Stopover in Brunei

One of the guys I met at the hostel in Kota Kinabalu turned out to be from Brunei. Since I had a stopover there on my way to Bangkok, I decided to ask him about some of the sights...whether or not it was worth it to head out of the airport. In the end, he offered to take me around : ) And so, I got picked up at the airport. Yay!
On a side note, Royal Brunei Airlines was great! Drinks and candies even for a 30 minute flight. Although I have to admit that the blessing prayers before take-off caught me a bit off guard...

Brunei's wealth comes from oil. The money has allowed the country to provide free education and medical care to its citizens; they have no income tax as well. But this all comes with a price - alcohol is prohibited, censorship is enforced, and "Big Brother is watching". So I don't want to say anything more. Given that oil is Brunei's only industry, who knows what will happen when the supply runs out.

In all honesty, there is not much to see there. The sultan's palace and his mosque are the main attractions. Apparently, a new mosque & palace is built each time a new sultan takes office (?). Of course, the new buildings have to be grander than the one before - the son outdoing the father. Such a waste of money in my opinion.
This belongs to the current sultan:

3 hours later, after seeing 90 % of the sights Brunei had to offer, I was back at the airport to catch my flight to Bangkok, connecting to Colombo. Long flight day.

Malaysia Summary

Kuala Lumpur (May 13-14)
Transportation: Flight. AirAsia AK 813. Online purchase for US$104.
Accomodation: Red Dragon Youth Hotel. 25MYR/night for double room w/ AC, shared bath, and no windows. Shared room with Nicole.
Tours & Sights: Petronus Towers. ★★★★ Free! Waru likes tall buildings.
Yummies: Satays and 豆花 at the street stalls.
Notable Purchases:
- A few new pieces of light clothing at the mall
- Tiger Balm for the mosquito bites...

Kota Kinabalu (May 21-22, 24)
Transportation: Flight. AirAsia QZ9022. Online purchase for 819,000IDR. Looong delay that turned into a short delay. Good thing I hung out at the airport!
Accomodation: Lavender Lodge. 65MYR/night single room w/ AC, shared bath. VERY clean. Very friendly owners offer free airport pickup and other travel-related services. They even picked up my laundry for me across the street!
Sights & Tours:
- State Museum. ★★ 15MYR to learn about Borneo's history.
- Outdoor Food Market. ★★★★★ Fresh fruits & vegetables, meats, seafood, spices, etc. Some stuff I've never seen before!
Yummies: Mangoes, pick-a-fish/clam-and-prepare-as-you-want seafood, noodles
Notable Purchases: None

Sandakan (May 23)
Transportation: Bus. 33MYR one way fare.
Accomodation: ??? Recommended by the owners at Lavender Lodge. New place by the central market and waterfront area. 60MYR/night for single room w/ AC, shared bath.
Sights & Tours: Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center. ★★★ 40MYR. For all the time and effort it took to get there, what a disappointment! The creatures were cute though.
Yummies: None
Notable Purchases: None

Monkeying Around

What are you looking at??????

Well, I took a 6 hour bus ride to get to Sandakan in southeast Borneo for 2 reasons - the Japanese & Chinese War Memorial, and Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary.

Didn't end up going to the first one because the taxi driver was going to charge me an extortionate amount, which I refused to pay. Taking the bus was another option, but that only would get me closer; I'd still have to walk about 2km to the sight. And it was hot.

The orangutan sanctuary turned out to be a big disappointment : ( As you can see, I was able to get close to the monkeys. However, the orangutans were so far away!!! You know, I was sort of expecting something like the koala park in Brisbane and the panda habitat in Chengdu....yes, where you can hug the cute creatures! Oh well. Nonetheless, it was nice to see the orangutans playing around in a semi-natural, rain forest environment, but in all honesty...the zoo would have sufficed.

With nothing left to do in Sandakan, I wanted to take an earlier bus back to Kota Kinabalu. On the phone and at the station, the agent told me it was all sold out. School holidays just started. Damn it - I was stuck. Then, I ran into an ANGEL in the form of a retired school teacher. She was so nice, and somehow managed to get me a seat on the "sold out" bus, kept feeding me throughout the journey, and even had her husband drive me to my guest house in KK. The kindness of strangers : )
Although I didn't quite enjoy my short trip to Sandakan, it totally ended on a high note. Good memories.

