Some interesting Laos news about a failed coup attempt by Hmong exiles in the USA.
Also good to see the deforesation in Borneo is making headlines news. It’s so sad driving around there. Most of the natural jungle has gone, and you can drive for hours and hours and all you see are endless palm oil plantations and logging trucks……planted and logged by companies that a lot of the ministry apparently have financial interests in.
I’ve had a case study performed on me….. nothing to worry about though, it was all performed by my lovely sidekick (erm, my PR mentor, the one who kept me on the straight and narrow in Borneo) Kate. My case study is on the Raleigh International website. Note it may not be exactly word for word what I said…. (it probably reads better than what I said though)
Here’s a selection of pics from the Perhentian islands (apologies for the formatting!).
Me on the Long Beach :
A deserted Long Beach :
View from Mohsin chalets :
You transfer from the ‘big’ boats to one of these to get you to the islands :
How clear (and warm) is this water?
Painting Perhentian Style (guess this was more profitable than taking us climbing) :
Almost guaranteed a good night on this (although one bottle is very small!) :
..and we all had a good night (hopefully the folk not on the monkey whisky too!) :
And that was the Perhentians….hopefully I’ll be back sometime…
Just a quick update as just arrived in Bangkok. I’ve spent a few days on Perhentian Kecil just before they pretty much close up for the season. A few days more would have been good but I had to get up to Bangkok to try and get a Myanmar visa on Monday.
I did a dive on the island and saw a blue spotted Ray, turtle, and many more. We went snorkelling the following day and saw a load of stuff, despite the visibility not being too great – razorfish, and then went swimming with a turtle and ray…particularly the turtle – didn’t want to freak out the ray after recent news! Absolutely amazing. We met a decent bunch on the island which meant more folk to eat and drink with, and share the boat trip costs for snorkelling trips. We stayed on Long Beach and also walked over to Coral Bay to snorkel around there. Climbing was planned for one day, but some late night booze put paid to the others, but hey, we managed to get swimming with the turtles. I never realised there was rock climbing on the Perhentians, but someone has bolted a few sports routes on the sea cliffs from french 4a to 7b. I made a few enquiries about doing a divemaster there next season…’just in case’. I was also told you can stay there off season for next to nothing sometimes if you are willing to help repaint the places.
I seem to be having a few issues about leaving stuff around recently. I’ve left my travel speakers somewhere (Labuan I think) which is really annoying. I left my shirt somewhere yesterday, but amazingly found it again on the beach today, next to the taxiboat station we used yesterday! How many places would you manage to that in nowadays! There were only a handful of folk on the island now though. Apparently it can be great surf there off season – 3-4metres, but no-one has cottoned onto it yet!
I’m already experiencing some of the ‘issues’ of travelling with company. Its great to catch up with folk though, but I was on the budget side and Tracy was on the ‘lets get up there with least hassle’, so our procrastination ended up in us paying £150 to fly from KL to Bangkok at the airport. Kerching!! I preferred the ‘up through the thai border’ option but the guidebooks warn you about the area so I had quite a bit of convincing to do for that option!
Anyway, Tracy’s mate Jeff very kindly picked us up from Bangkok’s flashy new mega airport and took us into town to find accommodation, so we have a night in a hostel at Sukhumvit before heading to rather quirky Atlanta Hotel tomorrow.
Hopefully Monday will see me get a Myanmar visa issued so we can head off there for 7-10 days on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Well, you just can’t escape Raleigh folk, but I guess now everyone can be called friends rather than referring to them as ‘Raleigh folk’ – the Raleigh bubble has burst just now, but we’re all spreading ourselves across Asia for the moment. Here’s me just after having my few welcoming drinks in KL with Mia, and waving her and Kevin off on the bus to Singapore, with some ex-participants – Mia’s blog post.
Well it’s my last night in KL, and I think I’ve done the city. I’ve spent too much replacing my camera, and a wee hard drive to replace the overweight DVD’s I’ve lugged around (how’s that for an original excuse to purchase a new toy!). This is way too tempting a place to wander around if you’re anything like me – loads of toys to buy, and I’m meant to be in backpackers mode!
