaria medicines and enjoying my pimped out room since who knows what to expect once I hit India.
Next stop...New Delhi via London! Damn British Airways....if only OneWorld had a more direct route!
Next stop...New Delhi via London! Damn British Airways....if only OneWorld had a more direct route!
Days 208-215 -- Perhentian Islands
I took my flight from Bali to KL and then another from KL to Kota Bahru, Malaysia. Arrived in KB about 11pm and jumped in a cab to a nearby hostel. Once I arrived the door was locked which was a fun adventure, even though the sign outside said '24 hours...' Finally got inside and found that the dorm room I had booked was empty so I had the whole place to myself....and the guy at reception tried to upgrade me to a single room for 5 times the price...ha!
Woke up in the morning and caught the 1 hour shuttle to Kuala Besut, small fishing village on the coast and jump-off point for the Perhentian islands. Jumped on the 30 minute boat to the islands and the driver asked where I needed to be dropped off. I had done no research at all so basically said take me where I could find a cheap place and meet some people and he advised Long Beach on the small island. As I got off the boat, I ran into a Italian guy who had the Lonely Planet (I traded mine in Bali for a new book to read....great idea!) and it said Rock Garden was a good place with cheap bungalows. We made the trek up the cliffs and got some bungalows for 25 ringit (3.5 ringit = 1USD) and the views were unreal (see the pics). No fans in the bungalows which made getting to sleep a little interesting, but after 1 night you got used to it and a cold shower right before bed helped you fall asleep immediately. When I got in my place I realized I had two geckos living in the bungalows, but they helped keep the mosquitos to a minimum so it was no worries...a little shocking at first sight though!
During my week on the islands I did a total of 7 dives on the islands, one site, Temple of the Sea being the highlight so I did it twice. Across all the dives, I saw bamboo sharks, black-tip sharks, coral cats, sea horses, rays, turtles and sooo many fish I can't even begin to list. It was a great idea to come here since the diving was realllyy cheap at less that $20USD a dive and beer really expensive @ $3USD compared to basically free in Indonesia. I only drank one night over the course of the week since I purposely setup 9AM dives every morning. It felt good to detox and relax on my last week in SE Asia. Had planned to do the infamous 1 day snorkeling trip dubbed as the best in the world but never got around to it since I got so caught up in the diving.
About the Perhentians: Amazing islands, the small island is the more backpacker island while the big island is the family/honeymoon island. Most travelers find themselves on Long Beach and in the week I was there it was pretty much all females. Walking along the beach in the daytime you'd see scattered groups of couples and then big groups of girls, but no guys...but at night after the 8pm movie at Panorama (which I watched everynight...) nobody seemed to go out. I guess they were all saving their money or all came for a similar reason to mine. Highly recommed you check this place out if you are in SE Asia...you won't be disappointed, but bring a few bottles of your own so you don't burn a hole in your wallet.
Woke up in the morning and caught the 1 hour shuttle to Kuala Besut, small fishing village on the coast and jump-off point for the Perhentian islands. Jumped on the 30 minute boat to the islands and the driver asked where I needed to be dropped off. I had done no research at all so basically said take me where I could find a cheap place and meet some people and he advised Long Beach on the small island. As I got off the boat, I ran into a Italian guy who had the Lonely Planet (I traded mine in Bali for a new book to read....great idea!) and it said Rock Garden was a good place with cheap bungalows. We made the trek up the cliffs and got some bungalows for 25 ringit (3.5 ringit = 1USD) and the views were unreal (see the pics). No fans in the bungalows which made getting to sleep a little interesting, but after 1 night you got used to it and a cold shower right before bed helped you fall asleep immediately. When I got in my place I realized I had two geckos living in the bungalows, but they helped keep the mosquitos to a minimum so it was no worries...a little shocking at first sight though!
During my week on the islands I did a total of 7 dives on the islands, one site, Temple of the Sea being the highlight so I did it twice. Across all the dives, I saw bamboo sharks, black-tip sharks, coral cats, sea horses, rays, turtles and sooo many fish I can't even begin to list. It was a great idea to come here since the diving was realllyy cheap at less that $20USD a dive and beer really expensive @ $3USD compared to basically free in Indonesia. I only drank one night over the course of the week since I purposely setup 9AM dives every morning. It felt good to detox and relax on my last week in SE Asia. Had planned to do the infamous 1 day snorkeling trip dubbed as the best in the world but never got around to it since I got so caught up in the diving.
About the Perhentians: Amazing islands, the small island is the more backpacker island while the big island is the family/honeymoon island. Most travelers find themselves on Long Beach and in the week I was there it was pretty much all females. Walking along the beach in the daytime you'd see scattered groups of couples and then big groups of girls, but no guys...but at night after the 8pm movie at Panorama (which I watched everynight...) nobody seemed to go out. I guess they were all saving their money or all came for a similar reason to mine. Highly recommed you check this place out if you are in SE Asia...you won't be disappointed, but bring a few bottles of your own so you don't burn a hole in your wallet.
Days 201-207 -- Kuta, Bali
Back to Kuta since my brother had to take off. We hit up all of our usual spots and did some last minute shopping before it was time for him to take off. Becca/Jacob, the couple from Lousiana also took off to Australia on the same day for their work holiday. After spending soo long in the Gilis I realized I'm not the biggest fan of Kuta....although the city and party is nice, the beaches are overcrowded, water not so clear and overall its just really touristy...Anyways, once my brother left, Eric (Manager from HK office) arrived for the weekend. Since he only had 4 days we couldn't venture too far so we stayed in the area. It was a fun weekend, ran into a handful of people that I met in the Gilis and we basically enjoyed Kuta for what it had to offer. Rented surfboards one afternoon and enjoyed the beaches on most days even though there were about a million other people on them. A few long nights out as well at Embargo, Bounty, Paddy's and some place I don't remember the names of. We stayed at New Arena which was basically little Scandanavia...the hotel might as well be located in Sweden since we were definitely the only room that wasn't Swedish. Lots of Scandanavians all over Bali...I guess its where they go to escape the cold of their country.
Anyways, had planned to stay in Indonesia once he took off, but after getting burned out in Kuta I decided it was time to take a break from the booze and head to Malaysia...I had heard that the Perhentian Islands had some amazing diving and know from experience that its expensive to go out so sounded like a perfect place to go detox for a week before leaving SE Asia.
Anyways, had planned to stay in Indonesia once he took off, but after getting burned out in Kuta I decided it was time to take a break from the booze and head to Malaysia...I had heard that the Perhentian Islands had some amazing diving and know from experience that its expensive to go out so sounded like a perfect place to go detox for a week before leaving SE Asia.
Days 193-200 -- Gili Islands
So I apologize for being such a slacker the past month...internet was expensive and more importantly, it was tough to get away from the clear water beaches of Indonesia to update the blog...here is an attempt at catching everyone up on the activities of the past few weeks...if it helps, I stopped writing in my journal too! Ha!
Here we go...got up early the first day to catch the fast boat to the Gili islands...bumpy ride, but glad we took the fast boat at 2.5 hours vs. the slow way at 12 hours. Got into Gili Trawangan and found a cool place at Coral Beach 2, massive room just steps away from the beach for less than $25. So more about the Gilis...The Gilis are a set of 3 islands east of Bali near the surf capital of Lombok. Backpacker havens for their laid back vibes and beach paradise feel. I finally understood why it came so highly recommended once I arrived because its probably the nicest beach I've ever been to in my whole life! Landscape was amazing and water crystal clear. Most of the week we spent our days right on the beach which had amazing snorkeling just meters from the beach. Currents were strong so we would just walk to the north side of the island and drift down in a matter of 20 minutes staring at the world underneath.
Checked out some of the dive shops to do some diving and ran into Luke, a guy from Canada who stayed at my hostel in KL. Since he was getting his divemaster at Buddha Dive and said all the instructors were good, we decided to go with them. Ended up completing my advanced course in Gili so now I am an advanced diver with the ability to go to 30 meters! Dive sites were really nice, but unfortunately a lot of the coral was dead since dynamite fishing used to be a big problem in the area.
Now the nightlife...where to begin. I think what makes this place so special is the nightlife! The 3 main party bars are set up on far end of the island and all of your accomodation options are on the opposite side. So basically, if you want to party, you walk down to the bars/restaurants and spend your time here before going home...if you don't you have quiet time on the other side near your bungalow...cant ask for much more. The 3 main party nights are Monday, Wednesday and Friday as the party rotates each of the nights to a different spot. EVERYONE from the island comes out on these nights and by about 1am the bar is happening and you are hanging with your Gili family. You end up running into everyone the next day on the beach and since you have a day off between parties you're well rested before the next big night! Oh yeah, it doesn't hurt that double anything (rum/vodka/gin/whiskey + mixer) is only 13,000 rupiah ($1.30 USD) all across the island....The local arak is tastier and stronger than tequila which helps set the tone for many nights out....
Movies: We also spent a lot of time at the movie cafe which ahd really comfortable lounge chairs and screened two movies everynight at 7pm and 9pm. All you had to do was order a drink or food and you could watch the movie for free!
Tolerance: Sooo how to explain...with no police on the island, the Gilis are a fairly tolerant place. All of the bars have signs offering magic mushrooms to "send you to the moon...no transport needed!" Pretty interesting and when police did come, they just erased their boards and put up drink specials....fascinating concept! I think this has a lot to do with why people get stuck here for so long....and for the record, we didn't indulge.
That wraps up about a week of time in the Gili's. When we arrived we anticipated staying about 4 days but that changed once we fell in love with the beach and made lots of new friends...
