Archive for the ‘South East Asia’ category

Vietnam & Cambodia

November 29th, 2005

Since I last wrote, I’ve descended the length of Vietnam, crossed Cambodia, and returned to Thailand (including Koh Phi Phi) briefly before…. flying HOME! I surprised my parents for Thanksgiving, which was really, really fun. Managed to hitch a ride from the ferry boat to my parents’ new house and watch my dad nearly have a heart attack when I jumped out in front of him on opening the front door. =) At night.

So Vietnam… yeah, very interesting place. I began in the north. Visited Halong Bay which is beautiful (full of limestone karst-islands), swam at night in illuminescent water, and slept in a giant chinese “junk” boat. Nothing short of awesome.

On the Junk Boat in Halong Bay, Viȇt Nam

Jumping off the Junk Boat

Hanoi is a quiet, classy city. I learned how to cross the street in Vietnam – don’t look at the vehicles, just walk slowly and steadily in a single direction, and you’ll be fine. ;) The traffic flows around you like water around a stone, but not if you stop and start sporadically. One of my favorite places in Hanoi was called “Beer Corner” or “Ba Hơi Corner.” Just go there. (Ba Hơi is freshly brewed Vietnamese Beer, and you drink it sitting on tiny little stools). Seeing well-watered giant 6’3″ Western guys teetering on these little stools was quite amusing in and of itself.

Hanoi

An example of the stools, although admittedly I took this shot more for the T-shirt. Reads "Feminism, Democracy, Socialism"

After that, headed up to Sapa where some new friends and I followed some random ladies with baskets full of hemp (what?!) to their house where they served us not tea, but hot water. Actually it was the highlight of my trip up north. The kids up there were absolutely adorable. The hemp is used for their clothing… but we certainly did do a double-take when it looked like these women had huge baskets of full of gigantic marajuana leaves on their backs. It was straight out of “The Beach” …except not.

Baskets of Hemp in Sapa

Black Hmong girl near Sapa

Dolcie drinking hot water "tea," with an audience

Sigh... another boring day on a bull

Then I headed south to Hue and Hoi An where the food is good and apparently there are beaches. I wouldn’t know as a giant typhoon hit us when I was there. Apparently 20 people died in the storm – it was a pretty strong. I naively thought it was excellent fun, and became the good ‘American Idiot’ out on a bicycle in the middle of the full-fledged storm and gale-force winds, taking pictures like a good little tourist.

My bike in the floods

Having some scooter trouble

Funny, the only other tourists I saw out and about were American or Kiwi. haha. Anyway I bet we had more fun that day than any other tourists just sitting around lamenting their flooded rooms and bored state of mind. ;) My favorite quote from the American was “Oh, I’m a little nervous about some kind of snake or something in this water” he says, standing nearly knee-deep in water… and I point down by his feet where water is obviously flowing up, not down, and say “I think that sewer overflow you are standing in is probably more of a concern than snakes.” The look on his face was priceless. Mind you, I was only standing about 3 feet away from him. Oddly enough, that night I had a furious case of simultaneous projectile vomit and diarrhea, during a blackout. Yeah, I know, TMI. I could go on, but I’ll stop there. ;)

"Gee, I hope there aren't any snakes in this sewer water!"

The morning after was beautiful

Saigon, or Hoh Chi Minh City depending on who you ask, was a modern and bustling city where I got a good dose of biased war history and communist propaganda. It was a great experience – learned a LOT. It was mind-opening to see the other side and how warped all of our histories are, no matter how much we try for them not to be. Or not – some places don’t really try.

Saigon at night

Highlights included squeezing into the famed “Cu Chi” tunnels (maybe a little too soon after the Giant Mutant Insect story to be entering a dark tunnel with sounds of scurrying little insect feet everywhere), and shot my first gun, an M-1 carbine.

Cu Chi Tunnels. This one was NOT made larger for tourists, and had no lights, and yes they covered the lid on me.

Cambodia won the “most culturally kind-of-changes-you” award. The people were amazing. Also heart-achingly desperate. They have suffered so incredibly much. I didn’t even know it, really, until I saw it first hand. It’s not a place where you throw away your leftovers. There’s someone right there who’s happy to finish for you – even if they have no hands to eat it with.

Photos of S-21 Political Prisoners. Yeah, children!

Classroom turned into prison cells

The “S-21″ prison, the former high school which the Pol Pot regime turned into a prison, torturing and killing about 17,000 people… is now a museum displaying the rather sickly well-documented inmates and devices. I’ve never actually cried in a museum until the S-21 experience.

I also paid a visit to the Killing Fields, where thousands were exterminated and buried in mass graves. Walking around you see bits of bone and clothing in the dirt under your feet.

Bones and clothing on the ground at the Killing Fields

Sorry to be so depressing, but it’s important to call these things out. I am appalled that I never learned about Cambodia in school, and that we barely glossed over the political intricacies of the Vietnam war. We seem obsessed with WWI and WWII, because they are Western wars, when there is so much important world history outside of all that. I know there’s not enough time to learn everything, but there’s still no excuse for how innocently biased my own thoughts were going into it, from my own schooling as a child. Here’s what we learned about Vietnam, in a nutshell: “Vietnam was this war where the US went in and took sides during a civil war. This kicked off a really interesting social thing called the hippy movement (… insert more on hippies and free love and all that…) which was amazing because they actually were able to affect politicians and show that the war was all a mistake, and then Nixon was ousted because of this great, grand scandal called Watergate (…insert more on Watergate…) and… Next!” You get the point. Nothing about all the mines we left in Cambodia, or how we indirectly fed the revolt which put Pol Pot into power, or even Napalm.

On a lighter note… Angkor Wat, in Cambodia, is one of the seven wonders of the world and is truly impressive. People say you can spend a week at Angkor. I was templed-out after one day, though. Somehow they all start to look the same after a while (some will gasp at this). Maybe I was just starting to get a little tired of being constantly on the move. I probably could have done two days of templing with a rest day in between, but didn’t have that kind of time, so I satisfied myself with a day of templing and a day to check out the actually-quite-interesting hell-hole of Siem Riep and the most fascinating Land Mine Museum, more for the stories of the owner than anything else. I have never seen so many people in such a small area missing limbs… and this museum helped explain why.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Trees growing out of ruins. Tomb Raider, anyone?

