Traveling here and there, without a spare….

We are in Vietnam, slowly making our way north. We started in Ho Chi Minh City, which we liked, especially after being in Phnom Penh, although it is very busy to the point where crossing the street is a high risk activity. In Ho Chi Minh City we went to some of the “American” War museums… that’s what they call the Vietnam war:) It’s very interesting to hear stories of the Vietnam war from Vietnamese perspectives.

Hung’s friend, Thao and her girlfriend, Fung, took us out for the evening to a very nice bar with a live band. Instead of typical US bar food, they order huge plates of fruit to eat at the bar. No wonder the Vietnamese tend to be so thin. We were very lucky and won a free bar tab for the night in a bacardi promotion. I also won a free bottle of bacardi rum and some other bacardi paraphanelia because I was able to answer some bacardi trivia. Who knew I had any worthwhile alcohol knowledge.

After a few days in Ho Chi Minh City, Dan and I made our way to the beach in Mui Ne, which is a small resort town. There, we stayed at a really nice resort for only $37 US a night. It was very relaxing after the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City. Kite surfing is very popular in Mui Ne but since that kind of spending is not in the budget, we decided we would pass. Resistance proved futile though as watching people gliding through the water and doing flips convinced us that at least one of us should take the lesson. We decided that I would take the lesson as I am a better listener and that then I could teach Dan. This proved to be a stupid idea as even after 5 hours of instruction, I am in no position to teach anyone and now Dan is obsessed with becoming a pro kitesurfer:) For those of you who are not familiar with the sport of kitesurfing, the way it works is an enormous kite drags you across the ocean on a board which is slightly smaller than a surf board. It is great fun…there were a few times while practicing on land where there I got several feet of air between me and the ground because the kite would pick me up. To learn you take it step by step, first practicing flying the kite on land, then having the kite drag you through the water and then trying to get on the board. I still need some practice to stay on the board so we are going to try it again soon.

After Mui Ne, we headed north to Nha Trang, another beach town, where I must guiltily say, that we spent most of the day hanging out at a beach club, swimming in the ocean…and seeing no touristy sites other than the coast:) Next time we are there we might take a scuba diving course but we decided not to do it this time.

We just arrived in Hoi An today which has a very quaint old town which we spent the day wandering through. After passing on souvenirs for two months, Hoi An got the best of us. We purchased a few original pieces of art by a very talented local artist, and then on the way home, right after saying, “no more buying” to Dan, a cute dress pattern got the best of me and a tailor will have a new dress ready for me in the morning, exact to my size with the fabric I chose (for only $12!). Our hotel has a swimming pool so we are going to continue Vietnam’s relaxing variety of tourism tomorrow. Perhaps we will take a bike ride as well.

After Hoi An, we are heading to the cities, Hue and Hanoi. Then we will head to Laos for a few days before bidding southeast asia fairwell and heading to India and Nepal. Don’t hold us to this plan though, because as we speak, I look over at Dan’s computer and see that he is researching kite surfing venues in Thailand so maybe we will be staying in southeast asia a bit longer than expected:)

It is impossible to visit Cambodia without seeing and experiencing the sad aftermath of the 20th century civil war which culminated in the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, implemented one of the most heinous revolutions to date. The idea was to forcibly turn Cambodia into a Maoist, peasant-dominated, agrarian cooperative. During their four years in power they relocated hundreds of thousands of Cambodians to the countryside to become agricultural workers. Phnom Penh, the country’s capital, was left virtually empty. People who were educated, spoke another language, or wore glasses (thus appearing intelligent) were tourtured and killed. Food provisions were also scarce and many died of malnutrition. The Khmer Rouge soldiers were mainly children and teenagers.

We visited a high school in Phnom Penh, which was converted to a prison and torture facility by the Khmer Rouge. They had taken pictures of all the prisoners and they are now hanging in the museum. There are hundreds and hundreds of photos including many young children. The prisoners were tourtured and made to give false confessions and the vast majority were taken to the killing fields outside of Phnom Penh and executed. What is most astounding is that these atrocities were all committed for the purpose of an incredibly stupid social experiement.

Even though Cambodia is now at peace, they are not in a great position as their most educated citizens were killed and there is immense poverty and poor infrastructure and rampant corruption throughout the country. An astounding forty percent of Cambodia’s population is under the age of 15 as approximately 2 million people died during the Khmer Rouge regime. Walking around at night in Phnom Penh you see babies sleeping on the sidewalk with their mothers and young street children selling odds and ends.

