I made it to Kota Kinabalu (KK) with no problem after a 5 hour layover in Jakarta. I met a Malay girl on the plane and we decided to go to the same hostel and split the cab ride. She took me out for a "local" dinner, which was actually pretty good! I don't know that I would have eaten whatever it was that we ate on my own...so I am glad she knew what it was! (soup, some sort of pork with a bread-like fried soy bean thing, and some type of flour pastry - fried of course). Welcome to KK. :)
The next day, I walk the city a bit and figure out how to make my way to Mt. Kinabalu - the highest point in SE Asia standing at 4095 meters. I jump in a small van that leaves when it is full to head to the base of the mountain. After a crazy, squeaky (the van made noises like it was about to break down), curvy, fast drive, I was happy to get out of the van at the park headquarters. (what is with crazy drivers in SE Asia?!)
Of course there is some sort of group in house, and they are sold out of rooms. Not to worry, I walk about a kilometer down the road to some other (dive) place and get a dorm room to myself. Now it's dark and about 8pm and NOTHING is around except stray dogs that bark and try to follow you, so I settle in for an early night...its going to be a big day tomorrow.
I get up early to grab some breakfast and hang out at the headquarters to try and join a small group so I don't have to pay the guide fee myself. It's not long before I meet a Slovenian couple that doesn't mind at all if I join them. We are on the trail around 9am, and begin our 2500 meter, 6K climb. We establish in the beginning to go our own pace, so after the first K, I don't see them again until the top. It's a cloudy day so you can't see much on the way up, but I was so focused on the trail that I might not have enjoyed it anyway! It was a steep climb, with huge steps and a bit of scrambling. I make it to the rest house (where we sleep) in just under 3 hours, and then realized why people start hiking around 11 or 12... There is nothing to do up there...especially since it had just started to rain as I was 1 K from the top, and then down poured once I was inside. Oh yeah, and they don't turn the heat on until 8pm to save power, and they don't run the hot water until 3pm). It wasn't the warmest inside. I am sure that lodge makes a killing off of warm drinks. It was also super windy, which was actually a good thing - it blew the clouds away by 5ish so we could see a beautiful sunset (although it was still way too cold to go outside). Dinner was served at 5, and by 8 they were starting to save power again (because they were finally going to turn on the heat) which pretty much sent everyone to bed - it was going to be an early morning anyway to make it to the summit for sunrise.
Most people left between 2:30-3 to make it the last 2 K to the top... my group and a few others left around 4 so we wouldn't be early. You could hear the wind howling outside, and it just got worse the higher you got - so to be early is to freeze! I thought the hike up was actually pretty fun...the first part had some super steep stairs (just like climbing a ladder), then once we hit the rock face, there were ropes guiding us the rest of the way. It was more of a scramble in some places, which is an adventure with a head lamp! Don't worry, there's no way to get lost as long as you kept the rope in sight. I took shelter behind a huge rock just before the top to wait for the sunrise, then ducked to the other side of the ridge to be protected from the wind to watch the sun come up. The wind is so strong - the clouds are ripping up and over the ridge line hiding the sunrise for a few seconds, then blowing through so we could see it again - it keeps going like this the whole time we are up there. After 15 minutes or so, we decide it is to freezing to stay up there, so now that it is light we start to hurry down. Once my fingers thaw, I slow down to take a few more pictures, then head in for breakfast (Sorry no pics yet, haven't found a fast enough computer! I will post them once I get home). By 8:30am we start to head down (I am now with a new group since the Slovenian couple wasn't having very much fun and left early).
The people in this group decide it is a great idea to go to the hot springs about 45 min away - which is perfect! I was thinking about spending a night in Pouring (where the hot springs were) but it turns out an hour there is enough! We make it back to KK by dinnertime.
Tomorrow I am headed off to explore 3 of the 5 islands in the South China Sea, and hopefully see some turtles!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Kuta, Lombok (22nd to 25th)
I head out for what is supposed to be the most stunning coastline of Lombok the morning of the 22nd. This time it is only 1/2 day of travel! :) I rent a scooter with one of the Germans and a couple Canadians, and we go off to explore the beaches and surf. The main reason people come here I guess is to surf...but since I don't surf - I enjoy watching the surfers! :) The coastline and the beaches really are stunning - and riding a scooter through it all, soaking in the local life is the best!