Back in Thailand I visited Koh Phi Phi one last time and saw the improvements over the last 6 months. The island is a LOT greener than it was when I first arrived, less than six months ago. Grass is growing everywhere, many buildings have repaired, and new ones in construction. Best of all, it was good to see old friends – I even got to live with Thai friends this time, which was GREAT! :)

Green! Amazing progress from before.

Living in a climbing shop with my lovely Thai mates

Now I’m home and it’s cold here. Am not used to that anymore.

I hope those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving had a fabulous one, and those who don’t… well… you are thinner than the rest of us for it. ;)

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Tags: angkor wat Ba Hơi Corner bay black cambodia chinese junk boat cu chi flood halong hanoi hemp hmong hoh chi minh city hoi an hue karst killing fields land mine museum limestone pol pot saigon sapa tunnels typhoon viet nam vietnam

The Case of the (Angry) Giant Mutant Insect

October 29th, 2005

Weary from the road, I am savoring a double-room to myself and think I’ll treat myself to a long shower and give myself a little facial. How girlie. Well, I am about to see just how girlie I can be in one night.

As I smear the sticky ‘peel-off’ masque goo on my face, I turn to shut the bathroom door behind me. Turn back to the mirror. Annoyingly, the door opens. I look in the room to double-check that I am indeed alone. No one there (phew). I close the door again, and turn to face the mirror. Now where was I? Oh yes… I dab at the finishing touches of the blue goo as the door swings open yet again, hitting my back and making me jump, startled. This is creepy.

Looking again at the dark interior of the room, I see nothing. The fan has extinguished my candle and the light is off. My heart skips a beat; but I am also getting annoyed… is this a draft from the fan? Is there a ghost in my room? Do I need to lock the bathroom door when I’m in a room by myself? This seems ridiculous. I shut the door more firmly this time, determined to keep it that way short of actually locking it.

Just as I let go of the door, I leap back when I see a HUGE… insect(?) moving above me. It’s coming from the crack between the door and door frame at the top. Imagine a giant earwig 8 inches long and 3-4 inches wide (including legs) with the coloring of a scorpion, running wayyyy too fast along your doorway, towards you in fact as the door swings open (again). You are standing in your birthday suit with sticky blue goo on your face. A very vulnerable position, indeed.

“What-the-&!*$-is-that-what-the-&!*$-is-THAT!!?” I say to no one in particular. ‘Ok, stay calm, stay calm’ – I cover myself with a towel in the face of this new company and back up as I wait to see where it will run and, more importantly, stop.

It decides to rest on top of the door. Its legs straddle both sides and its body rests on top. I can see a giant twin stinger thing at the end of its body, poised and ready. It is PISSED – I had shut the door on it 3 times!

Once it stops, I run into the room and throw on my nearest dirty clothes. Now, what to do? I imagine every creature I’ve killed while girlfriends stood by in terror. ‘Come on, you can kill it. You’ve killed many a beastie…’ But not like this. I know it will take more than one solid whack to kill it, and I’ve already witnessed it’s speed. I don’t think I can do it! I will freak out as it runs toward me with its stinger pointed ahead. I need (gulp).. a BOY. Yes, I admit… swallowing my pride I realize… I need a BOY to come kill this for me.

Yeah… I just need to wait until my masque is finished…

Seriously – I can’t go back into the bathroom at this point, where Mr. Beastie awaits, and try to wash this sticky un-washable goo off my face as he JUMPS from the door (as he surely would) onto my back and attacks me. No, I must wait the appointed 15 minutes and peel the thing off and then go find me a BOY. Why did I choose the peel-off type of masque this time around?!

I sit on the bed and get up every 2 minutes to check that Mr. Beastie hasn’t moved from his spot. If he moves and I can’t find him, I’m going to another hotel – not another room, another HOTEL. With a room on the SECOND FLOOR.

He hasn’t moved. OK, great. Feel the masque.. still gooey. This is the longest 15 minutes of my life. So much for a relaxing facial.

Finally it’s reasonably dry and I peel it off, looking sideways to ensure Mr. Beastie is in fact standing still, which he is. I run outside and thankfully find the guy who runs the front desk of my guesthouse. He’s coming back from town with some buddies. I don’t think he knows what hits him as I run toward him with a frightened, urgent look on my face, (dabbing it now and then to make sure there aren’t any embarrassing blue globs that I missed, which I’m sure there were).

“Um, excuse me… um there’s a HUGE SCORPION in my room.. uhhh..”

He looks at me blankly.

OK, uh, uh…. language barrier. Language barrier… Um.. I have a PROBLEM” ..I glance at my room. He follows my gaze.

Still blank.

mycentipededrawing

I clear a section of dirt with my shoe and draw something that looks more like a mouse with tentacles than a scorpion or giant earwig or whatever the hell the thing is. The point is made – he knows he has to kill something. He nods and I motion back to my room. As we near my door he grabs a broom. Perfect.

I lead him toward the bathroom, but stop short of going in, pointing up toward the door. He steps in and looks at the walls, the ceiling… He’s not seeing it!! He steps in further, dangerously close to The Beast and starts pointing the broomstick toward the far corner of the ceiling, just past the door. I firmly grab his shoulder and pull him back. He’s getting too close. I step closer and point until my finger is only a foot away from The Beast.

He jumps back, now completely tense, and we share a frightened look. We share the fear, and I’m not feeling as sissy-ish as before. :) Well, except that I go stand on the BED as he gives the thing one good hard whack and it falls, flailing and running in mid-air, to the floor. As I’d suspected, one isn’t enough. He takes the broom handle like a baseball bat and proceeds to beat the hell out of The Beast. It keeps moving and twisting (and I’m screaming from the sidelines). Finally he takes the tip of the broom handle down and puts 100% of the force on its head, smashing it down several times as the tail flails about from right to left.

All in all it takes about 20 beatings to kill the thing, and it’s still twitching from rigor mortis as he starts looking at my garbage can as a disposal container. From the bed I say “no, that goes outside” and point to the front door. He laughs and sweeps it outside. I thank him profusely and follow him to the doorway, making sure he sweeps it WELL away from the threshold.

