Paradise Found

I arrived at the Perhentian Islands, two small islands off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia on Wednesday. It is paradise! White sand, lush green trees, mountains, tealish blue water...I'm living on a postcard! From the pier on Wednesday, I spotted several parrot fish, 5 reef sharks, trigger fish...amazing visibility!

I am staying at a resort that is ridiculously nice considering how much I am paying. Built 3 years ago, the resort was developed to host conferences, meetings, etc. Business wasn't going so well in that department so they converted conference rooms into dorm rooms by throwing beds down in the rooms. For $6.50 a night, I have air conditioning, free wi-fi, a bed-bug free bed, private beach and amazing food (seafood buffet for $5). Awesome! It's all I can do to keep myself from drawing a flowchart on the whiteboard behind my bed though...ha ha!

I've met some awesome people here and we've pretty much hung out together the whole time. Trish, a girl from NZ, and I spent Wednesday night hanging out on the beach on the other side of the island (a 7 minute walk over the hill, through the jungle). Drinking beer, sitting on a mat near a bonfire, we contemplated how ridiculous all of the tourists must look to the locals as we spend what is to them fortunes on enough alcohol to be able to get up and wiggle around on the dance floor. Hilarious! I slept through the ABC (Anything But Clothes) party on Thursday night. Oops!

Friday, I finally went diving again! I successfully passed the refresher course and saw some cool fish I'd never seen before. We didn't venture too far or too deep for my first time back underwater, so I look forward to getting out to some better dive sites. Back on shore, as I was turning off my tank I started to feel dizzy. The instructor had to hold me as I basically fell in slow motion to the ground. I've never experienced that feeling before..never lost consciousness, but scary none the less. It took me a good hour to feel like even taking my wet suit off. We decided that I almost fainted because I hardly ate anything before diving and was basically out of energy. I'll be sure to at least eat lunch before I dive next time!

Trish and I went out again Friday night and had a lot of fun (I'll save the details for another blog, another time!). I spent most of Saturday hanging around the resort because it was rainy most of the day. Once the weather cleared, I took a taxi boat to the fishing village to the health clinic. Since leaving the jungle, I have had a rash on my face that has spread and gotten worse since Monday. The boat ride was beautiful..got to see a side of the island you can't walk on. At the clinic, a boy (maybe 26?) wearing shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops was my doctor. He asked great questions, listened to things, poked at things, etc. He gave me an anti-histamine shot, anti-histamine pills, a day time cream, a night time cream, aspirin and a face wash. The entire consultation took 15 minutes and cost me 15 RM...$5, including all the medicines! Incredible! The boat ride to get there ($6) was more expensive than the doctor! I am thoroughly impressed by the health care system in Malaysia...where they actually treat people who need help quickly and cheaply.


In addition to all the medicines and creams, I also can't put my face in the salt water, can't get sun, can't eat seafood and can't drink alcohol. So, my time at the beach has become a little less than what I'd imagined, but nonetheless I am enjoying sitting under the palm trees for hours at a time reading and chatting with new friends. Later this week, I will force myself to leave paradise and head inland in a quest for a visa to India...my next destination! Goodbye from paradise!

Into the Wild

I survived 4 nights and 3 days in the jungle! Friday, I took a 5 hour bus and 3 hour boat ride into Kuala Tahan, a tiny town opposite Taman Negara National Park (picture). Taman Negara is supposedly the oldest rainforest in the world and it's massive.

On Saturday, I went on two boat rides in the National Park. The first, called ‘rapid shoot’ basically meant that we sat in a little boat and rode up the rapids instead of down them. I got absolutely soaked! From there, we headed to Lata Berkoh which the Malaysians call a waterfall but what I would call a lot of big rocks with some water running over them. Still, a refreshing swim after the hike to get there!

I met four girls from England, all 18 or 19, and spent most of Friday night and Saturday with them. They were hilarious. Some of the funniest things they said: “I can’t believe there are no castles in America!” “My head hurts I think because it’s getting more oxygen than it’s used to.” To the waitress: “Excuse me, but my watermelon juice has too much sweet syrup in it. Could you please add some more watermelon? Oh, and I’d like to order a sugar pancake.” And, “I wish these stupid bees would quit flying around my crotch.” Couple what they were saying, usually all at the same time, with their accents, and I couldn’t stop laughing!

Sunday I headed into the jungle alone. I booked a hide (aka a very basic house in the jungle), took a map and off I went! I got about 1.5km in when I realized that I left my camera at the ranger’s office. So, by the time I got back to retrieve it, I was advised that I needed to hurry because it was at least 2 hours to get to my home in the jungle. I arrived with plenty of daylight left after having to cross nearly waist high water…I slipped on a rock and fell on all fours…soaking wet, but thankfully no leaches! My jungle home was quite nice. No electricity, no fans. Shockingly, there was running water and double bunk beds, made out of wood. I was there not 10 minutes when I spotted a wild boar walking through the field behind the hide!

