Takin it easy is SE Asia

Photos: Two months in Thailand

shazbot — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 20:16:00 GMT

Two months in Thailand

shazbot — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 20:08:00 GMT

Hello Family and Friends,

I hope the new year of the Dragon is progressing well for everyone. After two months in Thailand I am getting very settled, though in a rainforest eco lodge (with a school for special kids) not far from the border with Burma/Myanmar but more on that shortly.

Though sad to leave the great island of Penang I was looking forward to the change in cultures. My travel included a short overnight stay in Bangkok so I took advantage of an airport hotel. Being game I ordered Papaya salad for dinner and asked for it to be not too spicy. It still blew my head off and was a great start to a diet of chilli hot food. Not all the food here has chilli in it but there is nearly always some dried/pickled chilli, chilli sauce, fish sauce with chilli and garlic and Tabasco sauce on the table if you want to add heat to your food.

The island of Ko Samui where I went to finish my Teach English course was a bit of a disappointment, though I am sure there are nice spots away from the main tourist beaches. There is rampart development of resorts with little consideration of environmental and social issues along with plenty of girlie bars and thumping nightclubs. As I had over a week to kill before my training I visited Ang Thong National Marine Park (where they filmed the movie ‘The Beach’) in a day trip that concluded with an elephant ride at a small cultural park.

The study was all pretty easy and the couple of practical teaching lessons were fun. Apparently I am reasonable at organising a structured but flexible lesson, which runs on-time and can explain things simply to the students.

I had a few big nights at the end of the course with a stagger back to my bungalow around 2am after our graduation party. This made the boat trip, with Scottish drinking pal Leon, to Ko Pha-Ngan (home of the full moon parties) the next day a bit of an effort. Especially as the ocean was rough and the boat was overflowing with young backpackers. Leon is a muso and has a friend who runs a Jam Bar on Ko Pha-Ngan which we visited. I only managed to hang out at the bar until 10.30pm but as I was staying in accommodation very nearby I did not get much sleep until the music stopped at 3am. Next day was Christmas Day and I caught the first boat back to Ko Samui to sleep.

Unfortunately no family or friends could join me on Samui for the rest of the festive week so I travelled back to the mainland and caught a bus to the west coast. After one night in Ranong (a popular place for foreigners to do a visa run into Burma/Myanmar) I started three weeks of volunteering at TCDF Eco Logic which is located in a small village surrounded by plantations and rainforest.

Following the New Year weekend we had a great group of fresh volunteers come along. They were all keen to help slog it out, swinging hoes, breaking ground for new vegetable gardens in the tropical sun and heat, finishing of course with plenty of cold beer some evenings. My birthday was a special celebration with this wonderful group and a Scottish volunteer couple put together a great blog about their week with us.

TCDF is the Thai Child Development Foundation which has a school for physically and mentally handicapped children with several associated social, health and livelihood projects. Eco Logic is the commercial eco-tourism / working holiday / volunteer side of the business that was formed to raise funds to support TCDF which runs on donations.

At the end of my volunteering the organisation was searching for a volunteer host for three months to look after the guests and volunteers. As I have about that time to fill in before the new Thai school year starts, when there will be plenty of teaching jobs, I thought I would stay and help them out.

I took a break in Ranong though for a week and went to the hot springs, the island of Ko Chang and experienced the night street markets combined with Chinese New Year celebrations. Into my third week now of being the host at TCDF and my latest bunch of volunteers are around 20 and very inexperienced with garden work. And even though I have a separate room in the dorm it can be challenging on the nights the young ones want to stay up late and play music.

So I will be here for at least another two months, in a region with islands, national parks, and local culture not impacted by international tourism (plenty of local tourism for the hot springs) that is only five bus hours and ~$6 from Phuket. Air Asia has some cheap flights from Gold Coast to Phuket for around $600 Aus and any visitors would be very welcome. I can take you on a grand tour of great local sites.

Back to civilisation

shazbot — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:31:00 GMT

I have been very much enjoying being back in civilisation for the last month. I left Belum Eco Resort a week short of my two month commitment as an artificial reef had been started and the boss seemed to have little enthusiasm for an environmental education program. Investment funding had also been secured to do resort extensions and upgrades before the end of the year so I bailed before the construction started.

I was happy with the small fish habitat areas we created with old car tyres, broken clay pipes/pots and tree branches. Definitely something that needs to be expanded but now the owner knows what to do and will soon start some fish feeding to attract the lake residents to the island to stay. An interesting thing that happened before I left was the discovery one morning of a very freshly shed snake skin from a cobra on the path near the kitchen. That was a bit unsettling as cobras are supposed to be other there in the jungle, not right here!!

