The finale of my 2010 trip - a catchup blog.

Asia » Indonesia » Bali
February 17th 2012

Published: March 2nd 2012

Well it is now 2012 and I am on the road again traveling in South East Asia. I thought that before starting my blog entries from my latest travels, I would recap my last month and a half in Asia in 2010, for the sake of continuity.

I believe my last entry was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I had just met the Swedes, and they left a day before I had, on their way to the perhinthian islands on the east coast. After leaving Kuala Lumpur I made my way to the Cameron Highlands, where I found out it was the Chinese New Year and all the locals were going there as well. This made for a festive feel around this hill town, but almost meant rooms filled up quickly. I spent my first day doing a day tour, where we went to a lookout point on a mountain above the city, and then did some light trekking. We went to a strawberry farm, and to a bug zoo, where I saw a guy covered in about a dozen scorpions. Later we went to the tea plantations and saw how the famous Malaysian tea, named 'Boh', was harvested and made. Our guide described how the tea leaves used to be hand picked, but now they used a chainsaw with catch basins to trip the tea bushes. After this the workers would sort the tea into different grades. We went on to the tea factory, and saw how the process continued there. I had a nice cup of tea, while i sat overlooking the vast fields of bright green tea leaves. I also came to realize that tea actually comes from trees, and if left unprunned grow to the size of a large apple tree.

I another couple of days in the highlands, eating delicious tandori chicken at this one Indian restaurant, browsing the city streets, and hanging out by the campfire of my hostel at night. I decided that after the highlands I would follow the trail of the Swedes and head to the Perhintian Islands.

The bus ride to the Perhintian's was long, and the boat ride was quick but very rough. As we approached the very small island, I knew I was in for something special. I got off the boat, checked out the first hostel I came across, then as I have done many times before scoured the entire island for better deals before coming back to the very first one i saw. The island had two beaches, but only one was open as it was shoulder season. The main beach was only 150 meters long, and that was essentially it for the entire island. Despite that, i decided to check out the beach on the other side. As I crested the top of the hill, I saw at the bottom the two Swedes. What an amazing moment. We were stoked to be reunited and went out partying that night with friends they had met.

I spent the next 10 days on the Perhintians, living a simple life consisting of swimming, eating few meals, and mingling about with friends in the evenings. There was a lot of wildlife on the island, and one night I spotted some sort of red colored tree climbing fox creature, and by the outhouse of one of the restaurants lived a family of Komodo sized lizards. My highlight of my time there as a snorkeling day trip I took to some nearby islands.

On the boat trip we swam with turtles, snorkeled near coral with schools of fish, and swam with black tip reef sharks. Swimming with the sharks was one of the most amazing experiences I have had in Asia. At first I didn't want to go, but once I was in the water I was almost over confident, trying to follow the group of 3-5 sharks around in the waters. We had lunch at a Muslim village nearby before finishing off our tour at a lighthouse in the ocean where we could jump off into the water and cool down.

After leaving the Perhintians I returned to Kuala Lumpur, unsure of where to go next. Tired after a long bus ride, around 6am, I decided I would again go the path of the Swedes, and head to in a couple of days. I would pass through Kuala Lumpur as well on my way back home, and at some point I went and visited some beautiful caves that were surrounded by monkeys and a very large religious statue. There I also met one of the up and coming Malaysian badminton stars, in a country where badminton is probably the most popular sport. I stayed in a crappy hotel in china town with no windows, probably the worst accommodation ever. The day before my plane was to leave i went to the bus station to arrive a bus for the next day. As I arrived the bus driver was hectic, and explained to me that my plane wasn't leaving tomorrow. It was leaving today, in 4 hours, and the airport was about 2 hours away. I sprinted full tilt back to my hostel about 20 minutes always, hastily packed by bags, and caught a taxi to the airport. On the way I chatted up my taxi driver, who had lived all over the world as a sea merchant.

Bali was amazing. I stayed in Kuta, which was a backpacking district, paying little for rooms and getting complimentary breakfasts. Again I randomly bumped into the Swedes and we went partying together. Late that night, or early the next morning, we were at McDonalds and saw that the Canadian Men's Hockey Olympic Gold Final was on. I stopped and watched the game, and really grasped how bizarre it was to be watching it from across the world where most people have never even heard of hockey.

I spent several days in Ubud, a small village made fairly popular by the book eat pray love. I ate well each day, and brought the Swedes with me. I wanted to show Pierre culture, but in the end I think they preferred Kuta. I went out on a motorbike on day to explore a nearby temple 20 minute away, but ended up almost across the entire island to the north. Along the way I saw rice fields, sacred mountains, bribed police, fought off a rainstorm, navigated through small villages, and stopped at one to chat with some locals.

After a short visit back to Kuta, staying at a place with a beautiful pool, but also infested with bed bugs, my final days were spent in the push off town to the Gili islands. Here I attended a local ceremony that involved exorcising spirits from the villagers. It was bizarre, and truly deserves a longer explanation, but it is actually hard to put the entire experience into words. Finally, I took off back to Kuala Lumpur, stayed for a couple of days, and came back to Thailand.

In Thailand I spent my remaining few days in Bangkok. The red shirt protests were happening at this time, and the city was absolutely filled with a sea of red. I decided to go swimming in the sea of people, and went directly into the heart of the protests. The most amazing moment was to see all the people, protesting, moving around, with the army there just in case, and so much hustle and bustle. Then, at 630, the kings song came on. And a 100,000+ people came to a halt, and stood still as they paid their respects. It was an overwhelming moment, and minute later everything returned to as it was. I mostly chilled out the last few days, trying to plan trip to a nearby town, but it started at 7am and i was never able to make it. Instead i just did some shopping and took it easy in the city.

On my way back with my flight on Air Asiana I stayed at a hotel in Korea for my 12 hour stopover. I was supposed to do a day tour, but not realizing how cold it was going to be in Korea, I had not packed any pants in my day bag. The hotel was amazing, probably one of the nicest I have ever stayed in, and it lead to a nice rest. The flight home was nice, and on arrival I was greeting by my beautiful girlfriend. She and I stayed in Seattle that night, checking out the space needle, and eating at a local restaurant. After being away for a bit I was shocked at how large the meal portions were in America. The next day we went to pike place market, and also went to the original Starbucks. We drove back to Canada, surprisingly without any hassles at the border and came back to Powell River.

2 years later...

The finale of my 2010 trip - a catchup blog.

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