So we left KK, and flew into Bangkok for one night before heading north to Chiang Mai. We stayed in the place we were in last year, right near Khao San road, which of course we visited and bought cheap clothes and good food from. Yesterday, we hopped on a V.I.P. bus from Bangkok and drove ten hours to Chiang Mai, where we are now. That bus was nice. Lots of leg room and an attendant who served us coffee and snacks. All for about 25 US dollars. I think we're spoiled now; trying not to expect that every time!
We arrived last night and found a nice, kind of sparse, but clean hotel within the town. We didn't have to walk far to find some amazing Thai food and fruit shakes.
We are now in the middle of exploring Chiang Mai, which is such an incredible place. It's much more laid back than Bangkok, of course it's much smaller, about a million people or so. The city center is in a square surrounded by a moat. The old wall is visible in some parts. This city is famous for its handicrafts, made by numerous mountain tribes that surround the area. Lots of silver, umbrellas, and textiles. All are so beautiful. We're heading to a night market later on, and hopefully tomorrow we're going to ride elephants and bamboo rafts on a short day trip out of the city.
We've also booked a van/slow boat journey to Luang Prabang in Laos for a couple days from now. That was a relief, because once we got here, we realized that it might not be so easy to find an easily accessible place to cross into Laos. So now that's out of the way, we're having a great time relaxing and wandering the town.
More later!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Wild Animals
Let me just say, Borneo is probably the coolest place ever. We've had such a blast here; it's crazy to think we're flying out so soon! Have to talk about Sukau Rainforest Lodge....
So after we visited the orangutans, in the wild, no cages, no barriers, we were whisked away by speedboat two hours south to Sukau, where we got to our lodge. It's called Sukau Rainforest Lodge, an eco-lodge deep in the rain forest. This is the place. Our guide, Wan, was sure to tell us that this lodge was NOT a hotel and definitely NOT a resort. No air-con, many mosquitoes, all kinds of bugs. I was a little worried. But when we showed up, we were thrilled to find an absolutely beautiful Borneo longhouse-style lodge right on the edge of the river. The atmosphere was very relaxing, with the main area open to the rain forest, no walls. They even provided us with sarongs to wear to dinner, which was really nice.
We spent the next two days going on river cruises and a jungle trek in search of wild animals, which we saw plenty of. The river cruise was us six on the tour plus Wan, our guide. We went up and down the river, and took a million pictures of long-tailed macaques and the interesting proboscis monkey. We saw SO many of those, and apparently they only live in Borneo. There were also lots of colorful and interesting birds, egrets, storks, eagles, hornbills, and kingfishers of all sorts. It was SO incredibly cool to see these animals in the wild, I couldn't believe it.
The trek was fun, but a little more nerve-racking because we were brushing leeches off each other the whole time, and making sure our leech-proof socks (provided by the lodge) were staying up. Wan showed us lots of plants used by the indigenous people for all kinds of things.
We also went on two night river cruises, which were an entirely different story. Being on a rickety little boat in the pitch dark with a spotlight felt kind of like the beginning of the pirates of the carribbean ride, except if we fell out we'd probably be eaten by crocodiles. We saw so many awesome animals those nights. Our guide, Marvin, shone a spotlight all around the banks, looking for the reflection of the animals' eyes. I was incredulous at first, but Marvin delivered. Right away we spotted a kingfisher, and got right up close to it, because apparently they're blind at night, and can't see the light or us at all. We saw a civet cat climbing a tree, and three of the largest species of kingfisher. They were huge and so colorful. Then we saw an owl, a purple heron, and a baby crocodile.
The second night cruise was even more exciting. We saw a big kingfisher and a baby crocodile again, then another civet cat, a couple of owls, and then, the most exciting, we saw TWO western tarsiers! Marvin said he'd only ever seen four of these little guys in eight years before that night. He was seriously excited about it, and so were we. I got a couple of grainy pictures of them. Not great but proof that they were there!
Now we're back in KK after a six-hour bus ride, wishing we were back at the rain forest lodge. We were sad to not see any elephants like some of the other people staying at the lodge had the week before, but those tarsiers made up for it, I think. If I could only come back to one place from this trip so far, I'd go back there definitely.
So after we visited the orangutans, in the wild, no cages, no barriers, we were whisked away by speedboat two hours south to Sukau, where we got to our lodge. It's called Sukau Rainforest Lodge, an eco-lodge deep in the rain forest. This is the place. Our guide, Wan, was sure to tell us that this lodge was NOT a hotel and definitely NOT a resort. No air-con, many mosquitoes, all kinds of bugs. I was a little worried. But when we showed up, we were thrilled to find an absolutely beautiful Borneo longhouse-style lodge right on the edge of the river. The atmosphere was very relaxing, with the main area open to the rain forest, no walls. They even provided us with sarongs to wear to dinner, which was really nice.