On getting back to Georgetown, Penang I checked into the guest house I stayed at during my last short visit and quickly took advantage of being able to chat to other westerners. Made friends with Marcello, from Switzerland, who had just arrived from Thailand to start working in a new guest house and on impulse a couple of days later joined two others to go over to Langkawi. Cristina, lovely petite Italian lady from London, and Shane, good looking Canadian dive instructor who has been in region for last six years, were a lot of fun and people I just clicked with. They helped me put a huge dint in litre bottle of gin on the second night at Pentai Cenang Beach which included watching fire twirling at some ungodly hour at a cool bar opening onto the sand.

Shane was looking for work and scored a job at a dive shop in Sabah and Christina had other things to do so they only stayed for three nights while I stayed for eight. I was in cheaper accommodation than my first visit two months earlier and the season had definitely picked up so it was a more happening place with glorious weather. Everything there is so cheap – room $15Aus per night, breakfast 80c, lunch $2, one and a half hour massage $15, litre bottle of Gordons Gin $10. I could have stayed for ages but for some reason my laptop would not pick up the wifi at the guest house and as I had to get onto the Teach English study thought I better come back to Georgetown.

As they were still setting up, Marcel was able to give me a good price for a room in the new guest house, Red Inn Court. But they were only using Penang Free WiFi, which kept dropping out, so I moved to one of the other guest houses in the chain a few days later. While at the Court I met a lovely couple though, in their 50s but with much younger mind sets. Aaron is a Market Economist from Penang who has lived all over the world and Jill is a Pomm who met him here six months ago while travelling the world with her daughter. On the Saturday night they invited Marcel and I to the opening of a friends café, art gallery and guest house which had music, great food and wine. Met some interesting people there including the designer of the Langkawi Cable Car and Sky Bridge as well as a prominent local artist who was on exhibition in the State Gallery (which I went to see which will make my friend Conor happy). Drank plenty of good red wine and was even encouraged to go to a nightclub called the “G Spot” after. Sunday was quiet.

Other than that I have been getting my Teach English homework done, exploring more of the sites and streets around UNESCO listed part of Georgetown and discovering some lovely little restaurants.

I have arranged my flight to Bangkok next week and accommodation in Koh Samui from 4 Dec till 26 Dec but am now undecided about where to next. Is anyone interested in spending New Year with me in Koh Samui? If I do not have anyone coming over than I am thinking of spending the rest of the festive season and until after my birthday somewhere that will be cheaper and less touristy than that particular island. With my lifestyle lately I could not imagine a full time teaching job but there are plenty of volunteer opportunities in Thailand where you can get in a bit of practice teaching as well. So a matter of wait and see what happens after Koh Samui.

Hope you are all enjoying your Christmas parties. Jill and I are gate crashing the local Hash House Harriers Christmas pub crawl tonight.

Photos: Flowers and fungus

shazbot — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:43:00 GMT

Jungle blooms of all types

Photos: Food I have had

shazbot — Fri, 7 Oct 2011 11:27:00 GMT

Lazy livin on Lake Temengor

shazbot — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:22:00 GMT

Well this place is just as I had imagined it. I know that most accommodation places in developing countries (and this part of Malaysia is very much rural and developing) are not up to the standard we are used to in Australia. Everything is still very comfortable but you just need to be comfortable with things being a bit rougher around the edges, and to have a different standard of hygiene and cleanliness (and that is something I developed well in Fiji with many visits to remote villages and stays in rural hotels). It is definitely very quiet and relaxing with no pressing load of work.

After counting hornbills and being dropped back at the jetti (how they spell it here) and retrieving my backpack from the Malaysian Nature Society Coordinator’s car boot (luckily with the plastic bottles of gin unbroken) I settled down to wait for the pick up from Belum Eco Resort. As you have reception at Banding Island I luckily turned on my phone and received a text message from the boss of the resort, Steve, saying that I would get picked up at 1pm along with some guests.

One thing I had not realised is that Friday 16 September was a public holiday in Malaysia making it a long weekend. The resort was almost full with three groups (very multicultural with a group each of Chinese, Indian and Malays) totalling around 40 guests with a bunch of children between about 6 and 16. This made the place practically full and on arrival I was given a small room on an unfinished houseboat until there was space after the weekend.

Steve was quite busy with so many guests so he said we would catch up on Sunday afternoon after they had departed to talk about the work I would do. This suited me as it gave me a chance to rest, after the days bush counting hornbills, with good food, Western toilets (with bidet and bins for the toilet paper used to ‘dry’ yourself as system was not up to handling flushed paper) and tiled shower enclosures with tub of cold water and dribble of hot water.

