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This morning we woke up early to make our way back to Kuala Lumpur. We waited for a bus to take us to the border, which was quite late due to heavy traffic. But we arrived right on time to buy a train ticket and clear immigration. The next 8 hours we spent on the train. Around 4 pm we arrived back in Kuala Lumpur, dropped off our backpacks at the hostel and went for dinner. After dinner we walked to the Petronas Towers. The twin towers reminded us a lot of Burj Khalifa, maybe they stole some ideas! Inside was a high class mall as well. We walked back to the hostel and called it a night. This morning we started our day with going to the local market. We bargained a lot and got some good deals on clothes (not that I need anymore!). Today was a very hot day, so we hid out in the afternoon and then went for a walk before dinner. The temperature never seemed to cool down so it was a hot night as well! After a good nights sleep and a big breakfast we went for a nice walk to meet our friend Valdrin. It was nice to see him one more time, especially since we had such a good visit while in Penang. Furthermore, I didn't need to read up on "things to do" in Singapore and he would show us around instead. We first went to a shopping mall nearby and took the elevator to the 55th floor of a building to get an overview of the city country. The downtown area looks very nice and all the docked ships in the distance were cool to see. We spend a while up there and took in the views (entrance was free as well, so that was a bonus). We then took the MRT to the marina area to get a close up look of the unique building, which looks like a ship or a fish that has been slapped on three towers (it could be described as a few more things as well, either way it's quirky). Nearby we visited the bay gardens, which also look very cool and different. They are made up of fake trees, which collect water that is eventually used. We walked back to the spaceship and took a glimpse inside the fancy hotel, then headed for the mall. We had a big lunch and sat by the water for some time chatting. In the afternoon we walked through the downtown core, stopping at another fancy hotel as well as the cities iconic Merlion statue (Mermaid + Lion) to Valdrin's apartment. We had some cold green tea and played cards. It's always nice following someone else around for a change and get to see spots that are not necessarily on the top list of things to do or in the guidebook. For dinner we went to an Indian restaurant. It must be popular, because in front of it there was a Ferrari and a Porsche parked, a regular sighting in this modern city. Even though it is a big city, it does not feel like it at all. We definitely liked the place right away. Once it got dark, we went back to the Marina Bay for a light and fountain show. The show was absolutely amazing, especially with the lit up skyline of downtown (check photos for a teaser view, then come visit Singapore to see it for yourself). That was it for our long day. We said our final goodbye to Valdrin and made our way back to the hostel, stopping here and there to enjoy the nice views one last time. We enjoyed our short stay in Singapore, loved every second of it, and would come back in a heartbeat. It is a must see city for sure and will definitely be on our "top places to visit". Today the 3 of us took a minibus to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) in Brunei. It was only a 3 hour bus ride and it didn't take much longer to explore the city. When we arrived we dropped our bags at the hotel, took a city bus into the center and found an eatery for lunch. Next we went to a big mosque. I wanted to go inside, but my arms weren't fully covered so I would have had to put on a long cloak. Thinking it was too much work, I waited outside and admired the true beauty from the outside. Afterwards we took a 2 minute boat ride across the river to a village on water also known as Venice of Asia. The houses were built on four cement stilts and some were extremely modern. We walked around a bit and took a boat back. There was a very small market, where we bought a coconut. The heat was starting to beat us, but luckily we found a regalia museum, full of things belonging to the sultan. We hid out in the air conditioning for an hour. We then took the city bus back, enjoyed some good food for dinner and called it a night. This morning we woke up around 7 am to get ready for our flight back to Kuala Lumpur. We knew how long the bus should take to the airport, but we didn't take into account traffic. John's dad had a checked bag, so we had to hustle as the bus dropped us off on the highway and we had to walk 10 minutes to the airport. We arrived 4 minutes too late to check the bag and AirAsia was not making any exceptions. So we tried our luck at security as his checked bag was only a small backpack. The security only took away his soda can and a souvenir, which was quite lucky. I walked through fine while both of them were searched and I had the biggest bag. At least this time we were able to walk right on the plane. The flight was good, only 2 hours. Once we arrived we went and bought