Cindy and I spent 3 amazing days in the Mekong River Delta. The first day we took a bus to Cai Be, where we went by a floating market, which is where local people sell fruit. Their market system is pretty interesting. If you're selling pineapples, you spear a pineapple and raise it on a stick over your boat, kind of like a flag. If you're selling both pineapples and dragonfruit, you spear both on the same stick and raise them both over your boat, etc. It was really pretty cool to watch their system. The one thing I didn't get though was this: If you're selling dragonfruit, why would you want to park your boat next to all the other dragonfruit sellers? :) There must be a method to their madness, but I just don't get it.
After the floating market, we continued on to a coconut candy factory. After getting sick off coconut curry in Thailand I've been shying away from coconut anything, but I was able to stomach the candy (did anyone doubt that I would?) and we bought some that we've been snacking on the last few days.
A honey farm was next on our agenda, but it was pouring rain so our visit was cut a little short. We did manage to make it from the honey farm to the fruit farm, however, and enjoyed some wonderful tropical fruit - jackfruit, lychee, etc. which was really fun. (Ellaine - you would've loved it!) We'd tried most of the different kinds served before, but this was a little different experience because we were "serenaded" by women singing traditional Vietnamese songs. VERY OFF KEY!
We ended up the first day in Can Tho, and left the following morning for the Cai Rang floating market. It was a market very similar to the one the day before, and since it was raining we probably missed out on a bunch of good pictures, but . . . I think we got enough so we weren't too disappointed. We spent more of the day at a local market, then were taken to a rice-husking mill. Although it was rice and not wheat, it was dusty enough in the mill that it reminded me of harvest and made me miss home a little bit. We learned all about the different types of rice and what they use rice by-products for -- fish food and other animal feed.
All in all, days 1 and 2 of the tour were mostly the same, but on day 2 we agreed to pay $5 extra to float down the river overnight instead of busing to Chau Doc, and it was worth every penny (and probably even the $10 they wanted to change us). We got on the boat the evening of day 2, where we met mostly French people. NOTE: Vietnam was ruled by the French for years, and many French people travel here, especially to Saigon. Everyone was very nice, even though we typically think the French hate us, and we had a great time. We had dinner on the boat, then sat on the rooftop deck and had a few beers before going to bed early so we could see the sunrise.
The morning of day 3, Cindy and I both woke up just as the sun was coming up. There were 13 other people on our boat, and only one other person was up early enough to enjoy the sunrise in all its glory, so we had the whole deck of the boat to monopolize and take millions of pictures. The sunrise was absolutely gorgeous, hence the title of this post. I even found some art that looks nearly exactly like one of my pictures, so I bought it and am going to frame it to preserve my memory. :)
After breakfast on the boat, we disembarked and did a short hike up Sam Mountain, which is home of the Cavern Pagoda. From there, we could see the Cambodian border and looked down over rice paddies. Then, we boarded a longboat rowed by an old woman who gave us bananas and let us try on her cone-shaped hat for photos, and visited a fish farm. It's a small farm that is contained under a person's house.
From the fish farm, we toured the floating village of Chau Doc, then went to Cham, a village that is inhabited by the Islamic minority people in Vietnam. The Cham weavers are famous for their work, and we (of course) bought some of their exquisite handicrafts. Then we boarded the big boat we arrived on, and came back to Saigon just to go to the night market and shop till we dropped. (Mom and Dad - look out. In about 3 months your mailbox will be full!)
We spent Friday and Saturday shopping and shipping all of our souvenirs, and today boarded a bus for the Cu Chi tunnels, which are tunnels that the Viet Minh built, lived, and fought in for about 20 years during the Vietnam War. The tunnels are quite extensive, and we climbed through a stretch about 100 meters long that has been enlarged so Western tourists can fit in it. Good thing, too. They were tiny and we were crawling on our hands and knees for a while. Some people had to stop early because they couldn't fit throught he tunnels!
After we came back from the tunnels, we spent 2 hours at the Vietnam War Museum. Not knowing much about the war, it was really interesting to see the Vietnamese viewpoint on how things went. I think I should educate myself a little bit more so I'm not brainwashed in the next few weeks that I'll be here. :)
The bus is here, so I have to go. We're headed to Mui Ne Beach for a few days in the sun before going to do some hiking in Dalat and (more) shopping in Hoi An.
I hope everyone is safe and sound back home and that you're getting good weather.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Vietnam - at last!
After a few depressing - yet great - days in Cambodia, we made it to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City to the rest of the world) the evening of June 22nd. While Cindy was out scouting for good deals on hostels, I chatted with Albert, who has been living in Vietnam since May since medical care is cheap and good here. Through the course of the conversation, I learned that Albert had not only lived in Washington - he and his wife were both Cougs AND he had spent a summer harvesting in Lacrosse. When I mentioned that Gramps was from Lacrosse and reminded him of "the old Schreck place" he knew what I was talking about. It's such a small world.
After Cindy returned from her hostel-hunt and determined we were already at the best place, we promptly dropped our bags and headed out to - what else? - the circus! Our hostel is just off a great little park where a circus was being performed. For about $3 American we got to see a magic show, clowns, and elephants and monkeys doing tricks. The kids that were there absolutely loved it, but Cindy and I weren't super impressed. Good thing we pre-funked. :)
After the circus we were off to dinner, where we met a group of about 8 British guys who were out for their last night in Saigon before moving on to Cambodia. We were out dancing when we ran into Chris, Christopher, and Audun (the guys we met in Phnom Penh). We're all traveling in the same direction, so we may be seeing them again. We'll see . . .