Come Sunday afternoon I spoke to Steve a bit about the artificial reefs though he seemed keener on setting up a system for feeding hornbills fruit, just to provide a ‘bird experience’ for guests which may encourage their support of conservation. I don’t mind helping with the reefs as a small bit of extra habitat for the fish in this lake is not going to upset anything but I won’t do the encouragement of unnatural foraging behaviour in such a vulnerable species such as hornbills. I will make it clear to Steve that I do not have any expertise when it comes to hornbills and he would be best to find someone who does for any projects in that area. Another thing he is keen on is environmental advice for a proposal he is writing for ecotourism activities in the Royal Belum National Park (the one that is not being logged). Private businesses have been invited to submit proposals for this as it has been recognised that the government is too useless to establish anything that will be sustainable. When it came to asking about expectations for my volunteer work, Steve gave some talk about respecting each other but no clear direction about hours or outcomes. I volunteered to help with any resort domestic duties but was given no instruction and the staff were told that I would be doing ‘internet’ work, not anything physical with them.

Then Steve, his wife Susan and the rest of the casual staff were off and I was left with two young Indian male staff, Sanja and Babu, both of who have very limited English. On the Monday we were joined by two local Orang Isli boys to help with some work. Other residents on the island include two wonderful dogs, only about 18 months old, who are now my almost constant companions. The tan one is called Gordon, after Gordon Brown, and the black one is called Obama, no clues for where that name comes from. There is also a little ginger female cat, who is called Hillary (I think Steve can be a bit political), one black chicken, plenty of butterflies, cicadas, birds and a small troop of long tail Macaque monkeys. The monkeys came down to check out the resort on the Monday morning after everyone had left and I got a photo of one on the deck railing.

Over the next few days we got into a lovely routine of breakfast at 8am (does not really get light until 7am) of white bread, bananas and eggs, while they lasted, or handmade roti and jam, curry for lunch and curry for dinner. Near the end of the week they asked if I could cook food to be ready when they stopped working. I assured them that my only capability was to help as I did not know the ingredients (lots of noodles and unmarked spices in pots), how to cook large amounts of rice by absorption, chop a frozen chicken by cleaver, or deep fry fish in a battered wok on a commercial gas stove.

In between the meals the boys would go off and do some labour such as rake away all the nearby leaves and sweep the paths (obviously to make them look good – but also deny the area you want to be green from the nutrients that would come from the decomposing leaves and expose the bare soil to be washed away with the rain L) and do repairs on the chalets.

My work would consist of sitting at Steve’s laptop, with minimal internet, on the central table in the breezeway of the original houseboat which has a bit of a feel of an old house. With lots of open space for views of the surrounding lake and forested hills and a set of upstairs rooms that I had moved into to sleep. For exercise I try to walk to the end of the chalets and back a few times in the morning and in the evening and the crazy dogs take a run along the path with me. Amazing though how much of an upper body workout doing your washing by hand in a bucket is.

Steve and a couple of investor friends, who are looking at funding a houseboat business, came back on Thursday but only stayed for one night and left. I was woken up on Friday night by Sanja for a call from Steve to say he now would not be back until the following weekend and was I fine until then. The next day I sent him by email a proposal for construction of artificial reefs based on my research and reiterated my desire to access decent internet to upload photos to my travel journal so I could send an update to family and friends.

He was happy with the reef proposal and got the staff to take me this morning (Sunday 25) to a resort on Banding Island and the jetti to access internet and purchase a few groceries. It was nice to be out and the week ahead looks like more curry, maybe a kayak around the island, and some limited research on sport fishing as an ecotourism venture. Once Steve is here on the weekend I will get to see, along with a couple of guests, some of the local sites including a forestry lookout and hopefully a Rafflesia in bloom then we are off to the Royal Belum National Park.

Photos: Lazy livin on Lake Temenggor

shazbot — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 14:02:00 GMT

Photos: Counting hornbills

shazbot — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:46:00 GMT

Counting hornbills

shazbot — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:34:00 GMT

I think finding a familiar breakfast will be an ongoing challenge in Asia. Being a small regional centre Alor Setar definitely did not cater to Western tourists. At the local ungodly hour of 7.45am I set off to do a circuit of mostly closed shops around the bus station to see if I could find something to eat. I was pretty hungry as I did not have dinner but also had the extra task of trying to find a replacement for my power plug adaptor (essential for running my laptop) which had died the night before. Amazingly a 7-11 store (which was open 24 hours for the bus station) had several types of travel plug adaptors so I grabbed one along with a packaged yoghurt drink, (with reduced sugar as everything is super sweet), to take the edge off the hunger pangs.