Day 192 -- Tulamben, Bali
Woke up early that morning after taking a night off from the nightlife of Kuta...the bus was there to pick us up at 7am and we had a 2.5 hour drive to Tulamben on the north side of the island of Bali. Slept most of the way and when we arrived we were basically at the base of the largest volcano on the island sitting right on the coast. We got our gear together and did the orientation for our first dive, Meno Wall about 2km from the USS Liberty wreck (2nd dive). Meno Wall was a pretty sweet site...literally a wall that drops off about 20 meters off the shore. Saw plenty of coral life, not as many fish as I anticipated, but still a good dive. Colors were pretty spectacular and it was good to see there wasn't too much damage from all the dynamite fishing that used to take place here 10+ years ago.
After the dive, we stopped for lunch just outside the site for the USS Liberty, a American ship that sank during World War II (I think?!?...its been a while). Anyways, we dove in and what an amazing site...lots of swimthroughs and after an hour we didnt even get to see the whole site...schools of barracuda, travely (jackfish), among others. Probably the coolest dive I've done yet and really wish we had listened to the divemaster and done both of our dives here rather than insisting we dive at the wall...Oh well, no big deal. Made the drive home and took it easy since we had another early morning to catch the boat to the Gili Islands!!!
After the dive, we stopped for lunch just outside the site for the USS Liberty, a American ship that sank during World War II (I think?!?...its been a while). Anyways, we dove in and what an amazing site...lots of swimthroughs and after an hour we didnt even get to see the whole site...schools of barracuda, travely (jackfish), among others. Probably the coolest dive I've done yet and really wish we had listened to the divemaster and done both of our dives here rather than insisting we dive at the wall...Oh well, no big deal. Made the drive home and took it easy since we had another early morning to catch the boat to the Gili Islands!!!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Days 189-191 -- Bali
So our flight from Jakarta was delayed for a few hours so killed time in the airport charging up all the electronics and sitting around drinking Bintang's...Indonesia's domestic beer. Its pretty tasty and @ 17,000 rupiah for a large bottle...a good value (10,700 rupiah = 1USD). Our flight landed into Bali at 1:30am and it took us a while to negotiate a cab since at that time of night we're at their mercy. Finally got into Kuta, the main beach area, at about 2am and dropped the bags with my brother at McDonald's and went in search for a room. After about 20 places I finally found a place that was within budget at 90,000 rupiah for the night...real dump but only needed to crash for a few hours before finding another place in the morning.
Got up at about 8am after being killed by mosquitos and waking up to a guy counting aluminum cans...sounded like he was right on our porch and he must have had at least 1000 of them. Anyways, we moved down the road to Kedin's II, a popular place full of backpackers, mainly Scandanavians it seems like. They have a really cool pool so spent a few hours lounging around there before moving to the beach. At the beach I ran into Becca and Jacob, a couple from Baton Rouge I met diving in Vietnam. We spent a few hours on the beach and then headed back to our places to get ready for a night out. Had some dinner at the food market, lots of stalls all competing for your business and bought some beers from the nearby Circle K...familiar site! Along with us were Lena from Denmark and Bridgette from Holland and after dinner we decided to check out the nightlife...first stop was Bounty discotheque where we were surprised to find Buy 1 Get 2 fishbowls for only 45,000 rupiah...put down a few of those, played some pool, jammed out to the cover band and then moved the party next door to Paddy's. Don't remember the theme at Paddy's but I do remember a kiddie pool inside and yeah...definitely got wet. More importantly, as we walked in I ran into Ross and Saxony, a Canadian couple who were on my Halong Bay Tour...crazy how small SE Asia is...We danced the night away and made it back to Kedin's and went swimming before finalllly calling it a night.
Woke up with the intentions of going surfing, but a solid headache put those plans on hold so spent most of the day at the pool 'trying' to read a book...think I'll need to reread those pages...That evening we booked our fast boat to the Gili islands leaving on Sunday and a couple of dives for Saturday...doing a wreck dive and a wall dive and the diving in Bali is supposed to be spectacular so should be good times. Didn't plan on going out again, but we all wanted a drink after spending two hours dealing with all the travel plans so it was back for the buckets...such a good deal you can't pass it up! Before we knew it...the night was a repeat of the previous and ended at Paddy's again for their 'Glow in the Dark' party....not really sure what it meant, but a good time nonetheless...no swimming this time though...straight to bed!
Woke up this morning at about 9am and got ready since the driver was picking us up at 10am. The 6 of us hired a car for the day, recommended by the girl I met on the plane to Jakarta for 150,000 rupiah for the day...less than $15USD! We got in and headed to Uluwatu, home of one of the best surf breaks to see the experts in the water. First stop was at a Hindhu temple where we were attacked by monkeys, but luckily were warned to leave our sunglasses in the car...definitely saw them take glasses, hats, go after water bottles, these guys were ruthless. Hungry, we arrived at Uluwatu and had lunch on the cliffs overlooking the waves....waves were huge and the surfers were definitely pros...I think had I tried to get out there I might have died...no joke. After Uluwatu we stopped at Dreamland beach...let me tell you...absolutely amazing! Huge surf that broke right on the beach which was lots of fun to play in. I got banged around a little bit in the sand since I kept trying to ride the waves in...but more importantly was the CLEAR water...I hope we get this kind of visibility when diving tomorrow. Spent a few hours on the beach and then headed to Jimbarra for some fresh seafood. Fish were still alive when we picked them out and the group went with grouper, red snapper and mussles...real solid meal and at Indonesian prices who is going to complain. Watched the sunset from our beachside table before heading back to Kuta...everyone is pretty exhausted from the past few days and since my brother, Ashish, and Becca/Jacob and I all have to be up at 7am tomorrow to go diving, taking it easy tonight and got you guys all caught up! Just ordered some McDonald's delivery since don't want to take any chances with the stomach for tomorrow...if only they delivered at home. Pictures going up now...enjoy!
Oh yeah...so I guess I should at least tell you about Bali. What an awesome place...aside from the nightlife you got lots of friendly locals, good surf, nice beaches, great food and everything is sooo cheap....make sure you get out here - you won't be disappointed!
Got up at about 8am after being killed by mosquitos and waking up to a guy counting aluminum cans...sounded like he was right on our porch and he must have had at least 1000 of them. Anyways, we moved down the road to Kedin's II, a popular place full of backpackers, mainly Scandanavians it seems like. They have a really cool pool so spent a few hours lounging around there before moving to the beach. At the beach I ran into Becca and Jacob, a couple from Baton Rouge I met diving in Vietnam. We spent a few hours on the beach and then headed back to our places to get ready for a night out. Had some dinner at the food market, lots of stalls all competing for your business and bought some beers from the nearby Circle K...familiar site! Along with us were Lena from Denmark and Bridgette from Holland and after dinner we decided to check out the nightlife...first stop was Bounty discotheque where we were surprised to find Buy 1 Get 2 fishbowls for only 45,000 rupiah...put down a few of those, played some pool, jammed out to the cover band and then moved the party next door to Paddy's. Don't remember the theme at Paddy's but I do remember a kiddie pool inside and yeah...definitely got wet. More importantly, as we walked in I ran into Ross and Saxony, a Canadian couple who were on my Halong Bay Tour...crazy how small SE Asia is...We danced the night away and made it back to Kedin's and went swimming before finalllly calling it a night.
Woke up with the intentions of going surfing, but a solid headache put those plans on hold so spent most of the day at the pool 'trying' to read a book...think I'll need to reread those pages...That evening we booked our fast boat to the Gili islands leaving on Sunday and a couple of dives for Saturday...doing a wreck dive and a wall dive and the diving in Bali is supposed to be spectacular so should be good times. Didn't plan on going out again, but we all wanted a drink after spending two hours dealing with all the travel plans so it was back for the buckets...such a good deal you can't pass it up! Before we knew it...the night was a repeat of the previous and ended at Paddy's again for their 'Glow in the Dark' party....not really sure what it meant, but a good time nonetheless...no swimming this time though...straight to bed!
Woke up this morning at about 9am and got ready since the driver was picking us up at 10am. The 6 of us hired a car for the day, recommended by the girl I met on the plane to Jakarta for 150,000 rupiah for the day...less than $15USD! We got in and headed to Uluwatu, home of one of the best surf breaks to see the experts in the water. First stop was at a Hindhu temple where we were attacked by monkeys, but luckily were warned to leave our sunglasses in the car...definitely saw them take glasses, hats, go after water bottles, these guys were ruthless. Hungry, we arrived at Uluwatu and had lunch on the cliffs overlooking the waves....waves were huge and the surfers were definitely pros...I think had I tried to get out there I might have died...no joke. After Uluwatu we stopped at Dreamland beach...let me tell you...absolutely amazing! Huge surf that broke right on the beach which was lots of fun to play in. I got banged around a little bit in the sand since I kept trying to ride the waves in...but more importantly was the CLEAR water...I hope we get this kind of visibility when diving tomorrow. Spent a few hours on the beach and then headed to Jimbarra for some fresh seafood. Fish were still alive when we picked them out and the group went with grouper, red snapper and mussles...real solid meal and at Indonesian prices who is going to complain. Watched the sunset from our beachside table before heading back to Kuta...everyone is pretty exhausted from the past few days and since my brother, Ashish, and Becca/Jacob and I all have to be up at 7am tomorrow to go diving, taking it easy tonight and got you guys all caught up! Just ordered some McDonald's delivery since don't want to take any chances with the stomach for tomorrow...if only they delivered at home. Pictures going up now...enjoy!