Transportation Nightmare

Here's the rundown of my activities earlier this week:

Day 1 - Sat on a minivan for 12 hours to get to Probolinggo from Yogyakarta. The minivan was NOT air conditioned as promised. Once there, switched to an extremely old bus that kept going up, up, up through the mountains. By the time we got to the lodge, it was past 11pm and COLD. Yes, cold in Indonesia...I never thought that I'd be wearing long pants & sleeves, and a rain jacked to bed in Indonesia.

Day 2 - Woke up at the ungodly hour of 3:30am, and bundled up in my fleece and outer jacket (my friend even bought mittens!). Purpose - to catch the sunrise. Walking up the hill in the early morning and at high altitude was not pleasant, but it was well worth it. I got to see the volcanic eruptions in beautiful colors and take some awesome photos (sample below). Afterwards, we climbed to the crater of Mt. Bromo. More stunning scenery!!!!!
...And that's when the fun ends for that day. At 10:00am, we once again boarded the old bus back to town, and immediately hopped on to another bus (this one over A/C-ed) headed for Bali. What a long ride! We didn't get to the ferry terminal until like 7:00pm, had to wait for the ferry, ride the damn thing, and get back on the bus again. I almost started crying on the ferry when the bus driver told us that we had another 4-5 hours to go once we docked : ( Dinner that day was the overpriced chicken instant noodles on the ferry. Arrived in Bali near midnight. This was seriously an impossibly long day that I hope never to experience again.... The bed felt really good that night.

Day 3 - I had a flight to catch to Kota Kinabalu in the afternoon, so decided to have a leisurely stroll on the beach during the morning. That beach (Kuta, I think) was much nicer than the impression of Bali I had from a trip almost 10 years ago. Considering the hellish transport I had to endure over the past 2 days, I felt I deserved to take it slow for the day... So...
Guess what?! There is a 1 hour time difference between Java and Bali!!!!!! I discovered that at the internet cafe when I realized that all the clocks (even those hanging on the wall) where somehow 1 hour ahead of mine. Confirmed situation with the guy who was at the next terminal...ran out of there and got myself to the airport.
Guess what?! The flight was delayed for 4 hours. Damn it. But, there was a MacDonald's and a Starbucks there.
Guess what?! The flight decided to be delayed for only 3 hours. Good thing that the Air Asia agent looked for me around the airport! Otherwise, they would've taken off without me!

These three days have exhausted me.

I am being a lazy bum in Borneo.

And I am on my own again.

Frustration in Yogyakarta

The minute you step out of the airport, you are surrounded by touts offering you rides into the city. Once you are in the city, you are surrounded by touts offering you (addressed as "mister" for some reason) hotel rooms, tours, and trips to the special batik exhibition. which is obviously not special at all. You are also tortured through the same story of how "my best friend/cousin/sister/brother/etc lives in XXX (insert city name)". This is Indonesia.

I hate these men. They are stalkers. Seriously. The first day we got there, we were led to a hostel by one of them because the one we initially went to on our own was a bit pricey. We decided to stay there, but moved to another one the following day since it was nicer, cheaper, and the toilet didn't smell of curry (the place was actually named "Gandhi"...go figure). Anyways, so the guy saw us walking down the alley that day, and complained that we had moved elsewhere (how did he found out?!) and demanded to know where we were now staying. FREAK.

And at the market, these men trail you like a shadow while you're moving along the stalls. FREAKS. It's really hard to act like James Bond to get rid of them. You don't know how many times I had a fit and blurted out some Waru-ish comments.

I have other annoying stories, but I'll spare you the details.

However, I do have to say that these people are amazing in their persistency. You say "NO!" to one, and another one 5 meters away asks the same question: "Batik, batik?", "Where are you going?", "Ride, ride?" being the most common.

And I'm glad that I'm not traveling on my own here.

Enough complaining. I came to Yogyakarta to see the ruins of Prambanan and Borobudur.

(By now, I'm sure you've all realized that I like to see ruins : )

It's hard to describe what you see when you go to these places, so here are a couple of pics:

Prambanan - Unfortunately, the earthquake that hit a couple of years ago did some major damage here. Most of the area is under restoration, so you can't go in. Bummer.