Nothing much else was open and the rats were still active in the garbage bins on the pavement so I went to finish packing. I came back down an hour later and one café was sort of open with a guy spinning out thin dough on a stainless steel bench then cooking it on an iron plate. He was putting together some take away breakfast for a couple of ladies that were waiting. I worked out that this was roti and asked for a serve. I had no idea about the options they offered so I think I just got the basics of one fresh roti, chopped into pieces and a small pot of dahl (a type of chickpea/lentil soup). You either poured the dahl onto the roti or dipped pieces into the pot. It was very tasty and cost me the huge amount of $0.80 ringget which I think is about 23 cents Aus. I worked out after that this is called roti canai and another option is with an egg folded into the roti which I will try in the future.

The bus station was pretty easy to navigate and my bus turned up well before the time to leave. All the windows had swag curtains which was strange and as soon as they boarded most of the locals went to sleep. It was a two hour journey to the town of Gerek which was the last official stop, 45 minutes from where I wanted to get off. Luckily with assistance of a staff member in the restaurant at the Gerek bus stop who had some English I was able to convince the bus driver to drop me off at the jetty at Banding Island which was not a formal stop. This saved me the hassle and cost of organising a taxi for the last leg and got me there just in time at 2.30pm for the 3pm meet.

The jetty was surprisingly busy with a police station, public toilets, store, well used restaurant, prayer hut, fishing and water activity stall and boats coming in and out of the ramp. But no coordinator for the Malaysian Hornbill Project or any other volunteers, nobody answering phones, and no one who knew anything so I got a bit concerned but I should have just practised patience. Eileen, the coordinator turned up from shopping for supplies in Gerek about half an hour late and three other volunteers eventually made it. The fourth volunteer had car troubles so missed out, apparently for the third year running. While we four girls and one guy waited for the boat crew to be ready we noticed the frequent logging trucks passing over the nearby bridge part of the east-west hwy.

We jumped into two boats with crew from the indigenous Orang Asli village we were staying at. The trip across the lake was pleasant and the water so calm at times the rainforest hills would be reflected. It took about an hour to reach our destination which was the new traditionally built bamboo 2011 hornbill research house at the front of the village.

Each volunteer had a foam mat and mosquito net to define their sleeping area. My bedding was a towel, topped with a sarong, a small travel pillow and another sarong as top sheet. For when it got cool in the early hours I had a small lightweight synthetic blanket. Fortunately the bamboo flooring was flexible which made this bed easier on my hip. One bench supported the kitchen area and bamboo and timber table was the only furniture. Amenities were basic with a wooden slab floor, tarp enclosed bucket shower and a tin cubicle with squat toilet.

A few rain showers prevented us from doing a proper count that afternoon but we headed up the hill to the counting site, which was also the volley ball and general play area for the villagers. Through the drizzle we counted a few hornbills but the following morning was a different story.

Wake up call was at 5.30am so we could be dressed and breakfasted to be waiting in the viewing area at 6.45am just before sunrise for the hornbills to come out for their morning feed. Once I got my new binoculars sorted it became a challenge to keep up the count of the birds coming into my quarter. Sometimes the flocks were large with up to 30 birds but more often there were about 8-12 flying in a v formation. The buggers did not fly straight either and flapped all over the place which made counting them challenging. This morning they kept coming and a few came in from the North also. The open area above the village and small hill is abundant with May Flies which the hornbills eat and they circle around this area in a big loop.

By about 8.15am most of the birds have arrived and we can put down our binoculars to take some photos. I unfortunately did not bring my camera up this morning but got some shots on following days. When the birds flew directly overhead you could hear the beat of their wings and though these Plain Pouched Hornbills are not the biggest of the species the males stand just under 90cm tall and have a wing span of probably around 1.5 m. It was a sublime and almost spiritual experience to be surrounded by over 500 rare endangered birds.

All over by 8.30am and that is your duty done for the day until 5.30pm for the afternoon count. I was pretty knackered still from the travel before and had a bit of Delhi belly (I psyched myself into it I am sure) so I just kicked back, read my book and snoozed. A couple of the other volunteers went for a hike along the logging track. I let the other volunteers take the lead with making lunch and dinner as I was unfamiliar with most of the ingredients. It seems that many Malaysians cannot cook as it is so easy and cheap to eat out at street stalls.