Oh yeah...so I guess I should at least tell you about Bali. What an awesome place...aside from the nightlife you got lots of friendly locals, good surf, nice beaches, great food and everything is sooo cheap....make sure you get out here - you won't be disappointed!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Days 186-188 -- Jakarta
So we had a mid-afternoon flight from Singapore to Jakarta and spent the morning doing some more wanderings around Singapore trying not to spend any money...didnt work out so well since I ended up buying some new sandals. Took the train to the airport and ran into a Swiss couple who were also headed to Jakarta...great to see married couples with backpacks on the same type of adventure. Flight was easy, a short 1.5 hours and then we arrived into Jakarta. On the plane we ended up sitting next to a girl, Pax, from Jakarta who is living/working in Singapore and coming back home for a 2 week holiday. She was really helpful and even took us to the area we were staying at in her hired car and helped me buy my SIM card. She also made a list of things/places we must see/do in Jakarta...hopefully all Indonesians are this friendly. We got in and found a place to stay, got some dinner and then time for some beers. We started at Absolute Cafe and played pool upstairs against some locals (I won 4 straight games...not sure how!) and ran into some other travelers, a couple of Dutch guys and a French guy. They were headed to Stadium which is exactly where I wanted to go...
So lets talk about Stadium....Jakarta's nightlife scene is infamous around SE Asia and perhaps one of the best in the world...Stadium is a massive trance club that holds 4,000+ people that opens on Thursday night and doesn't close their doors until Monday morning...Met some people who seemed like they had been lost in there for a couple of days at least without seeing any sunlight just partying their weekends away...total madness! We got in and got some beers and quickly realized that alcohol is not the drug of choice...all of the partygoers had their bottles of water. Since Jakarta is the Muslim side of India I got the vibe that the wealthy young locals who frequented this place were more into ecstasy than they were beer...stayed there for a few hours, but since we got a late start it was already 5am and time for bed...what a long night!
Day 2 in Jakarta was similar to Day 2 in Singapore...got to sleep soo late and headache when I woke up so spent most of the day around Jalang Jaksa...the backpacker area of Jakarta. When we did get the motivation to wander the city, it started pouring down (damn rainy season!) so that put a halt on those plans. Went to the train station to figure out how to explore the rest of Java and it seemed like the travel times to get anywhere were ridiculous and since my brother only has a couple of weeks we decided better just fly to Bali. Found an Air Asia flight leaving tomorrow evening for $40USD so the decision was made. That night I met up with Chetan, family friend from Fayetteville who works for Glaxo who was in town for work. We had some dinner and got a couple of beers before calling it an early night...good to see familiar faces sometimes!
Day 188: Early rise this morning since I had to see some parts of this city other than Stadium. Spent some time on the net after breakfast trying to sort out accomodation in Bali...no luck and then jumped in a cab to the old Dutch districts of Jakarta...lots of Dutch architecture and a new side of the city that I didn't expect. Still a very polluted, dirty and did I mention HOT city...sun blazing down and as soon as you step out of the air-con cab you start sweating. Anyways, south of this area we wandered through Chinatown and got some food before heading back to pick up our bags from the guesthouse...headed to the airport for our flight...next stop - Bali!!! This really might be the end of the road for me...
So lets talk about Stadium....Jakarta's nightlife scene is infamous around SE Asia and perhaps one of the best in the world...Stadium is a massive trance club that holds 4,000+ people that opens on Thursday night and doesn't close their doors until Monday morning...Met some people who seemed like they had been lost in there for a couple of days at least without seeing any sunlight just partying their weekends away...total madness! We got in and got some beers and quickly realized that alcohol is not the drug of choice...all of the partygoers had their bottles of water. Since Jakarta is the Muslim side of India I got the vibe that the wealthy young locals who frequented this place were more into ecstasy than they were beer...stayed there for a few hours, but since we got a late start it was already 5am and time for bed...what a long night!
Day 2 in Jakarta was similar to Day 2 in Singapore...got to sleep soo late and headache when I woke up so spent most of the day around Jalang Jaksa...the backpacker area of Jakarta. When we did get the motivation to wander the city, it started pouring down (damn rainy season!) so that put a halt on those plans. Went to the train station to figure out how to explore the rest of Java and it seemed like the travel times to get anywhere were ridiculous and since my brother only has a couple of weeks we decided better just fly to Bali. Found an Air Asia flight leaving tomorrow evening for $40USD so the decision was made. That night I met up with Chetan, family friend from Fayetteville who works for Glaxo who was in town for work. We had some dinner and got a couple of beers before calling it an early night...good to see familiar faces sometimes!
Day 188: Early rise this morning since I had to see some parts of this city other than Stadium. Spent some time on the net after breakfast trying to sort out accomodation in Bali...no luck and then jumped in a cab to the old Dutch districts of Jakarta...lots of Dutch architecture and a new side of the city that I didn't expect. Still a very polluted, dirty and did I mention HOT city...sun blazing down and as soon as you step out of the air-con cab you start sweating. Anyways, south of this area we wandered through Chinatown and got some food before heading back to pick up our bags from the guesthouse...headed to the airport for our flight...next stop - Bali!!! This really might be the end of the road for me...
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Days 184-185 -- Singapore
Singapore - what a fascinating place. Very similar to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia but probably even more cosmopolitan and definitely more expensive. A city full of Indians, Chinese, Malaysians, Thai and expatriates its hard to tell who is a local and who is here on a holiday. And the cleanliness...as you walk around you see the infamous "Singapore: Don't Litter" signs everywhere and it must be drilled into everyone's head because you rarely see any trash on the ground....sometimes it feels too clean in that you are walking around a big Disneyland. Ok...so what did I do here...
The night I got in I spent some time catching up with my friend Tina and then ended up heading out on the town to New Asia Bar at the Swissotel. Really nice place on the 70th floor with panoramic views of the entire city....but all that comes at a price of $12USD beers. Met some local people who took me to an afterparty at The Living Room inside the Marriott (seems like a large part of the nightlife here is in hotels) and it ended up being a pretty late night getting back to the hostel at 4am and spent wayy too much money.
Next day was pretty much a waste since I was soo tired. Spent a little bit of time wandering around Disneyland marveling at how clean this place is. My brother flew in that evening and we went out with Tina to a co-workers farewell party as they were headed back to Brazil on Sunday...good times and got a chance to talk to a lot of expats and get their thoughts about living here....oh yeah, the apartment was unbelievable too and I guess when your company is paying for it why wouldn't you go all out. On Saturday, we got up and had a full day of sight-seeing...starting with the Singapore Flyer a massive wheel that gives you amazing views of the entire city (very similar to the London Eye). Followed that by a visit to Sentosa island, a man-made island which is really a paradise....very family oriented, but lots of beaches and attractions to keep you there and spend your money! We didn't cave in other than the sky-chair ride and a luge down to the bottom which was actually pretty fun. Wandered around for a while taking it in and I guess the best way to describe this place is that its just tooo perfect...doesn't seem real! Taking off for Jakarta in the morning so made it a quiet night after a long day in some solid heat....
Next stop...Indonesia!
The night I got in I spent some time catching up with my friend Tina and then ended up heading out on the town to New Asia Bar at the Swissotel. Really nice place on the 70th floor with panoramic views of the entire city....but all that comes at a price of $12USD beers. Met some local people who took me to an afterparty at The Living Room inside the Marriott (seems like a large part of the nightlife here is in hotels) and it ended up being a pretty late night getting back to the hostel at 4am and spent wayy too much money.
Next day was pretty much a waste since I was soo tired. Spent a little bit of time wandering around Disneyland marveling at how clean this place is. My brother flew in that evening and we went out with Tina to a co-workers farewell party as they were headed back to Brazil on Sunday...good times and got a chance to talk to a lot of expats and get their thoughts about living here....oh yeah, the apartment was unbelievable too and I guess when your company is paying for it why wouldn't you go all out. On Saturday, we got up and had a full day of sight-seeing...starting with the Singapore Flyer a massive wheel that gives you amazing views of the entire city (very similar to the London Eye). Followed that by a visit to Sentosa island, a man-made island which is really a paradise....very family oriented, but lots of beaches and attractions to keep you there and spend your money! We didn't cave in other than the sky-chair ride and a luge down to the bottom which was actually pretty fun. Wandered around for a while taking it in and I guess the best way to describe this place is that its just tooo perfect...doesn't seem real! Taking off for Jakarta in the morning so made it a quiet night after a long day in some solid heat....
Next stop...Indonesia!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Day 183 -- Singapore
So I'm finally all caught up. Today was pretty uneventful, but here is the run-down.
Jumped in a cab to the airport with Ben, an American guy who lived in Charlotte recently. Ben was around for Songkran in Bangkok and then I ran into him and his French Canadian friend in Koh Chang as well....seems like everyone is headed in the same direction. He was headed to Shangai while I was en route to Singapore. I had 4 packs of gum hidden pretty well in my bag so hopefully I don't get caught! Spent time wandering around the airport trying to spend the last of my Thai baht....ended up getting more food!
Got into Singapore, they didn't find the gum and jumped on the train towards Tina's apt. Tina is a family friend from NYC who lives in Singapore so it will be cool to have a local host. Singapore is an amazing city, a lot like Kuala Lumpur but a million times cleaner. Signs everywhere about no littering, no jaywalking or anything else that isn't in "order"....seems like this place might be a little to clean for me, but we'll see when we get out at night.
For those that don't know...I'm meeting up with my brother in Singapore tomorrow. He flew over from the States and we'll spend about 3 weeks traveling across Indonesia starting in Jakarta! Should be good to see a familiar face after a while...
Jumped in a cab to the airport with Ben, an American guy who lived in Charlotte recently. Ben was around for Songkran in Bangkok and then I ran into him and his French Canadian friend in Koh Chang as well....seems like everyone is headed in the same direction. He was headed to Shangai while I was en route to Singapore. I had 4 packs of gum hidden pretty well in my bag so hopefully I don't get caught! Spent time wandering around the airport trying to spend the last of my Thai baht....ended up getting more food!
Got into Singapore, they didn't find the gum and jumped on the train towards Tina's apt. Tina is a family friend from NYC who lives in Singapore so it will be cool to have a local host. Singapore is an amazing city, a lot like Kuala Lumpur but a million times cleaner. Signs everywhere about no littering, no jaywalking or anything else that isn't in "order"....seems like this place might be a little to clean for me, but we'll see when we get out at night.
