Marching on Northward

My next stop after Dalat was to the resort beaches of Nha Trang. I had heard that the place was just basically a row of resorts along the beach and that suited me fine. My plan was to use it as a pit stop before heading further north. I got there late the first day and set off to find a dive outfitter to schedule a trip for the next day. For less than $55 I was able to get 3 dives which is crazy cheap. That night for dinner I came across a street vendor selling grilled seafood on the sidewalk. I got a fresh lobster for $6 but little did I know that I could have gotten it for half. Oh well, you win some you lose some. The next day the diving was pretty decent. There wasn't much marine life but the coral was very nice. The funnest part of the dive was swimming through an underwater cave about 15 or so meters. Inside there were tons of fish taking shelter and they parted just enough for you to swim through. The next day I had enough time before the next bus to grab a quick visit to the hot springs outside of town. I've been told that it makes your skin nice and smooth. Not sure about the truth in that but the bath was fun. It felt like swimming in chocolate milk except maybe a little grittier. Now I know what a Cheerio feels like.

After my mud bath I jumped on the overnight train to Hoi An. Hoi An is an old fashioned city with a few uninteresting sights. I found that the main draw card here were the loads of tailors that live here. Walking down any street you can't walk a block without passing at least four shops. They can make exact copies of designer clothes that normally would cost thousands and you can get it for less than a hundred bucks. Since I'm now a jobless bum and I don't have the need to wear a suit, I just got a pair of pants made. After trying on the end product I can tell you firsthand they're very very good at what they do. The quality of the sewing and of the material is excellent. I was surprised at how well they fit. Unfortunately, my attempt to stuff one of the ladies in my bag and ship her back home failed so I decided to head up to Hanoi the next day.

Adventures in Dalat

After the hustle and bustle of Saigon I decided to let out some of energy up in Dalat. Most people make their way towards the beaches of Mui Ne but since I had planned on going to the Nha Trang beaches after Dalat there really wasn't a reason to go to two beaches. Dalat is a small town up in mountains of Vietnam that much resembles the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. Its got the same cooler temperatures and rolling hills along with the cloudy skies and small town atmosphere. Its known as a honeymoon destination for many Vietnamese. For foreigners, most people associate Dalat with the Easy Riders, a group of local guides who ride around on Russian style Harleys and take you on personalized tours of waterfalls, villages, pagodas, and other sights. I had something else in mind though. I came across a website for some adventure tours and the canyoning/abseiling trip seemed just the thing I needed.

The day began with myself and another Brit jumping in an old BMW and heading down to one of the closer falls where we had to wait because an American girl who had signed up at the last minute. Yay, finally another American traveler. We headed straight past the touristy falls with their amusement rides and Easy Riders everywhere. Trudging over, around, and through the river we finally came to an opening where we practiced our abseiling (much more safely then my previous experience in Pisgah). Right afterwards, we went straight into our first dry rappel to help prepare us for what was to come. Following the river down we got to a spot where we jumped right in and the guides just told us to lay down. Basically they pushed us on our backs down the waterfall to get our feet wet.

After a quick lunch our first wet rappel was pretty crazy. We started by coming down right in the middle of a waterfall and after your passed a boulder in the middle it was like standing underneath the Hoover dam. Hundreds and hundreds of gallons of water just poured on your face and you couldn't see anything, not that it mattered because the rock was so slick you could slip at any moment. More trekking led us to a spot where you could jump off a rock into the water below, making sure the guides went first so that we knew it was deep enough. The day ended in the falls they call 'The Washing Machine'. After rappelling for about 10 feet you're completely off the rock where its a free rappel into the falls and down. You run out of line and basically fall into the water which takes you down the bottom of the falls. Since we had a small group we all got to do this one twice. All in all it was a great way to release some energy and was one of the funnest days yet.

Good Morning Vietnam!

As soon as I touched down in Saigon I knew things were starting to look up. No lost luggage this time and I got a free ride downtown (which is one of the only expensive things over here) with an American freelance photographer who was on assignment so she just put it on her tab. The people are friendly, the food is nice, and everything is so cheap. Probably the cheapest place I've been so far. But apparently not for too much longer. I've been told several times that the cost of everything is starting to go up and new construction is going on everywhere. Apparently Vietnam plays host to a booming economy. Its the second fastest growing economy in Asia, just behind China. In other words, it might not be such a deal in a couple of years.