We spent the next two days going on river cruises and a jungle trek in search of wild animals, which we saw plenty of. The river cruise was us six on the tour plus Wan, our guide. We went up and down the river, and took a million pictures of long-tailed macaques and the interesting proboscis monkey. We saw SO many of those, and apparently they only live in Borneo. There were also lots of colorful and interesting birds, egrets, storks, eagles, hornbills, and kingfishers of all sorts. It was SO incredibly cool to see these animals in the wild, I couldn't believe it.
The trek was fun, but a little more nerve-racking because we were brushing leeches off each other the whole time, and making sure our leech-proof socks (provided by the lodge) were staying up. Wan showed us lots of plants used by the indigenous people for all kinds of things.
We also went on two night river cruises, which were an entirely different story. Being on a rickety little boat in the pitch dark with a spotlight felt kind of like the beginning of the pirates of the carribbean ride, except if we fell out we'd probably be eaten by crocodiles. We saw so many awesome animals those nights. Our guide, Marvin, shone a spotlight all around the banks, looking for the reflection of the animals' eyes. I was incredulous at first, but Marvin delivered. Right away we spotted a kingfisher, and got right up close to it, because apparently they're blind at night, and can't see the light or us at all. We saw a civet cat climbing a tree, and three of the largest species of kingfisher. They were huge and so colorful. Then we saw an owl, a purple heron, and a baby crocodile.
The second night cruise was even more exciting. We saw a big kingfisher and a baby crocodile again, then another civet cat, a couple of owls, and then, the most exciting, we saw TWO western tarsiers! Marvin said he'd only ever seen four of these little guys in eight years before that night. He was seriously excited about it, and so were we. I got a couple of grainy pictures of them. Not great but proof that they were there!
Now we're back in KK after a six-hour bus ride, wishing we were back at the rain forest lodge. We were sad to not see any elephants like some of the other people staying at the lodge had the week before, but those tarsiers made up for it, I think. If I could only come back to one place from this trip so far, I'd go back there definitely.
From the Philippines to Borneo
So we leavc Boracay and take an extremely concerning ferry boat ride back to the island of Mindoro (the port town of Roxas). We are headed for Sabang beach in the north of the island, but first must make it across the tempermental sea. Aboard the ship we rock back and forth and side to side over the choppy whitecapped waves underneath. The boat literally leaves the surface of the water and crashes back down, sending giant bursts of white water up to the top of the ship. Perhaps it's my inexperience in the nautical arena, but I don't think this is a good thing. However, as you've probably guessed, we survived.
We make our way up to Sabang via very mini-van and jeepney. A nice lady named Puri takes us to a great little cottage that sits just a few feet from the lagoon's edge. It's a bit rough inside, but there's a wonderful patio in front where Mel and I enjoyed some drinks and song. (I brought the mini-guitar hoping for this kind of scenario.) The "touts" are quite prevalent and offer us various goods and services, but they always seemed to meet our declines with a "bahala na" sort of attitude. Quiet in the day here, but a bit scandelous at night with the strip clubs ( or "discos"), many bars, foreigner-seeking Filipino women....and ladyboys.
Off after a couple nights in this very interesting town and bound for Borneo. We meet Ronald Go, our trusted taxi driver in Batangas who escorts us back to the International airport in Manila. We didn't find him right away and found the local police a bit sketchy, what with the knife-sharpening friend and the police allowing us to use their phone if we paid a price that was "up to us." Not all fun and games in the Philippines. But, we arrive to the airport safely and are soon airborn toward Malaysia.
Safely landed, we deboard in both Mel's and mine first Islamic country. We didn't know quite what to expect of Kota Kinabahlu, the capital of the western state of Sabah. Met a German who met two Malaysian ladies who took us into town for a few Ringgit each (Ringgit being the currency here.) Stay at the Hotel Holiday, a nice bare necessities type place in the city center. We walk around and immediately notice the cultural diversity of this country. There are men in tunics, women in burkas, Chinese and Arabic signs, Indian restaurants, Filipino influences and so much more. The people are an eclectic mix and seem to be all smiles when you exchange a glance. We are greeted by quite a few "hellos" and "where are you froms", as well as, many waves from the locals. The city is also surprisingly well developed. The Malaysian economy, although apparantly not doing very well at the moment, is clearly superior to the Philippines. It reminds us a lot of Taipei with nicer buildings, fully-paved roads and artistic landscaping.
We start off the following day for Sandakan, a city in the Northeast part of Sabah where we are to begin our tour to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center and cruise through rain forest along the Kinabatangan river, near the town of Sukau. In Sandakan we stroll the streets and take in the grittier, but possibly even friendlier, side of Sabah. It's a dusty little town center by the port and the smiles and waves are quite frequent. And the cultural salad is evident on every street corner. We had a nice dinner on the waterfront and headed to bed, early 740 rise the next day.
Morning came and we met our guide Mirwan who began the day by guiding us through a very interesting market outside of the hotel and to the van. He is a great guy, very laid back, but enthusiastic about his country. We also met our tour-mates Mark and Mel, Jocelyn and Di. All great folks, indeed. Mirwan or 'Wan' gave us the lowdown on the events of the day and some background about the Sepilok center.
