from surabaya i took a local bus to the bus station, which was about 15km from the center of town...then a bus to the city of probolinggo (sp?)...somewhere in probo the bus stopped in front of a travel agency and a man got on the bus and asked if i wanted to get off there...i said no, i wanted to take public transport, and he said they had public transport...he said it was "only" 50,000Rp (about $5USD) for transport to cemoro lawang, which is where i was heading next...my guidebook said that this sort of thing happens regularly in probo...buses drop foreigners off at these travel agents, who then force you to pay ridiculously high fees for not so great transport...the guidebook also said that it should only cost me about 15,000Rp to get to cemoro lawang, so i knew something was funny...he kept saying that it was public transport, and i'm sure it was...anyone could take their transport, but only foreigners can afford that...i knew that even though prices go up, they don't triple in two years...when i looked outside, i could see the sign that listed all their 'services' as well as all the foreigners waiting, so i opted to stay on the bus, all the way until the bus station, from where i could catch real public transport...when i got to the bus station, it was indeed possible to catch local, public transport...for 20,000Rp...which made a whole lot more sense...i asked the price before getting on that minibus, and was told that number, but it didn't surprise me at all when the guy collecting money on the bus tried to raise the price by telling me that was only to an earlier village...i simply refused to hand over more money, and repeated that i had been told 20,000 by people who knew i was going to cemoro lawang, not the earlier village...when we arrived, it was pretty cloudy, but a bit of the landscape was still able to be seen...
cemoro lawang is on the edge of a very old crater...in the middle of this old crater are three smaller, 'younger', cones and craters...one, gunung bromo, is a steaming crater...around these three craters is a sea of sand...nothing but sand...to me it looked a bit like i think the moon might look...really hard to describe, but AMAZING...anywho, the thing to do is either be on the lip of gunung bromo at sunrise, or be at another viewpoint and watch the sunrise as it hits gunung bromo...to do this, you have to get up pretty early in the morning...so i spent the rest of the afternoon just wandering a little, finding a path i could use to make my way down to the sea of sand...i went to bed early...and spent a very cold night trying to get a little sleep...(remember, altitude = chilly nights)
even though i went to bed early, waking up at 0300 was NOT EASY...i made it out the door with my head torch going strong, and made my way to the head of the path i intended to take...at this point, i turned off the head torch and looked up...incredible night sky, full of stars, and total quiet...as i made my way down the edge of the old crater, and across the sea of sand, i repeated this...turning off my headtorch and standing still...just enjoying the fabulous sky and total quiet...(until i started to hear the jeeps, which weren't very quiet at all)...there was a cloud laying on the bottom of the old crater, so i had to walk through that, which was a bit odd with my headtorch...in the dark, walking through a cloud seems a bit like rain is coming across the light...but of course it isn't...anwho, after a while i came across other folks (i had taken a path no one else used but local horse riders) and together we found the proper way to go to get to the steps to take us up to the lip of bromo...there aren't too many steps, and they're not big...but most people stopped a couple times on the way up to catch their breath...that surprised me, i didn't think the steps were very strenuous, and i KNOW i'm not in shape...anywho...the sunrise from the crater wasn't any great shakes, i've definitely seen better...BUT, i loved looking around the landscape in general, and seeing the morning light come across...amazing...i had expected there to be a crowd of people, and while there were other tourists, i never felt crowded...not at all...and everyone remained pretty quiet, sortof in respect for the amazingness we were seeing...i loved it...after a little while up there, i went back down the stairs, and went back across the sea of sand the way i had come...i made it back to my guesthouse by 0715, and packed up my stuff, bought postcards and got ready to go...
then i waited...and waited...i hoped to catch the first minibus to probolingo, and the guy at the bus station in probo had said it left around 0745...but it didn't...it left around 0915...not really a big deal, since i had no specific itinerary to keep...there is no specific spot in cemoro lawang for people to catch a minibus, which results in about 3 of them all trying to get the earliest customers...i ended up sharing with a french family, a pole, a brit, and a couple dutch...along the way we picked up a couple more locals...again, the guy tried to raise the price on all of us, but none of us went for that...as we drove into probo, i tapped the driver on the shoulder and indicated the bus station, which was where we all wanted to go...he nodded, and kept going...the next thing we knew, the minibus had stopped in front of yet another travel agency, and we were told we could get out there...all of us said no, we wanted to go to the bus station, which, we reminded him, we had already told him, AND i had pointed out...he tried to collect our fees at that point, and we also said we weren't paying until we got to the bus station...the travel agent tried to ask where we all wanted to go, but we all said we just wanted the bus station...so our driver didn't make a commission, and the travel agent didn't make any money from us...i suppose they do this all the time...as we got to the bus station, our group split up, as we were going in all different directions...i stayed with the french family, as we were all headed to the same place...we found our next desired bus, hopped on, and only had to wait about 15 minutes before it left...
the adventure started when our bus arrived in bondowoso...we had expected to be able to catch a minibus to sempol, and from there, find transport to another volcanic plateau...but, at bondowoso, they told us minibus service was finished for the day...they pointed out another bus that could drop us a little way ahead, and perhaps from there we could catch onward transport...so, that's bus #1...we got off, and asked around, and found another bus to take us a bit farther...bus #2...at that point we were in sukosari, and met up with another french couple headed to our same destination...now a group of 6, i was the only non french speaker...i could understand a bit, having had french tutoring in the past, as well as studying (though not nearly enough) through high school...it was definitely an advantage to have a bigger group, as well as to be in a group where a language other than english could be used to discuss things...it turned out that the french mom was quite good at bargaining, and obtaining discounts...we asked around the street in sukosari, and she found out from someone that there was supposedly a public bus to sempol in an hour or so, but that sort of information wasn't for sure...anywho, soon enough, a car of sorts pulled up, and we were able to negotiate a ride to sempol...the back of the car was totally open, with just a seat at the very back...but the entire area was filled with pillows...we all piled in, with all our bags, and made room for everything and everyone...the other couple locals in there looked at us with amusement, and i don't blame them...as far as local transport, the pillows actually made it one of the most comfortable rides i've ever had...which was a good thing, given that the road was AWFUL...the worst road i was on in all of indo...TERRIBLE...potholes, pavement falling apart...a plain dirt road would've been far better...i hit the roof several times...thank goodness, as all of you know, i have a hard head:)...we made it to sempol after dark, and started negotiations to continue along the road, up to pos paltuding, which is a park post, and the starting spot of the hike we all wanted to do the next morning...our guidebooks all said we would be able to find accomodation at the post, and it seemed everything else listed was full...the first offer made by the drivers seemed reasonable to me, since there actually isn't any public transport between sempol and pos paltuding...you always have to hire something...but apparently no one else in my group thought so...in the end, after a break for dinner, and lots more negotiations (and discussions between us in french) we got a ridiculously good deal to go all the way to pos paltuding...oddly enough, the road the rest of the way was actually quite good!!
we arrived at the post, took a look at the rooms available, and decided that we'd all share one room...there was a large bed, and two smaller beds...the couple shared one of the smaller beds, i got the other, and the family shared the large bed...we paid our park entrance fee, the tariff for our room (it surprised the park ranger that we all chose to share the same room...we're all cheap, hee hee!) and chatted a bit with the researchers who were in another room in the same cabin...
early to bed, early to rise...we didnt get up in time for another sunrise, but we did get up early...then we started a 3km hike...kawah ijen is in the middle of the ijen plateau...kawah ijen is a crater lake, volcanically active...the lake is a gorgeous blue, and there is a sulfur vent in one corner...we walked UP 3km, to the lip of the crater...it's a steady, fairly steep hike...an easy path to follow, which was nice...we could all feel our hearts pounding the entire way...(i kept thanking my lucky stars for having done the trekking in nepal...i knew that i would eventually reach the top, no matter if others were faster)...looking out over the lake was awesome, despite the wind blowing the sulfur clouds all over the place...
i decided to go down into the crater, to get close to the sulfur vents...there is a path, though it's not easy to make your way down...and thank goodness the french dad had given me a mask, because i definitely needed it as i got closer and closer to the vents...i added a scarf i had in my day pack, tying it around my face and nose...and yet, the sulfur wind was so strong, i could still feel the burn in my nose and throst...i was able to see the vents, the incredible yellow colour, the incredible smell...a few pictures, a bit of wandering around closer to the edge of the lake (in which i could see the heat bubbles) and i decided to go back up...as i got back up to the top i looked at my rings, both of which are sterling silver...they had both oxidized quite a bit and were rather dark...a hike to another view point, then all the way back down to the park post...
one of the reasons people go to see this crater, beside the amazing view, is to see the workers...locals make the climb up the outside of the crater, go down in, close to the vents, and fill their baskets full of sulfur, climb back out, go all the way down and to the company office...they do this 2-3 times a day, and work every other day...they're paid per kilo, and we figured out they make about $10USD each day they work...the stunning part is that the average basket load is 80-100kg!!! it's actually a pair of baskets, connected by a bamboo rod, they carry it over their shoulders...i tried picking up one of the basket sets, and barely budged it...these guys are STRONG...and small...they carry the sulfur to the company office, where it is weighed officially, and from there to the "factory/processing plant"...
as the french family is the curious sort, we found the factory, and decided to walk around if we were allowed...and we were...just one giant room, with different areas for different activities...some people took the blocks of sulfur, knocked off the ugly grayish areas, and put the rest of the pure yellow stuff into bags...others took the parts that were knocked off, and put them into large pots set into concrete on top of wood fires...looking into these pots, we could see the sulfur cooking/melting...it's not pretty...yellowish, brackish...and bubbling...one guy was in charge of keeping the fires going hot...another guy had the job of ladling out the melted sulfur and putting it through it's first filter, from which it drained into another pot, which was also kept HOT...a guy ladled from there through two more sets of filters, from which it drained into a large, metal bucket of sorts that sat on a dolly...one guy pulled that dolly to the largest area in the room, which was covered by white tiles, kept cool by water...the mostly pure hot sulfur was scooped onto these tiles, much like you do with sugar, when you are making candy glass...it cooled quickly because of the water...then yet more workers broke it into large pieces, which were then smashed into smaller pieces in yet another area...it sounds confusing, i suppose...these smaller pieces were then packed into more bags, and, like the plain yellow blocks i already mentioned, were shipped off to somewhere...i got to try my hand at picking up the bigger pieces of mostly cooled sulfur and smashing them down on the floor so they broke into smaller pieces...fun:)...we were completely impressed with all the hard work that was done in this factory...and with few, or no safety precautions...no face masks, and only a couple people had gloves...it was stunning...we were able to walk whereva we wanted, and were in there so long in fact that the workers started ignoring us and just did their jobs as normal...the french father is a professional photographer, so he was thrilled with all the pictures he was able to take...the father later bought a pack of cigarettes for the factory workers and gave them to one of the guys, indicating they were for everyone...i haven't seen people move that fast in a while, as all the workers came flying over to get their cigarette...it was awesome, and the smiles on their faces were amazing...
we spent an extra day at pos paltuding, it was super relaxing...the french father wanted more pictures, and i just loved how chilled out everything was...nearly all the tourists were french, unlike the rest of java and sumatra, where you are much more likely to be seeing dutch folks...when in doubt at kawah ijen, speak french! the french couple opted to move on, so the french mom decided we should have a discount on the room...it wasn't looking good, the park ranger said the government set the rates and it wasn't his choice...so she said that if he wanted to be proper, then she needed a receipt for our previous night as well as the park tickets we had all paid for...and whaddya know, we got our discount...so obviously some of the money was going into his pocket...(this is normal all over indonesia)...
the following morning, we got ready to leave after the french father returned from taking more pictures...we got lucky, and joined the researchers on their transport back to bondowoso...it had a flat tire along the way, which was no surprise at all, considering the quality of the road...i leaned out my window, and could actually hear the air hissing out of the tire...ugh...but the driver knew what to do, and did it all rather quickly...back on our way quickly, we made our way to bonodowoso...
upon arrival, i immediately got another bus to situbondo, and from there almost immediately got another bus to ketapan...at ketapan i got to the ferry terminal, and took the ferry to gilimanuk, on the island of bali...
