After our not-so-sunny days on the islands of Southern Thailand, we had to divert our plans due to some pretty terrible flooding -the worst in 10 years. We ended up flying from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur and so begins our Malayzing experience (that was Andrew's contribution).
KL was a pretty cool city. We spent most of our time there in malls. Yep, regular, unexciting shopping malls. I don't really know why. Anyway, we did go up the Petronas towers (which happen to loom over a mall....this may have had something to do with it) which are something like the 3rd tallest buildings in the world. AND explore the city quite extensively on foot. This was interspersed of course with the eating of delicious food and the buying of pretty things. :)
After KL, we ventured about 150km south to the UNESCO World Heritage town of Melaka which was a pretty cool place to wander and hang out....After KL, came Singapore. They speak singlish there, just put lah at the end of sentences. It was great to visit Jon and get some well needed R&R. There weren't all that many things to see in Singapore ....but we did take part in the mandatory drinking of a Singapore Sling at Raffles hotel, and had a pretty decent night out.
After Singapore, May left us :( But she is now in China visiting the Terracotta Army which I guess is pretty cool.
Andrew and I (once again) detoured from our original plans for Indonesia because of the volcano eruption and recent earthquake. We made the sacrifice and flew directly to Bali, with our new plans including Bali, the Gili Islands and Lombok.
I went surfing in Bali! Ha, I only stood up 3.5 times in the entire lesson but I'm going to call it surfing anyway. It was really really fun! Also, we stayed in a very very sketchy place and there were bed bugs and it was not pleasant. Anyway, after surfing in Kuta we went to Toya Bungkah to climb a volcano. It almost killed me, but we woke up at 4 am and hiked up in time for sunrise which was absolutely stunning. It was probably worth it. Ha!
Following our volcano trek, we made our way to the Gilis (Gili Trawangan and Gili Air specifically). These are tiny, car-free islands between Bali and Lombok. We had a few good days of leisurely bike riding, lazy afternoons on the beach, and some pretty awesome snorkelling...with turtles!!!!
We are now in Lombok and you are caught up!!! Tomorrow we fly to Tarakan, before crossing the border into Malaysia.
We've been travelling for 83 days. 29 left to go. We're tired and smelly (well, not that smelly)....but we're having fun, damn it!
That's all for now.x
Wednesday 24 November 2010
Monday 1 November 2010
La Cambodge...and forward on to Thailand
A few days ago marked our halfway point! Wooohooo. I can't believe we're already there; although, at the same time I feel like I've been travelling for ages...
Anyway, in Cambodia we spent 4 or 5 days in Phnom Penh and then moved up to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) and onto Battambang before crossing into Thailand. I mentioned the poverty in Cambodia in my last post--I think it was a lot more blatant there than the other places we've been. I suppose I shouldn't be shocked since the whole society was basically decimated through the overspill of the Vietnam war + the onslaught of the Khmer rouge regime. The place is full of contrast: immensely rich history of the Angkor (the temples were AMAZING), the nauseating story of the civil war, incredibly friendly and happy people, extreme poverty -it was actually overwhelming (if you can't tell by the mood of my last check in). We visited the killing fields and S-21 prison where over 20,000 people were brutally tortured and massacred under the Khmer Rouge. Contrary to the more reserved style of memorial we are used too, these places were fairly nauseating with pieces of human bone and clothing still marking the sites of mass graves and uncensored photographs of the regimes' victims. The Khmer Rouge targeted anyone who appeared/was rummored to educated in any way -and it only took place in the 70s.
On a more enjoyable note, we also visited the national museum and royal palace in Phnom Penh and a Silk farm later in Siem Reap. Angkor Wat was basically hours of exploring ruins and temples (think Tomb Raider) and they have DELICIOUS street food everywhere we went in Cambodia.
On our way out, back into Thailand, there was quite a bit of flooding . This led to a few long bus journeys, a stretch of 20 odd people crammed into one minibus (with luggage) and ultimately a random car with 6 people for the 2 hour drive to the border.
After revisiting Bangkok, we headed south to the islands on the Eastern Gulf. Its pretty stormy (so not as good as it sounds)...BUT we did have an awesome day of snorkelling on Koh Tao. I got a sun burn. I look like a lobster.
Moving on, we are now stranded on Koh Phangan. Yep, no boats. The waves are too big and all the ferries have been cancelled. I guess there are worse things than being stranded on a tropical island off the coast of Thailand -even if its raining :) I think it is safe to add this to the list of things that would never happen back in Canada.
Anyway, in Cambodia we spent 4 or 5 days in Phnom Penh and then moved up to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) and onto Battambang before crossing into Thailand. I mentioned the poverty in Cambodia in my last post--I think it was a lot more blatant there than the other places we've been. I suppose I shouldn't be shocked since the whole society was basically decimated through the overspill of the Vietnam war + the onslaught of the Khmer rouge regime. The place is full of contrast: immensely rich history of the Angkor (the temples were AMAZING), the nauseating story of the civil war, incredibly friendly and happy people, extreme poverty -it was actually overwhelming (if you can't tell by the mood of my last check in). We visited the killing fields and S-21 prison where over 20,000 people were brutally tortured and massacred under the Khmer Rouge. Contrary to the more reserved style of memorial we are used too, these places were fairly nauseating with pieces of human bone and clothing still marking the sites of mass graves and uncensored photographs of the regimes' victims. The Khmer Rouge targeted anyone who appeared/was rummored to educated in any way -and it only took place in the 70s.
On a more enjoyable note, we also visited the national museum and royal palace in Phnom Penh and a Silk farm later in Siem Reap. Angkor Wat was basically hours of exploring ruins and temples (think Tomb Raider) and they have DELICIOUS street food everywhere we went in Cambodia.
On our way out, back into Thailand, there was quite a bit of flooding . This led to a few long bus journeys, a stretch of 20 odd people crammed into one minibus (with luggage) and ultimately a random car with 6 people for the 2 hour drive to the border.
After revisiting Bangkok, we headed south to the islands on the Eastern Gulf. Its pretty stormy (so not as good as it sounds)...BUT we did have an awesome day of snorkelling on Koh Tao. I got a sun burn. I look like a lobster.
Moving on, we are now stranded on Koh Phangan. Yep, no boats. The waves are too big and all the ferries have been cancelled. I guess there are worse things than being stranded on a tropical island off the coast of Thailand -even if its raining :) I think it is safe to add this to the list of things that would never happen back in Canada.
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