He looks at me and says “Only one?”
This confirms my greatest fear. “They travel in PAIRS?”
He looks at me blankly.
OK, um… “Are there usually more than one?” I say while doing the scuba sign for buddy, drawing both my index fingers together and making a do you understand what I’m saying here kind of face.
Still nothing.

I pull him inside again and we look for whatever friends this thing might have. Nothing. Great, ok. Now I can go to sleep. Or can I?

You know how when you see a spider and turn the lights out, you feel like there are spiders crawling on you? Yeah.
Sweet dreams.

P.S. I did a search on “Giant Scorpion Earwig Mutant” and actually found the critter – it was a centipede. Never seen one this big. I wanted to take a picture, but was too worried the flash would freak it out and it would leap on me and eat me alive. Sorry. ;) So you’ll have to go with the one below for reference.

Giant Centipede, from Thaibugs.com

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Tags: centipede earwig giant monster mutant

Northern Thailand and Laos – Flooding and a Broken Toe

October 7th, 2005

Slideshows:

In the last few weeks, I’ve wandered from Bangkok’s massive markets, to a cooking class in the north of Thailand, survived a flood, and landed in Laos. It’s been an exciting few weeks. In many ways I feel like the real travel is just beginning… Beach time is over and now I’m really hitting the road.

I mentioned flooding in Chiang Mai in my last post. Well… it had been a month since the flood when I got there, and the night market was JUST reopening. The city was hit pretty hard.

I decided to try my hand at left-of-the-road motorcycle riding and happily clutched the keys to my shiny rented 100cc red Honda Dream. Of course I picked rush hour to start, and managed to get myself completely lost. Reading signs in Thai can be a problem. ;) After four and a half months of being in left-lane countries, driving on the left was luckily a snap. It was dealing with what I call “flow motion” that was more exhilarating… It was interesting to both be aware of everyone around me while at the same time figuring out where to turn.

On my birthday, did a quick visa run to Burma and spent the evening bar hopping with new and old friends in Chiang Mai.

The Rolling Birthday Bar - best invention e.v.e.r.

How to drink from a bucket

Soon after that, I took a day-long cooking course with a couple from New York who are also travelling the world with no schedule. Learned how to make red curry, cashew chicken, and mango in sticky rice. Mmm.

The result of a day's cooking class: mmm...

After this, we continued north to Pai in the north of Thailand. I was hoping for some more adventure: rafting, hiking, whatever!

So, here is some trivia for you: apparently, in Thailand, it is “good luck” if Gecko poo lands on you. Kind of like how it’s “good luck” if a bird poos on you. Who is coming up with these?? I was sitting in an office booking a rafting trip when tap something hit my head, and then landed on the desk in front of me. I took a closer look, thinking wtf – it looked like a petrified potato bug. The Thai woman sitting across the desk burst into a grin and exclaimed “Good luck! Good luck! Gecko sheet, Gecko Sheet!!” pointing happily at the ceiling, where indeed a gecko was positioned directly above me. Ha. I smiled politely as though it was the most wonderful thing in the world that I’d just been crapped on. Hooray!

Anyway it must not have worked, because we proceeded to get flooded out of town the next day, which obviously also meant the rafting trip was cancelled. (hmpf, no rafting in a flood? what?) This was the storm from the recent typhoon that hit Vietnam, which some of you may have heard about. My aforementioned NY friends escaped from their bungalow in water over waist deep! They had to wade through a strong current of flood-soup before they finally made it to my place.

Luckily (OK, maybe the gecko poo does actually work) I was in a guesthouse that was on higher ground and stayed dry. I still decided to leave immediately to stay ahead of the water… Back in Chiang Mai, they were awaiting the same flood (it’s downstream) and I didn’t want to get stuck. I booked a ticket to Laos for the very next morning, and from the plane I could see just how flooded it got. Word is the river rose 4.7 meters.

And that brings me to Laos. That’s pronounced “Lao” btw – the French added the silent ‘s’ which apparently has resulted in most of the world mispronouncing the name, including me until I got here!

I flew to Luang Prabang, which has sleepy old French colonial buildings and sits peacefully along the Mekong river.

What. A. Wonderful. Place.

The Mekong in Luang Prabang, Laos

I really shouldn’t tell you about it. This is the best kept secret EVER. Well, maybe it’s not such a secret anymore… people are definitely discovering this country, which I am calling the New Zealand of Asia. Alas, you can see it changing before your eyes. But it was everything I was looking for in northern Thailand and couldn’t find… it isn’t hard to get off the beaten track here and is quite a lot more genuine.

Temple in Luang Prabang

The Mekong at Sunset

Still itching to go rafting, I signed up for a kayak/rafting trip from Luang Prabang. Ended up breaking my right middle toe during a river rescue where a couple tipped from their kayak in the middle of a class III rapid. (Nothing like being in a boat together to get a couple to fight). ;)

I learned a lot about river rescues that day. Namely that it’s wise to keep your sandals on, so when you walk along the sharp riverbank afterwards (after your kayak also tips due to mishandled rescuing), you can protect your feet… I also learned that it’s best not to paddle toward the frothy side of the river when towing a panicked swimmer. I totally went the wrong way. It was fabulous.

Happily kayaking just before "The Incident"

Children on a natural waterslide (better said, mudslide) :)

Child during alms-giving at dawn

From there I went north to a very small village (with only 4 hours of electricity a day) named Muang Ngoi where I got to go hiking a bit, complete with broken toe. I’m not one to sit around much, but I did limit myself to day hikes. :) The highlight of the trip was walking through striking green rice paddy fields surrounded by limestone karsts up to a village only reachable by foot, trying to communicate with locals in Lao, and trading serenades with three little girls. We sang “Old McDonald Had a Farm” and they then sang beautiful (much more sophisticated) melodies in return.

Children in a small village north of Muang Noi

Rice Farmer

Playing around in a waterfall

Now I’m back in Luang Prabang and just had a fabulous 2-HOUR massage for SIX DOLLARS. Life is good. Heading south in the morning. We’ll see how things go down there – I hear this place has no end to its wonderful experiences. I can’t wait. :)

p.s. More roosters in Muang Ngoi. I have no qualms about eating chicken.
p.p.s. Yet another Dori reference from folks I met in Bangkok. Hmm.