Borobudur - Massive size makes it rather difficult to take a good photo. I suggest you look at the wikipedia photos! I was pleasantly surprised when I found that there were Buddha statues in each of these little bell thingies!

And the funniest part was that everyone wanted to take a photo with my friend - a Caucasian. The locals were completely mesmerised by her! So far, I've found that there are very few Caucasian people traveling around here.

(By the way, I wasn't asked for a photo at all! I guess I'm not unique enough...)

It turns out that I was in Yogyakarta at just the right time! They are having this motorcycle festival here. At night, there are concerts (bad singers) and motorcycle gear/wear stalls everywhere along the street. But they don't close the streets to traffic...an Indonesian mystery. So, I got to see all these cool motorcycles (lots of Harleys, although I don't know if they are real), met some of the designers, and took a seat on the police cycle.

In all honesty, though, I was a bit concerned about being in a large gathering in Indonesia. You never know when something might go off....

Oh, and this was on display at the sultan's palace. I guess he's a big fan.

Petronas

The title basically summarizes my short stay in Kuala Lumpur.

Went to those towers in the morning to get the tickets for the famous skywalk. They give out a bunch FREE!!! each day. But before you get to go up (on the service elevator for some reason...), you have to watch this 3D video on Petronas. I felt like I was in some sort of recruitment event. I have to say that the towers look better from outside, than from the skywalk:

And being the dork that I am, I had to get the night view too.

In between, I spent most of my time at the mall right underneath the towers. How novel of me! Well, I was getting sick of having to do laundry every few days, and getting bored of my very limited wardrobe, so I decided I needed a few new things : ) Plus, my spending for the past week has been very minimal because I've been sharing a room with a more budget-conscious backpacker. Think ~$5/night. I have a lot to learn from her. So, I think I deserve some nice shopping, right?!

Oh, and I gave in and had my first Starbucks of my travels - tall soy latte with a croissant. There was one right in front of my Chinatown room, how could I resist?! So damn expensive though...it was probably the most expensive food purchase since my splurge in Bangkok.

I'll try to write something more exciting from my next stop - Indonesia. Malaysia (at least Kuala Lumpur) didn't do much for me...

Laos Summary

Luang Prabang (May 2 – 5)
Transportation: Flight. Lao Airlines QV645. Purchased at travel agent in Chiang Mai for 4400THB.
Accommodation:
- Muonglao Riverside Guesthouse. $22/night for single room, A/C, en suite. Great location in the heart of the old town. A bit over my budget, so I moved after one night.
- Muonglao Guesthouse. $15/night for single, A/C, en suite. Same owners as above.
Sights & Tours:
- Phou Si. ★★★★ 20,000LAK. Hill with great panoramic view.
- Royal Palace. ★★ 30,000LAK.
- Pak Pu Caves*. ★★★ 20,000LAK. "Buddha Caves" sounds better than it looks.
- Kuang Si Waterfalls*. ★★★★★ 20,000LAK. Too cold to swim, but wonderful scenery.
*Note: I paid 100,000LAK for transport (boat and minivan) to the caves and falls in advance. Arranged through my guesthouse.
- Night market. ★★★★★ Handmade souvenir heaven! Not to mention the food.
- Cooking class. ★★★★★ $25. Worth every penny. Includes trip to the local market to purchase ingredients for the day and whatever else your stomach may desire!
Yummies: Sandwiches sold on the street, tea, soya milk.
Notable Purchases:
- Small, handmade bags from market. 2 for $1. I felt bad negotiating...
- Big Mouse (literacy organization) books for 75,000LAK.
- Massages for 40 – 50,000LAK/hour.

Phonsavan (May 6)
Transportation: Bus. 150,000LAK. Winding, narrow roads.
Accommodation: ??? Don't remember the name; just picked one out of the many waiting at the bus terminal. 40,000LAK for single room, en suite with fan. Moldy walls. Since the hot water wasn't working in my room, I had to shower in another one downstairs. The water wipe in Alex's room exploded.
Sights & Tours:
- Plain of Jars. ★★★★★ 147,000LAK for transport and entry. Arranged private vehicle thru agency – the more people you can gather, the cheaper!
- Mine Advisory Group. ★★★★★ Free, but please make a donation.
Yummies: Fresh mangoes
Notable Purchases: None

