Thursday, October 18, 2001
Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia
Kuala Lumpur was a really great city, I would consider coming back in the future. I saw my first Bin Laden T-shirt, kind of wierd to see him hailed as a hero. I took a stroll to get some Indian Roti (delicious flat bread), and saw two jewelry stores, usually not worth mentioning. Worth mentioning was the fact that one of the stores had a guy lazily stretched out in a chair with an assault rifle across his legs, the other store (obviously not paying as much for security), had a similar bloke with only a normal rifle. Crime doesn't pay in Kuala Lumpur.
Chantelle got food poisoning, it was inevitable that one of us would get "Bali Belly" in SE Asia, I'm just surprised it took this long.
I booked a flight to Bali, and arrived here a couple of days ago. We decided to stay at the famous surf spot Kuta Beach, it is very touristy, but the beach is incredible. Their are not many families here, just a bunch of wild young Aussies and Brits. Oh yeah, did I mention the beaches were topless?
Stuff is very cheap here, you could easily get by on $5 - $10/day. The vendors or "hackers" as they are called here, are ridiculous. I was sitting in a quiet, dimly lit restaurant eating dinner, and was approached by hackers selling newspapers no less than 5 times. When I walk down the street I am constantly whistled at, and everyone greets me with smiles, now I know what Elle MacPherson feels like.
We booked a Scuba Diving trip which I went on this morning, Chantelle and I chartered a boat to a nearby island. This was an adventure! In order to save some cash, Chantelle and I went with a local operation, the brother of a travel agent near our losman (cheap hotel). I knew we should have payed the extra money when we arrived at the pier. Our motley crew consisted of Chantelle, me, our Indonesian captain (who did not speak english), a 16 year old Indonesian helper (who did not speak english), and our chain-smoking guide (who spoke very little english). When I asked about his diving experience, he coolly told me that he likes to spear fish for his dinner.
We started out to sea in our 20 foot boat, and soon a storm came in and brought 10 foot waves with it. I felt like I was in the movie "The Perfect Storm", and Chantelle and I seriously discussed putting on our BCDs (Buoyancy Control Devices). The 16 year old boy had to lie on the front of the boat to navigate the captain through the big waves. After an hour, the storm finally diminished and the captain cut the motor. I asked what was going on, and our guide said the crew was going to pray! They floated out some insence, mumbled some prayers, and we were off again. Once again I wished I had paid the extra couple of bucks for a real outfit.
We got to the dive site and had an incredible dive in gorgeous coral, at one point I lost track of depth and found I was 35 meters under. I also saw my first aggressive moray eel, he didn't like me getting too close and started chomping a warning.
Our second dive was a really cool drift dive along the coral, I barely kicked a fin in 45 minutes, saw a 10 foot sting ray, truly outstanding diving! Overall, the Bali diving experience was worth every penny.
Tomorrow I am going to go surfing on the great surf here at Kuda beach. The fact that Aussies come here to surf is a testiment to the quality.
Unfortunately, I have to leave here for Australia tomorrow, I will really miss SE Asia, I wish I had more time...
posted by Mark Kadlec 4:53 AM
Tuesday, October 16, 2001
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Before leaving Penang, Chantelle and I ate at a great Indian restaurant and there was a sign on the wall saying "No spitting food" and a picture of a guy puking. I tried to get a picture but Chantelle thought the proprieters would get offended and pulled me out before I took the picture. You'll have to take my word for it.
I had a fun time in Penang, but wanted to catch a Super VIP bus to see Kuala Lumpur. There are three classes of buses in Malaysia, Normal (Sauna Death trap with no leg room - chance you may be riding on the roof), VIP (Sub zero temperature, no leg room, and no toilet), and Super VIP (Meat Locker, leg room, and washroom). The 3 hour journey took 7 hours since the bus driver kept stopping everywhere to drop people off in the middle of the highway, food stands, friends houses, etc...
We finally got to KL yesterday evening, this is by far my favourite city so far. On a scale, Bankok being 0 and Paris a 10, this would rank a solid 8. Chantelle and I settled into the Backpacker Inn in the heart of China Town, reasonable rates and the food is outstanding. Last night we checked out the Central Market, one of the largest outdoor markets I have ever seen. If you make eye contact with anyone, they will immediatly rush over and try to sell you their junk. I got grabbed twice, the second time nearly in a headlock as I tried to walk away from a salesman.