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Tags: buddhist burma chiang mai flood honda dream kayak laos luang prabang mekong monk motorcycle muang ngoi pai rafting thailand

Cat Fights, Dog Fights, Stick Fights, and Stupid Poultry

September 15th, 2005

In Malaysia, it’s cats. In Indonesia, it’s roosters. And on the east coast of Thailand, it’s packs of wild beach-dogs. There’s always something making a racket at odd hours of the night and early morning. Organic “Free Range” chicken has a new meaning… your dinner is running under the table!

I last left you in Malacca, the stately Malaysian town. Since then I’ve shopped in Kuala Lumpur, scurried through Bali and Lombok islands in Indonesia, and finally ended up back in Thailand. That’s the short version.

Petronas (Twin) Towers, Kuala Lumpur

I travelled with a Kiwi bloke named Shea and an English Gap Year Kid named Dom, who happens to be a Harry Potter look-alike, for about 6 weeks. Indonesia is a good place to have guys along; being a girl solo here would have been a bit more annoying, I think. When you see women going fully clothed into the water, you know things are conservative.

Swimsuit not needed

Stick Fighting

So what’d we do? We went to Gili Trawangan, an island with no motor vehicles (notice the garbage buggy below) and very loud roosters that never learned that you’re only supposed to crow in the morning. Overall, it was a nice island, but I was ready for more adventure and a break from the beach. So we went off to climb a 3,726m volcano (Indonesia’s second highest) housing a deep blue lake in its crater – Gunung Rinjani.

Garbage Buggy

The walk lasted 3 days, up and over the mountain, and we all underestimated the climb. Of course, the porters did the whole thing wearing flip-flops or barefoot! Check out the terrain in the pictures and you’ll see how impressive that is. Harry and Shea wanted to kill me for dragging them up the mountain. I’m not kidding, they were actually brainstorming various methods of torture for me as they walked, and this disturbingly seemed to give them renewed strength to continue onward. Hm. Unfortunately Shea didn’t make it to the top, but Harry pushed through and we shared some summit time and spectacular views.

Shea and Harry (Dom) plotting to kill

Me and our tiny little guide, with Kiwi Dan in between, on the summit

Token monkey shot

Next was a surfing adventure in Kuta, Lombok. We took lessons from an “instructor” who said such helpful things as: “There’s a wave! Go! Go! Go! Now AHHHHHHHH!!!!” while waving his arms and pointing frantically. Meanwhile the wave would appear suddenly crash down on you and you tumble in a giant, natural washing machine. Funny thing is, that’s actually what you do. You see a wave, and dammit you GOOOO!! Hm.

Surf's up!

Following this, our waterlogged selves made it to the artsy town of Ubud, back on Bali Island. We stayed there about a week, where I got a crash course in chess. We randomly went on a MISSION to find a hand-carved wooden chess set for Shea, who taught me how to play. It took me four weeks to finally beat him. Now I’m addicted and am carrying a chess set with me everywhere, hoping I can find people who play. Maybe I should just stamp “geek” on my forehead? One thing I really like about the game is that it passes all language barriers – you can play with anyone, even if you can’t speak to them! The body language during the game is entertainment enough.

Learning to play chess

The last stop in Indonesia was Legian, Bali. This is near where the Bali bomb went off four years ago. We surfed again (read: got pummelled) and visited a western-style theme park called “Water Bomb” where I felt like I was back in the States or Australia. It was a little disturbing actually.

Don't ask what I'm thinking here... clearly, I'm not!

After Indonesia, I headed back to Thailand. Ended up on the east islands, namely Ko Pha Ngan, the island famed for its “full-moon parties”… which are basically a brilliantly marketed way to get thousands of people to visit the island once a month. I dutifully avoided the full moon so it was a lot quieter than it is reputed to be.

Sunset in Kho Pha Ngan

Ko Tao was the last island stop, famous for its diving and snorkeling. I went on two dives and on the first there must have been 75 other people in the water. It was ridiculous – of course I didn’t see many fish! Not to mention our useless divemaster – he actually RAN OUT OF AIR before his 2 clients, on a 45 minute dive, and had to use my octopus on our ascent! wtf. The snorkeling was phenomenal though, and free. I wish I had an underwater camera casing so I could show you how amazing it was. I even came across a shipwreck – SNORKELING!

Now I’m on my own again and heading north. I’d still like to see Chiang Mai but I hear it’s flooded at the moment, so I’m once again in Bangkok trying to figure out what’s next. Maybe I should go to New Orleans!

Slideshows:

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Tags: bali chess climbing diving gili trawangan gunung rinjani hiking indonesia ko pha ngan ko tao kuta lombok legian monkey snorkelling stick fighting surf volcano

Malaysia

July 20th, 2005

Slideshows:

I am sitting in one of the nicest, cheapest, internet cafes I’ve come across so far. I am in Melaka… a very small, old town on the west coast of Malaysia.

This city/town is quite old – they call it the “heart” of Malaysia and it was once a very important port. Due to it’s strategic location, many have coveted the prize. It has been occupied by the Portuguese, Dutch, and English before Malaysia finally became independent in the 60′s. Therefore, the architecture is distinctly European… I feel nostalgic for Europe as I walk the streets, but the population comprises Malays, Indians, and Chinese! So while the streets, cobblestones, and churches whisper memories of Europe, the food is a spicy Eastern palette. Actually it seems the best of both worlds! :) I’ve eaten VERY well here.

Melaka

One of many delicious meals

So, yeah, Malaysia, how did I end up here? Well… I had a massive 3-day “Fit of Indecision” ^TM in Bangkok after leaving Koh Phi Phi. Somehow I got a visa to Vietnam (~$45) and also booked flights to Bali (~$120) within 24 hours. hahahahaha. haha. ha… ha… <cough> Long story, but I ended up deciding to go south instead of north while covering my bases for both. So, here I am, in Malaysia, and this Sunday I fly to Bali. I will probably be in Indonesia for a month or two. :D Very excited!! It seems to be a fascinating place. As usual I’m behind on reading up about it though… It was really hard to leave Koh Phi Phi, though. That place really sucks you in and I was definitely feeling it’s magical hold.