27 July 2009
23 July 2009
java 2
from yogyakarta i took two local buses and three intercity buses to arrive at the dieng plateau...also an increase in altitude of around 2000m...fortunately, the connections between buses were all pretty quick, i never had to wait more than 10 minutes...
dieng plateau is a volcanically active plateau...it used to be full of temples, archeologists think there used to be about 400 temples!! there aren't many left now, less than 10, and they're not very interesting...the plateau is beautiful though...
i first walked out to a bubbling lake...called the coloured lake in english, telaga warna in bahasa malaysia....really pretty...there is a path that goes all the way round, and even goes up the hillside, so you can look over the lake...it's beautiful, and it's quiet...next, i managed to get myself lost in farming fields in the hills on the other side of town...whoops...one lady came across me and asked where i was going, and when i told her i was looking for a particular temple, she not only pointed me in the right direction, she walked with me most of the way...i was sooooo cold that night...i wore warm clothes to bed, and snuggled under two blankets, but my body was used to heat, and at 2093m, nights are rarely warm, even in summer...
the next day i got up and started walking again...i started my day with temple ruins, which weren't all that interesting...i was more entertained by the animals around the temples...some sheep, a gaggle of geese, etc...have you ever watched a gaggle follow each other around? next up was a crater...a large, steaming, bubbling crater...you can't really see the madness boiling inside very well, because of all the steam...it's awesome...just down the road from dieng village is the highest village on java, at 2300m...this village apparently does quite well with potato farming, and sends a large number of pilgrims to mecca each year...
the best part of dieng in general was just looking around the valley, and enjoying the views...it's a beautiful area...
from dieng i made my way to solo...it's supposed to be important in the batik industry, but still full of cultural stuff...i found a place to stay, as many of the hotels are somewhere close to each other...other than that, there is no tourist hotspot...the tourist information office isn't anywhere close to anything, its only open 3 days a week, for four hours each of those days...the monday i was there happened to be an islamic holiday, which explained why the post office was closed...though i didn't know about the holiday until i arrived at the puri...puri means palace, and is the place in solo where the second ruling family resides (as opposed to the kraton, where the first family resides)...the entrance fee includes a guide, and since i was by myself, i got my own guide:)...she did a good job explaing everything, including the museum collection...some of the displays (old coins, medals, head ornaments, etc) i found interesting...others (belgian crystal sets) i did not...the puri is still lived in, so you don't get to see the entire complex, but that's all right...there has even been a divorce in the current "ruling" generation!! the family has no more political power, but the title is still passed down...from the puri i went to the kraton...definitely a disappointment after the puri...the kraton is the seat of the ruling family, but it's not as wealthy, it's not nearly as well kept, and there isn't very much of it open to the public...and the entrance fee doesn't include a guide, so i was pretty clueless about most of what i was seeing...there were a whole lot of indonesians visiting though...
my last day in solo i paired up with a swiss girl also staying at my guesthouse...we took a couple local buses, then hired ojeks (motorbikes with drivers) to take us up to two temples...we could've walked to the first one (it was only 2km, STEEPLY uphill) but the drivers didnt want to miss out on any money...the second was an additional 9km, and we didn't have the time to do all the walking...candi setho and candi sukuh are quite different from the other temples i've seen in indonesia, it was worth the time and energy to go see them...plus, there were VERY few other tourists...the ojek rides took us through tea, coffee and mustard fields, as well as looking out over the valley...beautiful...the temples are both on the side of a volcano...
to get to my next destination, i opted for another night train...this time, business class...it was supposed to arrive in solo at 0200, and leave a few minutes later...it didn't arrive until almost 0330...i had a hard time staying awake, and was afraid i'd fall asleep and miss it completely...business class was slightly more spacious than economy, the seats were certainly larger, and i was lucky to have a whole row to myself...there were still people in the aisles, but the aisles were larger...
as surabaya isn't a tourist destination at all, there is no traveler spot to head toward...it was simply by walking around and hoping that i found a place to stay...more expensive than i expected, but i had a tv!! and my own bathroom....almost luxury:)
after my day of walking around surabaya, i was ready to call off the rest of the trip...ridiculous attempts at overcharging, an "accidental" boob grab, and more...i was tired of it all...i was only too happy to leave the next morning...the only good thing about surabaya was the lower postal rates...(for whateva reason, postal rates around indonesia vary, and i never found out why)...
dieng plateau is a volcanically active plateau...it used to be full of temples, archeologists think there used to be about 400 temples!! there aren't many left now, less than 10, and they're not very interesting...the plateau is beautiful though...
i first walked out to a bubbling lake...called the coloured lake in english, telaga warna in bahasa malaysia....really pretty...there is a path that goes all the way round, and even goes up the hillside, so you can look over the lake...it's beautiful, and it's quiet...next, i managed to get myself lost in farming fields in the hills on the other side of town...whoops...one lady came across me and asked where i was going, and when i told her i was looking for a particular temple, she not only pointed me in the right direction, she walked with me most of the way...i was sooooo cold that night...i wore warm clothes to bed, and snuggled under two blankets, but my body was used to heat, and at 2093m, nights are rarely warm, even in summer...
the next day i got up and started walking again...i started my day with temple ruins, which weren't all that interesting...i was more entertained by the animals around the temples...some sheep, a gaggle of geese, etc...have you ever watched a gaggle follow each other around? next up was a crater...a large, steaming, bubbling crater...you can't really see the madness boiling inside very well, because of all the steam...it's awesome...just down the road from dieng village is the highest village on java, at 2300m...this village apparently does quite well with potato farming, and sends a large number of pilgrims to mecca each year...
the best part of dieng in general was just looking around the valley, and enjoying the views...it's a beautiful area...
from dieng i made my way to solo...it's supposed to be important in the batik industry, but still full of cultural stuff...i found a place to stay, as many of the hotels are somewhere close to each other...other than that, there is no tourist hotspot...the tourist information office isn't anywhere close to anything, its only open 3 days a week, for four hours each of those days...the monday i was there happened to be an islamic holiday, which explained why the post office was closed...though i didn't know about the holiday until i arrived at the puri...puri means palace, and is the place in solo where the second ruling family resides (as opposed to the kraton, where the first family resides)...the entrance fee includes a guide, and since i was by myself, i got my own guide:)...she did a good job explaing everything, including the museum collection...some of the displays (old coins, medals, head ornaments, etc) i found interesting...others (belgian crystal sets) i did not...the puri is still lived in, so you don't get to see the entire complex, but that's all right...there has even been a divorce in the current "ruling" generation!! the family has no more political power, but the title is still passed down...from the puri i went to the kraton...definitely a disappointment after the puri...the kraton is the seat of the ruling family, but it's not as wealthy, it's not nearly as well kept, and there isn't very much of it open to the public...and the entrance fee doesn't include a guide, so i was pretty clueless about most of what i was seeing...there were a whole lot of indonesians visiting though...
my last day in solo i paired up with a swiss girl also staying at my guesthouse...we took a couple local buses, then hired ojeks (motorbikes with drivers) to take us up to two temples...we could've walked to the first one (it was only 2km, STEEPLY uphill) but the drivers didnt want to miss out on any money...the second was an additional 9km, and we didn't have the time to do all the walking...candi setho and candi sukuh are quite different from the other temples i've seen in indonesia, it was worth the time and energy to go see them...plus, there were VERY few other tourists...the ojek rides took us through tea, coffee and mustard fields, as well as looking out over the valley...beautiful...the temples are both on the side of a volcano...
to get to my next destination, i opted for another night train...this time, business class...it was supposed to arrive in solo at 0200, and leave a few minutes later...it didn't arrive until almost 0330...i had a hard time staying awake, and was afraid i'd fall asleep and miss it completely...business class was slightly more spacious than economy, the seats were certainly larger, and i was lucky to have a whole row to myself...there were still people in the aisles, but the aisles were larger...
as surabaya isn't a tourist destination at all, there is no traveler spot to head toward...it was simply by walking around and hoping that i found a place to stay...more expensive than i expected, but i had a tv!! and my own bathroom....almost luxury:)
after my day of walking around surabaya, i was ready to call off the rest of the trip...ridiculous attempts at overcharging, an "accidental" boob grab, and more...i was tired of it all...i was only too happy to leave the next morning...the only good thing about surabaya was the lower postal rates...(for whateva reason, postal rates around indonesia vary, and i never found out why)...
17 July 2009
java 1
jakarta...the capital of the island, and the capital of the country...java is the most populated island in the country...jakarta is a big city...jakarta isn't known for anything in particular, at least nothing that would interest a traveler...it's a city, but not an exciting one...i arrived later than i expected, after dark...fortunately there were a couple british boys on my bus, so i walked with them to the area where we all hoped to stay...because jakarta is the capital, they do get some tourists, and there is an area where most of the hotels are clustered, fortunately it wasn't far at all from where the bus dropped us off...it's nothing like khao san road in bangkok, but the few restaurants there are definitely geared toward travelers...i found a room quickly, which was a relief...
the day i arrived was also the first day of a street festival on that particular street...it was scheduled to last the two days i expected to stay in jakarta, which was awesome...nothing super exciting, but quite a few food stands, a couple stages, and lots of local families walking around...i enjoyed the food most of all...i tried a few things i didn't recognize, several of which i saw through the rest of my time in indonesia...
jakarta has a monument called monas (i think?) in the middle, it's the national monument...built by one of the former presidents...it's an unfortunate shape, sometimes called his last erection...ooops...it's in the middle of merdeka square, a wide, flat area, where locals gather to hang out...(a great spot for people watching)...when i visited the monument i was interviewed by two local uni students, who recorded the entire conversation on their phone...the monument was also where an indonesian guy just wouldn't listen when i said i didn't want to talk to him...he wouldn't listen when i said my boyfriend doesn't like me talking to strange men...he wouldn't listen when i said go away...he FINALLY went away when i would say nothing but "go away"...i think i said it 12 times before he finally left? and that was after asking "can i know where you're from?"...GO AWAY...
also in jakarta is a large mosque...i read that it's the largest mosque in southeast asia...but i thought i already saw the largest mosque in malaysia? i guess it depends on the definition of largest...the number of people it holds, the space it takes up, size of the building, etc...
buying a train ticket in jakarta reminded me a LOT of india...it took a while to find the proper ticket office, and then the request sheet was entirely in bahasa indonesia...someone helped me fill it out, and was quite surprised that i wanted an economy class night train...but it was cheap!! queueing up was just like india too, people sliding in every which way...the train was even cheaper than i expected, YAY...
it wasn't until i got on the train that night that i realized why the train was so cheap, and why they had been surprised when i had said i really did want that particular train...i did indeed have an assigned seat...there were 2 seats facing each other, 3 could sit on one side, 2 on the other...not comfortably, and definitely not with enough room for our legs in the middle...the five of us ended up with legs intertwined through most of the night...it was indeed a seat i had, definitely no way to lay down...i was lucky to have the window, so at least i had something to lean against...there were people in the aisles, in between cars, etc...a very very crowded train...i didn't get much sleep, but oh well...it was an experience...
