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Published: July 12th 2010
We left Luang Prubang on a long journey to Bali that would take us on 3 flights and a night in Kuala Lumpar. Our first flight was on Laos airlines which we had not heard good things about but as the alternative was a 19 hour bus journey we chose the 45 minute flight. In the end all the stories we had heard of old Soviet planes being used was rubbish as it was a safe modern plane and a very comfortable flight. We arrived in Kuala Lumpar at midnight which was a shame as all we got to do was grab a quick bite to eat, sleep and then get up 6 hours later to head back to the airport for our next flight.
On arriving in Bali I was instantly struck by how westernized it was especially Kuta the area we was staying in. After coming from Laos where there are no fast food restaurants to being surrounded by McDonald's and Subways and drinking $11 dollar beers in the hard rock cafe was a little bit of a culture shock. In truth it was nice to experience a little slice of things I know from home.
Our
first few days in Bali were all about recharging the batteries so we enjoyed long days relaxing on the beach. One down point was on our first night I had my wallet pickpockted in a club - shows that in many ways the touristier a place is the less safe you are. The person who stole it spent $500 on my card but fortunately Travelex have paid me back the money.
After a few days doing very little we decided to get active and went to the river to do some white water rafting. This was so much fun especially as the rapids seemed pretty hardcore from my limited experience. There was plenty of other rafts out that but this increased the fun for our competitive group as we seemed determined to beat everyone down the river despite our relaxed guide’s protests!
On my final day Huw (Spike's friend who had joined us in Bali and I went to do something at Tulamben dive site. This site is where a sunken USAT ship Liberty from the World War II lies. It has had a pretty crazy history as it was hit by a Japanese torpedo and despite the
best efforts of the US Navy ended up beached on the Bali coast. However in 1963 Mount Agung (the volcano which towers over Tulamben) erupted and the magma flow pressed the ship back into the sea where it presently rests at a depth of 3 to 29 meters. Since then, coral has coated the wreckage turning it into an amazing dive site.
I did two dives around and through the wreck and saw some fascinating sights including a massive school of fish which swam about a metre above us in a tornado like formation. I also saw my first Barracuda which was enormous (about 4-5ft long). Even though it was sleeping in the wreck it was still a scary sight with its huge mouth and teeth - it looked like a real hunter of the sea.
The next day Spike, Jen and I flew back to Singapore where Spike was heading home and I was catching my flight to Australia. I spent six years of my childhood in Singapore so I was fascinated to go back and see how much I could remember. I was only 8 when I left so any memories I have are pretty hazy
but going back triggered old memories of places and buildings I had been to before. My first night there the 3 of us and Jen's mum who works in Singapore went down to East Coast Parkway for some chili crabs something I used to do regularly with my family. It was as fun as I remembered with the huge crabs providing a real challenge in terms of getting to the meat. It was a lovely way to end say goodbye to Spike who flew back to the UK that evening.
The next day I went down to Orchard road which is one of the major shopping districts and somewhere I remember my parents mentioning us visiting a lot as a kid. Singapore is a fascinating place as unlike most cities it is incredibly clean and relatively quiet if you compare it to London. This is down to the strict rules/laws that are enforced where you can find for doing pretty much anything - my personal favourite being a $500 dollar fine for drinking/eating anything on the tube something I did loads until I spotted the sign.
That night I went to the famous Singapore night safari which I
thought was fantastic as I was able to see lions, a huge rhino, leopards etc... The best part though was an enormous male Asian elephant that they craftily had made stand majestically on top of the hill by placing his females behind a fence on the lower slop so he was forced to stand on the hill under the flood lights to keep an eye on them.
The next day I met up with Jen and we went to my old house on Mount Pleasant road. This was very strange as naturally this place brought back the most memories. I was lucky as the local Asian family living there were happy for me to come down and take photos of the house. After this we went to Newton Circus to enjoy some local food which was the first Asian food I had tasted that reminded me of the food we get at home.
In the afternoon Jen and I took a river boat to see the 'sights' of Singapore. It was strange really as the city has very little historical sights as most of the old buildings have been torn down to put up another sky scraper or
3
Jungle Juiceshopping centre so the guide would get very excited about any building more than 70 years old such as the Raffles hotel which dates from 1887. One amazing sight is the new casino/hotel Marina Bay which was an incredible feat of building which seemed to have another building in a giant boat shape placed on top of the three massive towers.
Singapore was the end of my Asian adventure. It has been an amazing three and half months. I have seen and done some amazing things but am looking forward to Australia which I hope will be completely different to Asia!
One thing I thought I would add is a selection of the nicknames the locals have given me in Asia - not all of them that nice but each left a great memory of the person who gave it to me:
Jabba the Hut
The Big Show
Rambo
Water Buffalo
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