Children playing

Malaysia has been a nice surprise. I wasn’t expecting much, to be honest – hadn’t done any research whatsoever and have been going by word-of-mouth recommendations as well as snippets from my Southeast Asia Lonely Planet (which doesn’t get very detailed as it covers many countries). You could even say my expectations were low. But, quite frankly, this place has knocked my socks off. The people are so incredibly friendly and helpful. And while the men are quite old fashioned and some (very few) are scum – as you find in many places, on the whole it isn’t that hard to travel alone here as a girl. The worst you get is people kissing at you as though they are calling a dog or cat, which happens about every 200 meters. Easily ignored. I’ve had many interesting conversations where I’ve been asked things like “How could your father let you travel alone?!” and pretty much everyone is surprised when they learn that I’m by myself. The women seem envious and the men shake their heads. EVERYONE says it’s dangerous. Oh, if they only knew…

That said, my entrance to the country was a weeeee bit sketchy… I arrived at the Thai/Malay border in the dark of a rainy night (this was unplanned – my transportation was a couple hours later than what I had expected), and was the last one to cross the border (they almost didn’t let me pass), only to find that all busses to the town I was going to, Kota Bharu (a very traditional muslim town) were gone for the night. Just as I began to get nervous, alongside a soldier with a large gun who helped me (but one can never be sure of an armed man’s intentions) and started walking me toward a dark pathway, I found a girl waiting for a friend to pick her up. Thank goodness – they gave me a ride into town and even bought me dinner!! I met up with them later as well. Very nice people.

I spent a couple of days in Kota Bharu, and was very hot there. I wore trousers, a t-shirt, and a hoodie over that (needed the long sleeves to cover up, because god forbid men see your elbows and think of sex) and walked all over the place under the broiling sun in essentially winter getup. I don’t know how the women there do it – I was sweating like a mad dog.

I have now purchased a nice fake wedding ring set, for about $3. It’s quite pretty actually, and I chuckle to myself every time I look at it. “I’m on my way to meet my husband… yes, he’s a very LARGE man, very angry and jealous man.. he’s just around the corner, would you like to meet him?” ;) ;) Anyway if you see it in the pictures, no, I have not gotten married!

From Kota Bharu I took the “Jungle Train” to the Taman Negara (literally translated = “National Park”). It’s the largest park in Malaysia and comprises one of the oldest standing jungle forests in the world. The ice age did not affect this forest, so dinosaurs roamed within its bounds. Easy to imagine while walking around. :) It was truly amazing.

View from the Jungle Train

I took a 3-day trek in the jungle. The first night, we slept in an enormous cave which could fit a family of elephants, as well as a “hide” where we tried to see some animals, of which there were none (I’m sure all the animals know to keep away from this particular trail, frequently walked by tourists). :) We saw many leeches, evil little things, and heard many other insects and birds… but no elephants, tigers, leopards, or other exciting animals that you want to see, from afar of course.. ;) I spent the majority of the time with a couple from Belgium, Sylvie & Rob, as well as an eccentric Spaniard (Basque) named Reuben, and an American girl named Janelle, who is now living in New Zealand. It was a fun crew.

Sylvie and Rob in our water taxi into the park

Camping in a giant cave

After 3 days of sweating (with one stream bath) and walking and brushing off flies and insects, I made my way to Melaka where I have been incredibly lazy and would get fat if I stayed. Today I will take a bus to Kuala Lumpur where I plan to walk around yet another city and probably eat even more good Malay food. I hear there’s good shopping (not like I want to make my pack any heavier – I just mailed a second box home, this one weighing 3 kilos and (sniff) includes my tent), and I hear there’s also a good climbing area just outside of town. We’ll see if I can make it there…

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Posted in South East Asia

Tags: cave fit of indecision jungle jungle train kota bharu malacca malaysia melaka taman negara

Tsunami Dive Camp

June 24th, 2005

Things continue to go well out here. Let me dust off the cobwebs in my brain and search back through the few weeks since I last wrote to see what is new….

We took off for Ao Ton Sai (i.e. “climbing mecca”) to do some, you guessed it – climbing. Or so we thought. Being monsoon season, we picked a bad few days. It rained a LOT and there is not much to do at Ton Sai if you’re not climbing. I might have been happy reading in a hammock and listening to the rain, but Jaime had quite a lot on her mind, so we decided to take her to Phi Phi where there is more to do and less to think about. ;) Pictures of the climbing trip as well as a trip out to Maya Bay on Phi Phi Ley (where “The Beach” was filmed) are here.

Climbing at Ao Ton Sai

So now I have a roommate! This makes lodging all that much cheaper. For the days that I dive, I get help with the cost of lodging. The reason they do this is that they are so short of divers that they are giving the long-term folks an incentive to stay longer. It’s working. ;) On the days that I don’t dive, I’m paying half of what I was due to the split cost with Jaime (so now it’s about $3 a day or something close to that). =) Life is good.

Dive Camp

Jaime fell right in step with the Phi Phi life. We took a rescue dive course together, which was a lot of fun. Jaime is very good at playing a panicked diver and I must say I have quite a talent for being unconscious. ;) There was loads of laughter while we did the rescue scenarios, which sometimes confused innocent “bystanders” (i.e. snorkelers out for a day’s snorkeling) who didn’t always realize were were all in good fun.

As far as dive cleanup goes, we’ve moved into a new area that has even worse visibility than the area we were in before. There have been times where I’ve nearly run right into other divers – not seeing them until they were about a foot in front of my face. Did that once with a lionfish too!! Swimming along, oh hellooooo Mr Lionfish. Let me back away slowly… Anyway, there’s a load of garbage where we are at now. Lots of big stuff. Some divers found an entire bungalow – but I’ve mainly been picking up corrugated metal roofing which has been fairly tough, as most of it is buried under a good deal of sand by now, making it extremely difficult to remove. It also contributes to the poor visibility.

One of our divers got hit by an anchor as it came down from an overhead boat. The scene was pretty intense. We do use safety buoys and the like, but I think some of the local boats aim for them… So this guy was swimming along the bottom minding his own business, and a catamaran came over above him and dropped anchor. It’s unclear whether it was dragging along and hit him or if it dropped right on him, but regardless, it hit his leg. Startled, he shot to the surface. That night he began to get symptoms of the bends. Next morning he was off to Phuket and the decompression chamber. He had 14 hours of chamber time over three days. He seems to be doing quite well now, thankfully.