For those that don't know...I'm meeting up with my brother in Singapore tomorrow. He flew over from the States and we'll spend about 3 weeks traveling across Indonesia starting in Jakarta! Should be good to see a familiar face after a while...
Days 177-182 -- Koh Chang
Haha...6 days lounging on the beach...let's try and give the highlights.
So after a long in Bangkok dodging ping pong balls we jumped on the bus/ferry to Koh Chang. About 5 hours on the bus (air-con not working) and then a hour ferry ride and we arrived. All of us (me, Mike, Derek) were exhausted from last night so we jumped into the first bungalow we found that could sleep the three of us. It ended up being right across from Ting Tong bar which would be our home for the next few days....got some food and sat out on the deck overlooking the water before going back for a nap.
The first night was relatively quiet since we were all soo tired. Ting Tong, however wasn't so quiet...the only bar open 24 hours on Koh Chang and we decided to stay in the closest bungalow to it...so too noisy to sleep. Up early, we moved down the road a little bit to Sunset Huts where Mike and Derek got an air-con bungalow and I moved a little further down to a single bungalow with fan. In 5 nights in Koh Chang I spent the night at 5 different places, bouncing from beach to room to bungalow to who knows where....at least I got a chance to explore the place.
Koh Chang is probably my favorite beach soo far. The water is clear and at Lonely Beach you really dont see that many people....maybe thats why its called Lonely Beach. Compared to Samui, Langkawi or even Koh Phangan its very underdeveloped and it seems to really be only visited by travelers. In my 5 days here I ran into very few Thai people that were not local to the island and more importantly about 250+ Scandanavians....Scandanavians seem to have invaded Thailand's beaches thats for sure. Every night in Koh Chang there is a party and it moves depending on which night it was. Checked out a few good ones at Treehouse, Nature and Magic Garden and uploaded some pics of a cool fire show we saw. The sunsets here are incredible and after spending all day on the beach you feel like you can't leave until you've seen the sunset. Food was incredible (I wonder why?!?) and i feel like I gained a few kilos...good, I needed it!
So anyways, everyday was spent lounging on the beach all day eating food every few hours and then the nights were spent at the nightly party spot. The entire island comes together at about midnight and the party lasts until sunrise usually....a few days where I saw both sunrise and sunset but wish I had my camera!
It was back to Bangkok on the 22nd for my flight to Singapore on the 23rd. My ATM card finally arrived from the States so we can go back to traveling normally....
So after a long in Bangkok dodging ping pong balls we jumped on the bus/ferry to Koh Chang. About 5 hours on the bus (air-con not working) and then a hour ferry ride and we arrived. All of us (me, Mike, Derek) were exhausted from last night so we jumped into the first bungalow we found that could sleep the three of us. It ended up being right across from Ting Tong bar which would be our home for the next few days....got some food and sat out on the deck overlooking the water before going back for a nap.
The first night was relatively quiet since we were all soo tired. Ting Tong, however wasn't so quiet...the only bar open 24 hours on Koh Chang and we decided to stay in the closest bungalow to it...so too noisy to sleep. Up early, we moved down the road a little bit to Sunset Huts where Mike and Derek got an air-con bungalow and I moved a little further down to a single bungalow with fan. In 5 nights in Koh Chang I spent the night at 5 different places, bouncing from beach to room to bungalow to who knows where....at least I got a chance to explore the place.
Koh Chang is probably my favorite beach soo far. The water is clear and at Lonely Beach you really dont see that many people....maybe thats why its called Lonely Beach. Compared to Samui, Langkawi or even Koh Phangan its very underdeveloped and it seems to really be only visited by travelers. In my 5 days here I ran into very few Thai people that were not local to the island and more importantly about 250+ Scandanavians....Scandanavians seem to have invaded Thailand's beaches thats for sure. Every night in Koh Chang there is a party and it moves depending on which night it was. Checked out a few good ones at Treehouse, Nature and Magic Garden and uploaded some pics of a cool fire show we saw. The sunsets here are incredible and after spending all day on the beach you feel like you can't leave until you've seen the sunset. Food was incredible (I wonder why?!?) and i feel like I gained a few kilos...good, I needed it!
So anyways, everyday was spent lounging on the beach all day eating food every few hours and then the nights were spent at the nightly party spot. The entire island comes together at about midnight and the party lasts until sunrise usually....a few days where I saw both sunrise and sunset but wish I had my camera!
It was back to Bangkok on the 22nd for my flight to Singapore on the 23rd. My ATM card finally arrived from the States so we can go back to traveling normally....
Day 176 -- Bangkok
So after a few reminders I realized how slack I've been at keeping this updated lately so I'll do my best to keep them coming regularly again....
So on our last night in Bangkok, Mike, Cameron (New Zealand) and Derek went out to Patpong. Not sure if I introduced Derek, but he arrived into Bangkok on the 15th at the height of the protests after much convincing from Mike and I. We met Derek on our overland trip through Africa and after a quick stop @ home for some family reasons...he's back on the road.
Anyways, Patpong is one of Bangkok's night markets surrounded by strip clubs/sex shows. Fascinating place since if you think of a square, the outside walls are all clubs/shows while the inside is street stalls selling everything from purses to jeans to shoes with families wandering around. These guys had never been to the infamous ping pong show so we went....Without being too graphic....we saw ping pong balls flying, darts popping balloons, bottles being opened, 10m ribbons being pulled out....you get the point. Pretty crazy stuff and makes you wonder why or how someone could figure out they could do that. Good night and a great way to close out our SE Asia adventure in Bangkok....Tomorrow will be fun - 7AM bus to Koh Chang!
So on our last night in Bangkok, Mike, Cameron (New Zealand) and Derek went out to Patpong. Not sure if I introduced Derek, but he arrived into Bangkok on the 15th at the height of the protests after much convincing from Mike and I. We met Derek on our overland trip through Africa and after a quick stop @ home for some family reasons...he's back on the road.
Anyways, Patpong is one of Bangkok's night markets surrounded by strip clubs/sex shows. Fascinating place since if you think of a square, the outside walls are all clubs/shows while the inside is street stalls selling everything from purses to jeans to shoes with families wandering around. These guys had never been to the infamous ping pong show so we went....Without being too graphic....we saw ping pong balls flying, darts popping balloons, bottles being opened, 10m ribbons being pulled out....you get the point. Pretty crazy stuff and makes you wonder why or how someone could figure out they could do that. Good night and a great way to close out our SE Asia adventure in Bangkok....Tomorrow will be fun - 7AM bus to Koh Chang!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Days 173-176 -- Bangkok (Songrkan)
So these days were pretty much all the same since the entire country of Thailand was celebrating Songkran...We would wake up in and by about noon the streets were packed with Thai's and toursits with their water guns and buckets of clay. Long story short, 3 days of getting soaking wet and clay all over your face! Good times!! The water shooting doesn't stop but we retired most nights by about 9pm....check out the pictures and you can see the madness.
On Tuesday night, I went out to meet a friend Sid who is local to Bangkok. My friend Cam who I met in Kuala Lumpur came along and little did we know what we were in store for. Had to go through a few police checkpoints and once they saw us (foreigners) in the back we were waved through...I guess they were checking all the Thais b/c of all the recent protests. Anyways, we hit a lounge called Koi and after moved over to RCA...Royal City Avenue, a street with lots of nightlife frequented by the locals. Never seen so many people at one place all with their water guns. About 20 clubs at RCA and everyone was packed and the party had moved onto the road out front. We picked one which ended up turning out to be a foam party! Clothes got ruined, but ran into a handful of people from our guesthouse who were also there. We made it back to Khao San Road at about 2am and were convinced by a tuk-tuk driver to go to Spicy club, an after-hours club. We went and he made a stop at a girlie bar first...not sure why...before taking us to Spicy. I guess he wanted to see if we'd be interested in some working girls....not our scene. Stayed at Spicy until about 6am and then Willam, a local Thai guy we met originally from France offered to take us to a nearby afterparty. We went and on the 3rd floor of this apt. complex was basically a rave. We finally left at 8am and stumbled into McDonald's for breakfast before calling it a night...crazy times, but glad I got to see a different side of Bangkok....
On Tuesday night, I went out to meet a friend Sid who is local to Bangkok. My friend Cam who I met in Kuala Lumpur came along and little did we know what we were in store for. Had to go through a few police checkpoints and once they saw us (foreigners) in the back we were waved through...I guess they were checking all the Thais b/c of all the recent protests. Anyways, we hit a lounge called Koi and after moved over to RCA...Royal City Avenue, a street with lots of nightlife frequented by the locals. Never seen so many people at one place all with their water guns. About 20 clubs at RCA and everyone was packed and the party had moved onto the road out front. We picked one which ended up turning out to be a foam party! Clothes got ruined, but ran into a handful of people from our guesthouse who were also there. We made it back to Khao San Road at about 2am and were convinced by a tuk-tuk driver to go to Spicy club, an after-hours club. We went and he made a stop at a girlie bar first...not sure why...before taking us to Spicy. I guess he wanted to see if we'd be interested in some working girls....not our scene. Stayed at Spicy until about 6am and then Willam, a local Thai guy we met originally from France offered to take us to a nearby afterparty. We went and on the 3rd floor of this apt. complex was basically a rave. We finally left at 8am and stumbled into McDonald's for breakfast before calling it a night...crazy times, but glad I got to see a different side of Bangkok....
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Day 172 -- Koh Phangan to Bangkok
So today was another day I've been looking forward to for a while....not so much the logistics of it though. Had to leave the bungalow at 6am to catch the 7am ferry to Surat Thani....that was the only time we could take since we had a flight at 1:30pm from Surat Thani. Anyways, we made our flight and got into Bangkok around 2:30pm...as many of you may have seen on the news, lots of political protests going on in Bangkok right now....but it usually doesn't affect the tourists and in my first day here I didn't really know it was happening.
