Bali - my last destination in South East Asia

My last stop in South East Asia is Bali - twelve days one of the most wonderful places I have ever been to. I arrived late on 19 July and knew exactly where I wanted to go to. I went to Sanur, the town I spent four and a half weeks in 2001. From those weeks I haven't any pictures because I lost my camera. I remembered a lot though and know I am happy that I took a hell of a lot of pictures during the last twelve days. I checked into a guesthouse and took some money (I was a millionaire at that time 1.500.000 Rupiah :) and checked out the next bar for the first drink. The next day I looked for the house we stayed at in 2001 without any map, just by memories - and after one hour of walking I did find the place. I rang the bell and the same nice person opened the gate who used to prepare a fresh mango juice for me every morning. I was very happy! The next morning I left for Ubud which is further in the north. There you will find palm tree forests and the most beautiful rice fields ever. I had a nice guest house up there for the next six days and spent most of the time with locals and in the Putra Bar, the only place to meet people in Ubud. I did several excursions on a motorcycle from there...went to Mount Batur, a vulcano that last erupted in 1945, got to meet a local's family where I ate Balinese style, i.e. with fingers - and hey, that is not as easy as it sounds, I made a big mess :) After that we went fishing at the black lava beach where I bought a 2.5 kg heavy tuna fish. They made it for me at night over an open fire in the guest house - that was so cool. I learned about them, their culture, Hinduism etc. And even though they have strict rules in Hinduism the teenies in the end behave like "Western" teenies *g* I had a great time in Ubud and stayed a day longer as planned. From there, one of the locals took me to Seminyak with his motorcycle. Seminyak is north of Kuta (the most aweful place on Bali...) and has a nice beach and high waves. On my way back from the beach on the first day here I saw some desperate Austrian girls looking for accommodation. So I told them where I stay and we ended up being neighbours. That night we went out to get some drinks and with one of the girls I ended up going to Kuta to the Bounty Disco (a disco that looks like an old sailing ship). We had lots of fun there and walked back at 5 o'clock, went to the beach and into the water, came back, had some more beers and went to bed at half past eight - she in hers and I in mine :). I had great fun!!! The next day started late and I realized that I had troubles with my stomach. First I thought it was because of the alcohol, now I know that my stomach is screwed up...I do not what, but I hope it is getting better soon. Today I went to Putra Tanah Lot, a temple on a big stone in the sea. There I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets in my life - just amazing! I wanted to take pictures but unfortunately my batteries were empty...Luckily I met a nice Korean couple who borrowed me some and as soon as I put the pics online you can see what I mean. Tomorrow is my last day here and I will visit another temple which is situated on a cliff - very beautiful. If you plan your next vacation: Think of going to Bali, it is a very wonderful place!!! In about 24 hours I will change continents and go to Australia...

Singapur - a city, a country, and an island

The last three days of our travel, Uli and I spent in Singapur. The ride with the nightbus was rather annoying. It was a very comfortable bus being also a host to many small cockroaches crawling all over the place leaving at midnight. At 3:30a.m. we had to "check out" from Malaysia and some thirty minutes later we "checked into" Singapur going through the same procedure when we came from Thailand to Malaysia. We arrived really tired at ten to five and walked our way to Little India where we luckily found some drunken Irish guys who were sitting in front of their guesthouse. It had a small area with bean bags and they let us in (you needed a key for that) and we spent the rest of the night on the bean bags. Surprisingly, as the hall filled with people, nobody really cared about us and we had nothing to pay for that "overnight stay". So we checked into the most expensive of all guesthouses we have had so far and went up to our beds placed in a dormatory. The price included breakfast and we had a kitchen, a pool table, and free Internet access (which broke down most of the time - maybe that is why it was for free :) I liked the guesthouse a lot and I think it was one you find everywhere in Australia. I am looking forward to that. The other half of the first day we spent in Orchard Road, once again a street full of malls. Which was good because I tried to wash my shoes in the guesthouse, with real soap to get rid of the bad smell of mud and jungle, when I had to realize that the part where your food stands on started to dissolve. So I just threw them away and got new Vans for just 25 Euros - lucky me :) Uli and I decided to go to the movies at night to watch Pirates of the Caribbean II and so we bought two tickets. The movie started at 10 p.m. and we wanted to buy some popcorn. We standing in line when Uli suddenly said: "Look Jan, I think we know those two!" pointing at a guy and a girl waiting in the line next to us. I did not believe what I saw there - we said good-bye to them in Tama Negara being sure we would never see them again and then, somewhere in Singapur, we meet again those two in South Korea Studying Germans...So we spent the night with them and as it turned out, they lived in a guesthouse next door to ours...We got to bed really late that night. The next day we again did some sightseeing, sneaked into a 60 story high building to enjoy the breathtaking view over Singapur (Thanx Maggi for sharing this "secret place" with us) and walked along some nice buildings ending up in a former WW2-Bunker where the Singapurians decided to surrender to Japan in 1942. I have to admit that I did not think that Singapur was as clean as everybody says eventhough you have those high fines for littering. At some points we saw ten signs telling you what you are not supposed to be doing always telling you the fine if you still did it. There was one telling you if you rode a bike at that place you are fined 500 Euros - imagine that in Freiburg - all students would go bankrupt :) The next day was Wednesday - the day Uli and I had to say good-bye. It came so suddenly and at this point once again: Thank you very much Uli for the last ten and a half weeks. I had a great time with you and was happy about the bracelet you gave me. Hope you got one for you too :) Keep in touch body! Later I made my way to the airport, bought to beers from my last Singapurian dollars and went on the plane to Bali - all by myself :(...