Sepilok finds and rescues orphaned orangutans (which means 'people of the forest' in Malay) and rehabilitates/reintroduces them into the wild. It is a gradual process that takes years, but it is working to restore the numbers of orangutans in the wild. The deforesting through logging and palm-oil plantations has widdled down the population to endangered and left many orphaned. Sepilok, working with the government to help educate the country's residents, has done amazing things. The tour visits help bring much needed funds and increase awareness. Plus it's pretty radical for us, too.
Anyway, you walk along a boardwalk through the forest and find an open area that resembles a large house deck in the middle of the forest. Surrounding are several platforms, ropes and wild rainforest. No cages. No bars. Soon we spot a few of these incredible creatures swinging aptly by hands and feet. They seem so comfortable swinging from branch to branch. With incredible luck, an alpha male comes to the platform and gives everyone a rare treat. He is enormous and looks more like a gorilla than an orangutan. The crowd is stunned. A few pig-tailed macaques make their entrance, but don't get much from the big daddy. Wan tells us there would be more, but the other males don't dare come round when poppa is there.
Beautiful creatures.
We make our way up to Sabang via very mini-van and jeepney. A nice lady named Puri takes us to a great little cottage that sits just a few feet from the lagoon's edge. It's a bit rough inside, but there's a wonderful patio in front where Mel and I enjoyed some drinks and song. (I brought the mini-guitar hoping for this kind of scenario.) The "touts" are quite prevalent and offer us various goods and services, but they always seemed to meet our declines with a "bahala na" sort of attitude. Quiet in the day here, but a bit scandelous at night with the strip clubs ( or "discos"), many bars, foreigner-seeking Filipino women....and ladyboys.
Off after a couple nights in this very interesting town and bound for Borneo. We meet Ronald Go, our trusted taxi driver in Batangas who escorts us back to the International airport in Manila. We didn't find him right away and found the local police a bit sketchy, what with the knife-sharpening friend and the police allowing us to use their phone if we paid a price that was "up to us." Not all fun and games in the Philippines. But, we arrive to the airport safely and are soon airborn toward Malaysia.
Safely landed, we deboard in both Mel's and mine first Islamic country. We didn't know quite what to expect of Kota Kinabahlu, the capital of the western state of Sabah. Met a German who met two Malaysian ladies who took us into town for a few Ringgit each (Ringgit being the currency here.) Stay at the Hotel Holiday, a nice bare necessities type place in the city center. We walk around and immediately notice the cultural diversity of this country. There are men in tunics, women in burkas, Chinese and Arabic signs, Indian restaurants, Filipino influences and so much more. The people are an eclectic mix and seem to be all smiles when you exchange a glance. We are greeted by quite a few "hellos" and "where are you froms", as well as, many waves from the locals. The city is also surprisingly well developed. The Malaysian economy, although apparantly not doing very well at the moment, is clearly superior to the Philippines. It reminds us a lot of Taipei with nicer buildings, fully-paved roads and artistic landscaping.
We start off the following day for Sandakan, a city in the Northeast part of Sabah where we are to begin our tour to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center and cruise through rain forest along the Kinabatangan river, near the town of Sukau. In Sandakan we stroll the streets and take in the grittier, but possibly even friendlier, side of Sabah. It's a dusty little town center by the port and the smiles and waves are quite frequent. And the cultural salad is evident on every street corner. We had a nice dinner on the waterfront and headed to bed, early 740 rise the next day.
Morning came and we met our guide Mirwan who began the day by guiding us through a very interesting market outside of the hotel and to the van. He is a great guy, very laid back, but enthusiastic about his country. We also met our tour-mates Mark and Mel, Jocelyn and Di. All great folks, indeed. Mirwan or 'Wan' gave us the lowdown on the events of the day and some background about the Sepilok center.
Sepilok finds and rescues orphaned orangutans (which means 'people of the forest' in Malay) and rehabilitates/reintroduces them into the wild. It is a gradual process that takes years, but it is working to restore the numbers of orangutans in the wild. The deforesting through logging and palm-oil plantations has widdled down the population to endangered and left many orphaned. Sepilok, working with the government to help educate the country's residents, has done amazing things. The tour visits help bring much needed funds and increase awareness. Plus it's pretty radical for us, too.
Anyway, you walk along a boardwalk through the forest and find an open area that resembles a large house deck in the middle of the forest. Surrounding are several platforms, ropes and wild rainforest. No cages. No bars. Soon we spot a few of these incredible creatures swinging aptly by hands and feet. They seem so comfortable swinging from branch to branch. With incredible luck, an alpha male comes to the platform and gives everyone a rare treat. He is enormous and looks more like a gorilla than an orangutan. The crowd is stunned. A few pig-tailed macaques make their entrance, but don't get much from the big daddy. Wan tells us there would be more, but the other males don't dare come round when poppa is there.
Beautiful creatures.
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