The 22nd was pretty low-key, considering we were out really late the night before. Cindy and I wandered around in a park for a while, where I noticed that more men were hanging out with kids than women. Maybe that's because it was Sunday and it's the only day the dads have time to spend with their children, or maybe it's because all of the women were in packs, walking around the park to get exercise. In either case, I thought it was interesting. One of the kids, a girl who was probably 8 or 9, picked flowers and gave them to me, which was really cute. Later, I re-gifted them to another little girl on the street since I knew I couldn't keep them. We then continued on to the night market.
The Saigon night market is the best one we've been to so far. The others have been small in comparison (and we didn't even see everything since the indoor shops closed early). We bought a few things (jewelry mostly and a tiny bit of art), but are waiting to come back here in a few days before we do any mass shopping for clothing or any souvenirs. Then we'll probably be shipping stuff home, which means my backpack will be getting lighter soon. Yay!
Tomorrow we're leaving for a 3-day tour of the Mekong River delta. We'll see some floating villages, farmers working in the rice paddies, a few factories, and floating markets. I'm very excited to see what life is like in the countryside in comparison to what it's like in the city.
I hope everyone is doing well back home. Happy birthday to Patsy Chandler! I think I missed it but I'm still close, right? :)
After Cindy returned from her hostel-hunt and determined we were already at the best place, we promptly dropped our bags and headed out to - what else? - the circus! Our hostel is just off a great little park where a circus was being performed. For about $3 American we got to see a magic show, clowns, and elephants and monkeys doing tricks. The kids that were there absolutely loved it, but Cindy and I weren't super impressed. Good thing we pre-funked. :)
After the circus we were off to dinner, where we met a group of about 8 British guys who were out for their last night in Saigon before moving on to Cambodia. We were out dancing when we ran into Chris, Christopher, and Audun (the guys we met in Phnom Penh). We're all traveling in the same direction, so we may be seeing them again. We'll see . . .
The 22nd was pretty low-key, considering we were out really late the night before. Cindy and I wandered around in a park for a while, where I noticed that more men were hanging out with kids than women. Maybe that's because it was Sunday and it's the only day the dads have time to spend with their children, or maybe it's because all of the women were in packs, walking around the park to get exercise. In either case, I thought it was interesting. One of the kids, a girl who was probably 8 or 9, picked flowers and gave them to me, which was really cute. Later, I re-gifted them to another little girl on the street since I knew I couldn't keep them. We then continued on to the night market.
The Saigon night market is the best one we've been to so far. The others have been small in comparison (and we didn't even see everything since the indoor shops closed early). We bought a few things (jewelry mostly and a tiny bit of art), but are waiting to come back here in a few days before we do any mass shopping for clothing or any souvenirs. Then we'll probably be shipping stuff home, which means my backpack will be getting lighter soon. Yay!
Tomorrow we're leaving for a 3-day tour of the Mekong River delta. We'll see some floating villages, farmers working in the rice paddies, a few factories, and floating markets. I'm very excited to see what life is like in the countryside in comparison to what it's like in the city.
I hope everyone is doing well back home. Happy birthday to Patsy Chandler! I think I missed it but I'm still close, right? :)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Temples, Poverty, and Genocide in Cambodia
No - I haven't fallen off the map yet. Cindy and I arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on June 15th after pulling an all-nighter in the Kuala Lumpur airport with our new friend Murray, from Scotland. We arrived at a hostel straight from the airport, washed our faces, and headed off in a tuk-tuk to see the temples surrounding Angkor Wat, which is supposed to be the 8th man-made wonder of the world.
The temples were absolutely amazing. As soon as I get pictures posted (who knows when that will be), you'll be able to see for yourself, but for now a little background: The temples were built in the 12th century, which really doesn't seem that long ago, but they were neglected for years and have had to be restored because vegetation has grown in cracks - one temple has been covered in places by trees. Some of the temples lay in pieces in the grounds surrounding the actual structures. International organizations - the Indian, German, and Japanese government come to mind - have joined forces with the Cambodian government to restore the temples, and are working to put them back together piece by piece, which is a very complex task that was hampered when the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in the 1970s and 1980s and restoration work was put on hold.
All in all, we had an interesting day driving around to all the different temples, climbing on them, and seeing what the Hindu and Buddhist architecture was like in Cambodia centuries ago. But what I was most struck by was the people. We were there on a Sunday, and many of the children who normally would have been in school were out and about at the temples. Most were begging or money or were selling bracelets, books, fans, a guided tour of the temples (which they'd give first, then charge for later), anything . . . and the sad part was that they were so poor and so sad-looking that you felt you needed to buy something from or give something to every kid who passed in front of you.
Between temples, Cindy and I stopped by a few stands to look at the art. While we were in one of the stands, 12-year-old and 5-year-old sisters started talking to us and trying to sell us things. They ended up following us to the stand where we bought lunch, and the 5-year-old brought out some plastic sea creatures that she had been carrying around. I wasn't sure what they were, but apparently they were similar to jacks, and we played a few games (she beat me every game). It was nice to know that even though she was "working", she was still allowed to have some fun. The 12-year-old, on the other hand, broke my heart. She told me that she wakes up every morning at 4, helps set up at some restaurants, then goes to school from 7am until sometime mid-afternoon. From school she comes back to the Angkor Wat complex to sell books (which look really heavy) and goes home at 9pm. She told me she's tired all the time. And while I encouraged her to stay in school, I don't know if she will or even if she does whether it will help her that much.