I finished my pack of crackers and dried beans for dinner, wrote in my journal and watched for tigers (they saw one a few years ago…thought I might get lucky!). The noise in the jungle is amazing…crickets, birds, the occasional monkey, mosquitoes swarming around my head. It started to downpour about 7 PM and didn’t stop until well into the night. Listening to the rain fall down on the tin roof was so relaxing. Around 9, I made my way to bed to read a bit of Joyce’s Ulysses. I dropped my torch while lying on my wood bed, breaking it (how?!?). It was absolutely pitch black so I obviously couldn’t see a thing, much less fix my torch. My heart raced slightly at the thought of going all night without a torch, in the event of any scary noises. I survived, but didn’t move an inch off the bed. I slept off and on, but every time I heard a loud noise I was wide awake. I don’t know why I thought that having a torch would make me feel safe, but I suppose having light does provide some kind of comfort when you’re sleeping at least 1km away from another human being, it’s pouring down rain and you’re in the middle of the jungle. Next time I’ll bring a back up light!

Monday morning I woke up not entirely rested from my sleep in the jungle and started on a trek up a nearby mountain. I basically walked a kilometer straight up, so straight that I had to use a rope to pull myself up for about 70% of the climb. It was nuts! On the backside of the mountain, I walked on supposedly the world’s longest canopy, 550 m, suspended at least 50-100’above the ground. The platform was 1’ wide, hung by rope suspended between trees. It moved a lot from side to side, and if I were afraid of heights, there’s no way I would have been able to handle it. Thankfully, all the ropes held and I made it! On the walk back to the park entrance, a snake slithered just out of my footstep, turned around and jerked its head up in a striking position. It scared me to death!! I screamed and moved far enough away to get a picture of it…it still in striking position and me ready to run as fast as possible if it moved another inch.

Animal count: 3 wild boars, 2 snakes, 4 lizards larger than 2’, 1 monkey, 1 flying squirrel and a lot of birds and bugs.

All in all, a great trek into the jungle. I’ll take the thousand mosquito bites I got over a snake bite or a leach any day! Tuesday, I’ll be on a jungle train most of the day en route to the Perhentian Islands. More from the beach later this week!

KL

KL is what the cool kids call Kuala Lumpur. It's the capital of Malaysia and home to 6.5 million people as well as 66 shopping malls. The famous Petronas Towers are here (picture). The Menara KL Tower is also here. It's hard to get a feel for the Malaysian culture from KL because there are so many nationalities here - Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, African, etc. I look forward to getting to know more about the Malaysians as I get out of the big city!

I arrived at 3 AM after a delayed flight from Bali and a shuttle bus break down at 2 AM just outside KL. I slept in and made my way to the top of KL Tower which costs money but provides the best view of the city. Like any big city, there are some big buildings, some small buildings, some government buildings and religious buildings. I just wanted to go to the top to get a shot of the Petronas Towers from the air and get a feel for the city, which I did!

As part of the KL observation deck ticket, I got a pass to a small zoo and an F1 simulator ride. The zoo was shocking. There were all kinds of poisonous snakes, spiders, etc...lots of things that crawl and slither and can kill you. I timed my visit just in time to watch a caretaker feed !LIVE! baby mice to frogs and lizards. The frogs gulped them down in two swallows. The lizards bit and thrashed around. Very violent and disturbing nature in action. The F1 simulator was not so violent, but if it had been in real life, I would have killed someone. It was really tough trying to fake drive one of those race cars!

Made my way to the Petronas Towers that evening for some entertainment - a little shopping in the seven story mall and a little movie watching of Iron Man 2. It felt very strange, but refreshingly comforting, to be back in civilization and air conditioning.

Wednesday was hospital and shopping day. I finally got in writing what I've known for quite a while...I can breathe! (Well enough to dive anyway!). At the hospital, I was in and out in under 1.5 hours. I spent less than $42 and had a consultation with the doctor, chest x-rays, a lung function test and two prescriptions filled. Very efficient, very cheap. I am not versed on the new health care reforms in the States, but if it's modeled after the system in Malaysia, we'll be much better off for it. What were the prescriptions for you wonder? That would be bed bugs. It's disgusting. Trust me, I know, I'm the one who can't stop itching these massive red welts all over my body. KL is notorious for bed bugs. I splurged and got a room slightly above my budget in hopes of avoiding it...better luck next time Jamie.

I got up before anyone who isn't working should get up (6:40) and went to the Petronas Towers to wait in line for over an hour and a half to get my ticket to stand on the skybridge for 10 minutes. It was a cool experience, made more cool by the fact that there were 6 Chinese people I was able to chat with in my group. Also, there was a guy cleaning the windows right outside of the skybridge. I kept watching him thinking maybe we were in the middle of a heist like in Entrapment. No such luck.