Kuala Lumpur - a great city

We arrived early in the morning with the night train at KL Sentral. The night was loud because the door between our and the next car was broken. Very tired we took a taxi and checked into Wheeler's Guesthouse, a place those to in South Korea studying Germans recommended to us. Indeed it was a nice place at a reasonable price, just near China Town. Kuala Lumpur is a shopping paradise - you can walk for kilometers through malls which are connected to each other without seeing daylight or getting wet in one of those monsoon rainfalls. We spent quite some time in those and I bought a new MP3 player and an electronic shaver. I just cannot live without my music although I have to admit that it is time for new songs because listening to the same over and over again is annoying in the end. On the first day in KL we went to the Patronas Tower, the second largest building in the world (after a skyscraper in Taipee). This building is just amazing - Uli and I just love those towers. Interestinly, the architecture embodies designs of the number one religion in Malaysia - the Islam. We decided to rather get on the observation deck of the TV tower because it was higher than the one in the Patrona Towers. We did that the same night trying to catch the sunset but unfortunately some Malay told us the wrong way and we were almost to late. When we arrived at the top we could still see the sun - a red ball surrounded by fog. We spent quite some time up there and enjoyed the view on the lightened city below. From there we went home and enjoyed the Internet in our guesthouse and a beer on its roof top bar before we went to bed. The next day we again did some sightseeing, looked at a mosque near by and a building belonging to the sultan. Malaysia has 13 provinces ruled by nine sultans and four ministers. Every five years a king is elected from the sultans (just some information input :). From there we tried to catch a bus a big park and while we were looking for a bus stop to Malay girls were passing us in a car, yelling at us "handsome, handsome". So I said to Uli: "Hey, they at the red light - let them take us to the park." And so we asked them if they could take us and so they did. In the park was some "Flora and Founa Faire" so it was full with poeple. Later we went to China Town at bought some fake music CDs and DVDs as well as clothing. I have not heard anything of Uli yet if he arrived safely in Gemany - I hope the custom did not bust him for a backpack full of fakes :) After that we again enjoyed a beer on the roof top bar...The next night we left for Singapur with a night bus. I love Kuala Lumpur and I love Malaysia. I was really surprised by realizing that Malaysia is far ahead of Thailand concering infrastructure, transport, and in terms of Western influences. The most impressive issue about Malaysia is that Indians, Chinese, and Malay embodying the three big religions Islam, Hindu, and Christian, live together peacefully!!!