Over the last few days I’ve wandered around Chinatown, been in the Malaysia Natural History Museum (hey it was free, and I was wandering past, but I guess I’ll never bea museum type person), Merdeka Square, went for a mini jungle walk in the city, went up KL tower, and wandered around a few malls. The other night I went to Luna Bar, which sits on the roof of the Pan Pacific building, on the 34th floor. It must be one of the best views (bar mountain ones) I’ve had when I’ve went for a piss….although I’m sure there must be some weirdo’s in the hundreds of floors in the surrounding buildings with binoculars. Initially you feel like you are going to splat some unfortunate sod walking along the street below you. Definitely one of the best views from a bar I’ve seen. Check out that link.
So has my rose tinted glasses been removed for KL, or are they still there? Well…at the end of the day it’s still a big city, but like London, don’t be tempted to jump on the metro, mono or bus all the time as everything is walkable. I ended up wandering around the ‘rainforest in the city’ by mistake today, but that’s what I like to do in cities – there’s a lot to see in the centre, but to be honest, I’m not and probably never will be too fussed about some historical building or museum. The one thing that is great about KL is the location – you can fly anywhere from here, or escape up the coast, or into the highlands from here. Admiteddly I’ve not done any of that yet, but I’m enjoying the time just vegging out and not rushing around – I kind of promised myself I wouldn’t do that.
Anyway, Tracy arrives first thing tomorrow, then Tuesday morning we head over to the Perhentian Islands which I’m really looking forward to. I have another box packed, ready to be shipped tomorrow and I’ve had to be harsh. I’m convinced there’s not 9kg in there though, but the camelbak, the strong headtorch, and several other things I’ve not used much. I wish I had a lighter harness with me though as it’ll hardly (but hopefully) be used. I’ve kept the helmet, harness, rock shoes, underwater flash (if I can get a new housing!), mask, snorkel, and I’ve got way too many, but necessary, chargers!
I better go and find out how my Canon S80 works – not exactly a dinky camera, but came highly reviewed both online and from a mate….not had the chance to upload any more pics though!
Arrived in KL last night to a really chilled out hostel…that was until the club next door kicked off. I need to send a shedload more back home to the UK due to my excess baggage on Air Asia almost doubling the cost of my flight from Brunei to KL.
I’m going to have a hard time in KL…. I walked off the airport bus last night and it felt like a new world had opened up – a big city again!!
I had a few drinks with Mia this afternoon, then saw her and Kev off to Singapore. The hard thing about KL? There is just too much to buy…knock off goods, clothes, electronics stuff coming out of your ear, and a shed load of stuff to see on the city outskirts (of which I’ll probably see none, but hey, who cares).
Malaysia….truly Asia? I think so. There’s pretty much everything here you want to, and you’re only a short hop on to anywhere else in the region.
My rose tinted glasses may come off soon…I sure it’s just another London…just a hell of a lot nicer things around, and far more better things to buy.
Does anyone want to employ an IT drop out here? Anything that is mobile, internet oriented, and preferably invloves not too long hours gratefully considered….
Well when you look at any Tourism Malaysia brochure, or any diving websites, you’ll read about Labuan…a strange offshore financial centre run from KL. Why was I heading here? Good question, but to be honest, it had a bit to do with (ducks my head) ticking off a country for once…I mean Brunei is so close to Kota Kinabalu and I decided to take the ferry there, which means via Labuan. Now I had heard horror stories of this ferry journey from a fellow Raleigh staffer, but I was branching out on my own, so it was a time for an adventure. Also, to be honest, a large part of it had to to with three of four amazing WWII wrecks which sit just off the coast, and a really cool sounding Marine Park as well – I’d be able to snorkel at the very least. Although…when I went looking for dive operators to take me here it wasn’t an easy task. My faithful friends at Borneo Divers had suspended operations there, and the Tourism ‘Action’ Council for Labuan never responded to my emails.