The Airport Express bus dropped us off just off the infamous Khao San Road and we made our trek towards the guesthouse. If I hadn't mentioned it before, this weekend is New Years' aka Songkran. Songkran is celebrated in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand and they celebrate by hitting the streets with lots of water and clay and drenching everything and everyone in sight in celebration of the upcoming rainy season. So we started making our way to our guesthouse and were soaked as soon as we hit the top of the road. By the time we checked in we and our bags were wet so we quickly ran upstairs to get some boardshorts on. Back to the street, I picked up a super soaker and met up with the Australians from Full Moon and the war began. We wandered around the neighborhood in a water fight with what seemed like all of Thailand and tons of backpackers....never done anything like this in my life, but it was sooo much fun! Reminded me a lot of Holi, the Indian Festival in April...but Thailand's version. Spent all afternoon on the streets with the guns, shooting people as they walked by....getting shot at from every direction! Ran into lots of people we've met across our travels through SE Asia...funny how everything comes full circle near the end. Just took a shower and got clean and dry from all the clay/water, but now its time to see the nightlife....I don't think I'm going to make it back home dry tonight....its a warzone out there!
The Airport Express bus dropped us off just off the infamous Khao San Road and we made our trek towards the guesthouse. If I hadn't mentioned it before, this weekend is New Years' aka Songkran. Songkran is celebrated in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand and they celebrate by hitting the streets with lots of water and clay and drenching everything and everyone in sight in celebration of the upcoming rainy season. So we started making our way to our guesthouse and were soaked as soon as we hit the top of the road. By the time we checked in we and our bags were wet so we quickly ran upstairs to get some boardshorts on. Back to the street, I picked up a super soaker and met up with the Australians from Full Moon and the war began. We wandered around the neighborhood in a water fight with what seemed like all of Thailand and tons of backpackers....never done anything like this in my life, but it was sooo much fun! Reminded me a lot of Holi, the Indian Festival in April...but Thailand's version. Spent all afternoon on the streets with the guns, shooting people as they walked by....getting shot at from every direction! Ran into lots of people we've met across our travels through SE Asia...funny how everything comes full circle near the end. Just took a shower and got clean and dry from all the clay/water, but now its time to see the nightlife....I don't think I'm going to make it back home dry tonight....its a warzone out there!
Days 170-171 -- Koh Phangan
So these days are kind of a blur...but I remember they couldn't have been any better. Woke up at about 11am and felt pretty good actually considering I went to sleep at 6:30am....The weather couldn't have been any nicer....not a cloud in the sky and the sun just beaming down on the water. If I thought the water was clear the past few days...today it really showed. Had some breakfast at the guesthouse and then spent the majority of the afternoon on the beach soaking in the sun. Took it relatively easy that night and just hung out around the bungalows with the Australians and watched Behind Enemy Lines: Columbia that someone had picked up from the markets....no more Friends episodes!
Next day was a lot of the same....just enjoyed being so close to the beach and the nice weather. Had planned to go across the island to another beach we had heard about, but were feeling a little lazy so it never materialized. That night we went into town for some Mexican food we heard good things about and it helped with the long-standing craving I've been having. No rice, but beans and salsa along with chicken fajitas which were really tasty. Hung around Haad Rin for a while for some shopping and then back to Coral Bungalows for the pool party to see if they had my wallet...no luck so we headed back home since it would be an early start tomorrow.
Next day was a lot of the same....just enjoyed being so close to the beach and the nice weather. Had planned to go across the island to another beach we had heard about, but were feeling a little lazy so it never materialized. That night we went into town for some Mexican food we heard good things about and it helped with the long-standing craving I've been having. No rice, but beans and salsa along with chicken fajitas which were really tasty. Hung around Haad Rin for a while for some shopping and then back to Coral Bungalows for the pool party to see if they had my wallet...no luck so we headed back home since it would be an early start tomorrow.
Day 169 -- Koh Phangan (Full Moon Party)
So for all the hype I've been giving this day...it couldn't have turned out any other way! Woke up at about 10am with a good headache....first thing I remembered is that I lost my wallet, but since the card was deactivated nothing big to worry about. Made it down to the lounge area of the bungalows for breakfast and the rain began. Ended up watching about 6 episodes of Friends, had some food and the rain finally slowed down enough to let me run back to the bungalow. Within minutes it was back so forced to stay inside...I took a nap all afternoon and woke up at about 7pm. This rainy season sure has started early...anyways, when I got up, there was no power in the bungalow or anywhere on the property so I went back to the lounge area to find that most of the guests/residents were there using candles. Kitchen was still open since, so got some food and met up with a group of Australians who were also headed to the Full Moon Party. Had planned to be in Haad Rin, base of the party by 9pm to meet up with Pieter and others, but since the power was out across all of Koh Phangan we decided to take it slow. By about 10pm, the power was back on, but too late for me since I had already taken a shower in the dark...very fun! We all jumped in the back of a taxi and headed into the party....paid the 100 baht entrance and hit the beach. First stop was to pick up a Bacardi bucket with red bull and coke and see who we can find. Surprisingly I saw everyone I wanted to within the first 10 minutes but it wouldn't be that easy the rest of the night.
So the party....the rain came down sporadically throughout the entire night but the crowd made the most of it! I would estimate about 7,000-8,000 people and it was for sure the biggest beach party I've ever been to. Bars set up all along the beach and everyone one had a different genre of music so you had something to appeal to everyone. I got separated from Mike and the Australians shortly after we arrived and never ran into them again. Spent the majority of the night on a solo wandering mission, but it was really fun nonetheless. Hung out with some Canadians, Swedish, Australians, British and a few Americans but the details are all a bit hazy. Lots of buckets, Singha beers, dancing meant good fun until about sunrise when I finally jumped in a cab back to Ban Tai. Overall the party was a great time, but I do wish the weather would have been just a little better! Next time I think I'll check out one of these Black Moon or Half Moon parties...Half Moon is in the jungle - might be interesting!
So the party....the rain came down sporadically throughout the entire night but the crowd made the most of it! I would estimate about 7,000-8,000 people and it was for sure the biggest beach party I've ever been to. Bars set up all along the beach and everyone one had a different genre of music so you had something to appeal to everyone. I got separated from Mike and the Australians shortly after we arrived and never ran into them again. Spent the majority of the night on a solo wandering mission, but it was really fun nonetheless. Hung out with some Canadians, Swedish, Australians, British and a few Americans but the details are all a bit hazy. Lots of buckets, Singha beers, dancing meant good fun until about sunrise when I finally jumped in a cab back to Ban Tai. Overall the party was a great time, but I do wish the weather would have been just a little better! Next time I think I'll check out one of these Black Moon or Half Moon parties...Half Moon is in the jungle - might be interesting!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Day 168 -- Koh Phangan
Woke up and hit the beach first thing for a swim....really cool staying this close to the water and at 400 baht a night its a pretty good deal. Hung around the beach here for most of the day...my buddy Pieter from Belgium moved to this guesthouse since he was staying on the opposite side of the island about an hour away. After too much time under the sun....we had some lunch and then went into town to meet up with some other people who were on the ferry boat over. Ended up having a long night in Haad Rin, checking out the nightlife and ended at a pool party at Coral Bungalows...long story short...had a really good time, it rained a lot but that didn't prevent us from going swimming and at the end of the night when I got home....I had lost my wallet! About 1,000 baht, but more importantly, my ATM card...dealt with that at about 2AM (probably not the best idea)...but it all got straightened out and I should have a new card in the next few days. Counting down until Full Moon!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Day 167 -- Koh Samui to Koh Phangan
Woke up at about 10AM feeling extremely refreshed...best night sleep I've had in a long time! It was raining outside so turned on the TV and read the newspaper they slid under the door....Called the front desk and used the Platinum status to get a 4pm checkout since our boat left at 5pm. Spent most of the day around the resort, relaxing at the pool, walking along the beach and soaking in the last bits of air-con and hot water before we had to check out. Headed to the ferry pier and the boat coming from Surat Thani was delayed by two hours...killed the time delay by sitting at a nearby internet cafe and getting some fried rice off the street. Jumped on the boat and it was packed....all people headed to Koh Phangan for Full Moon. Got into Koh Phangan and it was pouring down rain so quickly jumped in the back of a truck to get to our bungalow. Checked into our bungalow...right on the beach...15 meters from the water. Hammock on the front porch makes it easy to spend hours just enjoying the ocean! Rained most of the night so we hung out in the common area watching dvd's and stuffing our faces in with some food. A few groups of cool people staying here as well all gearing up for the upcoming party...
Day 166 -- Surat Thani to Koh Samui
The day had finally arrived! Been looking forward to today for a while since I had booked the Renaissance Koh Samui Resort and Spa for a night using points before we headed to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party! On the boat at 8AM and we didnt leave until 10AM since we were waiting on the night bus from Bangkok which had broke down. Boat was well overcrowded, but a great time, since everyone was headed to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon. Ran into Pieter, Belgian guy I hung out with in Vietnam randomly on the boat....we had planned to meet in Koh Phangan. Anyways, first stop was Koh Samui and we got off, got our bags and had an adventure finding our hotel. None of the tuk-tuk drivers had any idea where we were staying at kept confusing Renaissance with Sunset...not sure how! I wasn't surprised since we were definitely the only backpackers who would ever go to a place like that. We finally ended up taking a taxi which set us back 400 baht....bungalows in the backpacker strip cost 400 baht for the night and we had to pay this on transport! Got checked in and the faces on the reception staff were priceless when they saw us with our big bags not needing any help from the attendants. Got settled into our room.....unbelievable. 2 big beds, flat screen tv, huge shower, patio overlooking the pool. Moved down to the pool overlooking the ocean, hung out on the beach...a true day in paradise. Food was ridiculously priced at the resort, but we had to suck it up since we were soo far away from town and just getting there would be a mission. Found a restaurant next door that was a little cheaper so we picked up some food and enjoyed the air-con in our room and watched Pulp Fiction which was on HBO. Great day...but as nice as it was it has to come to an end soon and cold showers in Koh Phangan are waiting for us...