Vang Vieng (May 7 – 9)
Transportation: Bus. 95,000LAK.
Accommodation:
- ??? Arrived past midnight in a thunderstorm. Since the hostel we wanted was closed, we had the tuk tuk driver take us wherever. It ended up being 50,000LAK/night for a single room, en suite, with fan. And LOTS of bugs.
- Pan's Place. 50,000LAK/night for the same type of room minus the bugs. Thank goodness! Very chill foreigners' hangout.
Sights & Tours: Tubing. ★★★★ 40,000LAK including tube rental and transport. Need to register passport in case of accident (I assume).
Yummies: Crepe stand near the tube rental offices, various shakes (coffee and mulberry for example), mango with sticky rice. Got Nicole totally hooked on those!
Notable Purchases: None

Vientiane (May 10 – 12)
Transportation: Bus. 60,000LAK. Overbooked and very disorganized!
Accommodation: RD Guesthouse. $14/night for single room, en suite, with A/C. Seems rather popular with Japanese and Korean travelers.
Sights & Tours:
- Pha That Luang. ★★★ 5,000LAK. Prefer to call it the Lotus Temple
- Buddha Park. ★★★★ 7,000LAK. Funky!
Yummies: None
Notable Purchases: Massages every day! 35,000LAK/hour. 2 hours on my last day here!

Last Day in Laos

Sadly, I am leaving Laos tomorrow. My original plan was to stay longer and head down south, and cross over into Vietnam. But, plans change...flying to Malaysia tomorrow on Air Asia (scary thought, but dirt cheap!).

I spent the past few days in Vientiane. Not much to see in terms of sights, but lots of massages are possible : ) For instance, I went in for a foot massage ($5) this afternoon. The guy was really good, so I decided to add another hour of full body massage ($5).

The Buddha Park was a lot of fun. It has some crazy, wierd statues that suit my taste. Not all of them are of Buddha, as the name may suggest. I was eaten by a crocodile there (I'll leave it up to your imaginations, since I can't post the photo right now).

Jars, Jars, Jars

After I left Luang Prabang (sadly), I took the "VIP" bus to Phonsavan. The "VIP" bus was supposed to be express, with air conditioning. They turned off the AC right after we started moving...probably because the bus wouldn't be able to get up the hills with it on. And lots of hills there were. And lots of curves of course. I thought I was going to get sick : ( But I survived, unlike some of the other passengers, who were throwing up left and right! Oh, and there's no toilet on these buses either. So they stop on the road every couple of hours - the guys go to one side of the bus, and the girls to the other, to do our things. I learned later that we have to stay on the road since there may be sleeping bombies in the bushes. Aside from the uncomfortableness though, the bus ride turned out to be great as I was able to make a few travel buddies!!!

Phonsavan is quite a dead city...not much to it. Tourists come here only for the famous (or at least I thought they were) Plain of Jars. As the name suggests, they are wide open fields with large stone jars lying around. No one knows exactly what purpose they served. One theory suggests they were used in burial rights. Although I got totally "jarred-out" towards the end, the sights were interesting and I had a good time. The fields were so beautifully green!

Before leaving the city on a night bus, I visited the MAG (mine advisory group) office. It's a British organization that helps clear a lot of the leftover bombies throughout northern Laos that were dropped by the ever-so-friendly Americans, who still refuse to claim any responsibility. I spent an hour watching a documentary film that was very touching - a lot of villagers are still victims of these sleeping bombies, especially kids and farmers. And the medical facilities available to them are horrific!!! (I think that's why Lonely Planet suggests that you get an immediate evacuation to Thailand if you need any medical treatment in Laos)

My new travel buddy and I took the night bus out of Phonsavan to our next stop - Vang Vieng. Quite an adventure...We arrived at like 2am during a major thunderstorm. All the hostels we wanted to stay at were closed for the night, so we ended up having the tuk tuk driver take us a place he knew. Which was FULL OF BUGS. I even saw a large cockroach in the bathroom (the ones here are huge and look like the fly too). Needless to say, I was stressed out like crazy, and could not sleep that night. I moved to another place across the street the next morning : )

The one thing that everyone does while in Vang Vieng is tubing. Basically, you ride down the river, stopping at the many bars en route. You drink, socialize, get high on something, and jump into the river while there, before moving on to the next bar. Given that I am a good girl, I wasn't really into it at first....but had to give it a go since I was there anyways. Lets just say that I had a lot of fun : ) The scenery was absolutely beautiful.