It was an awesome, mellow three days enjoying the sun, surf, beaches, and good food. Plus, I got pretty good at riding my scooter (good thing it was an automatic)!
Now I am off to Kota Kinabalu to hike and see some turtles before I head home in a week!
It was an awesome, mellow three days enjoying the sun, surf, beaches, and good food. Plus, I got pretty good at riding my scooter (good thing it was an automatic)!
Now I am off to Kota Kinabalu to hike and see some turtles before I head home in a week!
Gili Trawangan (19th-21st)
On the 19th, I caught a bus at 6 am to catch a ferry at 11am, to catch another bus when the ferry got in, to another boat! It was a full day of travel - but most of it was actually enjoyable. (I love boat rides). We got to our last boat (a really long, big canoe with a motor on the back that fit about 20 people) just before sunset, and headed to our final destination, Gili Trawangan. It is the largest of three islands off the northwest coast of Lombok (the island neighboring Bali). The swells were getting bigger as it was getting darker, making for a very adventurous 30 minute ride to the island. I made a few German friends on the bus before, so we stuck together to find a place to stay on the tiny island. It reminds me a bit of Thailand but instead of the over sized wheelbarrow, the only transport on the island were horse and buggy carts. (you don't need much since its only 8km around the whole island.)
The next day, we took advantage of the horse and buggy carts and went on a tour of the island - all of an hour including stops. :) The beaches are absolutely beautiful white sand, with crystal clear water.
One of the days, I went to a neighboring island with one of the girls - Gili Meno is only a 10 minute boat ride away. (a much calmer ride then from Lombok to Gili T!) It is the middle island, much smaller, not half as much to do, and almost as beautiful. It would be perfect if you wanted to get away from everything for awhile. We were happy being there for a few hours... :)
It was a short, beautiful stay on the island!
The next day, we took advantage of the horse and buggy carts and went on a tour of the island - all of an hour including stops. :) The beaches are absolutely beautiful white sand, with crystal clear water.
One of the days, I went to a neighboring island with one of the girls - Gili Meno is only a 10 minute boat ride away. (a much calmer ride then from Lombok to Gili T!) It is the middle island, much smaller, not half as much to do, and almost as beautiful. It would be perfect if you wanted to get away from everything for awhile. We were happy being there for a few hours... :)
It was a short, beautiful stay on the island!
Volunteering part 2
I visited the orphanage 4 different times, teaching yoga, English (as much as I could), and playing games. Every time I walked in the door, I was greeted with tons of hugs - the kids were just so excited to have someone new that would give them attention.
Mostly, I worked with the 5- 8 year olds, trying to teach them new songs, words, and yoga moves. The first couple days were tiring because their attention span wasn't very long - especially with a different language! But they caught on pretty well, and they ended up teaching me a few new games :)
The last day, a few other women from the yoga retreat came with me, and we brought ingredients for banana splits! The kids were a bit shy at first, until they realized what it was! It was a fun day of eating ice cream and playing games. We had to go in the kitchen to prepare the bananas, and realized how little they live on! Every day farmers donate rice and veggies, and then the manager (Ketut) goes to buy a little meat and fruit. There is literally nothing left over in the kitchen.
Before we left, I gave Ketut the donation (from you guys) and he was so grateful - he gave me a huge hug and couldn't stop talking about how much it was going to help the children. They are in the process of building a new sleeping room with bunk beds for the kids (now they sleep on the floor (on pads) in a community room). I saw the group effort as I left one day as the kids were carrying the bricks in - the little girls had 2 bricks, and the bigger boys had 5-7 bricks! Because of our donation, the room will be done, and furnished in a couple weeks! (the money will also go towards their meals) Yeah!
Doing yoga was great - but visiting the orphanage was definitely the highlight of the week.