The next day was the same routine but as there was more mist over the rainforest it was a bit harder to discern the new birds coming in without mixing them with the ones that were already counted and were just circling. We only had around 300 this morning and after the count I went with Eileen, our Coordinator, and Anthony, a volunteer, for a walk along the logging track to see if we could get near a tree that the hornbills were roosting in for a while after feeding. It was pretty sad to walk this mud track through prime rainforest and know that it is the large mature trees (essential for hornbill nesting) that are being chopped down.

Later that day was an optional activity to trek to a waterfall and visit a Rafflesia (biggest ugliest flower in the world – discovered on expedition by Sir Stamford Raffles, father of Singapore, East India Company) site. I got to break out my leach socks and along with the two other girl volunteers we headed off on the boat across the lake to the rainforest entry point for the hike. It was only a short distance in to the waterfall and the local Orang Asli guide happily pointed out things to see such as native ginger, a sunbird’s nest and the ever present leaches. The waterfall was ok but I had been spoilt by the large swimmable ones in Fiji. It was decided to get hot first going to the Rafflesia site before having a dip in the waterfall. No information was given on how challenging this bit of the trek was to be. In the middle of the day we hiked, or more often climbed, up a muddy, slippery, forested slope that I am sure was well over 80° for about a kilometre. By this time I am a red faced, sweat dripping, quivering wreck. One of the boys cut me a walking stick to help, but not for the two other girls, so it was obviously just for the geriatric.

I was happy to sit for a while when we reached the Rafflesia buds, which look like brown cabbages. The flower only opens for one week and the ripest bud was not ready to bloom for another fortnight. When open these parasitic flowers can be up to one metre across and apparently smell like rotting meat. Hopefully I will get some shots of this lovely blossom during my time at the Eco Resort.

After more demonstrations of local resources such as rattan and how to decimate a plant to reach the Palm Heart, we slid back down the hill. Well, me and the locals kept our butts out of the mud but once the girls lost their footing a few times then walking sicks (for anchoring yourself in the mud) were cut for them. As always it was a hell of a lot easier going down than up.

The two other girls had a refresh under the waterfall but I could not be bothered getting changed (discreetly under a sarong), climbing over slippery rocks and feeding leaches to experience a shower of water. I drenched my head and face in the stream which helped me to cool off after the hike.

On return to the hut it was very hot as there was no breeze, there were big thunderheads building and the temp gauge was at 32°. I did not feel the best after that strenuous hill climb in the heat of the day so had a bucket shower to try cool off. That did not work as the bucket had been sitting in the sun and it was more like a hot shower but at least I was refreshed. At about 4 pm the sky ripped open with spectacular lightening and thunder with the rain coming sideways through the hut. We ran around protecting bedding and foodstuff from the rain and once the wind dropped I got the gas stove going to heat water for a hot drink. The storm had cooled things significantly and it was quite relaxing sitting there with my cup of tea watching the sediment plumes spread over the lake. A great advantage of the bamboo hut was that water just dripped through and it was relatively dry in no time. No afternoon count again due to the rain.

For the last morning we had even more mist over the rainforest so did not experience as many hornbills as on our first day. After the count, a group photos and some pics with an Orang Asli girl that had been helping we happily packed our bags and headed back to the jetty. We passed Belum Eco Resort on the way, which I was coming back to but I had to collect my larger backpack which I left in the coordinator’s car.

Photos: Serene but soggy Langkawi

shazbot — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:35:00 GMT

Serene but soggy Langkawi

shazbot — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:03:00 GMT

It is funny that when you are peeved about aspects of your journey, you can actually miss what are the good parts. I caught an overnight train from KL north up to Arau to get to Langkawi as this was a cheaper option than a flight, and I imagined a more comfortable trip than a bus.

When I was checking it out online it was around $93 ringgit for a first class sleeper, with two bunks only, which equated to less than $30 Aus. So I thought this would be the way to go but when I went to purchase the ticket, asking for a first class sleeper (obviously without enough emphasis to get through the language barrier) I got sold a ticket for Superior Night Class, which is the carriages lined with double decker bunks either side of the aisle with a curtain for privacy. It worked out at about $18 Aus and I thought ‘no worries’, this will be a new experience as have not travelled this way before (though a part of me was thinking I should change it for the double cabin). The train left at 9.20pm so I had to kill about three hours at the KL Sentral train station which at least had a few dining options.