My plane arrived late so I just had time to grab some food and settle in for an early night. The next day I made my way through the city to see some of the sites. Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as the locals still call it, is the largest city in Vietnam and this is evident in the number of motos running throughout the streets. I started off with a morning tour of the Cu Chi tunnels outside the city. These are just a small part of a maze of over 200 km of tunnels that the Vietnamese used during the war to travel, hide, and ambush from. Going through the tunnels gives you an understanding of how resilient these people are. Its so easy to get lost and having the patience to excavate that much earth is pretty amazing. The tunnels are pretty small though so if you're claustrophobic you might want to think twice before heading there. I've heard these tunnels were actually widened a little for the tourists.

The afternoon consisted of heading to the War Museum. Here is mostly photos by photojournalists and different aid organizations of the American War (as its known in Vietnam) from both sides of the field. Reading into the stories you get a sense of what war does to you emotionally. Some of the pictures and stories revealed some things that are simply hard to swallow but after being in a place fighting for that long I think it really messes with your head. Just ask those crazy vets in the retirement homes. The saddest part had to be the pictures of the direct victims and their children of defoliants (mainly Agent Orange) used by the US during the war. The destruction to the people, their children, and the environment are pretty gruesome. Not even the US troops were lucky enough to escape unscathed from the effects of the poisons. Whoever thought those were a good idea was a real genius.

The next few days I spent in the Mekong Delta where the mighty Mekong River empties into the sea after traveling thousands of miles through China, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Its a step back in time from the lights and modern buildings in Saigon. The area is full of fertile grounds in which rice and tons of fruit are grown. The Mekong supplies southern Vietnam with abundant seafood. The highlight of the trip was the floating market. Unlike the floating market in Bangkok, this one is not geared towards tourists. The locals still barter and trade using their boats on the river. There you can get products at wholesale prices like the fresh pineapple I got for about a quarter. Afterwards, we made our way back to Saigon so I could grab the rest of my stuff before heading up to Dalat.

Sh*tty Singapore

First off, let me begin by saying I don't care for Singapore. And I had already established this opinion before the crappiest part of my trip occurred there. Singapore is a small set of islands on the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia. It grew from a country with little natural resources into an international financial hub. There are some tourist attractions but none I wanted to see. I don't know what the big deal about getting a $30 drink at Raffles is, I don't care about their world class zoo (much rather see animals in the wild), their beaches don't compare to Thailand or even Malaysia so why bother. Well, the only reason I had planned on going there was because it was a short trip from KL, I wanted to try and find a cheap portable hard drive, and I could fly cheap from there to Vietnam.

I should have seen it all coming when I got to customs. It started raining just as we got to the border. I spent over an hour waiting at customs and when I finally got through the bus I took from KL had already left so I had to take a city bus downtown. When I got downtown I had to get some Singapore dollars so I tried several ATMs but my card didn't work. I ended up having to take money out of my Wachovia account. I just found out today that I was charged for two withdraws that didn't happen with my first account so I'm in the process of working that out. But I finally had some cash so I decided to grab some food since I hadn't eaten all day. I walked into a Burger King and was asked to leave because I was dripping water (note, it had not stopped raining since the border). I finally made it to my hostel and was just relieved that I was leaving the next day. Since I had the rest of the evening open I went to one of the places recommended to buy electronics only to find out that most of the electronics here are just as expensive if not more than they are in the states. The waterproof digital camera I wanted to buy was over $100 more over here. Its not just electronics, everything is expensive here. I was in the grocery today and saw a small box of cereal for $6 USD. I think its because they have to import all their goods.

Now for the real crappy part and I realize that this is mostly my fault but all the stuff from the previous day didn't help. As I was checking into my flight the next day they informed me that I needed a visa to enter the country. Well no !*#@ Sherlock. What I didn't notice and my trusty Lonely Planet didn't mention was that Vietnam is one of the countries that requires you to get your tourist visa ahead of time and it can take up to two weeks. This put me into a downward spiral where I was trying to figure out how to get a visa, trying to rebook flights, places to stay, etc. Looooong story short I lost 2 days and around $140. I ended up hooking up with an online travel agent who can arrange for a visa pick up upon arrival in Saigon for a fee of $50. Plus I couldn't rebook or get a refund on my flight because it was one of those low budget fare deals so that first ticket I bought just went down the toilet. On top of all that I had to spend an extra 2 days in my favorite place in SE Asia, Singapore.