Food & Massage

They have been the highlights of my stay in Luang Prabang.

Every night before I head back to the hotel, I go for an hour massage. Luxury : ) But it only costs $5-6 here. I've been going to different places each night, and I have to say that tonight's was the best. STRONG.

As for food...well, there's a ton of it! The food stalls are amazing, as well as the standard restaurants. I had a whole day cooking course today. YUMMY. Very similar to Thai food, with lots of lemongrass, basil, garlic, and fish sauce : ) I have pics but cannot post them here... Before the cooking started, we headed off to the main market to get the ingredients. Although I'm sure everything is organic and fresh, the meats were rather gross... They sell every single part of the pig from what I could tell.

Oh oh oh! There's a really cool organization in Laos called Big Brother Mouse (http://www.laobooks.com/), which sponsors publication and distribution of children's' books throughout local villages. Due to the lack of time, I could only help by buying and donating some books. But I hope to be able to do a bit more when I get to Vientiane.

Don't worry. I have done some sightseeing as well. Yesterday was an entire day of tours. followed by a massive headache:
Part I - I don't exactly remember the name of the place, but I know it started with a "P" and an "O". Hence, I will refer to it as the P.O. Caves. It's about 2 hours upstream from the town. I didn't expect the boat ride to take so long, but cruising (very slowly) along the Mekong was nice. Spent the time chatting with some Aussies and Japs. The P.O. Caves are so over-rated. Seriously. It's like a flea market of Buddha relics taking place in a cave by the river. If you ever get the chance, don't go.
Part II - Again, I don't recall the name, but it's a beautiful waterfall! Emerald waters. Too bad it started pouring when we got there. The minivan ride was awful though. The driver (who I had to sit next to) was constantly talking to one of the Lao guys in the 2nd row (I have no clue why a local Lao guy would join the "tour" minivan). And the driver had the MOST annoyingly loud voice, I almost had to smack him.

Random comment: The reason why there are SO MANY bugs in this town is because of the lack of birds. I've only seen a couple myself (birds, not bugs). Because the country is extremely poor, all the birds get eaten......

I'm finally moving out of here tomorrow. Headed a bit southeast to my next destination, requiring a 10 hour local bus ride : (

Luang Prabang Is AWESOME!

As you can see, I have safely arrived in Laos. I love it here!!!!!

First of all, Laos Airline was nice. It was one of those larger propeller planes that you get on from the rear. In the past, I would've been freaked out, but I think those flights I've taken out of dear old Monterey have made my tolerance level a bit better. Oh, and even though the flight was only about an hour long, they served us dinner! It was one of the yummiest plane foods I've ever eaten - some sort of curry, rice, and coconut bread : )

My hostel was nice (at least from the outside), but I don't think it was worth the $22/night, so I just moved to another one for $15. Much larger and newer. I have decided to stay an extra night here.

It is BOILING hot, but I spent the entire day walking around town. I'm turning into an Arab.

Anyways, Luang Prabang is a cute, small town along the Mekong River, with a French taste. A lot of wats and monks in orange around. One is actually sitting right behind me at the internet cafe. Aside from seeing the sights, I donated money to the Red Cross today. 40,000kip, which includes an hour massage. Hehehe.

Right now, I'm on my way back to the hostel after visiting the night market. They have the cutest stuff!!!!! And dirt cheap too, with everything under $3. I was SOOOOO tempted to buy some stuff, but refrained...at least tonight. I will probably end up going back : ) But I did end up buying my dinner there. Rice patty (2,000kip), chicken sandwich (8,000kip), and iced ginger tea (2,000kip). I like the bills here - quite colorful with intricate designs.