Back in Siem Reap (and still running on the sleep we got on our two 2-hour flights), we hustled back to the hostel, showered, and went to dinner. In sharp contrast to the poverty just outside the city, much of Siem Reap is very developed and VERY touristy. Apparently the Koreans have invested heavily in the tourism industry there, and many of the hotels are very up-scale. So are the restaurants. The bar scene, which is where we met up with Chris, Christopher, and Audun, Norwegians we met at the temples, was pretty low-key because it's low season in Cambodia, but I'm sure it would be crazy during busy season.
After being up for nearly 48 hours, Cindy and I slept most of the day on the 16th, and by the time we finally woke up (1:45 pm), got ready for the day, and attempted to go outside, the city was in the middle of a deluge. Rainy season is definitely rainy at times! So instead of being productive in a sense that we'd actually see something that day, we spent the time writing in our journals and calling home.
On June 17, we rented bikes and rode out to the temples again. It was only about a 25 kilometer ride, but felt really good to get in a bit of exercise. That night, we met some Americans - which seems to be rare unless you're in Cambodia, where the tuk-tuk drivers told us they are everywhere. It was pretty interesting to talk to them. Craig had been stationed in South Korea with the Army, and his brother, Matthew, works on an oil rig in Mississippi. Because everyone we've met here, without exception, has been interested in American politics and is pro-Obama, my big mouth didn't take the time to register "red state" and "oil rig" before I made some comment about how we could be doing more good in the world by helping the Cambodian people out instead of spending money on the war in Iraq, and I promptly inserted my foot in my mouth and tabled all political conversations for the rest of the night. It's a lesson I'll hopefully learn from.
On June 18, Cindy and I did a boat tour of the floating village on Tonle Sap Lake, just outside of Siem Reap. The people who live on the lake mostly make a living by fishing, and have to move their homes about once a month because the lake's level rises and falls along with the rainy season. We took hundreds of photos of village life, which is quite possibly the poorest I've seen since being on my trip. Because we were on a boat, we didn't have kids coming up to us, pulling us on the arm, and asking us to buy things from them or give them money, but the sadness in their eyes was enough to make you want to spill out your wallet into the water and let the fastest swimmer take everything home to their family.
While in Siem Reap, I emailed Pat, our contact with Clear Path International, an organization that Marler Clark supports, and arranged to meet up with her while we were in Phnom Penh. Clear Path International provides support to land mine victims, their families, and communities, and I wanted to see their work in action.
We left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh on June 19th, and the morning of the 20th hooked up with Pat and Surat, a volunteer with Cambodian Volunteers and Community Development (CVCD), for a tour of a few schools that are supported by CPI and CVCD. The schools are set up in areas where "squatters," or people who have been moved out of the city by the Phnom Penh government, have been forced to live. CVCD funds the schools so that kids who have been "relocated" can be educated while their parents work. We saw a 2nd grade and a 4th grade class. The 4th graders are learning English, and it was fun for them to practice basic questions and answers with us. After our tour, Pat and Surat drove Cindy and me back to our hostel, and on the way taught us a bit about Cambodian history and the current political climate. After seeing the squatter villages and hearing them talk, it felt to me like the Cambodian government is treating its citizens like the US government treated Native Americans.
The afternoon of the 20th, we visited Choeung Ek, also known as The Killing Fields, which are located about 15 kilometers outside of Phnom Penh. The Killing Fields consist of mass graves where victims of the Khmer Rouge - mostly intellectuals and government officials and their families - were buried after they were executed. Our guide described the methods with which the Khmer Rouge killed different victims - babies were either thrown into the air and speared with bayonets or held by the legs and smashed against trees, while adults were clubbed in the head with blunt instruments or held down and slowly tortured while soldiers pulled sharp baby palm fronds across their necks. Not all the bodies have been recovered from the graves, and after it rains (thank God we were there at the beginning and not the end of the rainy season) clothing and bones from the graves float to the surface. The trail we walked on was littered with small pieces of bone, teeth, and pieces of clothing.
Following the Killing fields, we visited Tuol Sleng Museum, also known as Security Prison 21 (S-21), the former Tuol Svey Prey High School in Phnom Penh. S-21 was used to hold thousands of prisoners throughout the reign of the Khmer Rouge. The prisoners were tortured and beaten by soldiers, and the museum depicts the different torture methods, and displays photos of victims. The two things that struck me most about the school were (1) that one of the exhibits included photos of and quotes from former members of the Khmer Rouge. Nearly all of them said that they had joined the Khmer Rouge not because they believed in the cause, but because they believed it was their only choice. What an awful choice to have to make, and (2) that very old white plumeria trees were growing in the school-yard. Staring out the prison windows into the yard, or being walked to a torture chamber past those trees, must have been quite the contrast.
After a day filled with emotions, we decided to have a cup of coffee and digest what we'd seen. Before we left the cafe we were at, however, another torrential downpour began (the best one I've seen yet, with lots of lightning and thunder), and we were stuck inside for several hours. It turned out to be a pleasant end to the day since we met Stu from Calgary while we were there, and had a great conversation with him. We also met a couple who had recently been to Vietnam. The woman shared with Cindy some ins and outs in the shopping world, and gave us some good advice. Now that we're in Vietnam, hopefully it will pay off.
The temples were absolutely amazing. As soon as I get pictures posted (who knows when that will be), you'll be able to see for yourself, but for now a little background: The temples were built in the 12th century, which really doesn't seem that long ago, but they were neglected for years and have had to be restored because vegetation has grown in cracks - one temple has been covered in places by trees. Some of the temples lay in pieces in the grounds surrounding the actual structures. International organizations - the Indian, German, and Japanese government come to mind - have joined forces with the Cambodian government to restore the temples, and are working to put them back together piece by piece, which is a very complex task that was hampered when the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in the 1970s and 1980s and restoration work was put on hold.