Mostly, I worked with the 5- 8 year olds, trying to teach them new songs, words, and yoga moves. The first couple days were tiring because their attention span wasn't very long - especially with a different language! But they caught on pretty well, and they ended up teaching me a few new games :)
The last day, a few other women from the yoga retreat came with me, and we brought ingredients for banana splits! The kids were a bit shy at first, until they realized what it was! It was a fun day of eating ice cream and playing games. We had to go in the kitchen to prepare the bananas, and realized how little they live on! Every day farmers donate rice and veggies, and then the manager (Ketut) goes to buy a little meat and fruit. There is literally nothing left over in the kitchen.
Before we left, I gave Ketut the donation (from you guys) and he was so grateful - he gave me a huge hug and couldn't stop talking about how much it was going to help the children. They are in the process of building a new sleeping room with bunk beds for the kids (now they sleep on the floor (on pads) in a community room). I saw the group effort as I left one day as the kids were carrying the bricks in - the little girls had 2 bricks, and the bigger boys had 5-7 bricks! Because of our donation, the room will be done, and furnished in a couple weeks! (the money will also go towards their meals) Yeah!
Doing yoga was great - but visiting the orphanage was definitely the highlight of the week.
Bali part 2
The rest of the yoga retreat was fantastic! We continued practicing every morning and evening...the class is a bit slower than what I am used to, so it isn't hard to do it twice a day.
We took a day trip to a beautiful beach on the East coast of Bali, then went to visit a well known water temple and all of us were blessed by the Holy Man, and got to swim in the holy water (I declined) .
The Fire dance (called a Kecak dance) wasn't at all what I expected - there were candles in the middle of this outdoor temple, and about 100 men came in chanting "chuk, chuk, chuk..." with one guy leading a base line of "bop, bop, bop..." some of the others were leading a melody...some times they would wave their arms, bow forward - the most impressive thing about it was they kept it up for an hour and half!!! While they were chanting, we are entertained by 4- 6 people acting out a story of a prince that is lured away so his enemy can kidnap the princess, and Honoman (the monkey god) rescues the princess. The dancing is very slow and intentional - with small movements of their fingers, neck and eyes...definitely an interesting experience.
I am still wondering when the fire dancing is going to start, when they light a bunch of dry coconuts on fire in the middle of the floor. A guy in a trance with a straw horse over his shoulder walks in and shuffles through the fire several times before he is tackled by two of the chanters, then he is blessed by the Holy Man. So, there was the fire dance...
The other days were filled with spa treatments (an hour for $8!), shopping, beach and pool time. Ahh, the life :)
Soon I will be off to the Gili's!
We took a day trip to a beautiful beach on the East coast of Bali, then went to visit a well known water temple and all of us were blessed by the Holy Man, and got to swim in the holy water (I declined) .
The Fire dance (called a Kecak dance) wasn't at all what I expected - there were candles in the middle of this outdoor temple, and about 100 men came in chanting "chuk, chuk, chuk..." with one guy leading a base line of "bop, bop, bop..." some of the others were leading a melody...some times they would wave their arms, bow forward - the most impressive thing about it was they kept it up for an hour and half!!! While they were chanting, we are entertained by 4- 6 people acting out a story of a prince that is lured away so his enemy can kidnap the princess, and Honoman (the monkey god) rescues the princess. The dancing is very slow and intentional - with small movements of their fingers, neck and eyes...definitely an interesting experience.
I am still wondering when the fire dancing is going to start, when they light a bunch of dry coconuts on fire in the middle of the floor. A guy in a trance with a straw horse over his shoulder walks in and shuffles through the fire several times before he is tackled by two of the chanters, then he is blessed by the Holy Man. So, there was the fire dance...
The other days were filled with spa treatments (an hour for $8!), shopping, beach and pool time. Ahh, the life :)
Soon I will be off to the Gili's!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Volunteering
As most of you know, I wanted to volunteer in Bangkok and visit a woman housing and teaching kids. Well, with the protests/demonstrations, SWAT team and police all over the city, I was warned not to stray to far from the tourist area (where you would have no idea the rebels just took over the government house). So I didn't. (see, I'm being safe!)
Instead, I found a local orphanage in Bali, about a 10 minute scooter ride from the Bungalows. The program they have for the children is fantastic. There are about 20 that live there full time, and 10+ local children that are "sponsored" by the orphanage during the day for schooling and food because their families are too poor to care for them. The ages range from 6 months to 15 years.