In hindsight I should have followed my gut feeling and gone for the cabin as I did not really get much sleep on that trip. Before boarding I kept asking about checking in my baggage, and got plenty of head nods but the go was that you just placed your bags in the aisle. I had paid extra for a bottom bunk but above me and in the top bunk across the aisle was a family with two young girls. They liked to chat, use mobile phones and the parents went to the end of the carriage for a cigarette at all hours. The next couple of top bunks down were taken by two young men who talked all night, texted and phoned people until I gave them a dirty look in the early hours and they moved down to a sitting carriage. At the other end of the carriage were a group of young people who stood in the aisle and talked until midnight. The carriage lights were not turned off, or down at all and the cleaner stomped up and down, rustling plastic bags and banging rubbish until daylight.

At 5.45am I gave up trying to sleep as we were starting to come into stations that people were getting off so there was movement. The chatty family that I had given the look to before were friendly and polite, asking me where I was going which made me feel bad about being such a grumpy traveller. By the time I was fully awake many of the people at my end of the carriage had got off so I snavelled an extra pillow as a back rest and opened the curtains to look at the scenery. Everything was covered in mist I thought but as the sun rose I realised it was the same sort of haze that had been blanketing KL.

My train pulled into the station at just after 8am, I jumped into a taxi that sped (tried to get him to slow down but language an issue) into Kuala Perlis, bought a ticket for the ferry leaving at 8.15 and was on the water before I had chance to even think of breakfast. On the train they had come around at about 7am with a trolley with chips, biscuits, chocolate and some local coagulated rice looking dish in plastic containers so nothing enticing there. The ferry was packed so I found an aisle seat and put my head in a book for the 1.15hr trip. It was not until near the end that I strove for a view of all the enticing islands, beaches and blue water we were chugging through. I think if I was on a boat with some outdoor deck area, was less tired and grumpy and did not have as much luggage this would have been a very picturesque trip. Let’s see what the return journey to the mainland is like as I will be taking the slightly longer boat to Kuala Kedah.

On landing in Langkawi I purchased some food at the first place I could which was a local café. I still do not have my head around how they serve things up as I got them to put on my plate some rice, spiced and fried calamari, cucumber salad and a roti (which I realised afterwards you chop with a cleaver first to break it up into smaller pieces). I asked for an iced tea to drink and was given a huge mug with heaps of local ice so I thought ‘what the heck, if I am going to get diarrhoea from the water I may as well get it now’. The old man on the till gave me a funny look that said ‘strange foreigner eating strange mix of food’ and charged me $10 ringgit.

Though I was hot and looking forward to a shower I lugged my gear around the strip of travel shops to make arrangements for getting back off Langkawi. I had to be at the jetty on Banding Island in Lake Temengor by 3pm on Tuesday and as the transport options were limited it took a little bit of working out how I was going to do it.

After the necessary bus was booked I jumped into a taxi heading off to my beachside resort but unfortunately I could not check into my room until 1pm so I had over two hours to kill. I left my bags at reception and wandered along the beach and up the sleepy street in the steaming mid-day heat (probably around 32° and over 85% humidity which was hotter than it was in KL). I had noticed that Malaysians were not early starters but the Islanders are even more relaxed with many of the shops not even looking like opening until after 11am. As you only had access to wi-fi internet in the resort foyer I ended up sitting there for an hour under the fan.

Once I could check in and be shown my hut I felt a lot better about paying the $140 ringgit per night. The little self contained timber cabin with deck was one row back from the beach and had a great ocean view. A warm shower and nap under the fan during the afternoon heat was luxury, as was the dip in calm salt water after.

The main reason I came to Langkawi at this time was to attend and do some networking at the Malaysian Nature Society Annual General Meeting (AGM) and on the Saturday I walked down to the Frangipani Resort where this was to be held. Along the way I checked out some of the duty free shops. I made note of the bargain price of a litre bottle of Gordons gin being $30 ringgit (less than Aus $10) for stocking up on before I left. Once I had an ocean dip to cool off after the walk I weaselled my way into joining a buffet lunch provided for the society group members that had met on other matters earlier. The people at my table were an interesting group of environmentalists.

The AGM was like any other and many of the issues raised by members the exact same as experienced by natural resource management groups back in Australia – lack of funding, aging and retainment of members, challenge of attracting young, new members, importance of making projects locally relevant etc. But politics and legislation are even bigger issues here as the country is not truly democratic, there is little enforcement of environmental laws and State politicians often override good work for commercial or vocal minority group votes. Also if any environmental group wants to stay in operation in Malaysia they cannot say much about the ‘important economic pillars’ of logging and oil palm plantations.