i arrived in yogyakarta in the morning, and chose to hire a becak (bicycle rickshaw)...he said 5000 rupiah, about 50 cents (american)...upon arrival, he tried to demand double that, indicating my pack...um, right, like you didn't see my pack when i walked out of the train station? i stayed in the traveler ghetto...a lot like the area in bangkok, perhaps not quite as busy and crowded...but this area still had all the budget accomodation, internet cafes, laundry places, travel agencies, etc...not much street food in the area though...
yogyakarta (pronounced jogjakarta, and usually shortened to jogja) is supposed to be the cultural capital of java...because of this, it's a majour tourist destination...because of that, it's really aggressive...it's impossible to walk more than 100m w/out someone asking you where you're going, or offering to drive you somewhere...argh...they also want to get you into stores selling batik, which is mass produced in and around the city...batik everything...purses, pajamas, shirts, cloth, etc...
the best part of yogya for me were the two temple sights i went to see, slightly out of the city...the first, prambanan, is mostly hindu...(though there is a buddhist temple there)...prambanan is really a temple complex, there are a number of temples to see...unfortunately several of the major temples were damaged in a 2006 earthquake, so you can't go in them...they've been rebuilding these temples, and i think they've done it really well...generally i don't enjoy rebuilt stuff, but this time i did...prambanan is also nice because it's easily accesible by public, local transport...there is absolutely no reason to sign up for any of the overpriced tours offered...i also went to see borobudur, a buddhist temple...according to lots of the postcards, it's the biggest buddhist monument in existence...i don't know about that, again it probably depends on your definition...but it is big, that's for sure...there are a number of levels of the temple, and if you walk all the way around each level, the total distance is 5km...not bad for one temple!!! all the way around each of the lower levels are carvings, and i think none of them are alike...like prambanana, borobudur has been rebuilt, and again, i think they've done a great job...i saw pictures before the rebuilding, and it wasn't much more than a pile of rocks...the entrance fee to borobudur and prambanan were both ridiculously high, especially in comparison to the cost for everything else in indonesia...howeva, the entrance fee to borobudur meant that i got to go through the foreigners/VIP entrance...normally, i wouldn't care, but this one was actually nice...slightly air conditioned (air con doesn't do much when doors are constantly open) and free tea and coffee...little packets of sugar and non dairy creamer as well...plus, there was a bathroom...a clean bathroom...a nice smelling bathroom...AWESOME!!!
one of what is supposed to be the highlights of yogya is the kraton, the palace in which the ruling family used to live...but there wasn't much of anything there...the whole time i walked around i had the feeling i was missing something...the best part of the kraton was taking pictures with some local girls who asked me to be in pictures with them:)
overall, i wasn't very impressed with yogya...because it relies so heavily on tourism, it's quite aggressive, and not very enjoyable...the street food was great though!
the day i arrived was also the first day of a street festival on that particular street...it was scheduled to last the two days i expected to stay in jakarta, which was awesome...nothing super exciting, but quite a few food stands, a couple stages, and lots of local families walking around...i enjoyed the food most of all...i tried a few things i didn't recognize, several of which i saw through the rest of my time in indonesia...
jakarta has a monument called monas (i think?) in the middle, it's the national monument...built by one of the former presidents...it's an unfortunate shape, sometimes called his last erection...ooops...it's in the middle of merdeka square, a wide, flat area, where locals gather to hang out...(a great spot for people watching)...when i visited the monument i was interviewed by two local uni students, who recorded the entire conversation on their phone...the monument was also where an indonesian guy just wouldn't listen when i said i didn't want to talk to him...he wouldn't listen when i said my boyfriend doesn't like me talking to strange men...he wouldn't listen when i said go away...he FINALLY went away when i would say nothing but "go away"...i think i said it 12 times before he finally left? and that was after asking "can i know where you're from?"...GO AWAY...
also in jakarta is a large mosque...i read that it's the largest mosque in southeast asia...but i thought i already saw the largest mosque in malaysia? i guess it depends on the definition of largest...the number of people it holds, the space it takes up, size of the building, etc...
buying a train ticket in jakarta reminded me a LOT of india...it took a while to find the proper ticket office, and then the request sheet was entirely in bahasa indonesia...someone helped me fill it out, and was quite surprised that i wanted an economy class night train...but it was cheap!! queueing up was just like india too, people sliding in every which way...the train was even cheaper than i expected, YAY...
it wasn't until i got on the train that night that i realized why the train was so cheap, and why they had been surprised when i had said i really did want that particular train...i did indeed have an assigned seat...there were 2 seats facing each other, 3 could sit on one side, 2 on the other...not comfortably, and definitely not with enough room for our legs in the middle...the five of us ended up with legs intertwined through most of the night...it was indeed a seat i had, definitely no way to lay down...i was lucky to have the window, so at least i had something to lean against...there were people in the aisles, in between cars, etc...a very very crowded train...i didn't get much sleep, but oh well...it was an experience...
i arrived in yogyakarta in the morning, and chose to hire a becak (bicycle rickshaw)...he said 5000 rupiah, about 50 cents (american)...upon arrival, he tried to demand double that, indicating my pack...um, right, like you didn't see my pack when i walked out of the train station? i stayed in the traveler ghetto...a lot like the area in bangkok, perhaps not quite as busy and crowded...but this area still had all the budget accomodation, internet cafes, laundry places, travel agencies, etc...not much street food in the area though...
yogyakarta (pronounced jogjakarta, and usually shortened to jogja) is supposed to be the cultural capital of java...because of this, it's a majour tourist destination...because of that, it's really aggressive...it's impossible to walk more than 100m w/out someone asking you where you're going, or offering to drive you somewhere...argh...they also want to get you into stores selling batik, which is mass produced in and around the city...batik everything...purses, pajamas, shirts, cloth, etc...
the best part of yogya for me were the two temple sights i went to see, slightly out of the city...the first, prambanan, is mostly hindu...(though there is a buddhist temple there)...prambanan is really a temple complex, there are a number of temples to see...unfortunately several of the major temples were damaged in a 2006 earthquake, so you can't go in them...they've been rebuilding these temples, and i think they've done it really well...generally i don't enjoy rebuilt stuff, but this time i did...prambanan is also nice because it's easily accesible by public, local transport...there is absolutely no reason to sign up for any of the overpriced tours offered...i also went to see borobudur, a buddhist temple...according to lots of the postcards, it's the biggest buddhist monument in existence...i don't know about that, again it probably depends on your definition...but it is big, that's for sure...there are a number of levels of the temple, and if you walk all the way around each level, the total distance is 5km...not bad for one temple!!! all the way around each of the lower levels are carvings, and i think none of them are alike...like prambanana, borobudur has been rebuilt, and again, i think they've done a great job...i saw pictures before the rebuilding, and it wasn't much more than a pile of rocks...the entrance fee to borobudur and prambanan were both ridiculously high, especially in comparison to the cost for everything else in indonesia...howeva, the entrance fee to borobudur meant that i got to go through the foreigners/VIP entrance...normally, i wouldn't care, but this one was actually nice...slightly air conditioned (air con doesn't do much when doors are constantly open) and free tea and coffee...little packets of sugar and non dairy creamer as well...plus, there was a bathroom...a clean bathroom...a nice smelling bathroom...AWESOME!!!
one of what is supposed to be the highlights of yogya is the kraton, the palace in which the ruling family used to live...but there wasn't much of anything there...the whole time i walked around i had the feeling i was missing something...the best part of the kraton was taking pictures with some local girls who asked me to be in pictures with them:)
overall, i wasn't very impressed with yogya...because it relies so heavily on tourism, it's quite aggressive, and not very enjoyable...the street food was great though!
11 July 2009
sumatra
to get from malaysia to indonesia, i opted for a ferry from the malaysian island of penang to the indonesian island of sumatra...it's a fast ferry boat, but still takes 5-6 hours to do the crossing...(the body of water is called the malaysian straits, for those of you who care about such things)...it wasn't bumpy at all, thank goodness, as we were inside, there was no open deck on this ferry...
upon arriving at the port (i can't remember the specific name of the port, but it's just a few kilometers from the city of medan) we were greeted by lots of wanna-be porters, taxi drivers, etc...and this was all before going through immigration...coming out of immigration there were even more people waiting! we hopped on a bus filled with everyone else from the ferry, (ignoring all the touts) and it dropped us off just a couple hundred meters from where we wanted to be in medan...i should mention that on the ferry i met a dutch girl, who ended up being my travel buddy for the next 5-6 days...on the bus a local guy chatted up me and the dutch girl, as well as a couple british boys, we all ended up following him to a succession of guesthouses, and we all ended up staying in the cheapest place on the planet...(well, maybe not that cheap, but it was the cheapest place i've stayed in a long long time)...i went with the dutch girl and british boys to dinner in a nearby mall, it was the first time i'd been out past dark since the mugging!!
the next morning marije and i got up and made our way to the bus station, to catch a bus to bukit lawang...we got there quickly enough, but then had to wait 40 minutes for the bus to leave...when it left, it pulled out onto the street, drove a few blocks forward, and parked on the street, to wait for more passengers...and by wait, i mean WAIT...buses in indonesia often don't leave until they are full, regardless of any schedule that might or might not be posted...we ended up waiting over another hour on the street, and the british boys ended up on the same bus!! anywho, around 3 hours after we finally got going, we all arrived in bukit lawang...it's a small village at the entrance of a national park...people come to this national park to go trekking, in hopes of seeing orangutans...it's one of the few places in the world where you can still see them in the wild...i decided not to afford the trek, though it did sound interesting...(and later, i got mixed reviews...a canadian i talked to wasn't very fussed about his trek, but the dutch girl and brit boys had been chased by orangutans during their trek, and therefore loved it)...i went to a feeding at the orangutan rehabilitation center, but no orangutans showed up...definitely a disappointment, though i enjoyed the two monkeys that were there...we're so close to monkeys and orangutans genetically that i find it fascinating to watch them, and see similarities in our movements, and looks...there was howeva an orangutan at the entrance to the park who was clearly domesticated, and never likely to go back into the wild...i watched him (or her?) eating from the hands of a local, again, fascinated...
from bukit lawang i made my way to parapat, on the edge of danau (lake) toba...a huge lake in the middle of sumatra...it's supposed to be the biggest lake in southeast asia...one of the largest volcanic crater lakes in the world...it's supposed to be 450m deep!...anywho, from parapat i took a ferry to an "island" in the middle, called samosir...it's not really an island, as it is connected by a small causeway, but since people get to and from there mostly by ferry, it essentially functions as an island...one village, called tuk tuk has most of the accomodation, and the ferry stops as requested at each place...i ended up in a room with a western toilet, shower, two beds, and my own porch!!...all for $5...most of the accomodation in tuk tuk has a swimming area, mine did as well...mine even had a diving board set up...the diving board was high enough above the water and bouncy enough that i could actually get some height and distance...and the water underneath was deep enough that i wasn't worried about cracking my head...(even though with my hard head that would be quite a feat)...the temperature was slightly cool, and just PERFECT for playing around...i had a great few hours each day, praticing back and front flips, just enjoying the water...the dutch girl and i hired mountain bikes one day to go to a couple other villages and see a couple sights...stone chairs, traditional batak houses, a mausoleum...they weren't exciting, but we liked the riding and scenery as well...while huffing and puffing my way up various small hills (samosir is NOT FLAT) i realized that i'm not very fit at the mo...i can walk and walk and walk, all day long, but i have no aerobic capacity...eeeek!!