All in all, we had an interesting day driving around to all the different temples, climbing on them, and seeing what the Hindu and Buddhist architecture was like in Cambodia centuries ago. But what I was most struck by was the people. We were there on a Sunday, and many of the children who normally would have been in school were out and about at the temples. Most were begging or money or were selling bracelets, books, fans, a guided tour of the temples (which they'd give first, then charge for later), anything . . . and the sad part was that they were so poor and so sad-looking that you felt you needed to buy something from or give something to every kid who passed in front of you.
Between temples, Cindy and I stopped by a few stands to look at the art. While we were in one of the stands, 12-year-old and 5-year-old sisters started talking to us and trying to sell us things. They ended up following us to the stand where we bought lunch, and the 5-year-old brought out some plastic sea creatures that she had been carrying around. I wasn't sure what they were, but apparently they were similar to jacks, and we played a few games (she beat me every game). It was nice to know that even though she was "working", she was still allowed to have some fun. The 12-year-old, on the other hand, broke my heart. She told me that she wakes up every morning at 4, helps set up at some restaurants, then goes to school from 7am until sometime mid-afternoon. From school she comes back to the Angkor Wat complex to sell books (which look really heavy) and goes home at 9pm. She told me she's tired all the time. And while I encouraged her to stay in school, I don't know if she will or even if she does whether it will help her that much.
Back in Siem Reap (and still running on the sleep we got on our two 2-hour flights), we hustled back to the hostel, showered, and went to dinner. In sharp contrast to the poverty just outside the city, much of Siem Reap is very developed and VERY touristy. Apparently the Koreans have invested heavily in the tourism industry there, and many of the hotels are very up-scale. So are the restaurants. The bar scene, which is where we met up with Chris, Christopher, and Audun, Norwegians we met at the temples, was pretty low-key because it's low season in Cambodia, but I'm sure it would be crazy during busy season.
After being up for nearly 48 hours, Cindy and I slept most of the day on the 16th, and by the time we finally woke up (1:45 pm), got ready for the day, and attempted to go outside, the city was in the middle of a deluge. Rainy season is definitely rainy at times! So instead of being productive in a sense that we'd actually see something that day, we spent the time writing in our journals and calling home.
On June 17, we rented bikes and rode out to the temples again. It was only about a 25 kilometer ride, but felt really good to get in a bit of exercise. That night, we met some Americans - which seems to be rare unless you're in Cambodia, where the tuk-tuk drivers told us they are everywhere. It was pretty interesting to talk to them. Craig had been stationed in South Korea with the Army, and his brother, Matthew, works on an oil rig in Mississippi. Because everyone we've met here, without exception, has been interested in American politics and is pro-Obama, my big mouth didn't take the time to register "red state" and "oil rig" before I made some comment about how we could be doing more good in the world by helping the Cambodian people out instead of spending money on the war in Iraq, and I promptly inserted my foot in my mouth and tabled all political conversations for the rest of the night. It's a lesson I'll hopefully learn from.
On June 18, Cindy and I did a boat tour of the floating village on Tonle Sap Lake, just outside of Siem Reap. The people who live on the lake mostly make a living by fishing, and have to move their homes about once a month because the lake's level rises and falls along with the rainy season. We took hundreds of photos of village life, which is quite possibly the poorest I've seen since being on my trip. Because we were on a boat, we didn't have kids coming up to us, pulling us on the arm, and asking us to buy things from them or give them money, but the sadness in their eyes was enough to make you want to spill out your wallet into the water and let the fastest swimmer take everything home to their family.
While in Siem Reap, I emailed Pat, our contact with Clear Path International, an organization that Marler Clark supports, and arranged to meet up with her while we were in Phnom Penh. Clear Path International provides support to land mine victims, their families, and communities, and I wanted to see their work in action.
We left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh on June 19th, and the morning of the 20th hooked up with Pat and Surat, a volunteer with Cambodian Volunteers and Community Development (CVCD), for a tour of a few schools that are supported by CPI and CVCD. The schools are set up in areas where "squatters," or people who have been moved out of the city by the Phnom Penh government, have been forced to live. CVCD funds the schools so that kids who have been "relocated" can be educated while their parents work. We saw a 2nd grade and a 4th grade class. The 4th graders are learning English, and it was fun for them to practice basic questions and answers with us. After our tour, Pat and Surat drove Cindy and me back to our hostel, and on the way taught us a bit about Cambodian history and the current political climate. After seeing the squatter villages and hearing them talk, it felt to me like the Cambodian government is treating its citizens like the US government treated Native Americans.
The afternoon of the 20th, we visited Choeung Ek, also known as The Killing Fields, which are located about 15 kilometers outside of Phnom Penh. The Killing Fields consist of mass graves where victims of the Khmer Rouge - mostly intellectuals and government officials and their families - were buried after they were executed. Our guide described the methods with which the Khmer Rouge killed different victims - babies were either thrown into the air and speared with bayonets or held by the legs and smashed against trees, while adults were clubbed in the head with blunt instruments or held down and slowly tortured while soldiers pulled sharp baby palm fronds across their necks. Not all the bodies have been recovered from the graves, and after it rains (thank God we were there at the beginning and not the end of the rainy season) clothing and bones from the graves float to the surface. The trail we walked on was littered with small pieces of bone, teeth, and pieces of clothing.