our bus tickets to Singapore, had McDonald's for lunch and headed for the bus. The bus to Singapore took almost 8 hours, 3 hours longer than expected! We arrived to the lit up city around 9:30 pm and our first mission was food! We spotted a subway and headed towards it. We were 5 minutes too late after it closed (a trend today apparently!) We did find an Indian restaurant and had a good filling meal. Our hostel wasn't too much farther down the road. A long day of travel, but we made it. February 22 - Back to Miri It was time to say goodbye to Mulu and head back to the coast. Ashleigh and I had a big breakfast, packed up and walked down to the airport. We really enjoyed our time here and were sad to leave. It did give us a good taste of the rainforest and we will definitely be looking for some more jungle areas while traveling through this area of Southeast Asia. The flight went well, we got to see the jungle a bit better from above and shortly after we landed in Miri. My dad's plane was also already there and since the airport is so small we found him right away by the luggage carousel. We were happy to see him and are excited to travel for a couple weeks together. Our driver picked the three of us up and drove us to the guesthouse. Alex had a nap and we relaxed for a bit during midday, before we all headed out to explore Miri some more. We walked up to Canada Hill (we are still unsure why it is called that) and enjoyed the view over the entire city. We also stopped at Shells first oil well and then we walked back for dinner. Before it got dark we went for another walk towards the beach, but didn't go all the way. As we were walking, we saw two mopeds cruising by and they were being chased by a police officer on a bike. It didn't look promising for them, since they were heading straight for a police checkpoint. As they realized it, they quickly turned around, maneuvered around the cop on the bike and headed against the traffic, dodging oncoming vehicles. The whole thing was like watching an action movie. They did get away, since the officer took forever to turn around and chase after them. That was the end of our day and we were all in bed early. February 23 - Lambir National Park For today we planned to head to Lambir National Park for some jungle trekking. We took the city bus to the main station and then caught a bus to the park. It was only a forty minute drive and we arrived at the gates. It seemed quiet, but a park officer registered us and gave us a map. We started our hike through the forest, it was quite humid and our clothes stuck to our bodies a few minutes into the walk. The trail slowly ascended and we got to a trail that was leading up to a viewpoint. It was quite steep and not easy in this weather, but we did make it to the top for a magnificent view. We had a small lunch and headed towards some waterfalls. We saw a small snake along the way and enjoyed the loud jungle noises. When we finally arrived at the waterfall, we were all ready to jump in to cool off. It felt refreshing and we definitely deserved it. We hung out by the falls for some time and then walked the flat trail back to the entrance. Even though the signs suggested we only walked around 6km, we believe it was much further. A Miri bound bus stopped five minutes later by the gate and we got back to our guesthouse before 5pm. For dinner we went to the restaurant nearby. Afterwards, Alex went in search of souvenirs, Ashleigh and I had a tea at our guesthouse. Ashleigh and I picked up subway for lunch and then took the bus to the KL airport. We arrived an hour later, checked in and boarded our flight on time. It took over two hours to get to Miri, in Borneo-Sarawak. The airport is quite small, we got stamped in (even though it's part of Malaysia) and our driver was already waiting for us. He drove us to the guesthouse and let us in. The guesthouse was closed, since its Chinese New Year, but they let us stay there. It is a very nice place, tidy and attractive. We had a tea and then walked to the nearby park. The city is very nice, super quiet, since most shops are closed for a few days during the celebrations. We found some delicious burgers for dinner and then relaxed at our quiet guesthouse. The next morning we got up early and enjoyed a healthy breakfast of fruits and toast. We needed it after an unhealthy dinner last night. We left our money for the stay in an envelope and the driver picked us up at 7.30am. Check-in at the airport was easy and since we didn't have checked bags, we just walked onto the plane. It was a smaller turbo prop plane, only appropriate for taking us into the jungle of Borneo. We were heading to Mulu National Park and the only way to get there is by either trekking through the jungle for days or by taking a short flight in. And it was short indeed, only twenty minutes later and we had already landed on the small airstrip surrounded by the rainforest. It did give us enough time to enjoy some complimentary peanuts, chocolate milk and an orange juice though. We walked outside the terminal and started heading towards the park entrance. Our guesthouse was only a few hundred meters down the road and we were welcomed with some tea. We