from danau toba i made my way to bukittingi...this involved a 15 hour overnight bus ride...the bus was all right, and even the road was all right...except that it was NEVER a straight road...i could actually see the bus sway from side to side as it went around each corner...when you see a name like trans sumatran highway, you'd think it would be a good HIGHWAY...but it's just a 2 lane road, not much different from any other sealed road in indonesia...in SLIGHTLY better condition, i suppose...this bus did drive over the equator en route, and i saw it coming slightly ahead of time...so i stood up, and danced a little, and danced my way over the equator...the russian couple sitting next to me thought i was crazy, but then again, what's new about that? hee hee...we were at the back of the bus, so the locals didn't even see me...i am a dork, i know...
anywho, bukittingi is another hill station, with great views over the surrounding area....my first day i just wandered, and my second day i got up early to take local buses to a nearby rafflesia sanctuary...rafflesia are the world's largest flowers...(actually a parasite, but that's beside the point)...when they bloom, the flower can be 1m across, with petals an inch thick...it also emits an awful odor...i'm told it's similar to that of decaying animals...EEWWWW!!...i got off the bus and ended up walking to a house, thinking it was a ticket office of some kind...but it wasn't...the lady told me the rafflesia had bloomed a couple weeks earlier and were now dead...which means the blooms were still there, but they were all black, and not very interesting...but i still wanted to see them, so the lady got her nephew/cousin to lead the way for me...5 other kids came along as well...none of them spoke any english...but it was still a LOT of fun...they kept fighting over who got to be walking right in front of me and right behind me...lots of "hati-hati" (be careful) as i kept them all entertained by stumbling over roots, logs and my own two feet...it ended up taking over an hour to get to the dead blooms, climbing some steep hills through the jungle!!! after arrivign back at the house, the girls and i played with the coffee beans that were drying out front, spelling our names with the beans...a great day, just one of those great days...i got back to bukittingi, walked around a bit more, got rained on, and hung out at my hotel...
from bukittingi, i started to make my way to jakarta, on the next island of indonesia, java...
upon arriving at the port (i can't remember the specific name of the port, but it's just a few kilometers from the city of medan) we were greeted by lots of wanna-be porters, taxi drivers, etc...and this was all before going through immigration...coming out of immigration there were even more people waiting! we hopped on a bus filled with everyone else from the ferry, (ignoring all the touts) and it dropped us off just a couple hundred meters from where we wanted to be in medan...i should mention that on the ferry i met a dutch girl, who ended up being my travel buddy for the next 5-6 days...on the bus a local guy chatted up me and the dutch girl, as well as a couple british boys, we all ended up following him to a succession of guesthouses, and we all ended up staying in the cheapest place on the planet...(well, maybe not that cheap, but it was the cheapest place i've stayed in a long long time)...i went with the dutch girl and british boys to dinner in a nearby mall, it was the first time i'd been out past dark since the mugging!!
the next morning marije and i got up and made our way to the bus station, to catch a bus to bukit lawang...we got there quickly enough, but then had to wait 40 minutes for the bus to leave...when it left, it pulled out onto the street, drove a few blocks forward, and parked on the street, to wait for more passengers...and by wait, i mean WAIT...buses in indonesia often don't leave until they are full, regardless of any schedule that might or might not be posted...we ended up waiting over another hour on the street, and the british boys ended up on the same bus!! anywho, around 3 hours after we finally got going, we all arrived in bukit lawang...it's a small village at the entrance of a national park...people come to this national park to go trekking, in hopes of seeing orangutans...it's one of the few places in the world where you can still see them in the wild...i decided not to afford the trek, though it did sound interesting...(and later, i got mixed reviews...a canadian i talked to wasn't very fussed about his trek, but the dutch girl and brit boys had been chased by orangutans during their trek, and therefore loved it)...i went to a feeding at the orangutan rehabilitation center, but no orangutans showed up...definitely a disappointment, though i enjoyed the two monkeys that were there...we're so close to monkeys and orangutans genetically that i find it fascinating to watch them, and see similarities in our movements, and looks...there was howeva an orangutan at the entrance to the park who was clearly domesticated, and never likely to go back into the wild...i watched him (or her?) eating from the hands of a local, again, fascinated...
from bukit lawang i made my way to parapat, on the edge of danau (lake) toba...a huge lake in the middle of sumatra...it's supposed to be the biggest lake in southeast asia...one of the largest volcanic crater lakes in the world...it's supposed to be 450m deep!...anywho, from parapat i took a ferry to an "island" in the middle, called samosir...it's not really an island, as it is connected by a small causeway, but since people get to and from there mostly by ferry, it essentially functions as an island...one village, called tuk tuk has most of the accomodation, and the ferry stops as requested at each place...i ended up in a room with a western toilet, shower, two beds, and my own porch!!...all for $5...most of the accomodation in tuk tuk has a swimming area, mine did as well...mine even had a diving board set up...the diving board was high enough above the water and bouncy enough that i could actually get some height and distance...and the water underneath was deep enough that i wasn't worried about cracking my head...(even though with my hard head that would be quite a feat)...the temperature was slightly cool, and just PERFECT for playing around...i had a great few hours each day, praticing back and front flips, just enjoying the water...the dutch girl and i hired mountain bikes one day to go to a couple other villages and see a couple sights...stone chairs, traditional batak houses, a mausoleum...they weren't exciting, but we liked the riding and scenery as well...while huffing and puffing my way up various small hills (samosir is NOT FLAT) i realized that i'm not very fit at the mo...i can walk and walk and walk, all day long, but i have no aerobic capacity...eeeek!!
from danau toba i made my way to bukittingi...this involved a 15 hour overnight bus ride...the bus was all right, and even the road was all right...except that it was NEVER a straight road...i could actually see the bus sway from side to side as it went around each corner...when you see a name like trans sumatran highway, you'd think it would be a good HIGHWAY...but it's just a 2 lane road, not much different from any other sealed road in indonesia...in SLIGHTLY better condition, i suppose...this bus did drive over the equator en route, and i saw it coming slightly ahead of time...so i stood up, and danced a little, and danced my way over the equator...the russian couple sitting next to me thought i was crazy, but then again, what's new about that? hee hee...we were at the back of the bus, so the locals didn't even see me...i am a dork, i know...
anywho, bukittingi is another hill station, with great views over the surrounding area....my first day i just wandered, and my second day i got up early to take local buses to a nearby rafflesia sanctuary...rafflesia are the world's largest flowers...(actually a parasite, but that's beside the point)...when they bloom, the flower can be 1m across, with petals an inch thick...it also emits an awful odor...i'm told it's similar to that of decaying animals...EEWWWW!!...i got off the bus and ended up walking to a house, thinking it was a ticket office of some kind...but it wasn't...the lady told me the rafflesia had bloomed a couple weeks earlier and were now dead...which means the blooms were still there, but they were all black, and not very interesting...but i still wanted to see them, so the lady got her nephew/cousin to lead the way for me...5 other kids came along as well...none of them spoke any english...but it was still a LOT of fun...they kept fighting over who got to be walking right in front of me and right behind me...lots of "hati-hati" (be careful) as i kept them all entertained by stumbling over roots, logs and my own two feet...it ended up taking over an hour to get to the dead blooms, climbing some steep hills through the jungle!!! after arrivign back at the house, the girls and i played with the coffee beans that were drying out front, spelling our names with the beans...a great day, just one of those great days...i got back to bukittingi, walked around a bit more, got rained on, and hung out at my hotel...
from bukittingi, i started to make my way to jakarta, on the next island of indonesia, java...
02 July 2009
malaysia 3
from kuala lumpur i took a bus to tanah rata, the tourist center of the cameron highlands...the highlands are another hill station, cooler and less humid than the lowlands of the country...there are a bunch of tea estates in the highlands, the area produces most of the tea in the country...tanah rata itself is basically a village...not much there except travel agencies for tourists, a few convenient marts, and a bunch of yummy indian restaurants...i found a single room, and though it was small and very cozy, that was exactly what i needed...the first day there i didn't do much of anything...walking around a little (10 minutes of walking in tanah rata means you've seen the whole town) and playing with my camera...the whole area has beautiful wildflowers, the likes of which are NOT in indiana...the second day i booked myself a tour...it wasn't so much a tour, as them just driving us around to a number of different places...first up was a flower garden...pretty flowers, a great view over a valley from a particular viewpoint...i loved the sunflowers...the second stop was a strawberry farm...we didn't see much, just rows of where they were growing strawberries...we didn't even get to pick any...we did howeva, get to eat the strawberries...i had absolutely no problem eating two strawberry sundaes at 10:30 in the morning...is that a bad thing? you could also get a waffle, strawberries with cream, strawberries with honey, or a strawberry shake...they were ALL good:)...from the strawberry farm we went to a tea estate...i can't remember the name of the estate, but their brand name is boh, and it's the most common in malaysia...it was gorgeous...rows and rows and hills and hills of tea bushes...i learned that tea bushes grow into trees if they aren't trimmed, and i also learned they can be 150 yrs old!!! i bought a couple packets of tea, and have been making chai most mornings...YUM...then we went to a bee farm...not much there to see except the boxes/hives...that's where you could try to make your way through the world's largest indoor maze, but i don't think anyone in my group did so...from there, our last stop was a buddhist temple...perhaps the most interesting part of the temple were the walls...they were covered in images of buddha...something like 10,000 in all? i don't remember the exact number...think small bathroom tiles, covering the whole wall...nifty...on the way back from the temple we had a new driver, and i ended up with motion sickness about 30 seconds into the ride...i actually had to make him stop and get out early and walk back into town!! why is it that some drivers make me so sick, and others are fine?
from tanah rata i took buses to kota bahru...kota bahru is the state capital, ( i can't remember the name of that particular state, eeek) and it's the only state in malaysia where you can find blue rice...yes, i went all the way across the peninsula because i wanted to eat blue rice...it was fun, and though it didnt taste any different from white rice, i'm still glad i went...kota bahru itself doesn't have much to offer...a central market, in a building that allows you to look down on the ladies selling fresh produce...it gets busy down there!!
from kota bahru, i crossed the peninsula one more time, to the island of penang...off the western side of the peninsula...the main city on penang is called georgetown...this island is actually the oldest settled part of malaysia, older than singapore and melaka...it's another former trading port...howeva, the island is almost all chinese...it is the only malay state with a majority chinese population...but there is still plenty of indian food to be had...and since it was my last stop in malaysia, i indulged, big time...just outside georgetown, in a town called air itam, is a BIG buddhist temple...well, it's actually a buddhist temple complex...there are several temples there, each with different architectural influences...thai, chinese, etc...the best part of the complex is the 7 story pagoda, from the top of which you can look out over the city...awesome, even though it was raining while i was up there...
georgetown also has several mosques which i was able to explore...in one i felt quite welcome, and i enjoyed talking to one of the men after he finished his prayers...in the other one, i felt rather ambushed...one guy showed me around a bit, but kept trying to bait me as to why islam is better/truer/etc than christianity...it wasn't a debate i wanted to have...he kept trying to use specific bible verses to prove his points, and i've always hated when people do that...he said he'd read the bible, but for nearly every verse that looks at things one way, there is another verse that looks at them from the other side...you know, the old eye for an eye vs turn the other cheek debate...i don't know the bible well enough to think of specific verses, and i really felt uncomfortable around him...i'm not likely ever to convert to a religion when someone tells me what i already believe is wrong, and that what they believe is right/better...
the morning of 1 july, i bid a fond farewell to malaysia, and hopped on a ferry to medan, on the island of sumatra, in indonesia...