Following the Killing fields, we visited Tuol Sleng Museum, also known as Security Prison 21 (S-21), the former Tuol Svey Prey High School in Phnom Penh. S-21 was used to hold thousands of prisoners throughout the reign of the Khmer Rouge. The prisoners were tortured and beaten by soldiers, and the museum depicts the different torture methods, and displays photos of victims. The two things that struck me most about the school were (1) that one of the exhibits included photos of and quotes from former members of the Khmer Rouge. Nearly all of them said that they had joined the Khmer Rouge not because they believed in the cause, but because they believed it was their only choice. What an awful choice to have to make, and (2) that very old white plumeria trees were growing in the school-yard. Staring out the prison windows into the yard, or being walked to a torture chamber past those trees, must have been quite the contrast.
After a day filled with emotions, we decided to have a cup of coffee and digest what we'd seen. Before we left the cafe we were at, however, another torrential downpour began (the best one I've seen yet, with lots of lightning and thunder), and we were stuck inside for several hours. It turned out to be a pleasant end to the day since we met Stu from Calgary while we were there, and had a great conversation with him. We also met a couple who had recently been to Vietnam. The woman shared with Cindy some ins and outs in the shopping world, and gave us some good advice. Now that we're in Vietnam, hopefully it will pay off.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Happy Father's Day!
Happy Father's Day to my dad and all the other dads out there!
We arrived in Cambodia yesterday and are surrounded by poverty. Let me just say how lucky I am to have grown up in the US and how lucky I am to have parents who supported me in everything I did and provided the means for me to have a great life. Thanks for working your butt off, Dad. Happy Father's Day!
We arrived in Cambodia yesterday and are surrounded by poverty. Let me just say how lucky I am to have grown up in the US and how lucky I am to have parents who supported me in everything I did and provided the means for me to have a great life. Thanks for working your butt off, Dad. Happy Father's Day!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Jungle, Scuba, and KK
While in Sandakan, we visited the Orang-utan rehabilitation center just outside the city. The "highlight" of the day was watching them at feeding time, which was basically like watching Orang-utans in a zoo. I was very disappointed in the whole experience. The service being provided at the center is very worthwhile, but it's definitely not a tourist attraction worth experiencing, in my opinion, other than you get great photos of Orang-utans.
Cindy and I left for a jungle experience out of Sandakan on June 5th. The schedule we were informed we had was:
In addition to our boat tours, we did one night walk in the jungle, where most people saw a Civet cat (I didn't) and a Garett Pitta (bird), which we also saw on a jungle cruise. The Garret Pitta was more impressive at night than during the day. Overall, the night walk was pretty uneventful because 6 people make quite a bit of noise while walking around in a pack. And when you're covered in leaches, it's hard not to make any noise. :) OK, so we weren't covered but we definitely had our fair share clinging to our pants, shirts, and a few on our skin.
The 3 hour jungle trek we did during the day started out rather uneventful, but we had fun walking through the mud and trying to step lightly to avoid sinking or being covered by leaches. At the very end of the trek,Kai, our guide, spotted a family of Orang-utans. They were high up in a tree, but we got right under them and came away with some decent pictures. It was way better than seeing the ones in the Orang-utan sanctuary.
The highlight of the jungle trip was the second night. I was wearing my Cougar poncho because it had been raining, and a guy who had just arrived that day yelled out, "Go Washington State!" I was hoping that would happen at some point, but definitely didn't expect it to happen the first time I wore the poncho! The guy who recognized the Coug logo is from Seattle, but is a Sun Devil, so at least I wasn't ganged up on by Huskies (Cindy is a Husky). I LOVE encounters like that. Good thing the Coug logo is so recognizable!
Then our problems began.
On the 7th we left the jungle early in the morning in an effort to make it to Semporna in time to take our table course and prepare for our first day of open water PADI certification. Before we left the lodge we'd been staying at, we were informed that the bus we had reservations to be on was "full". We insisted that the reason the bus was listed as being full was that we had a reservation, so they were holding our seats. WE WERE WRONG. When we got to the junction to catch our bus, we were shocked and dismayed to learn that the bus was, in fact, full and that our reservations had not been made 5 days in advance, so even though we had a reservation we did not have a seat. We ended up sitting on the floor of the bus for 5 long hours, back-to-back. Every time Cindy moved, I moved, and vice-versa. It was not a pleasant experience.
We arrived in Semporna in the middle of a torrential downpour, and were greeted by Ed from Sipadan Scuba, who was there to pick up 2 girls and drive them to the dive shop. He asked if we had talked to Jerry to make reservations for our PADI course. We told him we'd gone through Polly to make our reservations and that we'd be diving with Borneo Divers, so Ed gave us directions to Borneo Divers and we began walking to the shop. As we crossed in front of the Sipadan Scuba dive shop, we were hailed by Ed and a couple of women who told us there'd been miscommunication at the bus stop, and we were booked with Sipadan Scuba - also known as North Borneo Divers. At least we hadn't made it past the shop and we didn't have to turn around. We were drenched.
After dropping our bags at Sipadan Scuba, Cindy and I ran for a cup of coffee and a snack, then began the first part of our certification, which involved watching about 5 hours of video on diving, reading a PADI book, and taking quizzes. Before we ever started we were tired, but after sitting in a classroom for what seemed like forever, we were exhausted. Lucky for us, I remembered to ask about our accommodation for the nights of the 8th and 9th, and what the meal schedule was. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE JAWS DROP. Apparently the package we had paid for was only for the open water course, not accommodation, not food, and certainly not diving Sipadan on the 10th - the whole reason we'd decided to get our PADI certification in Semporna in the first place. Luckily, after several phone calls and explanations we were able to get Polly, the woman we had booked our dive course through, to agree to pay for our accommodation the nights of the 8th and 9th, and for our dive at Sipadan, which saved us US $175 each.