Tama Negara National Park

We took the so called "jungle train" from Kota Bahru in the north to Jerantut - a ten hour train ride (yet a short distance) leading through the jungle. It sounds better than it is because in the end it is just trees passing you by. By then we were luckily some trained travellers - whenever you go to South East Asia be sure to have long sleve pants and shirts with you even though it is 35 degrees outside. Why? Because they tend to try every time how cold the air conditioning can actually be. Well prepared we were still freezing our a.. of. Being overwhelmed by the heat when we got off in Jerantut we had to take another bus for 60 kilometers to get to the national park. This time we were sweating because there were just some windows...Once we arrived we looked for a nice hostel and on our way, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, we met these two in South Korea studying German guys we met on Ko Tao. Big surprise because they wanted to travel some other places. So we hung out with them, yet in another guesthouse because their's was booked out. The same night we did a four-wheel-drive nightsafari trying to spot some animals. I really do not get the point of it: Having a big torch in your hand you wait until you see the light being reflected in an animal's eyes. Being happy about finding one you try to figure out what it is. In the end you never know because they run or fly away...seriously, I am not made for this. But hey, we saw a leopard like looking cat and some birds - congratulations :) The next day we hiked with those two Germans to a cave, took our torches and a lighter to get rid of the annoying leeches (we were used to them by that time and continued the hike - not like in Thailand were we paniced and ran back :). The cave was great! Sometimes you could walk, sometimes you had to climb up some stones, and sometimes you had to crawl. Very soon we came to a spot at which we were not so sure whether we should continue our expedition or not. In front of us was a new chamber in which hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of bats were hanging on the stones having decorated the stones below them with bat sh.. :) In the end we agreed to continue, saw more bats, and more bats until we arrived at a point at which we all decided to better turn around. A great experience!!! In the afternoon Uli and I took a boatride up the river to get to our overnight hide where we again wanted to spot some animals. The scenery was very nice and also the 45 minute trek was ok with almost no leeches. The overnight hide is somewhere in the jungle, you get there before dark, make some dinner (Uli and I chose toast with cheese-just keep it simple :) and stay up all night to see if some creature far away is reflecting the light. I went to bed at some point because at that point we haven't seen any animal. But hey, it was fun talking to the other people, trying to get a fire started to cook some water and using the same fire to toast our toast. The next morning we started early to hike all the way back to the headquaters. It was supposed to be a five hour hike but Uli and I were in a hurry because we had to catch the last boat out of the national park and still wanted to do the longest canopy walk in the world. So we just needed four hours, however, this time tons of leeches hanging on to our skin sucking all our blood supplies. Once we arrived we got rid of them and hurried to the canopy walk. Done that in one hour and hurried again to the boat, taking us three hours through a wonderful scenery back to Jerantut were we took the night train to Kuala Lumpur.

The Perhansian Islands

The way to those islands in the west was one of those scary ones again. The worst part was the moment when we arrived at a construction place with our minivan as one of the workers directed us onto the lanes that belonged to the traffic coming from the front. First we thought those cars would know but soon we had to realize that they would and kept on speeding on that highway similar road. Everybody in the van kept sitting up right and very tight and it really was a good feeling to get back on our lanes. In the end we arrived safely in paradise after a 1.5 hour long boatride. We stayed on the smaller islands because it is made for backpackers (considering the price level). There were no cars, no roads, no motorcycles - just some beaches and a lot of jungle. The first night we stayed at D'Lagoon, a beach with only one guesthouse. No bars, no restaurants...just mosquitos and the guesthouse. In the morning we rented some snorkling equipment and walked to the turtle beach. What expected us there was amazing. I am used to diving and have never snorkeled before. We just walked from the beach into the water, put on mask, snorkel and fins and started our little journey. The water was really shallow and you could touch everything (which you of course do not do!!!) and with us were tons of small and bigger colorful fishes. And hey, we were still close to the beach. At one point I yelled to Uli: "Hey Uli, I saw a shark, come here, hurry!" And indeed, I did see a shark for the first time in my life - a black tip shark. The locals call them friendly sharks and it was really hard to follow them because they were fast swimmers. After we came out of the water we were still amazed and wanted to go snorkeling at our D'Lagoon beach. And so we did, seeing more beautiful fishes, more sharks, and hoped to see a turtle (unfortunately we did not). Therefore, we saw big double headed butterfly fishes, humangous in size! But I also like those small trumpet fishes swimming just below the surface...In the afternoon, already a little sun burnt (the first one on my trip) we took a taxi boat to Long Beach which had some more guesthouses and also some bars helping us to socialize during the next days. The guesthouse we found sucked big time!!! Just run down and we better not talk about the showers and toilet. We got used to a lot and I for sure will use any toilet in Germany but that was just below everything. And once again we were lucky: some local working in a shop let us use his shower. He was cool and so we booked a snorkling trip for the next day. Nothing much to say - just the same beautiful nature as before. The water was so clear and blue which I have never seen in my life before and which I will never forget! If you make it to Malaysia one day be sure to go to those Islands - we even met honeymooners :) Additional to all those fishes we even saw a turtle...Of course we had to use the bars also and so we did. The first night there was nice and it was the day for the Germany - Portugal game. I did not want to see because we had to get up early for the snorkeling but I met some nice girls from Stuttgart and so we watched the game - luckily without overtime and penalty shot out. One night we went to another beach to enjoy some BBQ fish for dinner and we had to accomplish a 10 minute walk through the jungle to get to the other side of the island. It was not a big deal to get there but we forgot our torches for the way back (no more daylight at that time) and additionally it started raining - big drops...So we had to wait but at one point decided to go anyway as we did not want to spent the rest of the night there. And so we did, using my cell phone to give at least some light. The path was just one big puddle and half way my cell phone would not work anymore. We finaly made it, being still scared of snakes and leeches and again, luck was with us and nothing happened. It was a good preparation for our next destination though - the Tama Negara National Park.