23 June 2009
malaysia 2
kuala lumpur was next...a fantastic city...(well, mostly, but that comes a little later)...the capital of the country, in some ways very similar to singapore...but unlike singapore, which felt rather sterile at times, kuala lumpur has plenty of soul, and feels very lived in...i loved it...sure, it isn't as clean and orderly as singapore, but it's still a LOT cleaner than just about any other big city i've seen...it has great public transportation, plenty to see and do, lots of shopping, (including plenty that i'll never be able to afford unless i start playing and winming the lottery!) and fantastic food...it's also a great city for simply wandering aimlessly...
kuala lumpur is perhaps best known for the petronas towers...when they were built, they were the tallest buildings in the world...(and they take pains to point out that they are still the tallest twin towers in the world)...491 meters tall i think? 89 floors...there is a double decker skybridge connecting the towers at floors 41 and 42, this is as high as tourists are allowed to go...each day, 1400 lucky people get to go up to the skybridge...for free!!! the not so fun part is that you have to queue up at 0830 (preferably earlier) in order to snag one of the tickets...the ticket then tells you when you get to come back to actually go up the elevator...i got one for much later in the afternoon, then got on a bus and went to some hindu caves...(which were HUGE, but not otherwise impressive...only 272 steps - each of which is numbered - to get to the mouth of the first cave!)...when i got back to the towers for my trip up to the skybridge, i had to wait until my specific time was called...we were all herded into a theatre, given 3D glasses (which made everyone slightly dizzy/nauseous) and shown a video that basically promoted petronas, and tried to show what a great company it is...it's the malaysian national oil and gas company...after that, we put our bags through the x-ray machine, walked through the metal detector, and got on the elevator that whisked us up to the 41st floor...fast...everyone had to pop their ears a couple times...we only got to be in the skybridge for about 5 minutes...then another quick ride down, and they sent our little group into the exhibition room...the exhibition room shows a few of the physics behind building the towers, and shows how tall they are compared to other tall buildings in the world...there is also a little spot where a machine measures you, and tells you how tall you are against various buildings in the world...i'm 1/267th the size of the sears tower in chicago:)...
one day i took a day trip from KL, and took the transit train to putrajaya...it's a planned city, about 23km away, the administrative city of malaysia...most of malaysia's government ministries now have their offices in putrajaya...wide boulevards, pretty flowers, huge buildings, sidewalks everywhere...none of the buildings look alike, but somehow they all go with each other...i was there on a friday, and as i walked past the mosque, it was just before time for noon prayers...friday noon prayers are the one time of the week where muslims are required (by islam) to pray at the mosque...(the other 34 prayers a week can be done anywhere)...there were people streaming toward the mosque...after i got back to KL that day, i ended up at the national mosque...built in the 60s i think...since i'm non muslim, i was given a purple robe with a hood to wear before i could go in...and even with the robe, i wasn't allowed in the main prayer room, though i did get to look in...i love how mosques are always so open, so airy...there were a number of pamphlets available, in a number of different languages...titles included eating in islam, dress in islam, prayer in islam, sex in islam, becoming a muslim, and who is Allah? interesting reading...the one called dress in islam seemed to attack the west, but the others were all just giving information...
another day i took a day trip to two smaller towns...one is called shah alam, its the state capital of selangor, which surrounds KL...the state mosque in shah alam is called the blue mosque, and is the biggest mosque in southeast asia...it can hold 24000 people...the guy who showed me around (i was again given a robe, with a headscarf) said that during friday noon prayers, it's about 80% full...klang was the second town i visited that day, it had an art deco inspired mosque, but not a lot else...it was nice to wander around a town that hardly sees any tourists...
now, onto the not so nice part of KL...one of the nights there, i decided to go to a performance at the national theatre...when i booked the ticket, they asked if i understood bahasa malaysia, and i said no...they said that wouldn't be a problem, that it was more a musical than a play...they said there would be lots of singing and dancing, and that i'd enjoy the costumes...i did enjoy the costumes, they were bright, and intricate...there wasn't nearly the amount of singing and dancing that i expected, but it was still fun...anywho, i walked home...i got about 20 minutes away from home when i was mugged...i suppose it was really an attempted mugging, since they didn't get anything from me, and i wasn't injured...two guys did it...the whole thing only took 5-10 seconds, but i've never felt that invaded...NEVER...what made it worse was that there was a group accross the street, laughing and cat calling while it was happening...i don't understand why anyone would think that behaviour acceptable...it's wrong...their hands went under my skirt, and up my front...off in the distance i could see two foreign guys who realized what was happening and started to run toward me (the group accross the street and the foreign guys running were things i apparently registered, w/out actually realizing they were happening until later) but they didn't get close enough in time...after it was over, i kept walking down the street, really shaken up...the foreign guys asked if i was okay, and i ignored them, i was so freaked out...(when i got back to the hostel, i realized i had been very rude)...anywho, it took another 20 minutes of walking to get back to my hostel, during which i had an asthma attack...it sucked...2 chocolate bars and an ice cream didn't help the asthma, or make me feel any better in general...that night there was another girl in my dorm room, and for the first time ever, i was glad to be sharing...needless to say, i didn't sleep well, not much at all...since then, i've avoided single local guys like the plague...i've also made every possible effort to be inside by the time the sun goes down...
kuala lumpur is perhaps best known for the petronas towers...when they were built, they were the tallest buildings in the world...(and they take pains to point out that they are still the tallest twin towers in the world)...491 meters tall i think? 89 floors...there is a double decker skybridge connecting the towers at floors 41 and 42, this is as high as tourists are allowed to go...each day, 1400 lucky people get to go up to the skybridge...for free!!! the not so fun part is that you have to queue up at 0830 (preferably earlier) in order to snag one of the tickets...the ticket then tells you when you get to come back to actually go up the elevator...i got one for much later in the afternoon, then got on a bus and went to some hindu caves...(which were HUGE, but not otherwise impressive...only 272 steps - each of which is numbered - to get to the mouth of the first cave!)...when i got back to the towers for my trip up to the skybridge, i had to wait until my specific time was called...we were all herded into a theatre, given 3D glasses (which made everyone slightly dizzy/nauseous) and shown a video that basically promoted petronas, and tried to show what a great company it is...it's the malaysian national oil and gas company...after that, we put our bags through the x-ray machine, walked through the metal detector, and got on the elevator that whisked us up to the 41st floor...fast...everyone had to pop their ears a couple times...we only got to be in the skybridge for about 5 minutes...then another quick ride down, and they sent our little group into the exhibition room...the exhibition room shows a few of the physics behind building the towers, and shows how tall they are compared to other tall buildings in the world...there is also a little spot where a machine measures you, and tells you how tall you are against various buildings in the world...i'm 1/267th the size of the sears tower in chicago:)...
one day i took a day trip from KL, and took the transit train to putrajaya...it's a planned city, about 23km away, the administrative city of malaysia...most of malaysia's government ministries now have their offices in putrajaya...wide boulevards, pretty flowers, huge buildings, sidewalks everywhere...none of the buildings look alike, but somehow they all go with each other...i was there on a friday, and as i walked past the mosque, it was just before time for noon prayers...friday noon prayers are the one time of the week where muslims are required (by islam) to pray at the mosque...(the other 34 prayers a week can be done anywhere)...there were people streaming toward the mosque...after i got back to KL that day, i ended up at the national mosque...built in the 60s i think...since i'm non muslim, i was given a purple robe with a hood to wear before i could go in...and even with the robe, i wasn't allowed in the main prayer room, though i did get to look in...i love how mosques are always so open, so airy...there were a number of pamphlets available, in a number of different languages...titles included eating in islam, dress in islam, prayer in islam, sex in islam, becoming a muslim, and who is Allah? interesting reading...the one called dress in islam seemed to attack the west, but the others were all just giving information...
another day i took a day trip to two smaller towns...one is called shah alam, its the state capital of selangor, which surrounds KL...the state mosque in shah alam is called the blue mosque, and is the biggest mosque in southeast asia...it can hold 24000 people...the guy who showed me around (i was again given a robe, with a headscarf) said that during friday noon prayers, it's about 80% full...klang was the second town i visited that day, it had an art deco inspired mosque, but not a lot else...it was nice to wander around a town that hardly sees any tourists...
now, onto the not so nice part of KL...one of the nights there, i decided to go to a performance at the national theatre...when i booked the ticket, they asked if i understood bahasa malaysia, and i said no...they said that wouldn't be a problem, that it was more a musical than a play...they said there would be lots of singing and dancing, and that i'd enjoy the costumes...i did enjoy the costumes, they were bright, and intricate...there wasn't nearly the amount of singing and dancing that i expected, but it was still fun...anywho, i walked home...i got about 20 minutes away from home when i was mugged...i suppose it was really an attempted mugging, since they didn't get anything from me, and i wasn't injured...two guys did it...the whole thing only took 5-10 seconds, but i've never felt that invaded...NEVER...what made it worse was that there was a group accross the street, laughing and cat calling while it was happening...i don't understand why anyone would think that behaviour acceptable...it's wrong...their hands went under my skirt, and up my front...off in the distance i could see two foreign guys who realized what was happening and started to run toward me (the group accross the street and the foreign guys running were things i apparently registered, w/out actually realizing they were happening until later) but they didn't get close enough in time...after it was over, i kept walking down the street, really shaken up...the foreign guys asked if i was okay, and i ignored them, i was so freaked out...(when i got back to the hostel, i realized i had been very rude)...anywho, it took another 20 minutes of walking to get back to my hostel, during which i had an asthma attack...it sucked...2 chocolate bars and an ice cream didn't help the asthma, or make me feel any better in general...that night there was another girl in my dorm room, and for the first time ever, i was glad to be sharing...needless to say, i didn't sleep well, not much at all...since then, i've avoided single local guys like the plague...i've also made every possible effort to be inside by the time the sun goes down...