By afternoon tea the storm clouds were threatening and the updates from the many sub-branches were starting to drag so I left. Just in time for the heavens to open up and as there were no taxies about I walked all the way back in the tropical rain. Wading through the puddles of water and avoiding the holes in the footpath reminded me of Fiji so good thing I had my umbrella and trusty reef sandals.

The rain really thundered down that night and the wind rattled the timbers of my cottage. It sounded like a mini cyclone. I could not leave to go get my Aus $2 eggs and bread breakfast until after 10am the next morning. The street showed the storm impact with leaves and branches everywhere. It rained all afternoon so I sat under cover on my little cabin deck, drinking duty free vodka mixed with a local sports drink and playing with my new camera. The ocean became increasingly wild and I watched some silly Asian tourists try to have a swim while all sorts of debris were deposited on the beach.

My main concern was that if the bad weather was going to stick around my ferry the next day would either be cancelled due to the massive swell or I would have a horror trip back to the mainland. But the weather calmed late in the afternoon and Monday predictions were for clear skies by the afternoon (when I would travel). I finished off the book I had and stocked up with a couple of more novels from a street stall and had a quiet evening reading and listening to the showers.

On the Monday morning the weather was clear and after packing my bags and checking out by 10am I convinced myself to take the time to go and see at least one of the island sights which was the cable car and sky walk. I left my bags at the resort and caught a taxi for the drive around the airport, through little townships, past scattered half built hotels and new facilities such as a big flash police training compound. The clouds in the sky made it a good day to do this as they kept the temperature down slightly.

The cable car was definitely worth the effort. It is one of the most spectacular I have been on and rises at an incredibly steep angle for over 500 m. You would not want to be scared of heights. The recent rain had cleared most of the haze from the air and the view from the top was amazing and would only be better on totally clear days with no cloud. As I hiked down the steps to the sky bridge I thought to myself that I really need to avoid doing this sort of activity in the middle of the day. Once out on the slightly swaying sky bridge though there was a wonderful cooling breeze.

I had decided that another site I was going to experience before leaving was to have lunch at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club. For a change I had a slow taxi from the cable car to the beach to pick up my luggage then down to the main town with harbour and yacht club. By my watch it was 1.30pm when we got there and I was starting to get a headache from lack of food. The sightseeing had taken me longer than I thought as I had hoped to be on an early afternoon boat. Once I got to the yacht club and ordered a beef burger for lunch I wondered why their clock said it was nearly 3pm which I thought was the wrong time.

After lunch I walked to the jetty next door and purchased a ticket for the next ferry which was at 4pm. My watch said 2.30pm and I was annoyed to have to sit around for an hour and a half as I could have caught an earlier boat if better organised. Luckily the duty free shopping area was air-conditioned so I read my book for a while before heading out to the jetty just before 4pm. The real time though was just before 5pm and I had missed my boat! God knows how my watch ended up one hour out of whack as it seems to have been keeping the right time since?

Luckily the crew let me onto the 5pm boat and I had a ride with a few bumps over to Kuala Kedah. The boat had no outdoor viewing area and with the clouds there was not much to see anyway. Kuala Kedah is a fishing port and many of the traditional boats were heading out as we came in. I caught a taxi to the nearby town of Alor Setar and booked into a motel across the road from the bus station where the next leg of my journey would commence in the morning. I was totally knackered and happy to crash out early with no dinner on the single bed in my tiny room.

Photos: Batu Caves

shazbot — Tue, 6 Sep 2011 12:36:00 GMT

Batu Caves

shazbot — Tue, 6 Sep 2011 12:08:00 GMT

After the weekend I thought I would head out to the tourist site of Batu Caves. You can get to these caves by a short $1 ringgit train ride but with a huge bus parking area it is obviously part of the tour route.

There are three main caves in the limestone cliffs and it has been a site for Hindu worship since the 1890s. The biggest, referred to as Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, has a 100 m-high ceiling and to get to it you climb 272 steps. Not something I recommend doing in the middle of the day which is when I was there. At the top you walk through to a space open to the sky.

The view from the top of the steps was pretty good and before heading down I thought I would have an ice block to cool off. I had to practically fight off several macaque monkeys who obviously also like ice blocks.

At the bottom of the stairs there is a 42.7m statue of a Hindu deity that is made of masses of steel, concrete and gold paint. Two other cave temples, Art Gallery Cave and the Museum Cave, were full of very colourful Hindu statues and paintings. Connected to one of these caves was a display of reptiles and they did not look too happy being in that cold, soggy, dark environment. I was also in time for a performance of traditional Hindu dance with ear blasting music and performers in old satin outfits. The guy in blue was so coy with his lovely peacock tail shimmer (check out the photos).