walked to the park entrance over a small swinging bridge and were impressed by the modern park sites. Since it is a world heritage site, it is very developed and organized, definitely not what we expected. We registered and got our wristband valid for five days. We organized a couple activities as well for our stay here, at least the activities that required a guide. We walked back to the airport and onwards to a small settlement in search for a restaurant or store. We found neither and after asking at our guesthouse where we could find food, we were advised only near and at the park entrance. So basically a couple small restaurants were feeding all visitors. We went back to the park grounds and had a delicious lunch, before meeting our guide and group at 2.30pm. The walk into the rainforest was along a really nice path. Since visitors would constantly make new trails therefore destroying the forest more, the park staff built an elevated pathway through the main parts of the jungle. We didn't mind it at all, that way we could enjoy the natural surroundings more. It was quite humid under the thick canopy, exactly what we were expecting. We spotted a nice stick bug on the trail and later a small Pygmy squirrel. Our guide showed us a couple interesting plants along the way also. There were many butterflies flying around and we really liked the walk. Our first big stop was at the Lang cave, which had a low ceiling, and I had to watch my head at times. Both of our headlamps decided to die, so we had to follow the others closely in the dark cave. We saw a few sticky worms hanging from the limestone and peaked into a couple bat holes. Our second and main stop was at the Deer cave, which is one of the biggest caves in the world. The entrance is breathtaking, it is absolutely amazing. The height measures over a hundred meters at some spots and we felt so insignificant walking through the huge passage. Alongside the path, there were mounds of bat poop, making us wonder how many bats are hiding above us in their holes. We did a big loop around the cave to the second entrance and then back out. We sat down near the massive entrance to the cave, waiting for the main draw: the bats flying out of the cave to hunt insects. Before the sun even set, the show started! We could see a large mass of bats circling the entrance a couple times before flying towards us. They passed as a big group, in a perfect formation and made their way towards the jungle. The whole spectacle can be best described as a big black wave of thousands of bats swarming out. This didn't just last a few minutes either. They kept pouring out in groups and short intervals for over half an hour, and the sounds of the flapping wings could easily be heard. Over three million bats live in this cave, a very impressive number. We waited until all bats were out and then we headed back to the park office. Most of the others left already, so we walked alone and it was beginning to get dark. We only had a small flashlight, so we walked a bit faster. The rainforest was beginning to wake up, the sounds became very loud. We did make it back before it was completely dark. We had dinner at the park cafe and then walked to our guesthouse in the dark. We turned the light off so we could see the many fireflies glow beside the road (we didn't really think, that snakes might be around to hang out on the warm pavement). We called it an early night, after an eventful first day in the Borneo Rainforest. The next day we woke up, after a surprisingly cool sleep to an interesting breakfast. We were served spicy instant noodle soup, topped with an omelet. For dessert we had a very good banana pancake. Our activity for the day was a canopy walk and so we headed for the park to meet the guide. On the way, we saw a big dead snake beside the pavement (luckily we didn't think about them last night when walking back). We walked on the nice path to the start of the canopy walk. We climbed up the stairs and the first bridge was a little scary. It was made of a steel cable and anchoring ropes, which hold a large net and two wood planks on the bottom. Once we got to the next tree it got more fun. It is the longest canopy walk in the world, but that didn't tell us much, since it was also our first one. The walkway above the jungle floor allowed us to see the rainforest from a different angle and height! At times the hanging bridges crossed over rivers at least 20-30 meters high. The whole walk along the jungle canopy took a while, as we stopped whenever we wanted to look for wildlife or just admire the view from high up. Even though we were at 30 meters, when we looked up, the trees would still continue on almost just as high. It was really cool to do the canopy walk, we both enjoyed it. On the way back it started to rain and we made it to the park cafe just in time, before it poured. We hid out for a while, had lunch and waited for the downpour to stop. Around 2pm it finally stopped and we headed back into the forest, this time on our own. We let the park staff know our route and then we slowly wandered around the nice path, but on a less used trail. We then turned off the plank walk and started the trek on the actual