Another problem that continues to plague Cambodia is the presence of landmines. As the landmines are designed to maim, not kill, thousands of people in Cambodia have lost a limb/limbs or their eye sight due to land mine accidents.

Despite all their suffering, the people of Cambodia have proven to be quite resilient and they are slowly rebuilding their country and cities. They are also extremely friendly. As we walked about children would smile and say “hello” repeatedly. I think they like the musical quality to the word.

Paula

We arrived to Siem Reap early in the morning and were overjoyed to find that we could stay in a very nice guest house for only $6 US. We decided the best way to see the temples of Angkor would be by bicycle. We paid our 50 cents and were off. After dodging the motorbikes, busses and cars to get out of the city we had our own little stretch of pavement, at least for a little while. There are ruins of the Angkor temples all over and seeing them really should be done over the course of a few days. However, we decided that we would tackle the circuit in one day. The temples are extraordinarily impressive. They rank up there with Macchu Picchu and the Great Pyramids (so I hear). You can check out our pictures to see what I am talking about. Getting back to the bicycling, it turns out that is not a good way to see the temples at all. Without a driver, we got lost a few times, taking us approximately 5 miles off course. That was not such a big problem in and of itself but upon returning from our wrong turn, I realized that my tire had gone completely flat leaving me (or Dan) with another 15 miles of riding on a flat tire.

Despite the impressive temples we viewed, I have to admit though that the highlight of my day was feeding the monkeys outside the temples. I bought a half dozen bananas from a street vendor and held them out to the monkeys. The monkeys would first look at me suspiciously and then take the banana right out of my hand, peel them and eat them up. Some of them are a bit lazy though and would not take the banana unless I peeled it for them. After deciding that I wasn’t wasting our money on bananas afterall, Dan joined in the fun. He took a banana from his bunch to feed to a monkey but the monkey was uninterested, or so it seemed. Dan was caught off guard when the money went for the bunch in his other hand rather than settling for one single banana. Luckily Dan was able to grab the bunch back but you really have to keep an eye on these cheeky monkeys. Another monkey jumped in my bicycle basket and stole my packet of tissues. I thought it was kind of funny and no big deal but the banana vendor took off chasing the monkey on a mission to reclaim my stolen property. That really only made it more entertaining for the monkey who ran around in circles with her closely following him. For us it added up to top notch entertainment.

Paula

Compared to the other southeast asian cities we have been to, Singapore is extremely organized and clean. It is also, unfortunately, quite expensive. As Dan and I looked for dinner options in the upscale Clark Quay we realized that all the restaurants were way over our budget. So, we ended up at the cheapest place we could found which was a Hooters. Not quite tasting the local cuisine but sometimes you just need a good ol’ american burger…and if the burger arrives via a scantily clad woman, so be it.

We spent the day seeing the sights of Singapore, including the many malls which you can not miss, even if you try. Singapore is a shoppers paradise but since Dan and I not shoppers, we were not able to appreciate it fully.

Fun fact about Singapore: if you buy a flat in the same building as your parents, the government will subsidize $40,000 of the cost–talk about an incentive for moving in next door to the folks!

Paula

We arrived in KL in the evening and went to a hostel that was close to the Buket Bintang area known for it’s nightlife and somewhat western and posh atmosphere. When we woke up, we checked out the sights… Petronas towers, KL tower, chinatown, etc. The food is good and we’re pretty happy to be in a modern city again. We even went to the main mosque to check it out. They don’t let you inside the actual main building, but paula still got to wear a head scarf just to walk around the complex… lucky duck.

dan

We decided to go on a two day, one night jungle tour. We started with a boat ride along a river. As we went along, we stopped many times along one bank or the other, sighting Long Tailed Macaques, Probiscus Monkeys, Hornbills and Egrets and other birds. Apparently, there was a 6-8 foot snake swimming behind our boat which was spotted by the other boat carrying other safari-goers.

When we arrived at camp, there was a monitor lizard walking around as well as a bearded pig. The camp consisted of a number of huts on stilts and a common hut for people to hang out and eat/drink/play music, etc…

That night, we went on a short hike around the camp. Since it is the wet season, we had to walk through thigh high waters at times to see everything (in the rain of course). We saw a bunch of millipedes, a poisonous scorpion, and a tarantula (or at least a hole in a tree where it was supposed to live). It was fun to get out and get wet, etc. One person was lucky and came back to camp with a leech on the toe of her boot… The funny part to me was when paula turned to me and said “hey, if were in the states right now, we’d be on our way to work right now”… hehe…

The next morning we went on a boat tour along the river and spotted an Orangutan in the wild!!!! This is extremely rare! This beautiful and massive “Man of the Forest” was having his breakfast high up in a tree. We saw more Probiscus monkeys as well. It is phenomal to watch them literally dive from one branch on one tree to another branch on another tree 10 feet away (and 15 feet down) from it. Also, we saw more macaques, birds, a monitor lizard caming swimming by.