Photos: First week in KL

shazbot — Mon, 5 Sep 2011 09:18:00 GMT

First weekend in KL

shazbot — Mon, 5 Sep 2011 08:53:00 GMT

With departure from Brisbane at 11.20pm on 31 August the red eye flight getting here was not too bad as I did manage to sleep a little bit. Did not help that the cabin lights were not turned off until about 1am then turned back on at 5.30am to be served breakfast.

Arrived fine at the massive Kaula Lumpur International Airport and was a bit thrown when you had to catch a train to the main building just to collect your baggage. Malaysia is definitely more relaxed on customs than Australia as you could just pick up your bag and walk out.

Stayed at local airport hotel, the Concorde Inn, which was fine but the rate was $30 ringget more than quoted me when I phoned to book. I was supposed to pay $60 ringget cash extra for early check in, which I did not have and which they did not charge me in the end so it worked out fine anyway. Also I got in an extra breakfast as after showering I went to the buffet (around 11 Australia time and 9 local time) and had brunch even though I was paying for only one night so was only entitled to breakfast the next morning.

After a few hours nap I caught the free courtesy bus back to the airport then the express train into the city. Got off at KL Sentral station which is the hub for all the different trains as well as buses and taxis. This is a pretty new development with transport, shops, food court, commercial and residential buildings all in one spot. And plenty of new buildings under construction also. At this stage it is hard to walk anywhere so I caught a taxi to a nearby shopping mall. It is called Mega Mall and is massive. Picked up a Malay phrase book here. Checked out the camera shops but a stall at KL Sentral had a good price on the Canon Powershot s95 camera that I was after so I went back the next day. Got it for $450 Aus rather than the $600 advertised back home which was the best price. There is not as much difference as I thought and the website that gave me the big difference before was obviously not right.

Caught the train back to the airport hotel and looked on the internet for somewhere cheaper to stay the next day. As worked out that for $230 for one night then $70 return trip on the train I could pay for three nights elsewhere. So booked into the China Town Inn, which had some great reviews about being clean and central but also some worring comments about bed bugs and noise.

But the place is perfect. The little box room has no windows but that makes me feel a bit more secure as less opportunity to break in. Also I am back from the front of the hotel so no noise at all and no bed bugs. I get great wi-fi internet access in my clean air conditioned room and a safe deposit box to leave my passport in when heading out. China Town markets in street outside and it is funny to see the difference from no stalls and cars going through in the morning to it being packed with displays of Chinese copied brand name bags, watches, tshirts and DVDs.

On the Saturday I headed out to do some sightseeing with the KL Hop On, Hop Off bus. It does a loop of the city stopping at all major tourist sites. I went to the museum (just like any other museum but good to get a bit of history of Malaysia which is not yet 50 yo). They did have a few animals though so had my picture taken with an albino Burma Python. Next stop was the KL Bird Park which was interesting though I think it has environmental issues with all that bird shit and a water feature running through the middle. My main aim was to see some of the hornbills that some of my voluntary work will be focused on. Had pictures taken with a couple of Pied Hornbills. It was pretty hot and steamy at the bird park so I was keen to just complete the circuit and get back to the hotel but one of the last stops was at the Craft Cultural Centre so I jumped off. Purchased the first souvenier which is a silver filigree brooch of an orchid. Something small and easy to carry.

After dinner that night I went back to have another massage, similar to the hour and a half one I had on Friday night. This cost me $100 ringgit which equates to about $31 Australian. Yan Sen, or no.90, is very good but this time he was a bit enthusiastic with the work on my face, leaving me with a faint red mark between the eyebrows due to some broken blood vessels which will hopefully fade.

The world is a small place as on Friday I had received a Facebook message from a colleague I had met at SOPAC in Fiji who is here now working for the International Federation of Red Cross. We met up on Sunday to have lunch at the KL City Centre which is another massive mall next door to the Petronis Towers. These towers are big and shiny but I did not bother trying to get a ride up to the bridge which is apparently popular with tourists. Chelsea and I had lunch at a Thai restaurant which was fabulous. I was keen for some vegetables so had deep fried sea bass with a mass of green mango salad.

Cannot wait to get to Thailand for the food. As I am staying in China Town it is a bit challenging to get some good Malay food though have had satay. Have found a Chinese food stall around the corner where I can get vegetables with prawns, fried rice and other dishes to take away for about $2-5 Aus. A cafe a street over does Western style eggs, toast with a piece of processed meat (hamlike but not ham) for breakfast, which with a cup of green tea costs me $3.50 Aus.