dirt trail through the jungle. It was still well maintained, but we had to brush off the occasional spiderweb. It was really humid after the rain and once the sun came out, it felt like a sauna. We had already gotten used to our clothes sticking to our skin though, so we just continued the hike. We got to what they called a waterfall on our map, it was more like a sprinkle coming out of the limestone. After a quick break we started the trek back to the gate. We hid out in the air conditioned park office, and watched a video on bats and the rainforest. The lady at our guesthouse was making us dinner tonight, so we went back there to relax. Once the generator kicked in around 6pm, we sat on the couch and watched the national geographic channel. It seemed weird watching tv in the middle of the jungle, but we didn't mind it after such a long and hot day. The humidity really makes one tired, and so we chilled for a while, ate some chicken potato curry, had a cold shower with the bugs and were in bed around 9pm. Surprisingly John and I woke up not all that sore from all the walking and hiking we did yesterday. For breakfast we had bread with the jam we bought from the strawberry farm, which was delicious! It was raining in the morning so we went for a cup of tea and coffee tehrak (coffee with sweet, not condensed, milk) We went for a short walk to a waterfall to stretch our legs. It was an actual trail so we didn't have to climb over trees today. We made sure our pants were tucked in our socks to avoid another leech bite! After the hike we went for lunch and finally were able to have a sandwich and fries for a fair price, $2 for western food instead of $5. We relaxed the rest of the afternoon and went for a walk around the small town before dinner. This morning seemed to be the morning everyone left. Alarms were ringing early between the very thin walls. We were anxious to get out of the hostel since the pillows were terrible, which meant not the best sleeps. We caught our bus to Kuala Lumpur at 8:30 am and enjoyed the ride in the very big lounge style seats! We arrived in Kuala Lumpur (KL) around 12:30 pm and walked 5 minutes to our hostel. Check in was only at 2 pm so we enjoyed the free coffee the hostel offers. In the afternoon we went for a walk through the market, park and saw a few temples. We went for dinner and had some fried rice, of course. While we were eating, a big thunderstorm was brewing, thunder echoing against the big buildings. No rain fell though which was great for us, since we didn't bring our umbrella. The storm cooled the temperatures a lot which was great for sleeping. We had nothing big planned for the next day. Slept in, had toast and butter for breakfast (hostels free breakfast). In the afternoon we went on a journey to the train station. We thought we could buy tickets at a closer one, but we had to walk quite far to the main station. The station was air conditioned, which was a great reward. Chinese New Year starts tomorrow (19th) and lasts a few days so many train tickets are booked out. At least there is always a bus option! Street food is very popular here in KL, but it isn't very popular with us. We tried for a while to find a sit down place with a good price. We finally found one with decent food. I ordered chicken and rice and had to send it back a few times, because it was still very pink. No thunderstorm today so the humidity remained high all night. I'm thankful for the powerful fan in our room! Our days in KL have been very low key. We can't do a whole lot in a day due to the hot heat, but we have seen a few things. Now we are excited to see what Borneo has to offer! After we dropped of our scooter in Penang, we got a banana juice in a plastic bag. It was mainly ice, but we finally got our juice in a bag. We got picked up by the minibus around 1pm and then we transferred to a big bus. The drive to Tanah Rata in the Cameron highlands went smoothly, since the roads are amazing. The final stretch was the best. The road was winding through some green hills and we were gaining a lot of altitude. We arrived just before dark and stepped out to a very pleasant temperature. The hostel was nearby and is basic, but nice. The cool temperature was very welcoming. Ashleigh and I woke up around 9am and decided not to join a tour to explore the area and instead check it out at our own pace. We headed into town, hoping to get a scooter, but they were all overpriced. Since the bus is infrequent, we decided to walk as much as we could and started our uphill walk to the next town Brinchang, 4kms away. Jungle trail 1 starts here leading to the top of Gunung Brinchang (2031m). We found the trail and started the steep ascent through the jungle towards the top. The trail was easy to follow, but it was very steep and required us to scramble over roots at many spots. The jungle sounds around us and the lush trees kept us distracted for the most part and we did make it to the top two hours later. The view was still really good, even though the clouds rolled in. Instead of going down the trail, we decided to take the road back towards the town. It is over 10kms back, but instead of walking it we hitched a ride with a friendly