So we have a really good excuse for not keeping up on our updates.....we've been on the islands and the internet is expensive and slow (tough life, huh). So where to start...I guess where we left off.
Malaysia-
from Singapore we jumped on an overnight bus to the Cameroon Highlands of Malaysia. We left the city and woke to sunrise of steep foggy lush green mountains. We jumped off the bus at 6 am ready to be surrounded by touts trying to bring us to their hotel of choice like usual but instead we found peaceful chilly empty streets. We actually had to search out our own guest house. So after getting lost and ending up at a convent we found a wonderful little guest house set up on a hill.
From there we did a jungle trek to Robinson waterfall our first day even though after walking all over Singapore we decided to walk some more, then hitchhiked home with a very nice man who caught us up on Malaysia's political situation.
The next day we rented a motorbike and scooted all over the valleys. Our first stop was one of the many tea plantations. This area was occupied by the British at one point and we all know how much the British love their tea! It was beautiful to see the tea growing on every available inch of hillside and learning about how it is harvested and dried and packaged all in the same place. From there we broke the scooter shops rule and drove up the highest mountain in the area (this scooted had more power then the one in Bali and lucky for Mark there was no walking involved on the up hill!). We caught a quick glimpse of the area before the clouds moved in.
We headed down the mountain to tour around all the quirky roadside attractions all afternoon. We stopped by a butterfly garden which didn't have much in the way of butterflies but had many beautiful flowers and strange tropical jungle insects (yuck!) Somehow a friendly Malay man decided to put a huge scorpion on my shoulder before I got to say no. It wasn't horrible, I just thought it was going to crawl down my shirt! By the way did you know that scorpions don't have eyes? Crazy! From there we drove on down the road to a hydroponic organic strawberry farm. It was great! We picked and snacked on berries while it down pored outside. At this point of the trip we have entered southeast Asia monsoon season, which we knew was coming and hasn't been that bad. Once the rain stopped we made our way to a neat little Chinese owned orchid farm (if only we could grow orchids like that!!) tucked away that we had hiked by the previous day. It was amazing and we took way too many photos so we'll have to pick out the best of the best. We may have picture of every flower in the joint, they were all so beautiful!
By this time it was getting late and had to return in the scooter and sit down to some fabulous Indian food. The next day we loaded into a series of cramped hot mini buses to headed out to our next Malaysian destination.
We then went to the Perhentian Islands where I got a bit sick - a cold and then some bad #2 related most likely to some curry. I dove regardless being that that was why we had gone there and I ended up not having the best dives - having a stuffy nose and a bloated stomach doesn't make for a comfortable dive experience 60-90 feet underwater... we dove a wreck and a large underwater pinnacle - plus the visibility wasn't incredible and we've been quite spoiled with our dives. The Wreck was cool though and we did see some eels and a 3 legged turtle that they call Tripod. We met a great couple from the Czech Republic (who unfortunately also ate the same curry) and had a great time having dinner with them every night. We also met two American girls (Americans have been few and far between on our travels) that we ended up making the long trek west that I'll describe next:
We then had a long journey to the west coast of Thailand completely circumnavigating south eastern Thailand due to the unrest and violence there. What really happened was our direct thru mini bus stopped and dropped us at a tourist desk in a totally random city -we were scammed!! our 5 hour trip turned into 9 with a two our layover with many other pissed off foreigners at this tourist desk. Once we were picked up we did rounds around the town for an hour till the driver filled the van, then we drove north. This is a common scam in Thailand with the bus companies. I do think that we're getting better at dealing with the hasslers though. Thailand doesn't seem to be as bad as Bali, we've attributed it to Bali being in tourist high season and Thailand being in off season.
- it took almost 2 days but we finally ended up in Railay Thailand which is famous for its rock climbing - which we did a good bit of - it was fun to rent shoes and gear and get back into it. And Liz had a blast which is always good for me! She led a route 6b route (similar to a 5.9 at home) and cleaned the entire thing - it was great to watch - I was proud!! Let me (Liz) add that Mark also jumped right up there and led a bunch of routes also with no fear and no problem. The Thai climbing guides climbing near by all complimented Mark's skill. I was proud too!!
We also did Deep Water Soloing - which is when you climb a cliff face that is overhanging deep water with no ropes - when you can't go any further - you jump off into the water - it was scary, nerve wracking and incredible! Went to a Thai kickboxing match as well - that was interesting to see. Plus we met some fun girls from Colorado there which was great to have a bit of interaction with people that know and love the mountains.
