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Published: June 20th 2006
Borneo Sunset
Sunset less than 24 hours ago, in Tamen Negara Bako...Bako Nat'l ParkWell I'm not dead...I know it's been a while since my last blog, but you guys have no idea how difficult it is to finish a blog, hours of time are spent on the Internet selecting pictures, shrinking pictures and then finally typing a story to fill in all the blanks.
In general Asian cities are completely different from what most westerners experience on a daily basis at home. The living conditions are below what we have become used to. Things we take for granted, running water, flush toilets, toilet paper, clean restaurants are sometimes non-existent. It has been quite an experience learning about the cultures over here. Kuala Lumpur is a major city, it is filled with western companies, has massive shopping malls, a monorail, very clean subway/light-rail network. Once we left Kuala Lumpur, we left most western things behind, except for MacDonalds which seems to be everywhere, except here they have a Halal approved sign. Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country, I have gotten used to seeing Mosques everywhere, women wearing the traditional head-dress, call to prayers five times a day, high taxes on Alcohol (30%), no pork offered on most menus. On the islands people live mostly
The Proboscis Monkey
These funny looking creatures are quite rare and one of the main attractions of Bako. in shacks and huts, still use thatch to build the roofs, but they still have many modern conveniences at there disposal, mobile phones, satellite TV, DVDs but the drive through rural Malaysia uncovered people accustomed to living in much lower conditions. Houses/shacks are built out of whatever happens to be available and the houses don't look like could last the next monsoon season. All this being said Malaysia is one of the most developed countries in SE Asia, so I am curious to see what Thailand, Vietnam, Lao, Cambodia hold in store.
Arrived in Malaysia about a month ago, it's about time I got to Asia, not sure why I waited so long because everyday has been great. Got in to Kuala Lumpur around midnight the day after Moskowitz arrived. We had booked a room at the Marriott Renaissance, figured we would treat ourselves considering how cheap everything is. Since Austrian Airlines lost Moskowitz's bag, we ended up staying three nights in that hotel which closely resembled heaven on earth. Spent my days sitting by the swimming pool, reading, enjoying a comfortable bed for a change. We ordered room service, went to the all you can eat buffet, don't
One of many Monkeys by Batu Caves
Look how comfortable these monkeys are in front of the camera. picture a cheap buffet, picture a five star restaurant that decided to go buffet...fresh sushi, stir-fry, twenty plus different entrees, desserts that fell from heaven, did I mention the chocolate fondue fountain surrounded by a variety of fresh fruit, marshmallows, lady fingers, need I say more.
After leaving the hotel behind it was back to reality for us, which meant a Hostel in Chinatown. We did treat ourselves to a room with AC. Turned out to be a great place, the owner of the Hostel, Adam, was one of the nicest guys ever, he gave us tips on what to do in KL, helped us plan our next moves after leaving KL and even booked our bus tickets out of town. Filled our remaining days in KL sightseeing, went to the Petronas Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world, the Butterfly conservatory, going to the mall (did I mention shopping is a past-time here), Batu Caves and just walking around different parts of town.
One of the highlights for me had to be Batu Caves, on the outskirts of KL, they are a large cave formed in the limestone cliffs that are filled with Hindu Shrines. I
Shrine Near Batu Caves Entrance
The caves are filled with colorful statues that are all around the shrines. was in awe walking around looking at the beautiful, colorful, statues that made up these shrines. Even got to watch dozens of monkeys run all over the place both inside and outside the caves. They were a bit cheeky though, I saw two of the monkeys drinking water from a spilled water bottle, so when they finished I figured I would pour some more water for them, nice guy that I am, but that wasn't good enough for them and they proceeded to try an steal my water bottle right out of my hand. Earlier I had watched as one of the monkeys chased a lady around the caves after she got between him and the stolen food he was munching on.
After Adam convinced us that we should head all the way to the northeast corner of Malaysia next, we booked a night bus and headed to Kota Bharu with our final destination being Pulau Perhentian (Perhentian Islands). After an overnight bus ride without any sleep we arrived at 5:30am in Kota Bharu caught a taxi to Kuala Besut and hopped on the fast boat out to the Islands. There are two islands Pulau Besar (Big Island) and
Kuala Lumpur From Above
450m off the ground on the skybridge between the Petronas Twin Towers. Pulau Kecil (Small Island), we ended up going where most backpackers end up, Long Beach on Pulau Kecil. We show up at 7am, find a place to stay, grab some breakfast and I just pass out for 6 hours to catch up from the night before. After waking up, I headed down to the beach, park myself in a hut and thus begins the next 3 weeks of my tough life.
Hopefully you all caught the sarcasm in that last statement. My days on the island were filled with sun, sand, fresh fruit juice (might have had the best Orange juice ever while on the island), partying, and eventually Scuba diving. The latter being the main reason I stayed so long on the island. I fell in love with Scuba all over again while diving the Perhentians. By the time I left I dove eleven times and completed both my Rescue Diver and E.F.R. (Emergency First Responder) courses. I've now racked up 31 dives since learning to dive in Fiji back in December.