The days of the 8th and 9th were spent completing our PADI certification with Ed, our instructor, who was a great teacher. We got to do our confined and open water dives in tropical water, on beautiful coral reefs. The first day, Cindy, Ed, and I had a boat to ourselves, and the second day we shared a boat with Liz, a scuba instructor from Koh Tao (Thailand), and 2 other dive masters with Sipadan Scuba, Ice and another guy whose name I can't remember. The locations we went to for our training were better than any place I've ever even snorkeled, so that made me very, very, very thankful I didn't do my open water certification before coming on this vacation. Pools and Puget Sound don't sound that fun. The only thing that could've made the certification process better would've been a little bit of sun. My toes were purple after every single dive even though I was wearing a wet suit because I was so cold and it was so rainy. At one point, my lips even turned purple! Liz got some photos of Cindy and me diving on the 9th, and I'll upload them ASAP.
On June 10, we did 3 dives at Sipadan, the world's #3 dive spot. There were two dive masters from Sipadan Scuba on board, Ed and Arwan, as well as a dive master from Phuket, Thailand, Todd, who was taking video (I'll put the link to the You Tube video of us diving when Todd edits it and sends it to me), and two other divers - Jules and Dane. We only went down 18 meters, but that was far enough to go into Turtle Tomb and down to Barracuda Point. We got to see frog fish, angel fish, anemone fish (Nemos), giant puffer fish, green and hawk-billed turtles bigger than me, unicorn fish, black tipped and white tipped reef sharks, goat fish, parrot fish, a school of 1,000 barracuda, and so much more! I was bummed that I didn't see any hammerhead sharks, but they're down at 80 meters and you can only see them from 40 on a day with good visibility, so there wasn't much of a chance that I'd see one.
The evening of the 10th, Cindy stayed in because she thought she was getting an ear infection, so I met Ed and another instructor, Tom, for drinks. All three of us spent most of the next day hung over, but that was OK because Cindy and I didn't have anything planned other than taking the night bus to Kota Kinabalu, which is where we are now. We're planning either to go to the beach or to go to Mount Kinabalu tomorrow, and that will be a game-time decision determined by the weather. We fly from KK to Kuala Lumpur the night of the 15th, then will spend the night in the airport, waiting for our flight from KL to Siem Reap, Cambodia, on the 16th. Hopefully we'll see some good stuff before we take off. We're going to miss the twin towers in KL - we thought we'd have time to see them on this trip, but didn't see them the first time we were there and didn't leave ourselves enough time to get into the city from the airport and back again before our second flight takes off. I guess that means I need to make it back to KL at some point in the future.
That's all for now. It's time for me to figure out how to share more photos!
Cheers!
Cindy and I left for a jungle experience out of Sandakan on June 5th. The schedule we were informed we had was:
- Jungle cruises, walks, etc. on June 5-June 7
- June 7 - meet the bus to Semporna at "the junction" at 9am, Arrive in Semporna at 4pm and begin our PADI instruction. North Borneo Divers, or Borneo Divers, would be paying for our accommodation and meals on the 8th & 9th
- June 8 & 9 - Open Water certification
- June 10 - Dive Sipadan (included in the price we paid for the open water course), then we're on our own
In addition to our boat tours, we did one night walk in the jungle, where most people saw a Civet cat (I didn't) and a Garett Pitta (bird), which we also saw on a jungle cruise. The Garret Pitta was more impressive at night than during the day. Overall, the night walk was pretty uneventful because 6 people make quite a bit of noise while walking around in a pack. And when you're covered in leaches, it's hard not to make any noise. :) OK, so we weren't covered but we definitely had our fair share clinging to our pants, shirts, and a few on our skin.
The 3 hour jungle trek we did during the day started out rather uneventful, but we had fun walking through the mud and trying to step lightly to avoid sinking or being covered by leaches. At the very end of the trek,Kai, our guide, spotted a family of Orang-utans. They were high up in a tree, but we got right under them and came away with some decent pictures. It was way better than seeing the ones in the Orang-utan sanctuary.
The highlight of the jungle trip was the second night. I was wearing my Cougar poncho because it had been raining, and a guy who had just arrived that day yelled out, "Go Washington State!" I was hoping that would happen at some point, but definitely didn't expect it to happen the first time I wore the poncho! The guy who recognized the Coug logo is from Seattle, but is a Sun Devil, so at least I wasn't ganged up on by Huskies (Cindy is a Husky). I LOVE encounters like that. Good thing the Coug logo is so recognizable!
Then our problems began.
On the 7th we left the jungle early in the morning in an effort to make it to Semporna in time to take our table course and prepare for our first day of open water PADI certification. Before we left the lodge we'd been staying at, we were informed that the bus we had reservations to be on was "full". We insisted that the reason the bus was listed as being full was that we had a reservation, so they were holding our seats. WE WERE WRONG. When we got to the junction to catch our bus, we were shocked and dismayed to learn that the bus was, in fact, full and that our reservations had not been made 5 days in advance, so even though we had a reservation we did not have a seat. We ended up sitting on the floor of the bus for 5 long hours, back-to-back. Every time Cindy moved, I moved, and vice-versa. It was not a pleasant experience.
We arrived in Semporna in the middle of a torrential downpour, and were greeted by Ed from Sipadan Scuba, who was there to pick up 2 girls and drive them to the dive shop. He asked if we had talked to Jerry to make reservations for our PADI course. We told him we'd gone through Polly to make our reservations and that we'd be diving with Borneo Divers, so Ed gave us directions to Borneo Divers and we began walking to the shop. As we crossed in front of the Sipadan Scuba dive shop, we were hailed by Ed and a couple of women who told us there'd been miscommunication at the bus stop, and we were booked with Sipadan Scuba - also known as North Borneo Divers. At least we hadn't made it past the shop and we didn't have to turn around. We were drenched.