So that's where I'm at now, sitting here waiting to get out of Singapore tomorrow. So let me tell you a little more about Singapore. It is sometimes referred to as the 'fine' city. Not because its all that, but because you can get fined for almost anything. Smoking and littering in public places carry hefty fines, not flushing a public toilet does too, and my favorite is chewing gum will get you fined as well. I heard people get ticketed for jaywalking a lot, but I don't know how true that is. The country prides itself on being a really clean city but outside the city center I don't think its that clean. But it is nice to not have litter everywhere like in the other southeast Asian countries I've been to. Oh yeah, and the rain here sucks. Its worse than Malaysia so if you combine that with the freaky clean addicts you get kicked out of fast food joints like I did. I only took 2 pictures while in Singapore, the first one is of the downtown skyline when there was a break in the rain and the second is hard to see but its a big plastic container full of live frogs at this one restaurant I ate at. The container was out front beside all the tables. Needless to say, I didn't order frog. Get me outta here!

Rants and Raves

After spending almost two weeks in Peninsular Malaysia I'd like to take a moment to reflect. I wasn't unhappy with the place but it didn't appeal to me the way that Cambodia and Thailand did. Maybe thats because I didn't get to visit Sarawak and Sabah, where all the cool stuff was. Or maybe Cambodia and Thailand set the bar too high and from now on I'll be disappointed in the places I go. But with the mixture of so many cultures I think the country is still trying to establish an identity. Its not really like the Thai's established culture or the Khmer's in Cambodia.

But like I said before I wasn't unhappy with the place. The food is dirt cheap where I consistently got nice big meals and a drink for less than $3. The weather was surprisingly cooler than I thought it would be despite being closer to the equator. A lot of people spoke English and intercity transport was pretty easy. On the other hand although the food was cheap it didn't hold a candle to the excellent food in Thailand and Cambodia. It is cooler but it rains at the worst possible times and for extended periods every day. There are a lot of English speaking people but the taxi drivers always try to rip you off even though they're supposed to be required to use the meter and the city bus routes are absolutely impossible to understand.

At the end of it all I really did like Malaysia, I just didn't love it. I think I would like to return and do Sarawak and Sabah as well as the rest of Borneo sometime. I have no regrets in taking a few extra days to do a little roaming.

Mountains and Beaches

When you do things on a whim you often do things that make no sense. In my case I ended up traveling all through peninsular Malaysia on the longest route possible. My path didn't make any sense but I just made it up as I went. I started off in the Perhentian Islands located all the way back near the Thai border in the Gulf of Thailand. Its a laid back beach where relaxation is key. There really isn't much to do besides snorkeling, sunbathing, and eating. I had some delicious Malaysia fried king fish. Most people just chilled out on the beach or read a book on their bungalows overlooking the sea. So the next day I ended up doing some snorkeling with a Korean, Canadian, and another Brit. The snorkeling wasn't too bad and for $10 you couldn't beat the price which included a boat ride to 5 spots and equipment rental. Although I didn't see the big black tip reef shark that everyone else saw, I think I may have seen its baby daughter (well probably not). But the highlight of the day was at Turtle Bay where I got to swim beside another sea turtle. By that point I had figured out how to clear my snorkel so after entering the water I dove down two meters and swam with it for the whole 2 seconds that I can hold my breath. We ended up celebrating later on that night with a few cocktails overlooking the bay.

The easiest destination to make it to next was the Cameron Highlands simply because they offered direct transfer there from the Perhentians. The Cameron Highlands are located in a mountainous region in the middle of the peninsula. The high elevation gives the area a cool climate and is a welcome relief from the tropical and humid climates I've been in. One morning I woke up and the thermometer outside read 50. But that's not all the area had to offer. The mountains are home to the largest tea plantations I have ever seen. I toured some of the countryside and tasted some tea overlooking one of the plantations. Too bad I don't like tea. We then took a ride up the to the top of the tallest peak in the highlands but the clouds and fog (it rains constantly in Malaysia) prevented us from seeing the view. Before lunch we stopped at a butterfly farm. And although I have lots of pictures of butterflies, the coolest part was some of the monster insects and reptiles they had. These photos are not photoshopped and yes that is my hand. We ended the day visiting an Orang Asli village where I learned how to use a blow gun and steer clear of leeches.