I am in love with scuba. I saw so many cool things underwater, there are too many to list. Here are a few of the
Sunset on Coral Beach
A stunning sunset on Pulau Kecil in the Perhentian Islands. highlights. On my second dive we went to a site called Tanjung Basi, no more then 5 minutes after descending we caught our first glimpse of three large Black Tip Reef Sharks, largest measuring close to 2m. They circled us endlessly for 10 minutes then we headed further down the reef and watched a 1.5m Giant Moray Eel swim around, very rare to see eels out swimming, normally you spot there heads poking out from between rocks. Spent close to an hour under during that dive and even got to watch the Sharks circle us more at the end of the dive, getting closer and closer on each pass. Amazing fish, there is no doubt in your mind who are the kings of the ocean when you see sharks underwater, they have a presence about themselves.
Another highlight dive was my second to last dive in the Perhentians at a site called Temple of the Sea (The Pinnacles). It was my fifth time diving that site and each time had been a treat for different reasons, but on this dive we were 20 minutes in to the dive when out of the depths a large Eagle Ray, about 2m
Monkey Crossing
So in the US we have Deer Crossing, Moose Crossings...Here in Malaysia they have Monkey Crossings + wingspan (picture a massive sting ray), followed by three Cobias (King Fish) appear, swim by us about 5m from me and continue on another 20m before turning around and swimming back right by us. It's a sight I will never forget. Like a bird flying underwater, just amazing!
Another highlight dive was at D'Lagoon. Out for a chilled out morning dive, we were swimming around and came upon a Turtle out feeding on the coral. We followed that Turtle for about 10 minutes, just watching it eat. These where just the highlights of my dives, it would take me way to long to list everything I saw. Each dive was great in it's own right. I think I'm hooked on another hobby. It really is amazing when you're underwater, there is a whole other world down there that you never even think about until you're swimming around.
I was so hooked by Scuba that I ended up doing my Rescue Diver course, which involves learning how to help other divers both under water and on the surface. You have to complete four rescue scenarios that simulate different situations you might encounter during a rescue. It is pretty
Perhentian Islands
The beach that I spent close 3 weeks sitting on... fun, they try to pull your regulator out, jump on top of you and push you under, they lunge at you and basically just reek havoc with you while you try to save their life.
After finally leaving the island close to three weeks after arriving there, I headed south back to KL, met up with the B's and we all caught a flight to...drum roll please...BORNEO!!! Now to me Borneo is the place legends are made, it is one of the last great places of the world to trek the jungle. We arrived in Kuching, Sarawak after dark and were shocked when we arrived and found ourselves at one of the nicest, possibly the nicest hostel we've stayed at yet during our travels. We were expecting huts and dirt roads, instead we found the cleanest city in Malaysia we've been to yet. Spent three nights at the hostel in Kuching, ran in to our old friend Charlie from the Perhentians and we all had a blast hanging out together. We went to the Semenggoh Wildlife Rehab Centre, where they rehabilitate and then release back in to the wild Orang-Utans that have been abused in the past. It was
Top Spot Stall #25
How good does all that seafood look? a nice experience but a bit of a let down and not what I imagined it would be like to watch Orang-Utans being fed. It wasn't exactly like a zoo, no cages, but it still had that fake feel about it.
On Charlie and her friends last night in Kuching we ended up at Top Spot, the locals seafood hangout. HOLY SHIT!!! is the best way for me to start the story about dinner at Top Spot, stall #25. Use the pictures I posted to help you understand how good the seafood is at this place. Basically you go up to the stall and on display are all the ingredients available today, the place is devoid of the fishy smell normally associated with fish shops, the fish looks as if it was swimming within the last 24 hours. You just pick what you want, they offer you all the different ways they can prepare the fish and then you sit back and wait for the feast to begin. We had a feast for the ages consisting of massive Prawns, Deep Water Prawns (similar to small Lobsters), Soft Shell Crab, Mussels, Calamari, and BBQ'd Whole Red Snapper. Every single dish
Let the Feast Begin
This was only the begining of the feast, some dishes still had yet to arrive when I took this photo. was cooked to perfection, we were all in shock when we finished the meal. I think I dreamed about the meal that night .
The following day we left Kuching and headed to Bako National Park, home to the rare Proboscis Monkey, which have the funniest looking nose ever. We spent two days in the park hiking around looking for the monkeys, and we were treated on our second day there when we found the monkeys feeding in the trees of the mangroves. I watched for over forty five minutes while a male monkey sat in a tree, at times as close as 10 feet from us, munching away on leaves. Very cool to watch, mind you these are wild Monkeys, so there is no guarantee you will find any while in the Park, according to the park's website there are only 150 in the entire park. We also had fun watching the Long-tailed Macaques play around and steal peoples' food. On a funny note, Moskowitz came into our room at one point looking for his camera, which he had left out on the porch and after 2 minutes we realized that the Macaques had stolen it thinking it
Chinatown - KL
The night market in KL on Petaling Street. You can find every brand name here...Fendi, Gucci, Nike, North Face all fake! might be food. Luckily we found the camera under the Chalet without any damage. The monkeys were even smart enough to open the zipper.
Got back to Kuching early this afternoon, spent hours uploading pictures and then typing out this blog. Obviously we headed to our favorite seafood restaurant, Top Spot Stall #25 and ordered another feast for the ages...Mussels, Giant Prawns, Soft-shell Crab, and a 1.2 Kg Sea Bass which we had BBQ'd whole with giant chunks of garlic. All of that cost us each the equivalent of $10 US. Could life get any better than this...
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Betty
non-member comment
Good morning
Happy to wake up this morning and see another blog, can't wait to read it over coffee - by the way do they drink coffee in Malyasia? The humidity here is enough for me, how do you stand the heat?