18 June 2009
malaysia 1
crossing the border from singapore into malaysia was EASY...hop on a bus, it drops you off at singaporean emigration...grab your stuff, go through the line and get stamped out of singapore...hop back on another bus, this one drops you off at malaysian immigration...grab your stuff, go through the line and get stamped into malaysia...the huge immigration and quarantine building is connected by sky walkways to several streets in johor bahru...no need to take a taxi or bus or anything else to get into town close to the hotels...
accomodation in johor is expensive...compared to the rest of malaysia anywho...i found a hotel, had a cup of chai, and started walking...malaysia is the first mostly islamic country in which i've traveled, so women are generally dressed pretty conservatively...well, compared to the west anywho...headscarves are the norm, though by islamic standards malaysia is pretty relaxed...the headscarves go with jeans and long sleeve shirts...i wandered around and saw several mosques, all very different from each other...johor is a big city, just like singapore...i think it wants to be singapore, just on the other side of the border, but it's not quite there...it does howeva have several large malls, including the all important coffee bean and tea leafs outlets...hee hee...
from johor i went to mersing...i had hoped to book an island tour from mersing, but when i got there, i found several things had closed, including two of the budget hotels listed in the book...also closed was the company that ran the tour i wanted to take...oh well...i walked around town like always...i found a mosque that overlooked much of the town and enjoyed the sunset from up there...mersing isn't particularly picturesque, but sunsets from any height are always nice...finding the bus station in mersing wasn't so easy...when i arrived in town, the bus dropped me off in the center of town, so i didn't know where the bus station was...when i looked at the map, it seemed easy enough to find, so i walked to that location, and found nothing but sand...walking back through town i asked a few people, and they pointed in all directions...of the four people i asked, they pointed in all four directions...not very helpful, eh? i kept walking, in hopes that i would somehow stumble upon the bus station...i ended up meeting a guy named stefan, from switzerland, who was also looking for the station, so we walked together...he's from bern, and on 3 weeks of his annual 6 weeks of leave...we finally found it, woo hoo...it turned out we both wanted to go to kuantan, so i figured i'd see him again the next day...but when i got to the bus station the next day.........
all the buses to kuantan were full...how does that happen? i don't know...anywho, the guys at the ticket window told me to go to another town, then take two local buses after that, and i'd get to kuantan, albeit through a much longer route...i opened up the guidebook and found that one of the towns he suggested along the way actually sounded all right, so i decided to make that my destination for the day instead...pekan used to be a royal town, way back when...so there are a few more mosques, and a few istanas...(where royals lived, i think...though i'm not sure)...it's a peaceful town now, not much going on...no big malls, no big buildings in general...a polo club at which prince charles (i think?) is supposed to have played, once upon a time...
from pekan i finally ended up in kuantan...it's a city, much like johor...i enjoyed just walking around, soaking up the atmosphere...there is one major mosque in the middle of town, quite pretty...it overlooks the playing fields (malaysia is soccer CRAZY) which are kept in immaculate condition...i had one of my best meals ever, served on a GIANT banana leaf, which i ate with my hands...being a foreigner, they put a silverware holder on my table, but when i looked around and saw no one else using silverware, i figured i didn't need to either...so i used my hands...my right hand anywho...(in muslim countries your left hand is for dirty tasks, like wiping your bum, putting on your shoes, etc...your right hand is for eating, receiving money/gifts, etc...mixing tasks with the wrong hand is quite an insult...thank goodness i've had the right handed habit since moving to korea)...i can eat with my hand, but of course i'm quite messy, hee hee...it's fun though, and i look forward to doing it again...
accomodation in johor is expensive...compared to the rest of malaysia anywho...i found a hotel, had a cup of chai, and started walking...malaysia is the first mostly islamic country in which i've traveled, so women are generally dressed pretty conservatively...well, compared to the west anywho...headscarves are the norm, though by islamic standards malaysia is pretty relaxed...the headscarves go with jeans and long sleeve shirts...i wandered around and saw several mosques, all very different from each other...johor is a big city, just like singapore...i think it wants to be singapore, just on the other side of the border, but it's not quite there...it does howeva have several large malls, including the all important coffee bean and tea leafs outlets...hee hee...
from johor i went to mersing...i had hoped to book an island tour from mersing, but when i got there, i found several things had closed, including two of the budget hotels listed in the book...also closed was the company that ran the tour i wanted to take...oh well...i walked around town like always...i found a mosque that overlooked much of the town and enjoyed the sunset from up there...mersing isn't particularly picturesque, but sunsets from any height are always nice...finding the bus station in mersing wasn't so easy...when i arrived in town, the bus dropped me off in the center of town, so i didn't know where the bus station was...when i looked at the map, it seemed easy enough to find, so i walked to that location, and found nothing but sand...walking back through town i asked a few people, and they pointed in all directions...of the four people i asked, they pointed in all four directions...not very helpful, eh? i kept walking, in hopes that i would somehow stumble upon the bus station...i ended up meeting a guy named stefan, from switzerland, who was also looking for the station, so we walked together...he's from bern, and on 3 weeks of his annual 6 weeks of leave...we finally found it, woo hoo...it turned out we both wanted to go to kuantan, so i figured i'd see him again the next day...but when i got to the bus station the next day.........
all the buses to kuantan were full...how does that happen? i don't know...anywho, the guys at the ticket window told me to go to another town, then take two local buses after that, and i'd get to kuantan, albeit through a much longer route...i opened up the guidebook and found that one of the towns he suggested along the way actually sounded all right, so i decided to make that my destination for the day instead...pekan used to be a royal town, way back when...so there are a few more mosques, and a few istanas...(where royals lived, i think...though i'm not sure)...it's a peaceful town now, not much going on...no big malls, no big buildings in general...a polo club at which prince charles (i think?) is supposed to have played, once upon a time...
from pekan i finally ended up in kuantan...it's a city, much like johor...i enjoyed just walking around, soaking up the atmosphere...there is one major mosque in the middle of town, quite pretty...it overlooks the playing fields (malaysia is soccer CRAZY) which are kept in immaculate condition...i had one of my best meals ever, served on a GIANT banana leaf, which i ate with my hands...being a foreigner, they put a silverware holder on my table, but when i looked around and saw no one else using silverware, i figured i didn't need to either...so i used my hands...my right hand anywho...(in muslim countries your left hand is for dirty tasks, like wiping your bum, putting on your shoes, etc...your right hand is for eating, receiving money/gifts, etc...mixing tasks with the wrong hand is quite an insult...thank goodness i've had the right handed habit since moving to korea)...i can eat with my hand, but of course i'm quite messy, hee hee...it's fun though, and i look forward to doing it again...
from kuantan i took a cross peninsular bus to melaka (malacca)...melaka used to be an important port city in southeast asia, and its still easy to see evidence of the british and dutch...the portuguese left behind their egg tarts, and the chinese are still there...(my hostel was right in the middle of chinatown)...melaka is perhaps one of the most multicultural cities in malaysia, because of it's origins...within 5 minutes of walking from my hostel, i could see a mosque, a hindu temple, a buddhist temple, and a church...not bad, eh? melaka is one of the biggest stops on the tourist trail, so there were tons of tourists...i never really felt like i got away from them...even walking a lot, which normally gets me somewhere, didn't do any good... one of the days i was there i heard someone speaking in a strong american accent...(a slow southern drawl)...it was hard to ignore, because it was loud...anywho, out of curiosity, i asked where she was from...north carolina...and get this, she is currently an ESL teacher in korea...she was traveling with a filipino who currently works in graphic design in singapore...anywho, the three of us ended up spending the rest of the day together, mostly just wandering around...at dinnertime (well, it was just drinking, there was no food:) a canadian joined us, he was in melaka on business...at one point, ingrid (the north carolinian) got up and sang with the guy who was playing the guitar...she may be loud while speaking, but she's even better while singing...an amazing voice...strong, confident, and very much in tune...she brought the house down...i ended up getting back to my hostel a whole lot later than i had planned, but it was just one of those days that was perfect...i was sad that they were leaving the next day... there is a little india section of melaka, but it's not all that great...the food wasn't nearly as good as i had hoped...of course, it probably didn't help that while i was eating my dinner one night the waiter kept trying to strike up a conversation with me...(while i had food in my mouth!! my parents taught me manners so i kept making him wait for a response:)...it felt awkward, and i was only too happy to finish eating, pay, and leave...
11 June 2009
singapore
singapore has got to be the cleanest, most orderly big city. EVER. We arrived late in the evening, but were able to catch the last train into town. In finding a hostel, we again got lucky, and got the last two beds at the first place we tried...which is awesome, because wandering around the city with all our stuff in the middle of the night would not have been fun, no matter how safe the city is supposed to be...
singapore is a city state, measuring about 40km one way, and 25km the other way...it's only been completely independent since the mid 60s...before that it was part of malaysia for a few years, and before that it was a british colony...it's just barely north of the equator, so the temperature stays pretty steady all year...and it's humid...it's connected to malaysia by two causeways, over the johor straits...on the other side of the city are the singapore straights...
it's independent, but it's not a free society...the laws are pretty strict...no jaywalking...no littering...no eating/drinking on public transit...for each of those three, the fine is S$500...if you're caught with drugs, you're going to be in jail for a LONG time...if you're caught trafficking drugs, it's a mandatory death sentence...and they DO carry it out...anywho, because the laws are so strict, everything is very orderly and clean...there are trash cans on the streets, so you don't even have to carry anything for very long...
the standard of living is quite high in singapore...the average income is about the same as in the states...and i don't think there is much homelessness or poverty at all...in a lot of ways, singapore reminds me of seoul...but cleaner, and people aren't nearly as rude...since singapore doesn't really have it's own culture, there are lots of foreigners...LOTS...it's the only place in this entire trip that i wasn't stared at just for being a foreign female...i was ignored, which is great!! fabulous, relatively cheap public transport, HUGE apartment buildings, glitzy stores...and there are coffee beans everywhere...there is a lot more english spoken here (locals call it singlish) and people are really helpful in general...
because public transport is so good, people don't walk very much...of course, that doesn't stop either one of us...the sidewalks are great, they're everywhere...little india was probably my favourite section of the city, just because i enjoyed the real india so much...little india actually has a fairly significant indian population, so there are tons of restaurants, stores selling everything you don't need, stores selling indian sweets, a few temples, etc...even a grocery store where i was able to get more chai masala...YUM...i surprised a guy in one restaurant by knowing the hindi name for a couple curries, hee hee...i love indian food, and i've missed it...i haven't been eating it in other places we've been, because it doesn't seem authentic...the other places we've seen it have all been restaurants, geared toward tourists...this is the first place we've been where we've been around a lot of indians, (who are mostly here on 2 yr contracts, or came on those contracts and stayed) so the food is geared toward them more than anything...i found places to eat where there weren't any tourists, but the places were packed with indians...that tells me it's good...it's fun to eat with my hands, it always surprises people...why use a spoon and fork if the locals don't use them?
my biggest day of walking included seeing temples, mosques, cathedrals, a couple parks, and more...each day was a long walking day though, since it's so easy to walk everywhere...the sidewalks i mentioned earlier are actually walkable...you don't have to walk around stores spilling onto the sidewalk, or around motorbikes or cars parked on the sidewalk, as in other countries...
i also got to see a WWII allied war cemetary (over 24,000 memorialized there, none of them american,) a huge monastery, the philatelic museum, chinatown, and the esplanade, in view of a giant ferris wheel...(i think the ride to go around it once is 30mins+?)...i believe the ferris wheel is supposed to be the biggest in the world? on the esplanade is the merlion, which is supposed to be the sign of singapore...i have no idea how they came up with this...the merlion is a combination of a lion and a fish...???????, right???...one day i saw the largest fountain in the world...it's close to suntec city, one of the malls/big buildings/offices in the city...legend has it that if you walk around the fountain clockwise three times with your hand in the water, you are guaranteed good luck...i did the walk, so we'll see about my luck, eh?
one day i went out to sentosa island, off the southern tip of "mainland" singapore...it was originally used to defend singapore, but now there is only one historical anything left on the island, a fort used for defence of the colony...the reason i went to see sentosa was to see the fort that was last used in the defense of the island during WWII...(a lousy defense, the guns were pointed the wrong way)...they've turned the fort into a pretty good interpretive center...you can see a couple of the large guns used, and they've got sound bites of what actually happened when the japanese invaded...good explanations of pictures, etc...i ended up getting distracted, and didn't see as much as i planned, but i had a great time anywho...its easy to get to the island, you can go by public transport, and it's cheap...of course, while it's cheap to get to the island, being on the island isn't cheap...the rest of the island is a resort...there are lots of things to do, most with high prices...riding one of those wheelie things where you are standing up and you just push the handle forward, going up a tower, watching the dolphin show, etc...there are several beaches, none of which are all that...i walked on one of them, and was stunned by the awful quality of the sand...if you're going to build a beach, why not build a good one, eh?