Malay couple. They offered to take us to a nearby tea estate and we happily accepted the invite. The plantations were breathtaking, and we walked around the visitors center a bit. We tried some delicious tea and then went on a shopping spree at the tea shop. The tea was being sold at a very good price so we stocked up. The Malay couple left before us, so we walked back the few kilometers to the main road. This way we got to enjoy the tea plantation some more. Our next stop was the Ee Feng Gu Honey Bee farm. The entry was free, and we walked around the bees for a few minutes wondering if they sting or not. We figured these bees don't, since nobody seemed to cover up. We got a small jar of honey to enjoy and then walked to a cactus farm. We didn't get one, even though I've always wanted one (not the best thing to carry around in a backpack or across borders). Our last stop was at the Raaju Hill strawberry farm. Picking the delicious strawberries wasn't cheap at all, so we settled for a strawberry milkshake and cake instead, to satisfy the craving. We tried a few jams and bought a small one for our breakfast. It started to rain and we started the long walk back to Tanah Rata. It seemed to take forever, but we arrived in time for dinner. It was a long day and we walked over 20km for sure, but we were glad that we didn't join an overpriced tour. For dinner we spoiled ourselves to a "steamboat", which is a Chinese style fondue where we basically cook our own food in soup broth. They bring out a gas burner, four plates of different meats, vegetables and noodles and we toss in everything we want cooked. One plate was all seafood, so we got to try crab, shrimp, oysters, fish, octopus and lobster. The other one we made was mainly chicken and noodles. It turned out very good, but there was no way we could finish it all. Apparently the steamboat originated in Mongolia and is commonly referred to as a Mongolian hot pot. After our nice dinner we picked up bread for the morning and finally walked back to the hostel. It was a long day, so we called it an early night. We enjoyed a long breakfast, before going on the usual ATM hunt. The second bank called Alliance was the winner! No ATM fees and maximum withdrawal amount - easy enough. Around 11am we headed into the center to meet our good friend Valdrin from Canada, who happened to be in the neighborhood (or the other way around, we ended up in his neighborhood somehow). It was nice seeing a familiar face again. Valdrin's friend Aya from Japan was with him and the four of us rented a couple fast scooters for the day, so we could get around the island. We had an unfortunate day yesterday, Ashleigh broke her watch (I duck taped it though) and my nice sunglasses finally snapped in half, so I bought a new pair for a very good price. We got our scooters and headed out of Georgetown towards a beach. The roads were fine, traffic was alright. It didn't take long for me to get used to driving on the left hand side, in fact we have probably been to more countries that drive on the other side and I prefer it. Either way, since Valdrin used to live in Penang during Uni, he knew the best places. The beach was really nice and not crowded at all. We grabbed some lunch, a coconut and then laid in the sand for hours chatting. We had such good conversations, that we forgot about the time and all of a sudden five hours passed. Ashleigh and I did go in for a quick dip to cool off and realized we all got a good sunburn. We drove back to the city and the traffic was terrible. Luckily we could squeeze through the backed up cars and skip the traffic jam. We stopped at the old fort walls and went for a walk. Valdrin took us to a nice Indian restaurant and treated us to a delicious meal, followed by some real iced tea. After such a big meal we went for a long walk, saw some random fireworks and we stopped at one of the night markets. It was nice not having to plan anything here, and just follow our friend. We enjoyed our short, yet good visit and said goodbye or see you again to our friend. We relaxed on Ko Samui for two more nights. We enjoyed the sun, food and relaxation. When we decided that we should leave (not that we wanted too) we asked the hostel if they had availability for one more night. They were full for the next night, so we bought our bus ticket to the other side of Thailand. The next morning we had to catch the 8am ferry. Two hours later were back on mainland and after another three hour bus ride, we were in the city of Krabi. The bus dropped us off 3 km outside the center, so we walked it, because we needed some exercise after 4 days on the beach. We walked around town for a bit looking for a hostel and once we found one, we stayed, since we were hungry and it was very hot outside. The islands on this side of Thailand, such as Ko Lanta and Ko Phi Phi are supposed to be really nice but overrun. So we stayed in Krabi and did a 5 island day trip the next day. We stopped at two islands, where you could walk in between when tide was low. All the tours go to the exact same places, as we expected, so overcrowding is unavoidable. Luckily the other island where we walked to was quieter. The tide was coming in