Anyway, my flight from Brunei to KL was booked so off I went. The hotel desk couldn’t even tell me where to find the boats to the marine park so I never bother asking them about the diving. I took this as a sign and had my one long lie in four months and sacked off the visit, to waste away a day killing time and catching up with myself.
Just as well…I went to Tourism Malaysia and they told me where to get the boats, but not the price. I found the boats, fully stocked with life jackets but “no-one is booked tomorrow, and its 250RM to hire the boat” – around 36 quid. No way for a snorkel and a sunbathe. I went to the dive operator who’s leaflet I found in the tourist place…and they were locked up, despite having a dive shop with kit in it. Incase you stumble on this post trying to arrange the same thing – do it with a group and try contacting Borneo Star Dive in Labuan.
Anyway, I had no interest in seeing war or chimney museums or heading to a deserted beach on the other side of the island, so I went for a haircut, and caught up with a few things at the deserted Sheraton Hotel pool. They’re not wasted days though – I would have always wandered what it was like if I didn’t go.
There are a few good things I found though – a cheap food market, cheap beer, and generally a place cheaper than KK due to it’s Duty Free status.
Well I’m now sitting in Labuan wandering WTF I’m doing here. You see I posted a load of stuff home this morning as I figured I wouldn’t need it til NZ. I then realised I still had my trekking poles, and my bag was way too ridiculously heavy. In my quest to do something different though I opted for the adventure to Brunei via Labuan, whereas I should have flown to my sister’s in Manila, dumped a load of stuff like erm, waterproofs, and headed back there in Jan to collect it all. I also remembered that my sister was in Singapore this weekend so should’ve hooked up with her there really, but I wanted to have a few nights in KL. I also posted home my Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore guidebook before I realised that the SE Asia in a Shoestring only has half a page on Labuan…..
It was quite hard leaving KK this morning, but I think that was as much to do with the weight of my backpack than anything. The ferry here was nothing like the horror stories I had heard, and I caught up on some sleep.
I watched the news for the first time in four months tonight. Another wonderful twist in my travel planning – the holy month of Ramadan started yesterday…yes, a couple of days before I decided to head to frickin’ Brunei. According to the Brunei Government website : “The Brunei government also shows its respect during the fasting month of Ramadan….. while all entertainment and sport activities are temporarily suspended.” Looks like I’m in for a whale of a time.
Anyway, the one good thing about Labuan is that it is duty free. A large bottle of Tiger is only 3.50RM (50 pence) here which is less than half of what it is in KK. A 1L bottle of Bombay Sapphire is 7.50 UKP! A pack of Malboro Lights, 65pence. I went a wander around town tonight – not much happening but I stumbled on a local market of food stalls selling noodles, bbq’d meat and fish, so a box of noodles was 15pence 🙂
Their tourism industry could be done with a kick in the nuts though – everywhere you read about here it mentions the fantastic wreck diving, but it’s not easy to find anyone to take you there. The two people I asked here about where to get the ferry to the Marine Park (yes, the National Park!) for snorkelling didn’t know, and one of them was the hotel. I think I’ll head to the tourism office first thing and decide from there. I thought I may just end up heading to Brunei if I can’t go snorkelling but the thought of maybe not being able to sit around and have snacks during the day doesn’t really turn me on.
But the main thing? All this doesn’t really matter. Apart from the weight of my rucksack nothing else matters – I don’t have to be anywhere at any time before MOnday morning. I spoke to my mate I’m meeting in KL who has looked into Myanmar quite a bit and it turns out she knows someone there the start of October who knows their way around, so I think it may be up to Bangkok, grab a Myanmar visa, take a few pictures of tanks in the streets, dump all my electronic gear at her mates in Bangkok (to save the immigration sending me back, or keeping it at the border), then hot foot it to Myanmar for a short spell.
Apart from all that, all is well, except missing not having a compact camera!