The finances of the orphanage are completely transparent - the children know exactly what is coming in and what is going out. Any money donated goes straight to the children, and they are responsible for keeping track of how much they have and how much they spend. Each child has his/her own bank account and a sponsor (from Europe mostly) that they report their finances to on an excel spread sheet once a month! The children go to school for part of the day, help with their meals, do their daily chores, play, dance and sing. Oh yeah, and most of them speak some English! They were so excited to have us there, asking us questions (the same ones over and over), but they knew how to answer them as well!
I will be going back on Friday to teach yoga and English for a couple hours, and make a schedule of when I will be teaching the following week. :) Since the retreat group will be staying in one spot for the whole time (we were going to be going to the beach for 5 days), it will be easy to see the kids as often as I want!
For those of you that donated money, I hope you don't mind donating it to these children instead of the ones in Bangkok! I can't tell you how impressed I am with this program and the foresight it has for the kids! I will keep you posted on how it goes :)
Instead, I found a local orphanage in Bali, about a 10 minute scooter ride from the Bungalows. The program they have for the children is fantastic. There are about 20 that live there full time, and 10+ local children that are "sponsored" by the orphanage during the day for schooling and food because their families are too poor to care for them. The ages range from 6 months to 15 years.
The finances of the orphanage are completely transparent - the children know exactly what is coming in and what is going out. Any money donated goes straight to the children, and they are responsible for keeping track of how much they have and how much they spend. Each child has his/her own bank account and a sponsor (from Europe mostly) that they report their finances to on an excel spread sheet once a month! The children go to school for part of the day, help with their meals, do their daily chores, play, dance and sing. Oh yeah, and most of them speak some English! They were so excited to have us there, asking us questions (the same ones over and over), but they knew how to answer them as well!
I will be going back on Friday to teach yoga and English for a couple hours, and make a schedule of when I will be teaching the following week. :) Since the retreat group will be staying in one spot for the whole time (we were going to be going to the beach for 5 days), it will be easy to see the kids as often as I want!
For those of you that donated money, I hope you don't mind donating it to these children instead of the ones in Bangkok! I can't tell you how impressed I am with this program and the foresight it has for the kids! I will keep you posted on how it goes :)
Bali
I am the last one of the group to arrive, at 7pm Monday night. I am greeted by a Balinese man named Yoman (yo man!), and he takes me the 40 min drive to Ubud Bungalows. (You might have guessed we were jamming to his ipod in his tricked out ghetto van - complete with DVD player on the way there!). I am greeted by Patrick (one of the organizers) and a young coconut for a refreshment. Ahhh, what a difference from KL! After I get my information packet for the week, I am shown to my room (yes, my bags are already there). I get my own private bungalow with A/C! Not the kind that might have mice in the walls either - the kind where there is a flower on my turned down bed, and and on the towels in the bathroom (with warm shower)! Ok, I will be spoiled for the next 8 nights. :)
Our schedule is yoga every morning at 7:30 (yikes!), breakfast, exploring, yoga at 4:30, then dinner. So we pretty much do yoga, eat, walk, eat, yoga, and eat - sounds healthy, right? Especially since most of the food is fried...oh well :)
There are 11 other women on this retreat, all ages, from all over. (Canada, New York, Hawaii and several places in between)
We have several choices of what to do with our free time. The first day I had Patrick take me to the local orphanage (see the volunteering post). The second day, a few of us went to the local Elephant safari park - we got to ride, pet and feed the elephants! Tomorrow we will be headed to a beach for the day to do yoga and enjoy the sun. Other events will be a Balinese fire dancing dinner, a local ceremony, more dinners with the locals, and volunteering. Ahhh, I am so glad to be here!
Our schedule is yoga every morning at 7:30 (yikes!), breakfast, exploring, yoga at 4:30, then dinner. So we pretty much do yoga, eat, walk, eat, yoga, and eat - sounds healthy, right? Especially since most of the food is fried...oh well :)
There are 11 other women on this retreat, all ages, from all over. (Canada, New York, Hawaii and several places in between)
We have several choices of what to do with our free time. The first day I had Patrick take me to the local orphanage (see the volunteering post). The second day, a few of us went to the local Elephant safari park - we got to ride, pet and feed the elephants! Tomorrow we will be headed to a beach for the day to do yoga and enjoy the sun. Other events will be a Balinese fire dancing dinner, a local ceremony, more dinners with the locals, and volunteering. Ahhh, I am so glad to be here!