Thailand Summary

Bangkok (April 25 - 27)
Transportation: Flight. Japan Airlines 707. Included in RTW ticket.
Accommodation:
- JW Marriott. Booked ahead as I arrived past midnight, and did not want to have to look for a bed at that hour.
- Tuptim B&B. In Khao San backpacker district. 450THB/night for single room with fan, shared bathroom.
Sights & Tours:
- Grand Palace. ★★★ 250THB.
- Floating Market. ★ 150THB for boat ride thru market. Transport included in Chiang Mai package per below.
Yummies: Anything coconut, taro bread, sauteed morning glory, mango with sticky rice, omelet rice at market stalls, various fruit juices
Notable Purchases: Pants alternation for 50THB

Chiang Mai (April 29 - May 1)
*Note: I purchased a tour package from a travel agency in Bangkok for 3500THB that included (A) Transport to floating market in Bangkok, (B) Overnight train to Chiang Mai, (C) 2 nights accommodation in Chiang Mai, and (D) 2 days 1 night trekking thru the mountains in Chiang Mai with transport, guide, food, and lodging
Transportation: Overnight train. 2nd class sleeper.
Accommodation:
- ???. Didn't pay attention to the name of the hostel since it was provided in the tour. Single room with fan, ensuite.
- No Name Wooden Hut. Shared room with individual mosquito netting. Shared toilet (hole in the ground). No showers.
Sights & Tours: Trekking. Especially the bamboo rafting. ★★★★
Yummies: Thai iced tea, mango with sticky rice, spicy noodles, curries, market stall food (various rice and veggies), fresh fruit shakes
Notable Purchases: Pringles chips for the trek @ 20THB. Insect repelling herbal gel for 50THB.

Trekking thru the mountains of Chiang Mai

Day 1:
I thought the trek was supposed to start in the morning, but we didn't start walking until a bit before lunch! Fine by me, since I don't like trekking that much. We stopped by a market to buy last minute necessities and food beforehand. I bought barbecue chips.

Group consisted of 12 people, including myself. Aside from the 2 Canadian guys and a French couple, the rest were Brits. (It's been a week now, but I have NOT met a single American traveler yet...) Everyone's on a long-term trip, so it was great to be able to hear about their experiences.

So, the hiking part itself wasn't too bad. Only 3-4 hours. The last part was all steep uphill. I hated it. But the good thing is, the weather was nice, cool, and drizzly. Better than hot sun! Most of us got stung by tiny bees in one area, after the first walkers probably disturbed their nest. It was quite funny - all of us yelling "Ouch!" one by one as we walked through the bush.

The village we stayed in for the night consisted of less than 10 huts, one of which was for the tourists. I think there were more animals there than people. Certainly BUGS. You should've seen them at dusk. I was so stressed out. I don't exactly know what they are, but they have wings, fly, and are attracted to the light. The village people collect them in water buckets. Apparently, they're good chicken feed. And yummy snacks. Our guide caught one in his hand, and cooked the thing with candle lights. Some people ate it. Gross. They looked so raw.... BUT, I think you will all be proud to hear that I TRIED STIR-FRIED BUGS. They're OK....flavored with salt, and slightly crispy. They have a bit of a bitter aftertaste, which I did not like too much.

What do you think of them?????

Thank goodness most of these bugs were gone by the time we went to bed. The huts had absolutely no real walls, ceilings, or floors to keep them out. Plus, our mosquito net was FULL of holes. I did not have a good sleep given that the sleeping bags were damp and the floors were so hard : (

Day 2:
I was basically the only one doing a 2 day/1 night trek, so I had to get up early and leave on my own (with personal guide, of course). 2 hours of walking led us to the waterfalls, where we met up with the group who went ahead a day earlier. I ended up being the only girl among 9 white guys. What a nightmare....... They just kept complaining to me how they had no girls on their 2 day trek so far, and how they needed them last night for the waterfalls. What pigs.

Anyways, I'm glad I did only the 2 day trek...I'd be so bored at a waterfall for the whole entire day. I mean it was sort of pretty, but there's absolutely nothing else. Not even electricity to read.

Another 2 hours through hot, burning sun led us to a larger village, where we had lunch, and were picked up to go to the elephant rides. I love elephants, but these rides are just not as exciting as I'd like them to be.... You just go up and down hills and through woods. I want to do a river one somewhere.

The bamboo rafting we did after that was SO MUCH FUN!!!!! I wasn't planning on getting wet, but it ended up being a water fight. Got soaked.

Now:
Killing some time at the internet cafe, before having to head off to the airport for my flight to Luang Prabang. The hostel I wanted was totally booked, so once again, I have no bed for the night. I hope there's a tourist information center at the airport since I get in a bit late...