We then went to Ko Phi Phi (pee pee) where it rained and rained - but we hung out with the American girls from CO and played some UNO and partied a bit. Ko Phi Phi was ground zero of the tsunami but you would never know. They have rebuilt it up completely, kinda crazy to imagine. On our last day we decided to dive and the weather cleared up beautifully - the visibility was great and the sites were pretty spectacular - plus it was just Liz and I on the boat - which made for a pretty ideal day of diving - other than a REALLY LOUD long tail boat - which is a wooden boat with a car engine strapped to the back - with no muffler).
We left Ko Phi Phi on the west coast of Thailand to the gulf coast on the east. It's rumored that if it's monsooning on one side the other with be sunny and dry. We found it to be true. We hopped and bus to our first overnight ferry experience. We originally were a bit skeptical but it turned out great. Think mats on the floor all in a row. We applied the earplugs and were rocked to sleep by the waves! We woke at 5:30 am on the island of Ko Phan gan.
Ko Phan gan is know for it's Burning Man like full moon parties each month on the beach. We happened to be there at the right time, so when in Rome......It was an all night party with glowing body paint, sand buckets full of drinks, dance music and fire! We made it till 6 am while the party continued to 11 am the next day.
Lucky for us we found a great cheap bungalow within walking distance from the party but also tucked far enough away around a breezy rocky point (I think I failed to mention that there are also pre, post and half moon parties that happen. Party all the time!).So we spent the next day laying low on our hammock and didn't partake in the rage the next night so we could dive the next day.
So we were sad that this was our last dive of our trip but excited to go to this spot. Sail rock known as the best in the area with a vertical swim thru called the chimney which was fun but the visibility was not so great, lot of plankton in the water, kicked up from a recent storm. There was not much in the way of fish and coral viewing and we were diving again in the same spot after lunch on the boat. Our group all geared up jumped from the boat and followed the divemaster to the entry point. She had asked Mark and I to bring up the rear because we had a bit more experience the the rest of the group. As we descended waiting for the group to move along behind the divemaster we turned around to come face to face with a 33 foot long Whale Shark!! It was amazing and not a common sight. It swam a few curious circles around Mark and I within arms reach while the rest of our group was realizing what was there and swimming back towards us. It was one of the coolest experiences we both have ever had and we were so lucky to be in the right place at the right time!!! And just as quick as it appeared it was gone into the cloudy water. Mark, with the camera tried to follow, but got a little too overexerted. While diving you're supposed to use as least amount of energy as possible because of the carbon dioxide exchange and nitrogen in the tank. Mark went for a full out sprint, and felt it. We came up after that for a much needed breather.
The whale shark was the ultimate cap to our wonderful diving adventures, like it knew we were on our last dive, it came right to Mark and I kinda crazy, almost ran right into us!! We have been pretty lucky along the way seeing sun fish, manta rays, sea turtles and the rarest of the rare whale shark!! WOW, we might have to go from ski patrollers to dive masters!!
Now by night ferry, bus and plane we have made to the far north jungle of Chang Mai, Thialand. We're doing well - we're starting to get a bit anxious to be home - but not quite ready yet (although we're bummed that we're missing The Heard
http://www.myspace.com/theheardrecords (the band from our wedding) play a huge show at the Eldo ( a bar in town ) for the Vinotok festival (
pics from 2 years ago)- the one where they burn the grump... pretty big deal that they're headlining that night - we're proud - and sad to not be there. We miss Charley too....:(
We're taking a Thai cooking class tomorrow - mountain biking on Friday and working with elephants on Saturday... it should be fun. I think we'll then head to Cambodia for 2 or 3 days and then head back to Bangkok to fly out to Hong Kong and then back home - can't believe it's almost over!
Again we have a massive upload of photos to go along with this massive posting.
ENJOY!!
Here's a small dose of pictures: Gili Trawangan - Lombok Indonesia
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/GiliTrawanganLombokSlow computer led to a picasa glitch so we'll get more every night as we have time.
Liz and Mark
So we left the sand and sea to head north into the jungles of Thailand. Recommendations brought us to a city named Chang Mai. It's definitely not a small city but very relaxed with a lot of fun things to do!