This morning Chantelle and I booked flights to Bali - we did not want to bus to Bankok to catch our original flight. We gave ourselves a couple of days here in KL though - we both want to explore a little more. Today we rode the state-of-the-art subway system to the Petrolla Towers, the tallest buildings in the world. They are connected by a massive walkway, the same walkway Sean Connery slid down in the movie "Entrapment". (The movie is worth seeing just for Catherine Zeta Jones alone).
We also rode up the Kuala Lumpur Tower, the fourth largest tower in the world. Toronto's CN Tower is still #1! Tonight I hope to check out the burgeoning KL nightlife, then off to Bali...
posted by Mark Kadlec 3:32 AM
Saturday, October 13, 2001
Penang, Malaysia
I've experienced a lot since Krabi, we crossed into Malaysia last night. Back in Krabi, we booked a "hut" on the beach, what a nightmare! The place had bed bugs, was the worst place we ever stayed in (worse than the Latin quarter in Paris), and was right next to a nightclub that was playing music till 3am, this was the worst $5 we ever spent. The next day, we booked in a nicer hut, it was $10/night, but worth every penny. Unfortunately, I was so tired, I fell asleep and missed my bouldering competition. That night we went to one nightclub and it was built right next to a dump. All you could smell was urine, excriment, and vomit, it was disgusting. We left and went to the nightclub that kept us up all night the previous day, this time we had more fun since we were drinking and not trying to sleep. The bartender was hilarious, if you ordered a Mai-Tai for example, he would go drain some fresh coconut juice, squeeze some fresh oranges, and chop some pinapple. 20 minutes later you would get your delicious drink. It was a good night until I came down with Tai fever, I couldn't sleep, had hot flashes, and was very weak for yesterday's 8 hour bus ride to Penang.
We travelled to Malaysia yesterday, what a trip. When you cross the border, you are alarmed at the security, "Death to anyone distributing drugs" was a common sign. Our driver was chatting on a cell phone the whole trip and stopped to pick up a shipment of "rice" on the way, I can only imaging what he was smuggling in.
Malaysia is so different from Thailand. As soon as you cross the border, you feel like you have entered an industrial country from a Third world country. The religion is predominently Musslim, so Chantelle and I are dressing different to cover our shoulders and knees - difficult when the temperatures are nearly 35C!
I really like Penang, it has 2 main foods - excellent Chinese and excellent Indian, you can't go wrong. We stayed in China town last night, and were awoken at 6am by blaring Musslim prayers from the Mosque next door, this is a strange place. This morning we decided to submit our laundry down the road, and as I was crossing the road, a motorbike crashed into me. I was all right, but the driver, a 50 year old Indian, was pretty shaken up. The wierd part was, the reason I wasn't looking was because he hit me driving on the wrong side of the road!
Today I am almost over my Thai fever, I think we will relax and try to go to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow to catch a flight to Bali (we don't want to go all the way back to Bankok).
posted by Mark Kadlec 7:44 PM
Thursday, October 11, 2001
Krabi, Thailand
Chantelle and I left for Krabi this morning, the ferry to the mainland was quite nice, but then the bus adventures began. We got on a bus to Surat Thani, and a German backpacker got thrown off the bus for arguing about having to stand. A Greek guy argued the whole way, but Karma has a way with catching up with people. We transferred to a truck that would take us to the pier, and the Greek guy had to ride the back bumper, while his friend ended up on the roof!
The bus from Surat Thani to Krabi was nice, and we had a dugout canoe take us to our beach on Railai, home to some of the best limestone rock climbing in the world. The cliffs jut out right off the beach! We met a cool girl from the Netherlands, we are all going out tonight, the beach scene is pretty wild.
I signed up for a bouldering competition tomorrow, we'll see if I can still climb. The holds seem very close, the Thai climbers average 5' tall, but they are a very friendly bunch. The competition is being held right on the beach, after the comp you can just jump in the ocean.