I finally realized that people in Malaysia don't camp, so I got creative with my desperate attempt to find a sleeping bag liner to avoid bed bugs going forward. I bought a queen sized sheet and paid someone $2 to sew it up like a sleeping bag. Not too bad for 1/3 the cost of a liner you'd buy at home! I look forward to sleeping, bug free, in my sheets for the remainder of this trip!

Heading into the jungle tomorrow morning. Taman Negara is smack in the middle of Malaysia (the west part anyway). I'll be on a bus for a couple of hours and then on a boat for a few more until they drop us in the middle of the jungle. I'm told there are places to sleep there. Hope that's true. Otherwise, I'm armed with my fancy new queen sheet-folded sleeping bag to keep me warm and dry! From there, I'm headed to the Perhentian Islands where I hope to do some diving and turtle watching. I really have no idea how long I'll be at either of the aforementioned places or whether or not they will have internet access. Therefore, this could be my last blog for several days. Until next time...sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite! (That phrase will hold a new, deeper meaning to me for the rest of my life!)

The Festival

We arrived on Mt. Batur on Friday afternoon after a two hour motorbike ride across Bali. In the rain, we pitched our tarp. I was mistaken because I thought that the festival was actually in the volcano...it was on the side of the mountain. Probably not so hot, what with the lava and all, so I'm glad I was wrong! The side was covered in volcanic rock and very dry vegetation.

The festival began at sundown with a sacred fire ceremony where about 100 of us gathered in a circle, held hands and chanted. I really wasn't feeling it, so I basically looked around while everyone else had their eyes closed and observed that I was way out of place. I felt a little uncomfortable in my jeans and black t-shirt without dreads, piercings all over my faces or tattoos all over my body. I was talking to an American-Israeli guy and told him that I, pardon the expression, felt like the whitest white person at the party. He replied, "yes, you are." Oh well!

The festival had a 'healing section' where people were doing yoga, tarot readings, etc. I didn't spend any time there. There was a chill out section where they played more mellow music. Michael dj'ed there from 5 AM to 8 AM Sunday morning. The main dance floor, where they played trance music from sundown - 2 PM, took a break for a couple of hours, then started up again, was where I spent most of my time. There were more people dancing at 4 AM than 11 PM. It was crazy...awesome music and lighting. I have never danced so much in my life.

In total, I slept 5 hours from Thursday night to Sunday night. The volcanic rock isn't really that soft and it gets cold on the mountain! I had no cardboard, newspaper, sleeping bag, blanket or pillow, so I tried sleeping straight on the tarp, but it was not so comfortable, hence my lack of sleep. No sleep does offer the advantage of being awake for beautiful sunrises over the surrounding mountains. After two nights of partying Gundula and I were ready to leave. We got back to Ubud last night, took a power nap, showered and put on a little sundress. I was so exhausted that on the way to dinner I realized that I had forgotten to wear underwear. Oops.

I posted new pictures, too many of them probably. Click on the picture below to view them!

Bali - The Middle & End

Flying to Kuala Lumpur on a red-eye tonight! Next update from Malaysia!

The Accident

So I'll be brief on this one because two blogs ago I promised it to be my last written in Bali. Gundula returned from her visa run to Singapore, and we celebrated her return this afternoon by going to our favorite restaurant located in a rice field, Sari Organik.

The path to the restaurant is very narrow, very uneven and on either side a little bit of grass, a canal (at times less than 1' wide) and then rice fields. Gundula was leading and she stopped because ladies were carrying massive bags of rice on their heads on the path ahead of us. I slowed my motorbike to a stop and put my left foot down. The next thing I knew, the entire left side of my body was lying in a rice field and the motorbike was on top of me! Turns out there was no grass, only canal, where I decided to stop! I think Gundula was in shock thinking I was hurt until she heard me laughing. The scene looked way more dramatic than it actually was. I was filthy...wet and muddy. It took 3 of us to get it up. The bike wouldn't start for about 30 minutes. I had to call the guy I rented it from to come rescue me. The horn is still a little sporadic and the blinkers are on hyperflash. Other than that, bike and I are okay. Good times.

Hands & Wind

Okay, I lied. Yesterday was worthy of its own blog entry, and I don’t want it to get muddled up with the trance festival this weekend! The last real thing on my list to see and do in Bali, outside of going to a 3 day party in the crater of a volcano of course, was to see Tanah Lot. Tanah Lot is a collection of temples built in and on the black cliff shore of the ocean. It was absolutely breathtaking and if you ever come to Bali, I highly recommend seeing it over any other temple.