Dive conditions - lots of boats around our sites

My regulator was stolen which was disappointing. I had left it outside my bungalow to dry and forgot to put it back in the room before playing Ultimate Frisbee at sunset. This is a shame as I’ve left stuff out like that before, even overnight and intentionally, with nothing being taken. (sigh) Oh well. What can ya do. At least I didn’t get hit by an anchor today.

Divers during a lunch break

I went on my first visa run on June 8th which was pretty fun actually. There were about 20 of us from Phi Phi. We had two vans with 10 people each, air conditioning and a TV screen for watching VCDs. Very good. Only problem was that 10 was probably a little much for the van. It’s an 8 hour round trip to Malaysia and there was no, I repeat no, wiggle room. I organized the trip and somehow ended up with no real seat. We spent all of 20 minutes in Malaysia and then came right back. Interesting road trip. :) I’ll be due again for another visa run in a week or so. This time I’ll make sure to spread the vans out a little more!

Another friend of mine, Corinne, and her friend Monica came to visit for a couple of weeks. I think they had a pretty good time. :) We went to Maya Bay, where the film “The Beach” took place and did some climbing. They also they put in some volunteer time. I’ve been fairly lazy the past 2 weeks with volunteering, what with all the visitors and then just being lazy the rest of the time. Hung out with a crazy Kiwi for a few days, a crazy French girl, and a bunch of other crazy people. I’m finding lots of people with similarities to me out here! ;) It’s distracting me from diving though – I’m looking forward to getting back to it.

Maya Beach Koh Phi Phi Ley

Sunset on Koh Phi Phi

For the past few days I’ve been climbing at Ao Ton Sai again, just to close this loop. :) It’s been a GOOD time this time around. For the first couple of days I climbed with Corinne, Monica, and another friend from back home – Kevin. Loads of visitors! Pictures of climbing are here. Then the three of them left and I spent the last day on my own. It was actually a welcome change as I do like travelling alone because you meet so many people. And guess what – I met some really cool people. Ended up climbing with about 6 others and even went to a beach called Ao Nang with three of them. That is where I’m writing this mail. All of us are typing away. Pictures of Ao Nang and us hanging out are here. Some of these guys are very good climbers, so it was great to try and follow some of their routes. My arms are feeling it today. ;)

Abseiling off the legendary "Groove Tube"

I’ll be on a boat back to Phi Phi this afternoon. We are close to the 6 month anniversary of the tsunami, so there will be a celebration on the island tonight… A celebration of its rebirth, in a way. Tomorrow I expect to be back in the water and diving again for a good week or two straight. I’m not sure what’s in the plans following that. I’d like to take off for a bit and travel around the area and then return to Phi Phi I think. We’ll see what happens. The other alternative is to head immediately up to Mongolia which is more what I had originally planned. Hmm… :) That sounds good too…

Fire Show

I have to run and catch a bus so I must cut it off here.

Introduction to Koh Phi Phi

May 25th, 2005

Slideshow: Cleaning up Koh Phi Phi Don

It’s been almost 2 weeks since I arrived in Koh Phi Phi. Time has truly flown and it’s amazing how busy one can be in “paradise.” ;) Here I thought I was going to have all this time to read and relax.. NOT! Haven’t even opened my book yet! People are working HARD here, and it’s fantastic.

I’ve been doing the Phi Phi “Dive Camp” – diving for a few days at a time, 3 dives a day. It has been very interesting, and I’ve actually learned a lot about underwater navigation! This is not your typical “fun dive” in beautiful clear water with lots of colorful fishies everywhere. I actually haven’t gone on one of those yet. This is TRASH diving. We jump from the town pier into water that also acts as the island’s sewage disposal system. We swim out among ferries and long-tail boats, taking big nets with us. When we descend (averaging only about 30 feet down), we stretch out the nets on the sea floor and commence to swim around looking for garbage. It doesn’t take long for loads of sand to get kicked up and the water to get very murky. At times you can only see a foot or so in front of your face, but that’s only when it’s really bad. Typically it just reminds me of diving out in Edmonds dive park. ;)

When the nets are full, we tie them up and put “lift bags” on them. These are basically big plastic bags that we fill with air and act as super-bubbles… they float the garbage to the surface. Longtail boats drag the filled nets to shore and snorkelers empty them out into a giant pile of garbage on the shore. We are still waiting for the Thai government to come with a garbage boat to take it all off the island, but that hasn’t happened yet (well, it did a long time ago, once, I think) and there is no idea on when it will. For now they are burning anything wooden and the rest just sits in a giant stinkpile waiting for a boat.

On the way out for a dive

Lift bags - just under the surface is a big, full, net of rubbish

The dive crew seems to attract quite a bit of attention, because we are going down where no one has looked yet. Certain areas are still relatively untouched after the tsunami, and we are finding every imaginable object. We’ve had at least 3 TV crews out here filming since I’ve been here. The most popular question is: “What do you find down there?” Well, to answer the unasked underlying question there, I haven’t actually found any human remains yet. There have only been 2 that have been found in the last couple of months, so it’s extremely rare. (Though, as a side note, I should comment that today I had a scare – I thought I saw the bones of a hand sticking out of the sand. My stomach sank and I swallowed hard as I started to move the sand off of it. Luckily it was only a stick. Odd feeling though.) I keep thinking I might find something; it’s a possibility and I need to prepare myself for it just in case. Anyway, back to the original question of what typical items are… well, among other things, a whole 7-11 washed into the ocean so there are a lot of coke cans, liquor bottles (some of which are still good and therefore a very popular find). ;) Oddly, lots of CDs & DVDs (probably from street vendors), some of which still work, books which are falling apart, pamphlets, signs, mannequins from shops, even a bikini STILL ON THE HANGER! Both the top and bottom! Unbelievable. I’ve also found some flowers (fake obviously), but it was odd to go along the sandy sea bottom and pick up a rose. Toys are fairly heartbreaking, as are Christmas presents (remember it happened the day after xmas). Shoes, masks/snorkels/fins, lots of clothing, metal roofing, large boards, palm trees (these can damage the reef and there are lots of them down there), etc. etc. Some of it is nearly impossible to take out now as it’s completely covered in sand, which when wet and underwater can be very heavy.

