Mantas, dragons and bats! It's been so fun following your adventures in Southeast Asia, especially the unusual ways you travel, such as on this boat. You've had wonderful, unique experiences in your off-the-road travels, such as here, visiting Rinca and Komodo Island as opposed to most tourists visiting only the latter. I also love that you allocated many months for this adventure, trekking and going in depth to spots. Well-done! I look forward to your further adventures.
Great info What a great help. We are a very adventurous third world travelling family who prefer to rough it on the road rather than fly. Do you know if you can do this journey in the reverse by night or day. I'm guessing we could get off at Pekanbaru and go by ferry to Singapore???
Thankful to you I heard much about Shimla through my uncle and friends who visited this place more than one time. I am also interested to go there after my corning glass tour and your shared blog help me a lot to know about this beautiful region of India. I love hill station and I think I should visit it during my summer vacation to enjoy the lovely weather of this region.
How people make a buck I went to Ijen as a result of amazing pics from Ali, Travelblog's founder. Unfortunately it was about to erupt when we arrived so access was closed...even to the miners. We accessed the cone of Anak Krakatoa and the sulphur fumes were overpowering. Thank you for this extraordinary blog and pics. I now know how best to access it if I return. But do the masks actually work?
Wild! I'm so glad you did this, so I don't have to--breathing sulfur fumes is pretty intense. Great reporting on a place both gorgeous with blue fire and horrendous for those who work there. Good for you for using Sam and helping the local, responsible economy.
Explosions! What an amazingly exotic location, and good for you for spending time speaking English with the young ones! You piqued my interest, so I went to wiki and found that the Toba Event Explosion killed off most of the earth's people--and the ones you encountered were descended from cannibals--pretty interesting! Hope Jane's cold is better.
Boats from Penang to Medan There are no longer any boats/ferries leaving Penang for Medan. They stopped a long time ago about 2009. They could not longer compete with the cheap 20 minute flights.
No more ferries from Penang to Medan I don't think there have been ferries from Penang to Medan for several years now. The cheap air flights basically put them out of business.
Red buildings Hi Jem and Jane.
I have spent a lot of time travelling around Malaysia and as you enjoy it immensely.
The Red Buildings (or The Stadthuys) were coloured that way by the Dutch who built them in 1650 and have been kept that way ever since.
Enjoy your travels. Tom
Red buildings The free guide from the tourist bureau said the buildings were white when the Dutch built them and the England came up with the red. So who knows.
Red buildings The free guide from the tourist bureau said the buildings were white when the Dutch built them and the England came up with the red. So who knows.
Perfect place for an extended stay! Snorkeling, cycling, swimming, canoeing and good food in a tranquil place--perfect! How great to feel that this is a reconnaissance visit, and you can return to Koh Jum and/or stay in Koh Lipe. I never know if I'll return, so I always linger much longer. Happy travels!
Lovely Koh Jum Really enjoyed reading about your stay on Koh Jum. We spent Christmas there and also fell in love with the place. It's such a friendly and relaxed island. Enjoy Malaysia and it's wonderful food!
We must have passed in Cambodia! Thanks for your comments. It is alway nice to know someone is reading them.
You look like you are having an exciting time. I noticed your comment about tourist conveyor belt in Cambodia. We felt the same and thought it was because we had only been to the well known sights.
We can highly recommend Central Asia (with the exception of Turkmenistan) in the spring (once it has warmed up!)
Jem and Jane travelled across Europe and Asia in 2014/15 and documented our experiences. We finally got to New Zealand in June 2015.
We l travelled in Patagonia for six weeks in 2019 and going back to Argentina where I started this travel blog in 2006.
We are currently touring Madagascar for 4 weeks in October 2023.... full info
littlewing
Cindy
Awesome experience
Glad you are seeing the true Australia - amazing things off the usual tourist trail are everywhere, thank you for the great blog.