Kuala Lumpur (Sept. 6-8)
I fly into KL round 9pm Saturday night - and have no problem jumping on a bus, then a train to get to Chinatown. I meet a friend who helps me find a place to stay within a 5 minute walk from the train. By now it is 10, and it looks like the night is just beginning! (I guess it is Saturday night - its so easy to lose track of what day it is!) I join another traveller that is headed out for a night walk to explore the streets of Chinatown - which are packed! The main drag is closed to cars, and there are 4 rows of street vendors for at least 5 blocks. They are packed in so tightly, and everyone is yelling at you - trying to get you to buy everything from a Tiffany's bracelet to Prada sunglasses to Adidas shoes. I am sure its all real...haha. What in introduction to KL!
After walking for about an hour, I decided I had had enough. I headed to bed and decided to try and get out of the city the next day.
The next morning, I took a bus out to the Betu caves. They are about 13km north of the city, and you can see the limestone hills practically pop up out of nowhere well before you get there. There is a well travelled staircase to the top of the main cave (275 steps or something like that), with monkeys lining the rail! It doesn't take long at all to get to the top, and of course there is a little stand selling trinkets to tourists. Inside the cave are a couple Hindu shrines, and more monkeys! I heard they don't get mean unless you tease them and don't give them any food. Luckily people around me had enough bananas :) The monkeys would come right up to you if you had food for them - including a mom with a baby holding on for dear life to her stomach. They were so cute!
I hung out in the caves a bit and then decided to try the city again. This time I took a walk to the KL tower (very similar to the space needle, just a bit taller without such a beautiful view). After checking out the observation deck, I decided to walk back before it got dark (see, I'm being safe!) :) and check out Chinatown for dinner. I think KL is a fun city, with TONS of shopping - but I am ready to head to my yoga retreat in Bali. The next morning I meet some locals, create a business plan with them over lunch then head to the airport.
After walking for about an hour, I decided I had had enough. I headed to bed and decided to try and get out of the city the next day.
The next morning, I took a bus out to the Betu caves. They are about 13km north of the city, and you can see the limestone hills practically pop up out of nowhere well before you get there. There is a well travelled staircase to the top of the main cave (275 steps or something like that), with monkeys lining the rail! It doesn't take long at all to get to the top, and of course there is a little stand selling trinkets to tourists. Inside the cave are a couple Hindu shrines, and more monkeys! I heard they don't get mean unless you tease them and don't give them any food. Luckily people around me had enough bananas :) The monkeys would come right up to you if you had food for them - including a mom with a baby holding on for dear life to her stomach. They were so cute!
I hung out in the caves a bit and then decided to try the city again. This time I took a walk to the KL tower (very similar to the space needle, just a bit taller without such a beautiful view). After checking out the observation deck, I decided to walk back before it got dark (see, I'm being safe!) :) and check out Chinatown for dinner. I think KL is a fun city, with TONS of shopping - but I am ready to head to my yoga retreat in Bali. The next morning I meet some locals, create a business plan with them over lunch then head to the airport.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Koh Phi Phi
I took a taxi, ferry, bus, then ferry from Koh Samui to Koh Phi Phi - What a beautiful island! I booked a place to stay before hand and had them pick me up in a taxi once I got there....I walk off the ferry to a dirt road, barely wide enough for a car. Turns out their version of a taxi is an over-sized wheelbarrow that you put your bags in and someone pulls it for you! I have been here now for three days and have yet to see a car. Everything is within walking distance, and if you want to get there a little faster, you can get on a bike.
Koh Phi Phi is really two islands connected by an oversized, developed sand bar (which is why there was so much damage when the tsunami hit - there is still tons of evidence). I am staying right in between the islands in the main town. It takes all of 8 minutes to get from one beach to the other.