The Cameron Highlands

The Cameron Highlands was the best place to get away from the freakin' hot climate at Malaysia's beaches with far over 35 degrees and a humidity which was not human at all. We spent the next nights on 1600 meters with a temperature of some 10 to 15 degrees at night. That gave me reason to finally try my new sleeping bag and hey, it is a great one. And guess the colors: It is black and, jep, correct, YELLOW :) The Highlands were not only cool but at the same time very beautiful. The first night we watched the game Germany - Italy and stayed up until six in the morning. Lets not talk about it any more...So we slept in the next day and in the afternoon we made our way to the nearest highest summet on 2031 meters. The trek led us once again through jungle looking forests (even though the locals call it Mountane Forest) luckily without any leeches which we were to meet some other place in Malaysia. Arriving on the top we had to find a way home and I told Uli: "Hey, don't worry, somebody will take us...Lets just hitchhike once again." There was exactly one car at the top. The family from Kuala Lumpur was really nice and rich and we could enjoy a 12 kilometer lift home in a car with air con and leather seats. We made some stops to take great pictures of the tea plantations, designing most of the mountains surfaces. We spent most of the nights in our great Guesthouse with a couple of beers. For the next day we booked a half-day excursion to have a look at a Boh Tea Factory, a butterfly garden with all sorts of colorful butterflies (I remember my brother tearing them appart when he was younger), a honey-bee farm, and a temple. The tea plantation was great, it is just a nice view on those small tea trees and quite interesting how they make tea out of it. Boh Tea produces four million kilograms tea each year equaling 5.5 million tea cups a day - unbelievable. The temple was not to great - Thailand definately has the most precious ones. Right in front of the temple of a line of Chinese people and we first thought they would be waiting to get into the temple. Luckily not - they were waiting to see that one holy priest telling them what they were suffering from and curing them at the same time....strange, strange....At Mr. Boh Tea's souvenir shop Uli and I bought some Teacino with vanilla taste and enjoyed that the next weeks with our breakfast. Try it, if you can get it. In the afternoon we did a short trek with two British girls (sometimes I think the British don't like their country because there are tons of them travelling South East Asia :) The next day we left for paradise...

George Town - Our first stop in Malaysia

We left Ko Tao with one of those touristy Catamarans taking us to the mainland where we caught the nighttrain to Butterworth. The ride was extremely fast and wet and so we thought it was a good idea to sit inside. We arrived the next morning in Georgetown after a comfortable, air-conditioned overnight train ride. Early in the morning we had to get off the train to "check out" from Thailand and "check in" to Malaysia. The scariest part was again the custom but as always they did not want to see our bags being already filled up with fake Billabong and Quicksilver cloths :) There is nothing much to tell about Georgetown. It is situated on the Penang Island and already the ride with the ferry from the mainland revealed that it is not a very beautiful place. We stayed there for two nights in a guesthouse with one of those over friendly and "never stop talking" owners. The best of Georgetown was the mall with tons of shops. I got my glasses repaired there because one of those nose things broke. A few days later the thing keeping it on your ear broke of and so my glasses are now back in Germany and are hopefully repaired soon. The next day we went on Penang Hill with a Swiss-made Mountain train. We saw a humangous lizzard and enjoyed the cool breeze and the view over Penang Island. But that was about it and so we left for the Cameron Highlands the next morning...

The Thai Islands: Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngang, and Ko Tao

After all this travelling Uli and I were really looking forward for the relaxing beach-sea-palmtree-party atmosphere on the islands in south-eastern Thailand. We did have a great time and some nice accommodation, too, almost luxury considering a backpacker that has a pool. The most time we spent on Ko Pha Ngang where we met some Canadian and English guys with whome we played beachvolleyball every day. On the first day I did well, however, my body was hurting for the rest of the stay. Arms were sore, my toes swallen, my knees got some wounds (and hey, Uli also turned into a crippl :) but now we are fine again. The rest of the time we just relaxed, read books, wrote postcards, watched some soccer games on big screens set up on the beach, and had some fun. On Ko Tao I extended my diving skills I first achieved on Bali. I did the Open Diver Advance Course and did five dives. One went down to 30 Meters and another one was during the night. A torch led your way and it was real fun to wake up the fishes :) During another dive I lost my left fin because some 20 cm fish would not let me alone and suck onto my legs. So I got a little bit nervous, started panicking and kicking around, and yeah lost my fin because of this small "sucker". Please do not tell anybody this story or otherwise the people might think I am this "whiner" sort of kind *g* We really enjoyed the islands, met lots of people and ended our Thailand experience with the success of the German team of Argentina. Iam sure we win the tournament by now. Who are the Italians?!?!? Tonight in about three hours our nighttrain to Malaysia, Georgetown, is leaving and takes about 14,5 hours. Let's see what Malaysia has to offer?!