singapore is by far the most expensive place we've traveled, but we both liked it...it does howeva seem quite sterile...b/c of all the laws about littering, and whatnot, there isn't anything that makes the area feel lived in...no street stalls of yummy food...no street instrumentalists...no graffiti (sp?)...it was convenient, and super easy though...
singapore is a city state, measuring about 40km one way, and 25km the other way...it's only been completely independent since the mid 60s...before that it was part of malaysia for a few years, and before that it was a british colony...it's just barely north of the equator, so the temperature stays pretty steady all year...and it's humid...it's connected to malaysia by two causeways, over the johor straits...on the other side of the city are the singapore straights...
it's independent, but it's not a free society...the laws are pretty strict...no jaywalking...no littering...no eating/drinking on public transit...for each of those three, the fine is S$500...if you're caught with drugs, you're going to be in jail for a LONG time...if you're caught trafficking drugs, it's a mandatory death sentence...and they DO carry it out...anywho, because the laws are so strict, everything is very orderly and clean...there are trash cans on the streets, so you don't even have to carry anything for very long...
the standard of living is quite high in singapore...the average income is about the same as in the states...and i don't think there is much homelessness or poverty at all...in a lot of ways, singapore reminds me of seoul...but cleaner, and people aren't nearly as rude...since singapore doesn't really have it's own culture, there are lots of foreigners...LOTS...it's the only place in this entire trip that i wasn't stared at just for being a foreign female...i was ignored, which is great!! fabulous, relatively cheap public transport, HUGE apartment buildings, glitzy stores...and there are coffee beans everywhere...there is a lot more english spoken here (locals call it singlish) and people are really helpful in general...
because public transport is so good, people don't walk very much...of course, that doesn't stop either one of us...the sidewalks are great, they're everywhere...little india was probably my favourite section of the city, just because i enjoyed the real india so much...little india actually has a fairly significant indian population, so there are tons of restaurants, stores selling everything you don't need, stores selling indian sweets, a few temples, etc...even a grocery store where i was able to get more chai masala...YUM...i surprised a guy in one restaurant by knowing the hindi name for a couple curries, hee hee...i love indian food, and i've missed it...i haven't been eating it in other places we've been, because it doesn't seem authentic...the other places we've seen it have all been restaurants, geared toward tourists...this is the first place we've been where we've been around a lot of indians, (who are mostly here on 2 yr contracts, or came on those contracts and stayed) so the food is geared toward them more than anything...i found places to eat where there weren't any tourists, but the places were packed with indians...that tells me it's good...it's fun to eat with my hands, it always surprises people...why use a spoon and fork if the locals don't use them?
my biggest day of walking included seeing temples, mosques, cathedrals, a couple parks, and more...each day was a long walking day though, since it's so easy to walk everywhere...the sidewalks i mentioned earlier are actually walkable...you don't have to walk around stores spilling onto the sidewalk, or around motorbikes or cars parked on the sidewalk, as in other countries...
i also got to see a WWII allied war cemetary (over 24,000 memorialized there, none of them american,) a huge monastery, the philatelic museum, chinatown, and the esplanade, in view of a giant ferris wheel...(i think the ride to go around it once is 30mins+?)...i believe the ferris wheel is supposed to be the biggest in the world? on the esplanade is the merlion, which is supposed to be the sign of singapore...i have no idea how they came up with this...the merlion is a combination of a lion and a fish...???????, right???...one day i saw the largest fountain in the world...it's close to suntec city, one of the malls/big buildings/offices in the city...legend has it that if you walk around the fountain clockwise three times with your hand in the water, you are guaranteed good luck...i did the walk, so we'll see about my luck, eh?
one day i went out to sentosa island, off the southern tip of "mainland" singapore...it was originally used to defend singapore, but now there is only one historical anything left on the island, a fort used for defence of the colony...the reason i went to see sentosa was to see the fort that was last used in the defense of the island during WWII...(a lousy defense, the guns were pointed the wrong way)...they've turned the fort into a pretty good interpretive center...you can see a couple of the large guns used, and they've got sound bites of what actually happened when the japanese invaded...good explanations of pictures, etc...i ended up getting distracted, and didn't see as much as i planned, but i had a great time anywho...its easy to get to the island, you can go by public transport, and it's cheap...of course, while it's cheap to get to the island, being on the island isn't cheap...the rest of the island is a resort...there are lots of things to do, most with high prices...riding one of those wheelie things where you are standing up and you just push the handle forward, going up a tower, watching the dolphin show, etc...there are several beaches, none of which are all that...i walked on one of them, and was stunned by the awful quality of the sand...if you're going to build a beach, why not build a good one, eh?
singapore is by far the most expensive place we've traveled, but we both liked it...it does howeva seem quite sterile...b/c of all the laws about littering, and whatnot, there isn't anything that makes the area feel lived in...no street stalls of yummy food...no street instrumentalists...no graffiti (sp?)...it was convenient, and super easy though...
07 June 2009
the visayas
after seeing the gorgeous northern part of the philippines, we decided to go south...we took a ferry from manila to cebu, a measly 25.5 hours spent on board...we slept in a giant dorm room...i think i counted about 144 beds in there? there was supposed to be air conditioning, but it wasn't working hard enough, and everyone was hot...even i was hot, and i'm usually comfortable long after everyone else is warm...our tickets included breakfast, lunch and dinner in the cafeteria, so for each meal we got in line and waited...it took about 2.5 hours for them to serve everyone for each meal...breakfast was scrambled egss, tuna, and rice...lunch = chicken and rice...dinner = squid, and, you guessed it, rice...i didn't like the squid at all...oh well...
we arrived in cebu after midnight...neither one of us likes arriving anywhere that late, but we didn't have a choice...we found a taxi who would use a meter, then went to a hotel...
the guidebook describes cebu as being divided into two sections...uptown and downtown...uptown is more monied, cleaner, has more of the REALLY BIG MALLS, etc...downtown is poorer, dirtier, and seedier...BUT we both liked downtown better...there were many more people on the streets, lots more people smiling, and we could see people actually living...by contrast, even though uptown was supposed to be safer, it also felt more sterile...there weren't nearly as many people out and about...cebu doesn't have a lot to see, but it is worth nothing that it was on the island of cebu that magellan first landed in the 1500s...there is a cross in cebu called magellans cross...supposedly somewhere in that cross is a splinter of the cross raised by magellan (well, not him exactly, more likely by his underlings) when he first arrived...magellan himself didn't last long, he died not long after arriving in a battle with a tribal leader named lapu lapu...which only put off spanish colonialization by 100 yrs or so, but at least it's something...lapu lapu is now one of many filipino national heroes...layna and i both enjoyed just walking around the city, particularly downtown...layna found a supermarket that had a make your own salad section, both of us went a little crazy...there aren't a whole lot of fresh vegetables available in the phils, so it was a real treat for us...(most filipinos wouldn't agree)...
from cebu we took another ferry to the island of bohol, the city of tagbilaran...bohol is known for two things...(which are both promoted tirelessly by the department of tourism)...tarsiers and the chocolate hills...tarsiers are one of the world's oldest and smallest primates...they split from the genetic line that would eventually make humans about 45 million years ago...(how do they figure these things out?)...anywho, they are sometimes called the worlds smallest monkey, but they're not monkeys at all...they do look a little like monkeys though...and owls...and gremlins...and ET...they fit in the palm of your hand, but they can also jump 5m...their eyes are 150x bigger than human eyes, relative to body size...their heads can rotate 180 degrees in either direction, just like owls...their eyes are bigger than their brain and stomach!! all in all, they're super cute...they hunt nocturnally, but we saw them during daylight and they were plenty awake...not moving much, but they were awake...
despite what my sister told me 5 yrs ago, i was hoping things had changed...i was hoping the chocolate hills would turn out to actually be made of chocolate...but i was disappointed...the name comes from the way the vegetation supposedly turns brown from the sun during the dry season, but we saw them when everything was green...in all the postcards and other pictures i've seen, they're always green...so why the name? i don't know...i think it's false marketing...UNFAIR!!! anywho, at the chocolate hills complex (which consisted of two viewing platforms, around 10 souvenir shops, and a hotel) we climbed up and saw a bunch of hills...i don't remember how many there are in all, but they're all nearly the same shape...some are bigger than others, but otherwise they're all similar...it isnt known for sure how the hills came to be...right now geologists think coral deposits have been pushed up from underneath the island...personally, i enjoyed the bus ride to and from the hills more than the hills themselves...
from tagbilaran we took another ferry to dumaguete...it's a university town, pretty laid back...it's on the island of negros, which is another visayan island...negros is full of pretty beaches, mountains, etc...lots of outdoor stuff to do...but we didn't have time to do any of it, so we just enjoyed the town, wandering around like we normally do...it was in dumaguete that i received a marriage proposal, a profession of love, AND a declaration of my beauty all in the same day...but not from the same guy!!! gotta love this country:)
from dumaguete we took ferries all the way back to manila, where we stayed for 36 hours before moving on to singapore...when we got off the ferry in manila we thought we'd take a taxi to a hotel because it was raining and we had all our stuff...but none of the taxis would use their meter, and instead were suggesting prices at least 10x what the meter would have been...one driver even tried to justify it by saying it would take an hour or two to get to our hotel...later, we both said that if we had taken his taxi, we would've made him drive around for over an hour, just because!! the one full day we had in manila both of us walked around, not doing a whole lot of anything...the whole day it kept raining, which wasn't fun...i hate rain...not only was it raining, but most of the time it was raining sideways!!! ugh...but after putting on a very very very cheap poncho, i decided to suck it up and just go...so the rainy part ended up being kinda fun...walking through flooded streets, walking into a fountain to take a couple pictures, etc...hee hee...
i wish we could've stayed longer in the philippines, but several things were stopping us...one, the visa you receive on arrival is only 21 days...which isn't very long, considering there are 7000+ islands making up the country!! it takes a long time to get from place to place, so 21 days doesn't really allow you to see much...not nearly as much as you think you'll be able to see...and we don't fly when we're in a country...second, we didn't have more time, just cause there are other countries we want to see...sometimes we wish this trip was longer, sometimes we're both ready for it to be done...
we arrived in cebu after midnight...neither one of us likes arriving anywhere that late, but we didn't have a choice...we found a taxi who would use a meter, then went to a hotel...
the guidebook describes cebu as being divided into two sections...uptown and downtown...uptown is more monied, cleaner, has more of the REALLY BIG MALLS, etc...downtown is poorer, dirtier, and seedier...BUT we both liked downtown better...there were many more people on the streets, lots more people smiling, and we could see people actually living...by contrast, even though uptown was supposed to be safer, it also felt more sterile...there weren't nearly as many people out and about...cebu doesn't have a lot to see, but it is worth nothing that it was on the island of cebu that magellan first landed in the 1500s...there is a cross in cebu called magellans cross...supposedly somewhere in that cross is a splinter of the cross raised by magellan (well, not him exactly, more likely by his underlings) when he first arrived...magellan himself didn't last long, he died not long after arriving in a battle with a tribal leader named lapu lapu...which only put off spanish colonialization by 100 yrs or so, but at least it's something...lapu lapu is now one of many filipino national heroes...layna and i both enjoyed just walking around the city, particularly downtown...layna found a supermarket that had a make your own salad section, both of us went a little crazy...there aren't a whole lot of fresh vegetables available in the phils, so it was a real treat for us...(most filipinos wouldn't agree)...
