In French, that's the way you say “tickle tickle tickle” (or kootchee-koo) and that's kind of what the Gili Islands do to you. “Gili” means island, so here I'm referring to Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air, three tiny islands off the coast of Lombok. I'm on Trawangan. Just across the sea Lombok's hills crouch at the water's edge, sere brown and dotted sparsely dark trees at one end, then flowing back in ridges and low peaks bearded in green vegetation. After Kuta's frenzy and madness, this is reeeeeee-laaaaaaaaxed, even though Trawangan is the most party-friend [View Full Entry]

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When I think of Indonesia, I think of dense rainforest, dripping water, dim green light, giant trees with leaves the size of picnic tables, dark wood, orangutans. I think mystery and the weight of millennia hanging in the unmoving air inside the rainforest. This may be true of parts of the country, but not true of Kuta Beach on Bali. Think surfing, surfboards, surf shops, surf schools and surfers. Think suntan, suntan oil, sunbathers and sunshine. Think sand, waves, a fringe of palm trees and a beach road jammed with cars, motorbikes, scooters, minivans and even horse-drawn carts. Think sh [View Full Entry]

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Humid. Heeee-youuuuu-mid. Sweat beads up on your skin like you've just stepped out the shower. It's also clean, clean, clean clean clean. It's ultra-modern with a fantastic subway system, an electronic billing system for toll roads (all cars have a card reader and you can buy cards in any convenience store), high-rise buildings everywhere, apartment buildings painted every five years and and and.... Makes Geneva look stodgy by comparison. Singapore has a serious traffic problem that's made worse on the weekends by a system involving “weekend cars”. Special license plate for thes [View Full Entry]

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Kuala Lumpur - known by everyone simply as "KL" - is big, noisy and polluted. Cars and trucks honk horns endlessly, buses chug dark clouds of exhaust all over you, big-city grime covers everything. It's hot and everyone is hustling along to go somewhere. It's a busy city with museums, theatre, nightlife, expensive restaurants, good coffee shops, fancy bars and so on... most of it beyond the budget of backpackers (unless you want to spend a week's worth of budget in a single evening). I didn't find many things to see, apart from Chinatown and the towers, both Petronas and KL [View Full Entry]

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Khota Baru is in the northeastern corner of Malaysia. Not much here to interest travellers. It's a transit point between Thailand and Malaysia. Still, had a very tasty, simple meal in the night market. A good variety of local foods available. I took beef curry on safran rice. They spoon it into a rectangle of waxed brown paper and fold it up with two elastic bands to hold the package together. There are outdoor tables and chairs but to sit and one and eat you have to buy something to drink because the drinks vendor owns (rents?) the seats and tables. [View Full Entry]

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Don't we have enough of this already? [View Full Entry]

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As I went further south in Thailand the women's clothing changed, going from shorts or jeans and halter tops to less revealing outfits. In Malaysia, long, loose clothing covers all of the body and headscarves hide hair. They remind me a little of Canadian babies all bundled up for winter, just the face peeking out. It's a Muslim country, after all, and this is their custom. The material looks gauzy and light, but with several layers on it must be nearly crucifying in the heat. Men's clothing often remains the same, although you see some traditional dress and more men wearing [View Full Entry]

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Think I'll pass on swimming around here. [View Full Entry]

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Let’s dispense quickly with the travel agency brochure descriptions. Yes, the sand is white, the beach is wide, the turquoise and jade sea transparent, the sun warm, the breeze refreshing and the green palm trees wave a friendly welcome to the pale-skinned tourists emerging from every plane that lands. And all the Thai people smile. It's a little peculiar to be here because there are far more couples and families than backpackers. India, Nepal, China...I was in hostels and so surrounded by fellow voyagers like me. It was easy to meet people because we all had the voyage in common. But [View Full Entry]

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I caught a minibus to the Thai/Cambodia border, rolling over smooth highway at good speed. On the Thai side a man from the minibus company helped us fill in forms and obtain our visa and helped himself to about USD 10 of everyone's money for this service. On the other side we switched to a bigger bus in Cambodia. There our minibus guy took us to a bank saying commission rates in Siem Reap for money exchange were 2.5% and his bank charged no commission. What he failed to say was his bank's exchange rate was abominable. Some people lost as [View Full Entry]

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