Its been a relaxing couple days - enjoying the sun, taking pictures (yes, one day I will put them up here), and wandering through the street shops. Today I rented a speed boat for a tour (with some other travellers) of Monkey beach, snorkeling, cliff jumping, and Maya bay (where the beach was filmed). It was teaming rain this morning, but we thought it would clear up by the afternoon when we got on the boat at 2....not the case. We went snorkeling first (yes, I went snorkeling again!!!!!) and the weather was still OK. It started to get rough, so I headed back to the boat early. We didn't see any monkeys on monkey beach, I am assuming because of the weather- I'm pretty sure I will be seeing a bunch of them in Indonesia, so I didn't mind much. Once everyone got back on the boat from snorkeling, we headed out towards Maya bay. That's when the weather turned bad again...super windy and rainy. The water was pretty rough, making for an awesome speed boat ride! Our driver obviously had done it a few times before :) We got to the bay opposite of maya bay (it was too rough to go around) and some of the guys went cliff jumping (obviously I didn't go) and then we walked over to see Maya bay (we had to swim to shore first! You might just call me a water baby here soon! haha). The bay was absolutely stunning - even though it was cloudy, rainy and windy. I can only imagine how it would be in the sun! We got straight in the bay since the water was warmer than the air by far! Maybe that's why I'm swimming...the water feels like bath water. Once we got back on the boat, we floated about in some coves for while to let the wind calm down, and made it back just fine.
Tomorrow morning I am headed to Kuala Lumpur!
lots of love!
Koh Phi Phi is really two islands connected by an oversized, developed sand bar (which is why there was so much damage when the tsunami hit - there is still tons of evidence). I am staying right in between the islands in the main town. It takes all of 8 minutes to get from one beach to the other.
Its been a relaxing couple days - enjoying the sun, taking pictures (yes, one day I will put them up here), and wandering through the street shops. Today I rented a speed boat for a tour (with some other travellers) of Monkey beach, snorkeling, cliff jumping, and Maya bay (where the beach was filmed). It was teaming rain this morning, but we thought it would clear up by the afternoon when we got on the boat at 2....not the case. We went snorkeling first (yes, I went snorkeling again!!!!!) and the weather was still OK. It started to get rough, so I headed back to the boat early. We didn't see any monkeys on monkey beach, I am assuming because of the weather- I'm pretty sure I will be seeing a bunch of them in Indonesia, so I didn't mind much. Once everyone got back on the boat from snorkeling, we headed out towards Maya bay. That's when the weather turned bad again...super windy and rainy. The water was pretty rough, making for an awesome speed boat ride! Our driver obviously had done it a few times before :) We got to the bay opposite of maya bay (it was too rough to go around) and some of the guys went cliff jumping (obviously I didn't go) and then we walked over to see Maya bay (we had to swim to shore first! You might just call me a water baby here soon! haha). The bay was absolutely stunning - even though it was cloudy, rainy and windy. I can only imagine how it would be in the sun! We got straight in the bay since the water was warmer than the air by far! Maybe that's why I'm swimming...the water feels like bath water. Once we got back on the boat, we floated about in some coves for while to let the wind calm down, and made it back just fine.
Tomorrow morning I am headed to Kuala Lumpur!
lots of love!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Ang Thong National Park
Have I mentioned how I love the convenience of being picked up at my hotel?! Well, I do. I was picked up again for another early morning to catch a boat out to Ang Thong National park. It was a beautiful hour plus boat ride with the sun shining on turquoise blue water. We arrived at the first island for a short hike up to a natural lagoon in the middle of the "mountains." The hike was actually a stair climb, with stairs practically vertical at some points - but well worth the climb to the lookout! (To get from the big boat to the beach, a longtail transported us. These boats are cracking me up! There is literally an engine on the back with an 8 foot stick and a propeller on the end.)
We jump back on the boat to head to another island, with an even higher lookout point. This climb is super steep over limestone slabs (not easy to walk on), with a rope guiding you the whole way up (thank goodness for that rope!). It took about 30 minutes to get to the top, for a fantastic view of most of the 42 islands that make up the national park. We get a few sprinkles of rain on the way up (which is actually quite refreshing) and the clouds that are rolling in only help to make the water colors that much more brilliant. After a very careful hike down (again, thank goodness for the rope!) it's time for a swim! Yes - I actually went for a swim....and a snorkel!!!! I could hardly believe I did it myself. :) AND I stayed in for more than 5 minutes (more than 15 for that matter!). Too bad the water wasn't totally clear....