Day 165 -- Koh Phi Phi to Surat Thani
Woke up at 10:30AM to the alarm clock ringing....check out at 11am and our boat to Krabi was taking off at 3pm. Got my stuff packed in a scramble and then hit the beach. Ran into a girl from our hostel in Phuket along with her friend so spent a few hours hanging out with them. Sun was blazing down and I think I may have actually got a little burned :( Anyways, Mike was done with his open water course and we got some food before heading to the pier for our boat. Ferry ride to Krabi was pretty smooth other than the downpour as we pulled into the Krabi pier...I'm telling you this rainy season is noo fun! Jumped on a bus towards Surat Thani where we were kindly informed that the lady who sold us our tickets neglected to mention that the night boat we paid for to go to Koh Samui doesn't run on Sundays so we'd be forced to stay the night in Surat Thani! We arrived into Surat Thani at about 8pm and the bus company dropped us off at a nearby hotel and said they'd pick us up @ 6AM. Luckily we had got some food because after we checked in we went wandering around the town and found nothing! Surat Thani is a tinny town, but nobody ever stays here since its the jump-off point for the islands of Koh Tao, Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. Found a 7-11, got some snacks and then watched a movie in the room before falling asleep...
Day 164 -- Koh Phi Phi
Got to the dive shop at 7AM for what would be the beginning of a big day. We were on the boat by 8am and it was a small group, my instructor Eurico (South African!) and Patrick from Australia, another open water diver. We went to the first dive site, the Liberty wreck. A captain deliberately crashed his cargo boat against a reef for an insurance claim in the mid 90's....but fortunately its turned into a nice dive site. My first deep dive and we got down to 30meters...unbelievable how quickly you go through your air at those depths so the entire dive was only 35 minutes. Spent most of the time exploring the wreck and saw some really cool fish and coral developing on the boat. Visiblity wasn't the best so we skipped the next dive at nearby Shark Point to move to the Marine Park where Eurico knew it would be better. Second dive, I did underwater photography so it was a lot slower paced...ended up staying under 55 minutes and got some really cool pictures out of the whole thing. Saw this color changing octopus and hovered around him for a while just watching him hang out on the sea floor. The last dive was around Maya Bay, where they filmed the infamous traveler movie, The Beach. It started raining once we got in the water so visibility turned bad quick, but a good dive nonethelss. Saw some really nice coral reefs and a ton of fish....still haven't really learned the names of these things!
Back into town, I was pretty tired after three dives so took a nap. Done with diving it was time to explore Phi Phi nightlife. The dive shop was celebrating a divemaster certification and a new trainee from Louisiana so we headed there for some jumbalaya and see the festivities. A big group moved to a nearby bar for the new divemaster's snorkel test....a funnel attached to a snorkel with a mask that was blacked out with tape....They filled the funnel with 3 shots of vodka, a half liter of sprite and then 2 more shots of vodka and this girl had to put it down without taking a breath! She pulled it off (don't think I could have!) and that set the tone for a fun night out....long story short, hit 3 bars and ended up at Ibiza, a beach bar, looked at my watch which read 4:45AM so it was time to get home....
Back into town, I was pretty tired after three dives so took a nap. Done with diving it was time to explore Phi Phi nightlife. The dive shop was celebrating a divemaster certification and a new trainee from Louisiana so we headed there for some jumbalaya and see the festivities. A big group moved to a nearby bar for the new divemaster's snorkel test....a funnel attached to a snorkel with a mask that was blacked out with tape....They filled the funnel with 3 shots of vodka, a half liter of sprite and then 2 more shots of vodka and this girl had to put it down without taking a breath! She pulled it off (don't think I could have!) and that set the tone for a fun night out....long story short, hit 3 bars and ended up at Ibiza, a beach bar, looked at my watch which read 4:45AM so it was time to get home....
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Day 163 -- Koh Phi Phi
I got up at about 10AM and the room was steaming. Got changed and hit the beach...water was the perfect temperature and crystal clear. You could walk out at least 100 meters before it got deep so as far as you could see people were wading in the water, or just sitting around lounging. Very clear day today with lots of heat so every 15 minutes of sun time you found yourself getting in to rid yourself of all the sweat. Did some of the required diving reading for tonight's night diving and then it was time for lunch...Started raining after lunch so hung out indoors in the room to avoid getting soaked. Stopped raining at about 5pm and the sun was starting to set so just got prepared for the night dive. Talking to everyone it seems like its raining earlier in the season since mid-April is Songkran festival is the Thai new year/water festival where they get everyone wet in preparation for the upcoming rainy season. Got a quick bite to eat and then headed to Barakuda dive shop...We set sail at about 7pm and were at the dive site within 15 minutes. It was really crazy being on the boat at night, let alone jumping in the water. The night dive was amazing!! Once we got underwater we got down to about 16meters where we stuck around for a while. All you can see is what you shine your light on so it gives you a totally different perspective...you can be swimming along and then all of a sudden a reef is right in front of your face. Anyways, we saw some giant morays, some shrimp, crab, lobster, a huge barracude among a handful of other things I don't know the names of. I'll admit, the first 15-20 minutes I was pretty freaked out since you couldn't see much, but once I got settled down it was really fun...definitely wont be my last night dive.
Back to the island, I got some Pad Thai off the street and went to a nearby bar to meet my dive instructor. Talked to a Swedish girl who had recently moved to Koh Phi Phi who told me that there is some rock climbing on the island and thats what brought her here. Wages are small, but lives are stress free and its basically a vacation the whole time you're here....no wonder sooo many people love this place! Called it an early night since I had three dives in the morning!
Back to the island, I got some Pad Thai off the street and went to a nearby bar to meet my dive instructor. Talked to a Swedish girl who had recently moved to Koh Phi Phi who told me that there is some rock climbing on the island and thats what brought her here. Wages are small, but lives are stress free and its basically a vacation the whole time you're here....no wonder sooo many people love this place! Called it an early night since I had three dives in the morning!
Day 162 -- Phuket to Koh Phi Phi
Had to be up at 6:30 since we got picked up by the minibus at 7AM. An hour drive to the pier and we jumped on the massive boat towards Koh Phi Phi. Crashed most of the 1.5 hour journey to the Phi Phi pier and when we got off we walked a little ways to the Pier Guesthouse which a friend had recommended. Scored a fan room with shared bathroom for 600 baht (35 baht = 1USD) just about 50 meters from the beach....not a bad deal! Mike signed up for a discovery dive since he was contemplating get his certification and then we got some lunch. When he took off for his dive I hit the beach...only got about 7 minutes of beach time b/c at the flip of a switch the weather changed, heavy winds and then pouring down rain. Made it back to the guesthouse just before it got crazy and ended up sitting with the Thai guys who ran the place reading my book, Chosen Prey. Got to the good part and it was raining so spent a few hours reading...really cool guys who gave me some food and I got to understand what growing up on the island was like. They talked about the tsunami and the way it changed their lives...hard to imagine going through something like that. Anyways, that night we hit a place they recommended for dinner which had massive portions...made the mistake of ordering a dish each and we sat for at least an hour trying to finish the beef w/ chili and fried noodles w/pork. Came close, but not close enough. Some American girls sat at our table and guess what....they were headed to Koh Phangan to for the Full Moon. After dinner we stopped by the Dive Shop where Mike caved and signed up for his Open Water course and they got me for 3 dives over the next couple of days. Doing a night dive, a wreck dive and an underwater photography dive all of which count towards my advanced certification. Looking forward to it! After spending money we really didn't need to spend, it was back to the room since it would be an early start tomorrow.
Day 161 -- Phuket
Woke up and it was raining so decided to sleep a little more. Mike had a late night as well so when I got up I hit the internet to take care of some reservations and then got a haircut. Time for lunch we hit the #6 restaurant for some local Thai food. Rain didn't seem to let up so it killed our beach plans for the day so most of the day was spent inside the mall wandering around in the air-con escaping the heat. That night we had a full dorm room (8 people) and ironically everyone was making the trek north towards the Full Moon Party on the 9th...seems like everyone we meet is doing the same thing. A Canadian girl took us to a local seafood place where I killed a massive lobster...it was pricey, but nowhere near what it would cost at home. Food was amazing and that night we took one last stroll down Bangla road to say bye to all the ladyboy's and then bought Pineapple Express and watched it in the hostel common room. Funny movie! Good times in Phuket...but looking forward to Phi Phi in the morning!!!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Day 160 -- Phuket
Last night we just wandered around Bangla Rd/Patong Beach...fascinating how many ladyboy's there are here in Phuket. Mike and I were both still having trouble distinguishing them from their female counterparts, but by the end of the night we were back on track. Had a lobster dinner at Patong Seafood which was pretty tasty and then just did some walking around on the street...very similar feel to Khao San Road but a lot crazier...tomorrow night is dedicated for solid explorations.
This morning we woke up at about 10:30am....we were the first to sleep in the dorm room and I was surprised when I woke up that all the beds were taken but I never woke up during the night....they're better at keeping quiet than me for sure! Got some brunch and then hit Patong Beach for the entire day. We rented some beach chairs so Mike could have his shade and ended up sitting next to an American couple from Baltimore here on holiday for 10 days...they came a long way for such a short time, but they certainly picked the right place. Water temperature was amazing and close to turquoise in color but in such a tourist infested area its easy to see why its not clear. We plan to get a boat in the next day or so and do some diving/snorkeling...going to meet up with them for drinks tonight and we'll see what else is in store...feels great to be back at the beach!