Krabi is also famous for being the film location for the Bond movie "The man with the Golden Gun". The island where the final scene is shot is right around the corner. Phi Phi island is also around Krabi, that is where they filmed the movie "The Beach".
posted by Mark Kadlec 4:12 AM
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Ko Phang Nang, Thailand
Back on Koh Tao, Chantelle and I decided to hire a couple of locals to take us to do a couple of cool dives. They first took us out to sea near an underwater Pinnacle, apparently their were some underwater caverns. It was the coolest dive of my life, you are swimming through underwater tunnels no larger than 2X2 feet! My tank actually got stuck a couple of times, it was incredible. We talked to some cool Aussies on our boat about Koh Samui, the island we were going to next. They told us that it was very touristy, that we were better off going to the island of Ko Phang Nang, a smaller less touristy island - so we altered our plans. Back on shore I decided to mail some postcards, and went to the post office to get some stamps. I started licking the stamps and the workers were staring at me in horror! I couldn't figure out why, and then they pushed a wet sponge to me and insisted I use it. I later found out that the stamps had a picture of the President of Thailand on them, and licking his picture was a huge insult to the Thai people - I seem to be making friends everywhere I go.
That night, we stayed in a little hut right on the ocean, all by ourselves for 400 baht ($10USD). Someday this will be very touristy, but for now, I am going to enjoy it!
The next morning, we were scheduled to take a high speed powerboat over to Ko Phang Nang. My first question was: How many backpackpackers can you fit on a 25 ft speedboat? Ans: About 20 more than you thought possible. It was ridiculous - there were people hanging off the side, on the roof, even sitting right in front of the driver! The window of the craft had a huge bullet hole - no doubt a result of the midnight opium runs. Chantelle and I got lucky to have seats, but the girl next to me had to stand and a British guy's stinky feet were right in her face. To make matters worse for her, he was drunk and kept spilling his water on her, she was about to throw up any minute.
We made it to the Ko Pang Nang dock, where Chantelle were literally assaulted by a flood of people wanting us to stay at their huts. I guess it is off season? We found a place (right on the beach again), and decided to rent a motor scooter and check out a waterfall located in the jungle.
We started out okay, but soon the road became very steep and treacherous. We were "off roading" on the edge of cliffs on a dirt road in the middle of a pure jungle - I was pretty nervous. We finally found the waterfalls, it was a dissappointment, they were just small rapids. The rapids formed deep pools in the rock though, and we both jumped in and it was quite refreshing in the 35 celsius heat. On the way back, we crashed the bike going down a hill - Chantelle got some good scrapes and the bike is pretty banged up. We made it back to civilization in one piece though.
We ate a delicious Thai meal on the way back, I must mention the strange meal customs here. First, sometimes the person owning the restaurant will sit down with you to take your order. After you order, they will first prepare your drinks from scratch (squeeze fresh lemons, oranges, papayas, etc..) and bring them out one at a time. They will then set out to prepare one of your meals, bring it out to the table, then go back and start to cook the next meal. They look at you funny if you begin eating before the second meal comes out....wierd. The food is some of the best I have ever tasted though, you must try the Pad Thai when you are here!
Tomorrow, off to Krabi!
posted by Mark Kadlec 1:33 AM
Monday, October 08, 2001
Koh Tao, Thailand
Whew, I have been on the island of Koh Tao for a couple of days now and so much has happened!
Chantelle and I took a night bus from Bankok to Chumpong a couple of days ago, it was interesting. We booked the "VIP" bus, it didn't have a toilet, and the leg room was non-existent. We took a high speed boat to get to Koh Tao, and got into the island in the morning. This is a paradise, I can't begin to describe it. Chantelle and I have a hut right on the water, and began snorkelling to an island called "Shark Island". Well, we ran into a Black tipped shark, a good one measuring 6 feet, and quite large. He wasn't afraid of me, I slowly turned, stuck my fins in front of him, and he turned and I swam away. Whew!
The next day Chantelle and I decided to get our Advanced Open Water diving certification, since we want to dive a deeper wreck in Australia, and they require advanced certification. In the Advanced course, we get to do a night dive (tonight), a deep dive, and some specialty dives in some cool locations. Today on one of our dives, I swam into a school of Barracuda, it was freaky since there were about 20 of them measuring 4 feet each, I got away quickly! Tonight's night dive apparently has a lot of sharks, Sting Rays, and Porcupine fish, it should be amazing!