quickly, so we had to head back to the boat. Next we went to a spot for snorkeling. It was an area with many boats and their long motors, which is not safe at all, with many people in the water. John and I quickly jumped in, but the visibility was bad and the only fish we saw were ones at the surface waiting to be fed by tourists. The name of the island we went snorkeling at was called Chicken Island, because a rock formation looks like a chicken head. For lunch we headed to another island where we had green curry and rice on the beach, a very popular Thai dish. We jumped in the water a few times to cool off. Our last stop was on Railay beach. Again it was overcrowded, but we found a spot where we could go for a dip and relax. We arrived back at our hostel around 5 pm, organized our onward tickets, had a beer by the river and then went for dinner. The next morning at 7 am, a minibus picked us up for our 4 hour bus ride to Hat Yai in hope of getting train tickets to Kuala Lumpur. However, when we got to the ticket office, all sleeper beds were booked for the next three days and we didn't want to sit for 12 hours. So our plan B was to go to a travel agency and find our way to Penang, an island on the west coast of Malaysia. We bought our tickets, exchanged our remaining Thai Baht and had McDonald's for lunch, all in the 45 minutes we had to spare before the bus left. The bus ride to Penang was great, since it was on a brand new highway! We arrived in the city of Georgetown around 5 pm and were dropped off right at the hostel. Luckily they still had beds available so we dropped our stuff off and went for dinner. We found a nice, more upscale place and to our surprise the food prices were really cheap. With our meals we got jalapeños on the side, and John threw a few in. After a bite and getting a mouth on fire, we picked up some ice cream at 7/11 to cool our mouths off. Thailand has crawled up both of our lists as a favorite country. The friendliest people, great food, easy transportation and it had so much to offer. We are anxious to now explore many areas of Malaysia. Our last day in Bangkok has arrived. We definitely enjoyed our time in this city, as it was the best choice as our hub while traveling northern SE Asia. We spent our morning relaxing and then took the overnight train down to southern Thailand. Our first Thai train ride was really good, so we were excited to take it again. Last time though, it was a fridge in the carriage, since the air conditioning was full blast. This time we opted for just a fan. We didn't know that it was an older part of the train with open windows. But luckily all went better than expected. We still got our beds made and the air conditioning still swept through from the other carriage (all doors were open). Finally we didn't freeze at night and I had the best sleep! We arrived in the town Surat Thani where we had to wait an hour for the bus to drive us to the ferry port. Once at the port we got onto the ferry and an hour later we arrived on Koh Phangan! Since this island is known for the full moon parties we were greeted by some very hungover travelers! We searched for a while to find out how to get a truck Tuk Tuk and finally an hour later we were on our way. Already being 2 pm, we just waited to eat and go to the pool. We ordered lunch at our hotel which took a long time, was barely anything and very pricey. So not the best first impression, but once sitting by the pool, all was good! Before dinner we walked down the beach a little bit then went back to the main road to find some better food. We came across a local Thai restaurant where they whipped up some delicious Pad Thai for a fair price. After our long day, we wanted to end it with a beer. It was very overpriced in many places, but we found one place that had beers half price than anywhere else we checked. So we took advantage of that and had 3 each over 4 hours. John and I had great conservations together and even briefly met a fellow Canadian. We walked back to our hotel after and called it a night. Our heads hurt a bit in the morning, so we slept in until we had to get up. We headed to the ferry pier around 1 pm, but had no idea of ferry times. The next ferry was supposed to leave at 2:30 pm so we bought our tickets and waited. 2:30 pm came around and no boat and finally at 3:45 pm it showed up and 30 minutes later we were on Koh Samui. We took a 20 minute shuttle to our hotel and loved the view when we arrived. We would sleep in an A shaped hut and the beach was right out front. It wasn't the first row on the beach, but it still does the trick. For dinner we had Pad Thai again and enjoyed listening to the gentle waves. We woke up to the gentle sound of the waves, enjoyed a big breakfast and laid on the beach pretty much all day. The sun peaked in and out of the clouds all day, and we swam in the ocean a few times. The only bad part of our day is, we bought some beers from 7/11, which were the grossest beers we ever had. Not sure if it was that cheap of a beer or a bad batch, but it was bad enough that we dumped it. We enjoyed some actual good beer at night and another great Pad Thai! |
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