Besides for the 10 min. downpour we had on the boat ride home, I enjoyed most of the ride up on the sun deck taking in my surroundings. :)
Tomorrow I am off to Koh Phi Phi! (rated the 3rd most beautiful island in the world by some book, that is still recovering a bit from the tsunami)
lots of love!!!
We jump back on the boat to head to another island, with an even higher lookout point. This climb is super steep over limestone slabs (not easy to walk on), with a rope guiding you the whole way up (thank goodness for that rope!). It took about 30 minutes to get to the top, for a fantastic view of most of the 42 islands that make up the national park. We get a few sprinkles of rain on the way up (which is actually quite refreshing) and the clouds that are rolling in only help to make the water colors that much more brilliant. After a very careful hike down (again, thank goodness for the rope!) it's time for a swim! Yes - I actually went for a swim....and a snorkel!!!! I could hardly believe I did it myself. :) AND I stayed in for more than 5 minutes (more than 15 for that matter!). Too bad the water wasn't totally clear....
Besides for the 10 min. downpour we had on the boat ride home, I enjoyed most of the ride up on the sun deck taking in my surroundings. :)
Tomorrow I am off to Koh Phi Phi! (rated the 3rd most beautiful island in the world by some book, that is still recovering a bit from the tsunami)
lots of love!!!
Koh Samui and Koh Phangan
I was picked up at my hotel early to catch my flight to Surat Thani, where I would take a bus to the ferry, and ride the ferry for an hour to Koh Samui. There were people on the other side offering you a place to stay/free ride to the other side of the island - so I jumped in a mini van with 4 others to check out "home bay". First glance this place looked fantastic! Little bungalows on the beach with a fantastic view, with your own shower! (not always common). I jumped the gun a bit, because as I was putting on my swimsuit to head to the beach I heard some scratching in the walls! ahhhh! I told the guy I thought there might be mice in the walls and he said they would take care of it. Since I was already on my way to the beach and I thought it could just be a fluke, I stayed.
Well, you can pretty much guess that I was out of there first thing in the morning (before 7am). The nice driver I found took me to "Samui Mermaid" - a fantastic, nice, clean, beautiful place a couple towns down with a swimming pool! I am glad I will be staying here for the next two nights :)
I bought my ferry ticket to go to Koh Phangan for the day (the home of the full moon parties - too bad it's a new moon!). It is an island just north of Ko Samui, about an hour ferry ride. The main town is right off the pier, with sunset and sunrise beach within 10 minutes walking. I think the island is well known for parties all the time as they are advertised all over town (the one I saw advertised was a cross dressing pool party....) and when you walk onto the pier you are welcomed with club music no matter what time you arrive. I took a stroll through town, down to white sandy beaches and found a great place for lunch looking out over the water (just as a 30 min. shower rolled through). My boat back was at 5:30, so I missed the cross dressing pool party (bummer), but I enjoyed lounging on the beaches people watching! One of the best parts of the day was being able to go back to my nice, clean, beautiful, rodent free place! :)
Well, you can pretty much guess that I was out of there first thing in the morning (before 7am). The nice driver I found took me to "Samui Mermaid" - a fantastic, nice, clean, beautiful place a couple towns down with a swimming pool! I am glad I will be staying here for the next two nights :)
I bought my ferry ticket to go to Koh Phangan for the day (the home of the full moon parties - too bad it's a new moon!). It is an island just north of Ko Samui, about an hour ferry ride. The main town is right off the pier, with sunset and sunrise beach within 10 minutes walking. I think the island is well known for parties all the time as they are advertised all over town (the one I saw advertised was a cross dressing pool party....) and when you walk onto the pier you are welcomed with club music no matter what time you arrive. I took a stroll through town, down to white sandy beaches and found a great place for lunch looking out over the water (just as a 30 min. shower rolled through). My boat back was at 5:30, so I missed the cross dressing pool party (bummer), but I enjoyed lounging on the beaches people watching! One of the best parts of the day was being able to go back to my nice, clean, beautiful, rodent free place! :)
the tour
The tour actually turned out pretty good! First, we went to a floating market via long-tail (long canoe with a motor - looks like the engine in your car, with a long propeller attached) about 2 hours away from Bangkok. Everyone piles up what they have to sell on their long-tail (w/o motor) and paddles through the canal buying/selling/trading goods. The canal isn't more than 6 boats wide, so everyone is bumping into each other trying to navigate, Thais are shouting to each other, and money/goods are passed through your boat if you are in the way. You could tell it once used to be a great way to buy/sell your goods - I am sure the 70-80 year old women who were paddling/steering the boats have watched the market change to accommodate tourists over the years and shake their heads. I am guilty of being a typical tourist at this point because the market was my favorite part about the first 3 days!