I left on my two hour journey to the sea without really any idea where I was going. I have given up on my map which was given to me…they have built a lot of new roads since it was published and none of the roads have street signs anyway! So, I made my way by pulling over at every intersection along the way (about 10 turns in all) and asking some kind-hearted soul for which way to go. It was quite amusing to them, I’m sure, to see someone cruising along on motorbike knowing where they wanted to go without a clue how to get there. Luck and the help of strangers was on my side, because I made it!

It was high tide when I arrived at high noon (read: hot) so I could not reach the main temple to partake in the Holy Spring Ceremony which is a supposed highlight of a visit to Tanah Lot. I did, however, spend a long time watching waves crash all around the beautiful main temple. En route to the other temples, I came across an old, bearded Chinese man who was leading a yoga/meditation type thing next to the sea over looking the temple. All of the other participants were Chinese also and I was mesmerized. I stood and watched and snuck pictures for a solid 15 minutes…so peaceful. When it was finished, the old, bearded man came up to me, smiled and grabbed my right hand with both hands and shut his eyes. I followed suit and shut mine too. He held onto me with a firm grip and I could literally feel his presence coming into me. It was awkward at first for me and then amazing. He held onto me, eyes shut the whole time, for a good 45 seconds. Then he opened his eyes, lightened his grip and smiled again. I said ‘thank you sir’ in Chinese. The entire time, he never uttered a word. Maybe he was Japanese?! Heritage aside, it was an incredible experience and something I won’t soon forget. I couldn’t stop smiling the entire ride back to Ubud…

…until tropical storm force winds started blowing strong enough to make Jim Cantore jealous he wasn’t in Bali today. In addition to dodging oncoming traffic, pot holes and dogs, I also had the added luxury of trying to keep the bike vertical due to the wind gusts. I threw on my garbage bag material poncho (compliments of Mendy from the Blue Mountains in AUS!) and braved the wind and rain. I got home safely, slightly unnerved, wet and wearing a poncho that had been ripped apart from all the blowing. Jim, if you’re reading this, I’d say the gusts were easily pushing 34 mph.

It's Hot in Ubud.

I haven't felt 100% over the last week, partially due to the heat rash. Thankfully, that has subsided. I spent a couple of days laying low...which makes me wonder how low I can actually lay and for how long? I can't believe I've been in Ubud for 3 weeks already, much less away from home for over 10 months! I have become an expert in sleeping in, reading on the porch, lounging by the pool and relaxing at cafes. I must figure out the best way to list it on my resume! In all honesty, I'm ready to get moving again. I had intentions of leaving Ubud and seeing more of Indonesia last week, but decided to remain due to not feeling well.

To quickly summarize my activities of the last week: Wednesday - bed. Thursday - bed, rice field walk (pictures!) and Tibetan bowl meditation. Friday - pool. Saturday - pool. Sunday - bike ride. Monday - reading and cafe (rained all day!).

The Tibetan bowl meditation was an experience. We lied in a semi-circle facing the instructor on a yoga mat. He came around, after tying up his dreads, to rub incense on my 6th chakra (also known as my third eye). Then, he played the Tibetan bowls and walked around with them and played them around my head. I found it quite hard to actually get into a meditative state primarily because the music was pretty cool..you could feel the vibrations from the bowl literally going through your body...and so I kept thinking about how cool that was. Also, I was quite itchy from some previous mosquito bites.

As the bike ride was really the highlight of my week and certainly the most energy I expended, I'll give you an idea of what biking is like in Bali. Imagine the hottest day ever. Picture sleeping in, as you do, and not leaving until the absolute hottest part of the day. Now, bike through traffic to a nice little place you've found on your map which, being two-dimensional and all, looks like it will be flat land and easy sailing. How wrong you would be! You climb and pedal and sweat and climb and pedal and sweat, seemingly never reaching the top. You almost pass out from the heat at least 5 times and are forced to pull over and dump water on your head as the locals laugh at you for even trying. The moral of this story: never ride a bike in Bali. I learned the hard way why everyone here has motorbikes!

This weekend, I will be going with Gundula and Michael, a German guy who worked with us at the Earth Day Festival, to the Kintanami Awaredance 2 Trance Festival held in the volcano of Mt. Batur. Yes, that's right...from Friday until Monday morning, I will be living like a hippie under a tarp, on top of cardboard and snuggled under newspaper (I don't feel like buying another tent and sleeping bag just for the weekend and shipped mine home long ago!). Bucket showers, likely no sleep and lots of fun things will certainly transpire all in the crater of a volcano! I'm very excited! My next update will be from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I fly there on Monday night, assuming I'm still able to function long enough to get to the airport!

On a personal note, I'd like to publicly congratulate my brother and best friend, Gerad, who graduated from Florida International University with a Masters Degree in Construction Management last week. I'm extremely proud of him and look forward to sleeping on his couch and having him buy me dinners once I'm back home and broke! I love you Gerad!