After dropping our bags at Sipadan Scuba, Cindy and I ran for a cup of coffee and a snack, then began the first part of our certification, which involved watching about 5 hours of video on diving, reading a PADI book, and taking quizzes. Before we ever started we were tired, but after sitting in a classroom for what seemed like forever, we were exhausted. Lucky for us, I remembered to ask about our accommodation for the nights of the 8th and 9th, and what the meal schedule was. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE JAWS DROP. Apparently the package we had paid for was only for the open water course, not accommodation, not food, and certainly not diving Sipadan on the 10th - the whole reason we'd decided to get our PADI certification in Semporna in the first place. Luckily, after several phone calls and explanations we were able to get Polly, the woman we had booked our dive course through, to agree to pay for our accommodation the nights of the 8th and 9th, and for our dive at Sipadan, which saved us US $175 each.
The days of the 8th and 9th were spent completing our PADI certification with Ed, our instructor, who was a great teacher. We got to do our confined and open water dives in tropical water, on beautiful coral reefs. The first day, Cindy, Ed, and I had a boat to ourselves, and the second day we shared a boat with Liz, a scuba instructor from Koh Tao (Thailand), and 2 other dive masters with Sipadan Scuba, Ice and another guy whose name I can't remember. The locations we went to for our training were better than any place I've ever even snorkeled, so that made me very, very, very thankful I didn't do my open water certification before coming on this vacation. Pools and Puget Sound don't sound that fun. The only thing that could've made the certification process better would've been a little bit of sun. My toes were purple after every single dive even though I was wearing a wet suit because I was so cold and it was so rainy. At one point, my lips even turned purple! Liz got some photos of Cindy and me diving on the 9th, and I'll upload them ASAP.
On June 10, we did 3 dives at Sipadan, the world's #3 dive spot. There were two dive masters from Sipadan Scuba on board, Ed and Arwan, as well as a dive master from Phuket, Thailand, Todd, who was taking video (I'll put the link to the You Tube video of us diving when Todd edits it and sends it to me), and two other divers - Jules and Dane. We only went down 18 meters, but that was far enough to go into Turtle Tomb and down to Barracuda Point. We got to see frog fish, angel fish, anemone fish (Nemos), giant puffer fish, green and hawk-billed turtles bigger than me, unicorn fish, black tipped and white tipped reef sharks, goat fish, parrot fish, a school of 1,000 barracuda, and so much more! I was bummed that I didn't see any hammerhead sharks, but they're down at 80 meters and you can only see them from 40 on a day with good visibility, so there wasn't much of a chance that I'd see one.
The evening of the 10th, Cindy stayed in because she thought she was getting an ear infection, so I met Ed and another instructor, Tom, for drinks. All three of us spent most of the next day hung over, but that was OK because Cindy and I didn't have anything planned other than taking the night bus to Kota Kinabalu, which is where we are now. We're planning either to go to the beach or to go to Mount Kinabalu tomorrow, and that will be a game-time decision determined by the weather. We fly from KK to Kuala Lumpur the night of the 15th, then will spend the night in the airport, waiting for our flight from KL to Siem Reap, Cambodia, on the 16th. Hopefully we'll see some good stuff before we take off. We're going to miss the twin towers in KL - we thought we'd have time to see them on this trip, but didn't see them the first time we were there and didn't leave ourselves enough time to get into the city from the airport and back again before our second flight takes off. I guess that means I need to make it back to KL at some point in the future.
That's all for now. It's time for me to figure out how to share more photos!
Cheers!
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Time to take Malaria pills . . .
After a 2 day postponement for our river cruise on the Kinabatangan river, we're about to set off on our adventure. The weather has been great the last 2 days - only short torrential downpours that last for 20 minutes at a time - and I'm hoping it will hold out for us while we're in the middle of nowhere. More rain means more mosquitoes, and we had to start taking our malaria pills today. We'll probably be on them through the end of September. I'm not looking forward to it. I'm also going to try out my "buzz-off" bandana and socks from Exoficio, so I'll soon be able to report on their effectiveness. If the socks don't keep the mosquitoes away, at least they should keep the leaches off my feet! :)
Since our trip was postponed, Cindy and I had extra time to explore Sandakan. Unfortunately, we didn't see too much because we were busy getting haircuts, uploading photos on some horrifically slow Internet connections, and grocery shopping. My hair looks pretty much the same, only about 2 inches shorter (sorry, Locks of Love, you'll have to wait a few more months to get my hair now!), but Cindy's is significantly shorter and the woman thinned it a bit. She's not happy now, but hopefully she'll grow to like it.
I've been trying to upload my pictures in the free time that I've had, and am working to get albums uploaded on Picasa. When they're ready to go, I'll post links to them.
Happy birthday to Meghann Ison on the 7th!
Since our trip was postponed, Cindy and I had extra time to explore Sandakan. Unfortunately, we didn't see too much because we were busy getting haircuts, uploading photos on some horrifically slow Internet connections, and grocery shopping. My hair looks pretty much the same, only about 2 inches shorter (sorry, Locks of Love, you'll have to wait a few more months to get my hair now!), but Cindy's is significantly shorter and the woman thinned it a bit. She's not happy now, but hopefully she'll grow to like it.
I've been trying to upload my pictures in the free time that I've had, and am working to get albums uploaded on Picasa. When they're ready to go, I'll post links to them.
Happy birthday to Meghann Ison on the 7th!
Monday, June 02, 2008
FOOD
Before I got sick in Thailand, I had been planning to write an entire post about Thai food and how much I love it. It's been almost 2 weeks since the last time I was sick (and I know it won't be the last time, but I'm so happy to be able to enjoy food again for the time being), and I think I'm ready to talk about the wonderful goodness of the foods I've eaten.