This pile of rubbish all came from the sea

Some of the things we find can be resold

Wildlife? Well, sometimes you see some cute little nemo fishies swimming in a glorious anemone, perched atop a blanket from someone’s bed that became the anemone’s home. (Nemo is very curious, btw). But usually we find lionfish, angry crab (as we tend to take away their hiding place), etc. There are some bright fish that swim by now and then. But we have to be very careful about the lionfish! Today when I came out of the water I had a huge sea cucumber that had somehow hitched a ride on my BCD. It was hilariously disgusting. When they get stressed out, they basically vomit their intestines to make fish think they are dead (this seems like the most ridiculous defense mechanism EVER). So when I got out of the water, I had a slimy, pulsing goo that people were seeing on my backside and they started yelling and pointing and going “ewwww! grosssss!!! accckkk!!” as someone ran up to me and started beating me with a stick. And I had NO idea what the heck was going on! Not a good feeling to have everyone screaming and pointing at you with not a clue as to why! ;)

Style points for water entry

Underwater, I take a stick with me and poke everything before lifting anything, just to make sure there are no sting rays, stone fish, or crab around. And I look very carefully at all times at a site before starting to work on it, looking for lionfish – they are very placid and not agressive at all, but they also tend to hang out and not move even with everyone moving around, so it’s important to be aware if there’s one near the net! These fish get your nervous system if they sting you. It can be really bad.

Andrew (the man responsible for the Dive Camp), me, and Karin

Anyway, let’s see, what else has been going on… I’ve settled into a kind of routine – it’s actually a healthier routine than the one I had when working at home! I wake up around 7:30am, by 8:30am I’m at the dive shop and getting all geared up. In the water by 9 or 9:30, do two dives, out around noon for lunch (provided to the volunteers free), then back in the water for one last afternoon dive. Walk back to the dive shop through town, dripping wet with dive gear still on and lots of people watching, return borrowed gear to shop, go home, shower, tend to small scratches (infection is rampant on the island so I’m treating every minor nick and scratch like a high risk wound – this is working very well actually). Go to a thai lesson for an hour (skipping that today to write this mail) ;) then dinner (you get a 60 baht coupon for dinner, like $1.50, for every day that you dive – you pay the difference), a drink, and bed by 11pm. Do it all over again the next day…. for variety, I’ll take an afternoon off and go rock climbing. I’ve gone several times already and it’s VERY fun here. I love the rock in the south of thailand. Luckily there are a few other climbers here so I haven’t had any trouble getting people to go with me. I think I’ll go tomorrow actually… ;)

People (volunteers) typically only take one day off a week. Friday. I’ve taken a couple more here and there just to let myself dry out. I don’t want to get an ear infection or something from being permanently wet. Plus it’s nice to get some sun now and then. I’m not all that tan as I’m always in a full rash suit. Just now starting to get a little more tan. :) Anyway, it’s interesting because you actually feel guilty for taking time off, because EVERYONE on the island is toiling away! It’s an amazing environment. It’s unfortunate that it takes a disaster to bring people together like this. We saw it in NYC after 9/11, and we’re seeing it here too. It’s amazing. Thai and farang (foreigners) are working together and interacting like they never did before. It’s really, really cool. :) The people are amazing and it really does seem like paradise, even with the rubble everywhere.

Girl toiling away in the heat

I’ve been eating really well. I rarely have breakfast, but if I do, you can get either a nice big “western” breakfast or go to the local “western” bakery and get some nice pastries. For lunch, we get rice and these little single-serving size bags with curries or vegetable mixes to put on the rice. At some point a short little old lady comes by with baskets of fruit. She is VERY popular among the volunteers and probably makes a killing! :) I like to eat pineapple after lunch. Sometimes I’ll get a banana-mango shake instead before heading back to the water. mmmm. Dinner – quite a variety here actually. Either thai or italian. It’s nice to have the Italian there for those days when you crave home food. There are also food stands around that serve sandwiches (like burgers sort of) and thai pancakes (very good, but sweet). So I think I’ve lost some weight as the food is very healthy and I’m exercising quite a bit. That’s nice – it feels really good to be moving around! :D

Lunch consists of bags of curry and a big pot of rice

My friend Jaime from home is coming in a few days! I’m very excited to see her. She is also traveling the world and is, oh, about 8 months in I think? (not sure). It will be really fun to have someone here from home. :) We may go to Krabi (a 1.5 hour ferry ride) and head to Ton Sai for some climbing.

In the beginning of June I need to head down to Malaysia really quick for what’s popularly known as a “visa run.” You jump down to the border and come right back to get a new 30-day visa stamp in your passport. I can’t remember if I mentioned in my earlier mail but I think they made a mistake in the airport and I’m stamped through June 8 2015 instead of 2005! haha! However I’ve been told they register everyone in a computer so they’d know I overstayed even if my stamp says otherwise. I’d rathe not risk it – will play by the rules. :)

Other than that not much else new really. Look at the pictures, that explains a lot more than I ever could. :) They took forever to upload so please do check them out! ;) This set is all about the island and how completely destructed it is. It’s a complete mess. And supposedly it’s a LOT better than it was. I’ve met a few people who survived the tsunami and they are very interesting to talk to. One was scuba diving when it happened. He said there was just a really strong current suddenly. Apparently it was one of the safer places to be, because the wave hadn’t broken and was barely noticeable except for the current.

Devastation

A room left untouched since the tsunami

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Posted in South East Asia

Tags: dive camp diving garbage koh phi phi lionfish long-tail boat nets rubbish sea cucumber thailand trash tsunami volunteer

The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship… With My Backpack

May 13th, 2005

After 4 days of traveling, I have finally reached the island of Koh Phi Phi Don (pronounced Ko Pee Pee Don). And what do I do? I find a room and the nearest internet cafe to write my first update. I haven’t really talked to many people in the last 4 days, so you can imagine the pent up verbal energy. Ha, I feel sorry for you. ;)

Bangkok was good. I had a *fabulous* stay at the Westin. It was nice to start off at such a nice hotel to really decompress after such a long flight and stressful last few weeks. Now, of course, I’m getting sticker shock (I could survive for 2 months out here on what I spent in two days) but at the time it was really, REALLY nice. I do recommend starting any long-term travel trip with the first night in a nice hotel to get your bearings, especially if it’s your first time on the road like this.