I can't believe how cheap everything is, the Thai food averages about $5/meal, our only real expense is the Scuba Diving which is fairly cheap here as well.
None of the locals speak English, and all the tourist here are from France, Germany, or England. The island has no flush toilets, no power except from 18:00-22:00 (its mainly on to fill the dive tanks!), and is not touristy. The main drink on the island is a sliced coconut that you drink with a straw ($0.50).
Tomorrow, Chantelle and I want to do a couple of fun dives since we will be complete with our certification, then we want to go to Koh Samui, a larger more touristy island. After that, we will go to Koh Pi Pi, the island from the movie "The Beach", although I hear that Leonardo DiCaprio and his movie friends trashed the place when they filmed the movie.
I want to spend a couple more days here in this paradise, but Chantelle wants to leave after tomorrow since she wants to see more of Malaysia. We'll see who wins out... :)
Sawat Dii!
posted by Mark Kadlec 1:37 AM
Thursday, October 04, 2001
Ayuthaya, Thailand
What an experience Thailand has been so far! Yesterday was spent checking out the "wats", or temples around the city of Bankok, they were pretty spectacular.
Bankok is the filthiest, most polluted city I have ever been in. You can barely breath downtown because of the pollution, half the people wear cloths over their mouths. The driving is also ridiculous. Chantelle and I used the "Tuk-tuks" to get around town. A tuk-tuk is a bonafide motorcycle with 3 wheels - our drivers were insane. After a ride in opposite traffic, sidewalks and back alleys, they rarely dropped us off at the right destination, it was usually a jewelry shop where pushy salespeople tried to sell us 2 carat diamonds for $10USD.
The open air markets are a great experience. Everywhere you walk there is delicious fruits and Dim Sum being sold. Even the 7-11s sell Dim Sum!
We ate a wicked Thai dinner last night, and this morning boarded a train to Ayuthaya, the former capitol of Thailand, home of many spectacular ruins. The train ride was a eye opening experience, I saw people living in home made shacks, no toilets, sleeping in their own waste. This was mixed with rice fields and thick jungles. Today I will rent a bike and tour the ruins, and tonight plan to eat on a floating restaurant, a boat floating around the city.
Tomorrow we take a train back to Bankok, then a night bus to the Island of Koh Tao.
Sawat Dii!
posted by Mark Kadlec 12:33 AM
Tuesday, October 02, 2001
Bankok, Thailand
I've finally arrived in Bankok after nearly 24 hours in the air. When we got through customs, a little man started pestering us to check out all the hotel deals, we finally blew him off after 1/2 hour of him following us around the terminal.
We got downtown by 1am last night and found a hotel (dive) for $10/night, our budget will be small in this country! We plan to check out some temples today and stay a couple of days before heading south to the Thai islands.
Bankok is very hot and muggy, and has some customs I need to get used to. I cannot cross my ankles or cross my legs when sitting, it will take a while to get used to this.
Off to visit the temples!
posted by Mark Kadlec 4:32 PM
Sunday, September 30, 2001
Departure
Tomorrow I am flying for two straight days, Salt Lake City to LA to Seoul to Bankok, its insane. I am planning to stay in Bankok for a couple of days, and then venture south towards the islands of Koh Sumai, Koh Pha Ngan, and Koh Toa.
I have a fake wallet ready, I even went so far as to put fake money in the wallet, just in case the famous Bankok pickpockets are feeling saucy.
Can't wait to eat the Thai food, next time I write I will be in the heart of Thailand!
posted by Mark Kadlec 4:19 PM
Wednesday, September 26, 2001
Change of plans
The second leg of my journey was supposed to be Indonesia, well, who would have thought a civil war would break out there? I just watched the news and it looks as if the Muslims are rioting there in protest to the USA attacks on Afghanistan. I saw them burning an effigy that looked a little too much like me, so I have extended my stay in Thailand and spend only 3 days in Bali. At least it will give me a chance to see Malaysia and Singapore.
Only 5 more days till departure!
posted by Mark Kadlec 10:19 AM