Let's start with banana pancakes. I know I've mentioned them before, but I just can't help mentioning them again. At home I typically eat a banana a day, so I thought that when I started my travels I'd shun them for mangos and other tropical fruit. I was wrong. Nearly every time I see banana pancakes on the menu, I order them. Some are crepe-like pancakes with bananas cut up and placed in the middle, drizzled with honey. Others are crepe-like, with nutella spread all over the crepe and the banana folded inside. Some are thick, with cut up bananas cooked into them. I could go on and on. I've also tried mixed-fruit pancakes, but they're just not as good as the banana ones. When I get home, I'm going to perfect the art of the banana pancake. I'll probably have people lined up for breakfast every weekend.
On to the curries. I love red and yellow curry, but have never been a huge fan of green curry. Although on this trip I've eaten some green curry that was really good, I still favor the red and yellow. The best I've had so far was the duck curry with grapes, pineapple, and tomatoes OR the pumpkin massaman curry. I'd never been a huge fan of massaman curry until we were on Koh Phangan, where our favorite restaurant served it and I became addicted. Maybe it was just the pumpkin. I ate pumpkin salad, fried pumpkin with chicken, pumpkin massaman curry, the list goes on. It was amazing.
And the coconut curry was excellent going down, but the night I got sick I had eaten it and I don't think I'll ever look at coconut again. Which is too bad considering my favorite dessert used to be bananas in coconut milk.
The phad thai we ate in Thailand was mostly good, but I think it's just as good in Seattle, which was huge for me because then I didn't feel obligated to eat it everywhere I went. I could branch out and try more interesting things than just sticking to what I knew was good and I couldn't get back home.
We've eaten what seems like a million shakes - mango, banana, banana & coffee, pineapple, mixed fruit, oreo, snickers - all are good. I've never been a juice person, but I would settle for a mango or banana shake (no yogurt in these ones, just ice) every morning from now on.
Since we got to Malaysia, Cindy and I haven't been able to figure out what real Malaysian food is. It's either Indian, Chinese, or Thai, and they seem to love their "Burger Kings," which are on the menu in many of the places we've seen. When we were on Pehrentian Kecil we ate a lot of BBQ chicken and even had fajitas a few times because we couldn't figure out what was authentic Malaysian. All of the food on the island was relatively healthy, which was a huge relief since we were sick of eating fried everything except for fruit all the time, with the exception of the Roti Chenai (sp?), which is a really greasy flatbread served with curry that's great for breakfast. Once again, we think it's Indian, not Malaysian. And the gato gato (boiled vegetables served with peanut sauce, not cat cat) was good, but again - we're not sure it's Malaysian. More investigating will be done before we leave this place.
There's my food update - not as good as it would have been if I hadn't gotten sick and hated food for a good week, but it is what it is.
Let's start with banana pancakes. I know I've mentioned them before, but I just can't help mentioning them again. At home I typically eat a banana a day, so I thought that when I started my travels I'd shun them for mangos and other tropical fruit. I was wrong. Nearly every time I see banana pancakes on the menu, I order them. Some are crepe-like pancakes with bananas cut up and placed in the middle, drizzled with honey. Others are crepe-like, with nutella spread all over the crepe and the banana folded inside. Some are thick, with cut up bananas cooked into them. I could go on and on. I've also tried mixed-fruit pancakes, but they're just not as good as the banana ones. When I get home, I'm going to perfect the art of the banana pancake. I'll probably have people lined up for breakfast every weekend.
On to the curries. I love red and yellow curry, but have never been a huge fan of green curry. Although on this trip I've eaten some green curry that was really good, I still favor the red and yellow. The best I've had so far was the duck curry with grapes, pineapple, and tomatoes OR the pumpkin massaman curry. I'd never been a huge fan of massaman curry until we were on Koh Phangan, where our favorite restaurant served it and I became addicted. Maybe it was just the pumpkin. I ate pumpkin salad, fried pumpkin with chicken, pumpkin massaman curry, the list goes on. It was amazing.
And the coconut curry was excellent going down, but the night I got sick I had eaten it and I don't think I'll ever look at coconut again. Which is too bad considering my favorite dessert used to be bananas in coconut milk.
The phad thai we ate in Thailand was mostly good, but I think it's just as good in Seattle, which was huge for me because then I didn't feel obligated to eat it everywhere I went. I could branch out and try more interesting things than just sticking to what I knew was good and I couldn't get back home.
We've eaten what seems like a million shakes - mango, banana, banana & coffee, pineapple, mixed fruit, oreo, snickers - all are good. I've never been a juice person, but I would settle for a mango or banana shake (no yogurt in these ones, just ice) every morning from now on.
Since we got to Malaysia, Cindy and I haven't been able to figure out what real Malaysian food is. It's either Indian, Chinese, or Thai, and they seem to love their "Burger Kings," which are on the menu in many of the places we've seen. When we were on Pehrentian Kecil we ate a lot of BBQ chicken and even had fajitas a few times because we couldn't figure out what was authentic Malaysian. All of the food on the island was relatively healthy, which was a huge relief since we were sick of eating fried everything except for fruit all the time, with the exception of the Roti Chenai (sp?), which is a really greasy flatbread served with curry that's great for breakfast. Once again, we think it's Indian, not Malaysian. And the gato gato (boiled vegetables served with peanut sauce, not cat cat) was good, but again - we're not sure it's Malaysian. More investigating will be done before we leave this place.
There's my food update - not as good as it would have been if I hadn't gotten sick and hated food for a good week, but it is what it is.
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