From the Market, we went another 45 min. north to the Tiger Temple. I'm not sure what I expected ( a beautiful outdoor temple, with tigers roaming around in a pristine environment - or something like that....) but I was a bit surprised. It is an outdoor sanctuary for several animals (deer, hogs, bulls, chickens...a bit random), with the tigers on a schedule where they eat/exercise in the morning, then are chained up to trees so tourists can come pet them and take pictures. By the afternoon when it is open to tourists, the tigers are practically asleep (they sleep for 18 hours a day). The volunteers take your hand (and don't let go) and take you to each tiger to get your picture taken. Of course I went along with it - and soon as I have have my camera cable and camera with me at the computer I will try to upload some pics...I do have to say it is pretty crazy petting a full gown tiger! After we had our pictures taken, we went up to see and play with the cubs (a couple months old - separated from their moms) - they were so cute!!
We went up to visit the outdoor temple (closer to what I thought it would be like), and it started to thunder and downpour rain! We sat it out a bit (rain doesn't last much longer than an hour here so far) and then ran to the bus to head home.
I have experienced a bit of the crazy Thai drives in the tuk tuks, and cabs, but our driver on the way home was something else. I always though two lanes were meant for two cars...but this guy seemed to think there was enough room on the shoulder to make a third! Changing lanes when clearly there is a car there, someone finally end up giving in and either slowing down or speeding up (mostly speeding up) and weaving through traffic while trying to avoid the scooters on the side of the road. Our 3.25 hour drive took about 2.5 hours...so you could say I didn't really get to nap on the way home.
Ahhh, can't wait to head out to the islands tomorrow!
From the Market, we went another 45 min. north to the Tiger Temple. I'm not sure what I expected ( a beautiful outdoor temple, with tigers roaming around in a pristine environment - or something like that....) but I was a bit surprised. It is an outdoor sanctuary for several animals (deer, hogs, bulls, chickens...a bit random), with the tigers on a schedule where they eat/exercise in the morning, then are chained up to trees so tourists can come pet them and take pictures. By the afternoon when it is open to tourists, the tigers are practically asleep (they sleep for 18 hours a day). The volunteers take your hand (and don't let go) and take you to each tiger to get your picture taken. Of course I went along with it - and soon as I have have my camera cable and camera with me at the computer I will try to upload some pics...I do have to say it is pretty crazy petting a full gown tiger! After we had our pictures taken, we went up to see and play with the cubs (a couple months old - separated from their moms) - they were so cute!!
We went up to visit the outdoor temple (closer to what I thought it would be like), and it started to thunder and downpour rain! We sat it out a bit (rain doesn't last much longer than an hour here so far) and then ran to the bus to head home.
I have experienced a bit of the crazy Thai drives in the tuk tuks, and cabs, but our driver on the way home was something else. I always though two lanes were meant for two cars...but this guy seemed to think there was enough room on the shoulder to make a third! Changing lanes when clearly there is a car there, someone finally end up giving in and either slowing down or speeding up (mostly speeding up) and weaving through traffic while trying to avoid the scooters on the side of the road. Our 3.25 hour drive took about 2.5 hours...so you could say I didn't really get to nap on the way home.
Ahhh, can't wait to head out to the islands tomorrow!
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