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!
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