Ended up headed to Club Lime to meet the crew from the beach...200 baht cover charge adn it looked empty so we sat outside in a park drinking 35baht large Chang beers (35 baht=1USD) to see if a crowd showed up....no crowds so we left. Funny thing about Chang beer is that they cant control the alcohol content so its restricted for export....bottle says 6.5%, but we've heard its anywhere from 5.5% to 9%....depends on which bottle you select so its like playing Russian Roulette. Anyways, headed back to Bangla road and wandered around into some of the bars/discos/shows to get an idea of what Phuket has to offer. Got to keep things PG-13 so all I will say is don't bring children on any vacation to Phuket....if you do, stay in the confines of your resort! Good night out, met some people on the street and hung out with them for a while....As they all say here, tomorrow will be a bad Changover....
This morning we woke up at about 10:30am....we were the first to sleep in the dorm room and I was surprised when I woke up that all the beds were taken but I never woke up during the night....they're better at keeping quiet than me for sure! Got some brunch and then hit Patong Beach for the entire day. We rented some beach chairs so Mike could have his shade and ended up sitting next to an American couple from Baltimore here on holiday for 10 days...they came a long way for such a short time, but they certainly picked the right place. Water temperature was amazing and close to turquoise in color but in such a tourist infested area its easy to see why its not clear. We plan to get a boat in the next day or so and do some diving/snorkeling...going to meet up with them for drinks tonight and we'll see what else is in store...feels great to be back at the beach!
Ended up headed to Club Lime to meet the crew from the beach...200 baht cover charge adn it looked empty so we sat outside in a park drinking 35baht large Chang beers (35 baht=1USD) to see if a crowd showed up....no crowds so we left. Funny thing about Chang beer is that they cant control the alcohol content so its restricted for export....bottle says 6.5%, but we've heard its anywhere from 5.5% to 9%....depends on which bottle you select so its like playing Russian Roulette. Anyways, headed back to Bangla road and wandered around into some of the bars/discos/shows to get an idea of what Phuket has to offer. Got to keep things PG-13 so all I will say is don't bring children on any vacation to Phuket....if you do, stay in the confines of your resort! Good night out, met some people on the street and hung out with them for a while....As they all say here, tomorrow will be a bad Changover....
Monday, March 30, 2009
Day 159 -- Langkawi to Phuket
Alarm buzzing at 8:15AM we got up and had some quick showers before heading off to the airport. Returned the rental car and checked in for our flight with Firefly airlines. 30 minute flight to Penang, Malaysia's food capital! Everything was on time and we actually arrived a little early...airlines here are strange in that they couldn't check our bags all the way to Phuket, but maybe thats b/c this next flight was international. Our plan was to check-in and take advantage of the 5 hour layover to hit the town for food but were disappointed when we were told we could not check in for 2 hours...killed our timetable so we ended up hanging out around the airport :(
Running low on ringits had to change some US dollars to eat lunch since no point hitting the ATM with only a few hours left in Malaysia. Cleared immigration and boarded our flight to Phuket, Thailand. This flight was not crowded at all, only 20 passengers and the flight itself maybe an hour or so...we realized that we haven't had a long bus journey in a while and these cheap Asian flights are really tempting. From KL to Langkawi it would have been a 12 hour night bus, followed by a 5-6 hour ferry whereas we took a 45 minute flight for 30USD...lets not even talk about how long the overland journey would take from Langkawi to Phuket, but we did it in an afternoon. I think I found my new mode of travel the rest of the time here :)
Got into Phuket about 4pm local time and took a taxi to our guesthouse about 300meters from the beach...really nice place, very clean and well-kept and one of the better places so far. No bed bugs here! It started pouring down shortly after check-in so we stayed inside getting caught up on some things that have been put off for a while. Feels good to be back in Thailand and the next 3 weeks should be all beaches...much deserved after so much traveling around! Had dinner at Patong Seafood and got to pick our our own lobsters and fish...very inexpensive compared to the States, but still more than what we'd like to spend on dinner but sometimes you just have to splurge. Plan to go back one more time before we take off and have a real seafood feast!
Taking it easy tonight so we can spend a lot of time on the beach tomorrow...plus the past few nights have been crazy! Getting all the pics uploaded now so check them out if you get a chance.
Running low on ringits had to change some US dollars to eat lunch since no point hitting the ATM with only a few hours left in Malaysia. Cleared immigration and boarded our flight to Phuket, Thailand. This flight was not crowded at all, only 20 passengers and the flight itself maybe an hour or so...we realized that we haven't had a long bus journey in a while and these cheap Asian flights are really tempting. From KL to Langkawi it would have been a 12 hour night bus, followed by a 5-6 hour ferry whereas we took a 45 minute flight for 30USD...lets not even talk about how long the overland journey would take from Langkawi to Phuket, but we did it in an afternoon. I think I found my new mode of travel the rest of the time here :)
Got into Phuket about 4pm local time and took a taxi to our guesthouse about 300meters from the beach...really nice place, very clean and well-kept and one of the better places so far. No bed bugs here! It started pouring down shortly after check-in so we stayed inside getting caught up on some things that have been put off for a while. Feels good to be back in Thailand and the next 3 weeks should be all beaches...much deserved after so much traveling around! Had dinner at Patong Seafood and got to pick our our own lobsters and fish...very inexpensive compared to the States, but still more than what we'd like to spend on dinner but sometimes you just have to splurge. Plan to go back one more time before we take off and have a real seafood feast!
Taking it easy tonight so we can spend a lot of time on the beach tomorrow...plus the past few nights have been crazy! Getting all the pics uploaded now so check them out if you get a chance.
Day 158 -- Langkawi
So today was a real waste...woke up at noon and had a pretty nasty headache (wonder why?!?) and was starving. We jumped in the Sentra and went to the marina to get some food. After we brought the car back to the hotel with the intention of hitting the beach all day....didn't happen. I laid down to take a 10 minute nap and before I knew it was 5pm and Mike had just come back from an all day internet session. Not going to let the day be a complete waste we hit the beach to catch the sunset even though it was still a little cloudy. Back to Babylon again for the barbeque dinner...tonight we had steaks, kebabs, satay and more garlic bread...really good food and at a great price! Back to the hotel lobby where we had round 2 with the bottle of rum...this time I insisted on Mike pacing himself so I had someone to go out with! We finished the bottle and headed down the beach to Chill Out Bar for some live music. These Malaysians can really murder some songs...should be illegal to be that bad, but at least they were trying. These locals appeared on the beach after a while and gave us a fire show even letting us try to play with the fire...I gave it a shot but was nowhere near as good as those guys. Mike was passed out in the hammocks so I sent him back and hung out with some Scandanavian girls we met that now live in Langkawi. After the bar shut down we moved down to SunBar and Reggae Bar to close the night...on the way home stopped into Tomatoz, a late night Indian food spot and killed a huge plate of food so hopefully I won't feel as bad tomorrow...got to get up early for our flight to Phuket!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Day 157 -- Langkawi
Got up early this morning since we wanted to move out of our bug-infested bungalow even though it was bigger than my apt. at home. Moved down the street, just opposite the beach and got a place that was cleaner, cheaper and even had AC. Decided to explore the island so hopped in the car and hit up the Oriental Village and Cable Car for a ride up to the top of the island...view was amazing but after a while a storm rolled in so visibility turned bad. We were so high though that we were right in the midsts of the clouds/storm so that was a first for me...check the pics when I get them up, crazy! We took off to the other side of the island for lunch and followed it by a visit to a local waterfall. Tough trek up the steps in the heat but once at the top it was well worth...looking down over Langkawi. After that we took a tour of the beaches, Tanjun Rhu and Black Sands. Tanjun Rhu was one of the biggest beaches I've ever seen with white sand and in the distance you could see lots of the neighboring islands. Black Sands beach was exactly as the name sounds...a little smaller but lots of black sandy area from the erosion of nearby granite I think....nice nonetheless. It was getting late and we wanted to get back to our hotel and hit our beach which we still hadn't done. Got out there about 5pm and was able to hang around at Babylon Cafe for a couple of hours. Scored some free beach chairs from a group of girls staying at our hotel. For dinner we went back to Babylon for a beach barbeque...kebabs, satay, garlic bread...all very tasty and cheaper than the Mexican food.
Back to the hotel, we opened the bottle of rum we got from duty free and played Chinese Big 2 taking shots at each loss. Mike drank too much too quickly so he passed out and I hit the town on my own. Stopped back into Babylon b/c some people from the hotel said they would be hanging out there....didn't find them but met an American living in the area as well as two Turkish girls in Langkawi on holiday. After Babylon closed shortly after midnight we moved to Sunbar for some live music. Good crowd and was talking with a group of Iranians who kept saying we were enemies...they seeemed to take the political stuff pretty seriously but by the end of the night I think I changed their views of Americans! Made it back to the guesthouse pretty late and was real tired so crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow!
Back to the hotel, we opened the bottle of rum we got from duty free and played Chinese Big 2 taking shots at each loss. Mike drank too much too quickly so he passed out and I hit the town on my own. Stopped back into Babylon b/c some people from the hotel said they would be hanging out there....didn't find them but met an American living in the area as well as two Turkish girls in Langkawi on holiday. After Babylon closed shortly after midnight we moved to Sunbar for some live music. Good crowd and was talking with a group of Iranians who kept saying we were enemies...they seeemed to take the political stuff pretty seriously but by the end of the night I think I changed their views of Americans! Made it back to the guesthouse pretty late and was real tired so crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow!