from cebu we took another ferry to the island of bohol, the city of tagbilaran...bohol is known for two things...(which are both promoted tirelessly by the department of tourism)...tarsiers and the chocolate hills...tarsiers are one of the world's oldest and smallest primates...they split from the genetic line that would eventually make humans about 45 million years ago...(how do they figure these things out?)...anywho, they are sometimes called the worlds smallest monkey, but they're not monkeys at all...they do look a little like monkeys though...and owls...and gremlins...and ET...they fit in the palm of your hand, but they can also jump 5m...their eyes are 150x bigger than human eyes, relative to body size...their heads can rotate 180 degrees in either direction, just like owls...their eyes are bigger than their brain and stomach!! all in all, they're super cute...they hunt nocturnally, but we saw them during daylight and they were plenty awake...not moving much, but they were awake...
despite what my sister told me 5 yrs ago, i was hoping things had changed...i was hoping the chocolate hills would turn out to actually be made of chocolate...but i was disappointed...the name comes from the way the vegetation supposedly turns brown from the sun during the dry season, but we saw them when everything was green...in all the postcards and other pictures i've seen, they're always green...so why the name? i don't know...i think it's false marketing...UNFAIR!!! anywho, at the chocolate hills complex (which consisted of two viewing platforms, around 10 souvenir shops, and a hotel) we climbed up and saw a bunch of hills...i don't remember how many there are in all, but they're all nearly the same shape...some are bigger than others, but otherwise they're all similar...it isnt known for sure how the hills came to be...right now geologists think coral deposits have been pushed up from underneath the island...personally, i enjoyed the bus ride to and from the hills more than the hills themselves...
from tagbilaran we took another ferry to dumaguete...it's a university town, pretty laid back...it's on the island of negros, which is another visayan island...negros is full of pretty beaches, mountains, etc...lots of outdoor stuff to do...but we didn't have time to do any of it, so we just enjoyed the town, wandering around like we normally do...it was in dumaguete that i received a marriage proposal, a profession of love, AND a declaration of my beauty all in the same day...but not from the same guy!!! gotta love this country:)
from dumaguete we took ferries all the way back to manila, where we stayed for 36 hours before moving on to singapore...when we got off the ferry in manila we thought we'd take a taxi to a hotel because it was raining and we had all our stuff...but none of the taxis would use their meter, and instead were suggesting prices at least 10x what the meter would have been...one driver even tried to justify it by saying it would take an hour or two to get to our hotel...later, we both said that if we had taken his taxi, we would've made him drive around for over an hour, just because!! the one full day we had in manila both of us walked around, not doing a whole lot of anything...the whole day it kept raining, which wasn't fun...i hate rain...not only was it raining, but most of the time it was raining sideways!!! ugh...but after putting on a very very very cheap poncho, i decided to suck it up and just go...so the rainy part ended up being kinda fun...walking through flooded streets, walking into a fountain to take a couple pictures, etc...hee hee...
i wish we could've stayed longer in the philippines, but several things were stopping us...one, the visa you receive on arrival is only 21 days...which isn't very long, considering there are 7000+ islands making up the country!! it takes a long time to get from place to place, so 21 days doesn't really allow you to see much...not nearly as much as you think you'll be able to see...and we don't fly when we're in a country...second, we didn't have more time, just cause there are other countries we want to see...sometimes we wish this trip was longer, sometimes we're both ready for it to be done...
20 May 2009
northern philippines
from manila we took a night bus to the town of banaue...the bus ride wasn't much fun at all...too air conditioned, everyone was covered up in blankets, wearing long sleeves, etc...except me, because i forgot to take my malong out of my pack...i was miserable most of the night, and wasn't able to sleep...and because i wasn't able to sleep, i was aware of all the weaving back and forth the bus was doing...i was soooo car sick...i went up front just in case i needed to ask the bus driver to pull over, and ended up sitting up there for quite a while...i ended up feeling better and got to watch a beautiful sunrise...while i was sitting up there i looked over at the driver a few times, i couldn't tell how awake he was...and i also realized that the bus didn't have a working speedometer!! sometimes it felt like we were going pretty fast, but who knows...
banaue is known for the rice terraces surrounding the town...they're beautiful...filipinos call them the eighth wonder of the world, and they are pretty impressive...i think layna and i would have appreciated them even more if we hadn't trekked through (and up and down) farming terraces in nepal...the rice terraces in the philippines were built 2000 years ago, (by hand obviously) and produce once a year...rice is a really labour intensive crop, if i haven't mentioned that already...we walked along the road leading out of town, there is a series of viewpoints along the way...at one of the viewpoints we played with some local kids for a while...we even had a handstand contest with them...i lost, miserably...they were super cute, entertaining us by showing us how they could do cartwheels and handsprings over each other...banaue reminded us a lot of several of the villages in which we stayed while trekking in nepal...it's a cute little town...lots of great hiking in the area as well...
from banaue we went to sagada, another mountain town...to get from one to the other, we rode two jeepneys...the first was a 3 hour ride, the second only one hour...normally i wouldn't mention this, but it was great because we got to ride on top of both jeepneys!! a lot of fun, AND great views the whole time...the roads weren't always great though, and several times we were tilted at an angle that could've sent us straight down the mountains...every year the philippines has problems with landslides, (particularly during rainy season) and we saw evidence of several recent slides...the slides sometimes wipe out entire villages...even with the constant fear of a landslide, riding on top of the jeepneys was amazing...being able to look out over the mountain range was amazing...absolutely beautiful...it's a good thing i was sitting on my pack the whole time, as the ride was pretty bumpy!!
there are rice terraces around sagada as well, though that's not the primary reason to visit sagada...the main reason to visit sagada is for the coffins...first, there's a burial cave on the way out of town...the first time i tried to find it, i missed the turnoff, and ended up walking way too far...which was okay, because the view of the valley was gorgeous...when i did get down to the cave, i got to see over 100 coffins stacked up in the entrance...some are said to be over 500 years old...the other coffins to see are the so called "hanging coffins" of echo valley...they're not really hanging, i don't know where that name came from...i couldn't tell for sure, but it looked as though there were steel rods hammered into the cliffs, and the coffins were perched on those...howeva they are up there, they've been up there for a while...the original colour has gone away from most of the coffins...most of them are that grayish, non colour...the coffins in the cave were that way as well...next to two of the hanging coffins i saw chairs tied up...just in case, i guess...another coffin had fallen at an angle, and the lid come off...underneath the coffin was the pile of bones that had originally been in the coffin...kinda creepy!! i read that some elders are still put in coffins for the cave or cliffs, but apparently this is rather expensive...it requires the sacrifice of quite a few animals, to appease the gods...sagada is on the top of one side of echo valley, it's a really small town...there is a lot of hiking around the area, people don't stay in town because of the town itself...the weather was absolutely fabulous while we were there, and i took one afternoon to just walk to the next town down the road...it was only 7km each way, not very long...along the way (which was really really quiet,) i saw several more panoramic valley views...AWESOME!!!
from sagada we went to baguio...baguio is home to camp john hay, which used to be an R&R camp for US military personnel...now it's a park, golf course, hotel, etc...baguio was the total opposite of sagada...it's busy and crowded and a whole lot bigger...that being said, it was still fun to walk around...there were lots of people selling stuff on the street...i can't get enough of the battered and fried hard boiled eggs!! one of the few specific things we saw in town was the cathedral...our lady of atonement cathedral? something like that...anywho, it wasn't the cathedral itself that impressed me so much as its schedule of masses...there are multiple masses, every day of the week...sunday and wednesday there are at least 8 services!!! after baguio we knew we were going south, so we checked the ferry schedule from manila, and figured out that we had an extra day to kill...since baguio was cheaper, we decided to stay there an extra night...i took the opportunity to eat more eggs...hee hee...
banaue is known for the rice terraces surrounding the town...they're beautiful...filipinos call them the eighth wonder of the world, and they are pretty impressive...i think layna and i would have appreciated them even more if we hadn't trekked through (and up and down) farming terraces in nepal...the rice terraces in the philippines were built 2000 years ago, (by hand obviously) and produce once a year...rice is a really labour intensive crop, if i haven't mentioned that already...we walked along the road leading out of town, there is a series of viewpoints along the way...at one of the viewpoints we played with some local kids for a while...we even had a handstand contest with them...i lost, miserably...they were super cute, entertaining us by showing us how they could do cartwheels and handsprings over each other...banaue reminded us a lot of several of the villages in which we stayed while trekking in nepal...it's a cute little town...lots of great hiking in the area as well...
from banaue we went to sagada, another mountain town...to get from one to the other, we rode two jeepneys...the first was a 3 hour ride, the second only one hour...normally i wouldn't mention this, but it was great because we got to ride on top of both jeepneys!! a lot of fun, AND great views the whole time...the roads weren't always great though, and several times we were tilted at an angle that could've sent us straight down the mountains...every year the philippines has problems with landslides, (particularly during rainy season) and we saw evidence of several recent slides...the slides sometimes wipe out entire villages...even with the constant fear of a landslide, riding on top of the jeepneys was amazing...being able to look out over the mountain range was amazing...absolutely beautiful...it's a good thing i was sitting on my pack the whole time, as the ride was pretty bumpy!!
there are rice terraces around sagada as well, though that's not the primary reason to visit sagada...the main reason to visit sagada is for the coffins...first, there's a burial cave on the way out of town...the first time i tried to find it, i missed the turnoff, and ended up walking way too far...which was okay, because the view of the valley was gorgeous...when i did get down to the cave, i got to see over 100 coffins stacked up in the entrance...some are said to be over 500 years old...the other coffins to see are the so called "hanging coffins" of echo valley...they're not really hanging, i don't know where that name came from...i couldn't tell for sure, but it looked as though there were steel rods hammered into the cliffs, and the coffins were perched on those...howeva they are up there, they've been up there for a while...the original colour has gone away from most of the coffins...most of them are that grayish, non colour...the coffins in the cave were that way as well...next to two of the hanging coffins i saw chairs tied up...just in case, i guess...another coffin had fallen at an angle, and the lid come off...underneath the coffin was the pile of bones that had originally been in the coffin...kinda creepy!! i read that some elders are still put in coffins for the cave or cliffs, but apparently this is rather expensive...it requires the sacrifice of quite a few animals, to appease the gods...sagada is on the top of one side of echo valley, it's a really small town...there is a lot of hiking around the area, people don't stay in town because of the town itself...the weather was absolutely fabulous while we were there, and i took one afternoon to just walk to the next town down the road...it was only 7km each way, not very long...along the way (which was really really quiet,) i saw several more panoramic valley views...AWESOME!!!
from sagada we went to baguio...baguio is home to camp john hay, which used to be an R&R camp for US military personnel...now it's a park, golf course, hotel, etc...baguio was the total opposite of sagada...it's busy and crowded and a whole lot bigger...that being said, it was still fun to walk around...there were lots of people selling stuff on the street...i can't get enough of the battered and fried hard boiled eggs!! one of the few specific things we saw in town was the cathedral...our lady of atonement cathedral? something like that...anywho, it wasn't the cathedral itself that impressed me so much as its schedule of masses...there are multiple masses, every day of the week...sunday and wednesday there are at least 8 services!!! after baguio we knew we were going south, so we checked the ferry schedule from manila, and figured out that we had an extra day to kill...since baguio was cheaper, we decided to stay there an extra night...i took the opportunity to eat more eggs...hee hee...
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