We got a special treat on the way back… as we were boating along, someone spotted a crocodile! We got to see it from about 10 feet away as we boated past!

dan

We arrived in Sandakan and went to the recommended hostel only to find no vacancy. So, we carried all our stuff down the street to the next one… no vacancy there, either. Continuing down the street, 3rd time was the charm and we found a nice place with a good restaurant underneath it.

The next day, we took a bus to Sepilok which is known for its orangutan rehabilitation center. They find orphaned orangutans, raise them, and eventually get them to re-enter the wild. They call them “Orang Utan” which is malay for “Man of the Forest” because of their obvious likeness to humans.

We went to see them at the feeding time. It was great to watch them swing in along the ropes and trees to get to the feeding platform. Some ate vigorously, some wrestled and played with each other, and others took their food and swung off with it to eat it on their own. There was a baby that was particulary playful and a popular playmate with a lot of the adults.

dan

After the hike, we shared a transport with the Swiss guy we had met and his girlfriend to Poring Hot Springs. There, we saw some disappointing hot springs tubs. The water in the tub came out so slowly that after 40 mins of us waiting and sitting in 5 inches of water in the massive tub, we decided to call it a day. The warm water felt nice, though, on our sore legs! We met the Swiss couple for dinner and spent the evening chatting away.

The next day, we did the canopy tour. This is where you climb up and walk high in trees along tenuous suspended rope bridges. Fun but not a lot of wild life to see.

Overall, not the most exciting town… so… Off to Sandakan…

dan

Hiking Mt Kinabalu was the most hiking Paula and I have done in a 24 hour period… 17.4KM to an altitude of 4,100M and back. It starts with a fairly steep 6KM climb to the Laban Rata resthouse. This took us about 4 and a half hours. We relaxed, met a Swiss guy and chatted at the resthouse (altitude ~3600M). Tired and modestly fed by the mediocre quality food, we (and most of the night’s residents) turned out the lights for bed at 7:30pm.

At 2AM, we’re up again and ready to push to reach the summit by sunrise. It’s only 2.7KM to the summit from the resthouse, but with the altitude, cold, and wind, it still takes nearly 2 and a half hours. When we finally arrive, we stop and look around at the 360 degree… In a word… Stunning… Check the photos posted to snapfish by clicking the link on the right.

After you get all your pics and take in what you can at the summit, the ‘fun’ begins. Now you walk all 8.7KM down the steep, rocky, and wet/slippery terrain. We broke it up by slipping in an hour long nap at the resthouse!

Dan

Our time in Austalia ended with a party night that lasted well into the morning. We then headed to the airport for a flight to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia in Borneo. If you are not completely familar with Borneo, it is an island that houses three countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The ‘fun’ began when upon entry to Kuala Lumpor (our connection) the ATM choked and wouldn’t give us any money leaving us with zero ringlets. Fortunately we were able to pay for a few things at the airport in US dollars and was given enough change in ringlets to pay for our hostel. It turns out that Bank of America shut our ATM cards down because we didn’t get our pin number right the first time in Melbourne. Since then they have been tracking our account and it was automatically shut down when they saw that we were trying to make a transaction in Malaysia.

This morning we met a group from Sweden at our hostel and we have decided to split the cost of a van and driver to Kinabalu Park. We spent the day walking around the small city and looking about. It is a fairly typical small asian city and more of a pass-through point than a destination I would recommend. Since I have a very bad track record with getting sick in second/third-world countries, we decided to play it safe and dine at Pizza Hut for lunch. We will dive in to Malaysian cuisine once we have climbed Mt Kinabalu – but for now, it’s better not to be sick while hiking – i have already been there and done that in Peru.

It’s very warm here… probably close to 100. The Malaysian people are mainly Muslim, Chinese Buddist/Taoist or Indian/Hindu and are very friendly. We stick out like sore thumbs here but they smile nicely at us when we walk past and sometimes say hello. A lot of the people here speak English, moreso then we experienced in Thailand.

dan and paula