Day 156 -- KL to Langkawi
Got up this morning and dazed inadvertently turned off my alarm clock...luckily I woke up a few minutes later and realized I had a flight so got up immediately. Scrambled to get my bag packed and met up with Mike at his hostel @8AM...We made our way on the train to Sentral station, caught the 1 hour bus to the airport and checked in for our flight. McDonald's at the airport and had my first American breakfast in a long time...nice to know what you're getting sometimes....pancakes, real syrup...great! Boarded our Air Asia flight and it was a bumpy ride to Langkawi. When we arrived it started pouring down rain. Since we had done no research prior to arrival we realized that the only way for us to get around here would be to rent a car. Got a Nissan Sentra for 3 days, set us back $50USD...not bad! Made our way into town and got checked into this shady bungalow since almost everything was booked and we didn't want to wander in the rain anymore! Tired from a long night, took a nap and ended up waking up at about 8pm...most of the day wasted :( Walked to nearby Gecko hostel for dinner, empty so we went down the road to the Mexican place...Didn't quite cure my Mexican craving, but its a start. After that spent some time on the internet before calling it a night.
Day 155 -- Kuala Lumpur
Planned to meet up with Mike at 8AM but that got messed up since I ended up having a late night and he did as well. After he took off back to his hostel I stuck around hanging out with the people at mine and then when it closed we went for food and before you knew it was 3AM...similar thing happened to him...haha! Anyways, we met at 10:30 and I was still half-asleep...he took off to get some tickets for the Skybridge since he hadn't seen it and then we planned to meet up to go to the caves. He got back at noon with tickets for 6:15pm and also had met up with some girls from his hostel who were going to the caves...we all met at Central Market where the bus leaves from to head that way. The girls ended up being from NC and one Sarah, actually will be living in Durham when she gets back from her travels...small world! Made it to the caves which were pretty impressive...293 steps to the top and a massive Hindhu statue at the entryway. Inside the caves were various shrines devoted to Hindhu gods and the colors were fascinating. Wandered around for a little while and then made our way out...as we did it looked like it was going to pour and luckily we jumped on the bus back to Chinatown just as the rain started. Got off the bus and took shelter in Central Market...I showed the girls the foot fish treatment and they gave it a try...I went for Round 2 and surprisingly there was still more dead skin to be eaten...the fish were all over me! I felt pretty embarassed but I guess after more than 5 months of backpacking wearing sandals all the time my feet have a lot of dead skin. Feeling refreshed we got some food and then separated as they had a 5pm Skybridge time. Mike and I headed to the Petronas mall and spent some time in the AC admiring the beauty of this place...Never seen a mall quite this nice! We got up to the Skybridge and it was a smaller group than when I went with Cameron but it had rained so the views weren't as good. Headed back to Chinatown for dinner and then met up at Mike's hostel for a few drinks before heading to a nearby rooftop bar...lots of rooftop bars, but no cheap beers unfortunately! At the end of the night we made it back to Reggae Bar until close to closing....not a good idea since we have a morning flight to Langkawi, Malaysia beach near the Thai border...
Day 154 -- Kuala Lumpur
Slept in this morning and definitely needed the rest from the last two nights. Spent most of the morning wandering around the Central Market with Lea, one of the Swiss girls who played Uno with us last night. At the market we indulged in a fish spa treatment for 10 minutes where these small teethless fish, nibbled at our feet and ate away at our dead skin cells. Felt really strange but feet were refreshed when we got done...@5RMB or $1.33USD for 10 minutes who can complain. After that had some dim sum for lunch and she was off to the bus station headed to Singapore. KL is extremely hot so spent a lot of the day in the hostel common room reading my book, Gangs, which I picked up in Hanoi...fascinating since it talks about 7 of the world's most deadly gangs. Headed to the Reggae Bar to meet up with Mike at 3pm since he got in today...he got settled into his hostel and then a few of us including the Norweigan (still don't know his name...) headed to Little India. Cool neighborhood with sari and jewelry shops everywhere and tons of Indian people wandering around. Had some authentic Indian food and then headed back towards the Chinatown area where we were staying. Had some curry at a nearby restaurant followed by chicken satay at a street stall thats been around for almost 30 years...really cheap at a quarter a stick and amazingly good! Took it easy that night and just hung out around the hostel's rooftop patio since we were planning an early start the next morning.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Day 153 -- Kuala Lumpur
Spent the first night in KL (Day 152) at a neighboring hostel's rooftop patio enjoying views of the city and cheap beers...well not really cheap. Beer in Malaysia costs about $2USD at the cheapest places which is a big change from Vietnam where a mug set you back a quarter. Enjoyed meeting some new people from Holland, Germany and Switzerland who shared some advice about things to see in KL...After the patio we migrated to the Reggae Bar until closing. I think I woke everyone up in the dorm on my way in...but it happens sometimes I guess.
Made a plan with the crew from last night to go to Petronas tower's skybridge for the view of the city in the morning. Need to get there early to get a ticket since its free so the plan was to get up at 7:30 and leave by 8AM. Since we were out till 3AM...didn't think they would still do it, but they did and woke me up right on time. It was raining really hard out but it didnt stop us and we made our way there. Stood in line for about 30 minutes and got 2 tickets for 6:30pm since Mike should be here by then. Back to the hostel I tried to take a nap...but it was too hot since the air con only turns on after 9pm. Wandered around Chinatown for a while, hit the Thai embassy with Cameron (New Zealand) to pick up his visa and then went to check out the Skybridge with him and an English girl, Kate. Messed up Mike's flight times so he will be coming in tomorrow. After the skybridge had some dinner nearby the hostel...food is cheap and good in Chinatown. That evening, a Norweigan (whose name I still don't know after hanging out with for 2 days....), a couple of Swiss girls and and an English girl sat on our rooftop patio playing Uno. After a few games it rapidly turned into a drinking game...not sure how! We closed down the patio and it was time for bed...
Made a plan with the crew from last night to go to Petronas tower's skybridge for the view of the city in the morning. Need to get there early to get a ticket since its free so the plan was to get up at 7:30 and leave by 8AM. Since we were out till 3AM...didn't think they would still do it, but they did and woke me up right on time. It was raining really hard out but it didnt stop us and we made our way there. Stood in line for about 30 minutes and got 2 tickets for 6:30pm since Mike should be here by then. Back to the hostel I tried to take a nap...but it was too hot since the air con only turns on after 9pm. Wandered around Chinatown for a while, hit the Thai embassy with Cameron (New Zealand) to pick up his visa and then went to check out the Skybridge with him and an English girl, Kate. Messed up Mike's flight times so he will be coming in tomorrow. After the skybridge had some dinner nearby the hostel...food is cheap and good in Chinatown. That evening, a Norweigan (whose name I still don't know after hanging out with for 2 days....), a couple of Swiss girls and and an English girl sat on our rooftop patio playing Uno. After a few games it rapidly turned into a drinking game...not sure how! We closed down the patio and it was time for bed...
Monday, March 23, 2009
Day 152 -- Hanoi to Kuala Lumpur
Had to get up super early this morning...flight was at 9AM and the airport almost an hour outside of town. Found a shuttle bus company to take me there for $2 about 3km from the hostel so got up at 5:30AM and made my way over there....Crashed during the bus ride and the driver woke me up when we were at the terminal...Got checked in for the flight, bag was less than the 15kg allowance...not sure how, but I wasn't complaining! Flight was delayed an hour and once onboard I forgot it was a budget airline so had to pay for everything. Breakfast was noodle soup and a bottle of water followed by a Kit-Kat. We arrived into Kuala Lumpur at about 1:30pm and cleared immigration/customs....now it was time to figure out what to do. Its always interesting getting to a new country and trying to navigate your way around...sometimes you wonder what you're doing there or what you're supposed to be doing there.
Anyways, took a bus to the main terminal then caught an express train into the city center. From there jumped on the monorail to Chinatown since the Lonely Planet says thats where the cheap rooms are. Found a dorm bed for 11RMB (3.6 RMB = 1USD). Kuala Lumpur is steaming hot...really close to the equator but the city is very cosmopolitan...but I think it might be a big city that I'm going to like. In my first hour I saw how much Western influence there is here...McDonald's, Subway, KFC, Nando's and who knows what else there is. In the rest of mainland SE Asia we saw none of those places or when we did they weren't everywhere as they seem to be here. Seems like there is going to be some good exploring over the next few days. There are lots of Indians and Asians here too which I didn't know before I arrived. Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to them to see what life like a local is like. Met some people in my dorm room and probably will hang out with them tonight...this guy from New Zealand has a similar plan to mine for the next two weeks so I'm sure I'll run into him a lot in the near future. Mike gets in tomorrow and then our wanderings begin making our way north for the Full Moon Party April 9th.
Loaded a bunch of new pics and for those new to the site you can see them at (http://picasaweb.google.com/sim.lakhiani)
Anyways, took a bus to the main terminal then caught an express train into the city center. From there jumped on the monorail to Chinatown since the Lonely Planet says thats where the cheap rooms are. Found a dorm bed for 11RMB (3.6 RMB = 1USD). Kuala Lumpur is steaming hot...really close to the equator but the city is very cosmopolitan...but I think it might be a big city that I'm going to like. In my first hour I saw how much Western influence there is here...McDonald's, Subway, KFC, Nando's and who knows what else there is. In the rest of mainland SE Asia we saw none of those places or when we did they weren't everywhere as they seem to be here. Seems like there is going to be some good exploring over the next few days. There are lots of Indians and Asians here too which I didn't know before I arrived. Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to them to see what life like a local is like. Met some people in my dorm room and probably will hang out with them tonight...this guy from New Zealand has a similar plan to mine for the next two weeks so I'm sure I'll run into him a lot in the near future. Mike gets in tomorrow and then our wanderings begin making our way north for the Full Moon Party April 9th.
Loaded a bunch of new pics and for those new to the site you can see them at (http://picasaweb.google.com/sim.lakhiani)
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