The Westin's Heavenly Bed

The view from the Room

I’ve now done a total 180 and am paying about $45 a week for lodging. Not bad. It seems to be one of the cheaper fares in town, as well. Not as cheap as my bamboo hut in Ao Ton Sai (near Krabi) in 2003, but this is made of brick & mortar and is neat and clean, so I’m not complaining. I don’t think I’ll be stepping on any scorpions in this place…

I’m getting ahead of myself.

Bangkok: stayed 2 nights, 1.5 days. Was for the most part exhausted so didn’t do anything worth mentioning. Had a nice (free) 30 min Thai massage at the hotel, did a little shopping for those last-minute items that I didn’t have time to get at home (like an adapter), and dipped in the pool to refresh from the layer of stick that occured every time I ventured outside. The septic Bangkok air takes some getting used to.

The island of Phuket was interesting. Had a “fun” experience getting a cab across the island to Phuket town. Once at Phuket town (finally) I got the cheapest hotel available… about 4 bucks for the night. It had a double bed and a sink. Fan, no Air con. It was OK actually. Very simple. It did the job. Anyway, once settled in my room, I decided to continue a one-piece bathing suit search which had begun in Bangkok – there seem to be no suitable sporty options around. Blast! What else is a girl to scuba dive in?? I finally managed to get a not-so-sporty one-piece. I’m extra large here. How depressing. :P

My room in Phuket

I also managed to get myself COMPLETELY lost for a few hours in the process. A nice, tiny little Thai woman finally saved me and took me safely back to the hotel, where lay in the room for a few minutes and splashed my face with cool water before going on a search for food. Thank goodness I didn’t have to go too far. Had much better phad thai for about $1.50 than my fancy room service at the Westin the night before (which was pretty cheap itself at $6). Watched American Idol while eating and then went back to the room and was asleep by 8pm. Exhausted.

Wide awake at 4:30am. What the hell was I thinking to go to bed so early? I’m never going to learn. Listened to the rain for awhile (did I mention it’s been raining a lot since I got to this area? Good idea coming in Monsoon season, dude). *Finally* it was about 6:30 and I could get up. This of course meant that I instantly became sleepy again and didn’t want to get up. I’ll never be happy.

The people picking me up for the boat to Koh Phi Phi were 6 minutes early. This is not Latin America. Thank goodness I caught it; I was definitely expecting slack schedules and was in no rush. It was a fairly big tourboat with lots of people on it, both western and Thai. I managed to be in between various Thai people who were prone to seasickness. One boy nearly spewed all over my bag (he did spew, just barely missed my bag). The lady in front of me was also spewing. In fact, it seemed everyone around me was spewing. A boat worker came by and handed out plastic spew-bags. The boy wouldn’t stop, and his aim wasn’t the best. Bless his heart, poor thing, but not something I wanted to sit next to exactly.

Problem is, I couldn’t escape. I was wedged in by my own bag and gear, as well as my seasick Thai neighbors. Finally, one of the boat workers on bag-duty took pity on me (noticing the predicament) and asked if I wanted to move. I nodded. He helped me up and over the laps of the spewers, said to leave the bags and go on. I broke every backpacker rule and left my stuff unattended to go on deck for a while. It was worth it. (No worries mom, all my important stuff was in my little day bag which I kept with me). ;) Of course, nothing happened to my gear and I was *much* more comfortable outside. This also meant I could take pics as we approached the island. Always a plus.

Approaching Koh Phi Phi - before the tsunami, you couldn't see the other beach from this side.

Getting off the boat at Koh Phi Phi Don, the first thing you hear is the sound of construction. This place is a bustling construction zone. There are about as many foreigners as there are Thai, but it is still very quiet as far as people go. You can see garbage and rubble everywhere, next to fairly new-looking buildings and stores. They have internet and and an ATM (which I hear only works sometimes), as well as a few bars. You can tell where the priorities are. ;) It was odd to think of people partying as I choked up while walking around. I could all-too-vividly imagine the wave going over the entire lifeline of the island. It became real, and very, very sad.

I met an American named Scott who bought me a banana shake and a girl from Scotland named Kaz who is the nurse’s assistant. Apparently the nurse had her first day off in 2 months today. The American told me that about 2,500 to 3,000 people died on this island. I can’t remember the figures – I’m sure you could all look it up. Pretty devastating.

Devastation

I inquired with some people about diving. I think tomorrow I may go. I’ll find out – tonight at 7pm at Carlito’s bar, they give the assignments. So far, no free lodging (remember, $46 for the week) and I thought that was part of the deal, but to be honest I don’t mind paying and as far as I see it, I’m getting to dive for free and help out, which is worth a LOT more. Anyway I haven’t talked to anyone about the “benefits” yet as all the people are still out working today. I just talked to some nurses and this Thai dude who is going to teach me to spin fire. :) wheee! Oh, and he might teach me some Thai, too. As long as I make it clear I’m not going to be his girlfriend I think we’ll be OK.

My guest house (I am in the pink buildings at the back)

My room

Man this is long. See, I told you I’d be chatty. I haven’t really talked much in the last 4 days (if you can believe it)! Now I finally have people to hang with. The most frustrating thing about being a foreigner, female, alone, and sticking out like a sore thumb is that people either 1) want your money or 2) want to get in your pants. There is very little opportunity for true conversation. I’m on the defensive most of the time, for good reason. Women are easier to talk to, but hard to find. They protect themselves with other people, which, arguably, I should be doing too. Huh.

Well, that’s about it for now. Time to go explore the island a bit. I may not be able to get online for a few days… as it’s rather expensive here, but hopefully next time I won’t be as pent-up with random things to tell. Or maybe there’ll be more, who knows.

More photos here.

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Posted in South East Asia

Tags: bangkok beach dive camp ferry koh phi phi phuket seasick thailand tsunami westin