I decided to try and spend a little time in Penang before heading back to Kuala Lumpur. Penang island is located up north again except on the west coast of Malaysia (you can see why my route didn't make sense). There really wasn't that much to the town that I wanted to see but a lot of locals seem to go there for their holidays so I gave it a shot. Well it rained about 80% of the time that I was there so I was lucky there wasn't much I wanted to do. The rain did give me a chance to ride in one of those rickshaws where your ride in the bucket seat in the front of a bicycle while someone pedals you through the driving rain. I made sure to tip the guy well. I did try and take the fusilier train up to the top of Penang Hill to check out the view but once again it started raining when I got on the train. It did clear up momentarily for me to take a couple shots from the top. By this time I was itching to get to Vietnam and so I headed back to KL for a quick pit stop before heading off to Singapore.

Change of Plans

Well after my liveaboard I had about two days to make it to get out of Thailand before my visa expired. So I made a vee line towards the Malaysia/Thailand border. Originally I was just going to take the train/bus all the way to Singapore and then fly to Vietnam but I figured since I was in Malaysia anyways I should go ahead and spend a few extra days there. Well it turns out I only knew around 3 things about Malaysia before I arrived: 1) the Petronas Towers are in Kuala Lumpur 2) the island of Borneo has orangutans 3) Zoolander tried to kill its prime minister. Well none of this did me much good as I was on the overnight bus to Kuala Lumpur but none of that seemed to bother me.

As soon as the bus cleared customs I could tell we had arrived in a different country. Malaysia is a lot more modern than Cambodia and even Thailand. Everything just looked newer and more advanced. After arriving in KL five hours later, I headed for my hostel to grab some more sleep. The next day I literally spent the entire day catching up on emails, updating my blog, and registering for facebook as I finally had a high speed wifi connection. Apparently facebook is the new myspace except better. Everyone that I was in Thailand with and some people from other places as well are on it and it really does help keep in touch. So anyways, back to my story. My second day in KL I spent researching facts about Malaysia, places to go, and things to do. Here is a little of what I learned: Malaysia is blend of various Asian cultures. The people are made up of Malays, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Orang Asli (aborigines), and other various Asian decents. The majority of the people are Islamic but there is also a large population of Muslims, Christians, Hindu and other religions. The majority of the island of Borneo is not part of Malaysia. Orangutans also live on the island of Sumatra.

Well despite this influx of knowledge I still hadn't sorted out all my plans. I just realized that I probably wasn't going to make it to the Sarawak and Sabah regions on Borneo because it costs more to get there than to get to Vietnam and it was advised to steer clear of the eastern side of Sabah because of terrorism (not sure how true all that is). Unfortunately as it turns out most all the things I wanted to do in Malaysia are in Borneo so that put me back at square one. I finally ended up deciding on taking buses throughout some highlights of peninsular Malaysia including the Perhentian Islands, the Cameron Highlands, and the island of Penang before heading back to KL.

Diving, diving, and more diving

So I booked a liveaboard for 4 days and 4 nights on the MV Andaman. Basically what was required out of us was to dive, eat, sleep, and dive. The first two days were to start with wake up at 6:30 followed by a dive at 7:30. We'd come up for some surface time in which we'd eat some breakfast. The next dive would be around 11:30, followed by lunch and usually a nap. The third dive was around 4:00 which I usually followed up with a nap and a snack. Our final dive was at 7:30 and was a night dive. The third day was to have a similar schedule except our night dive would be replaced by a cocktail/bbq. And the last day would follow the same schedule except we'd head back to the mainland after the second dive. So basically its 13 dives squeezed into an itty bitty 4 day window. To be honest I probably shouldn't have been doing all these dives with my little experience. We were diving to 30 meters where nitrogen narcoses is said to kick in and there were some pretty strong currents at times. But if you're gonna do it you might as well do it big, right?

Our first dive was an easy dive to 30m just to see some marine life and so the dive master could see where we were at with our dive skills. Luckily I wasn't the only one onboard who just got done with their open water course. Gabriel had just finished his in Koh Tau so we both had 5 dives a piece coming in and you could tell. We used our air supply a lot quicker than the others, especially when we started hitting the currents. But by the third and fourth days we had calmed down and were able to finish out the entire dives. We spent the first five dives around the Similan Islands and saw some amazing marine life. Anything from anemone fish to lionfish (Deuce Bigalow), moray eels, trumpet fish, angelfish, banner fish, butterfly fish, parrot fish, stingrays and much more. The best way for me to describe it to someone who hasn't dove before is that its like swimming in an exotic aquarium except these fish aren't trapped in a tank. Some of the fish made you think 'man, I need to watch Finding Nemo again to tell them what they did wrong' while others made you think 'damn, you'd look good on my dinner plate.' The best was the first dive of the second day when we came across a sleeping leopard shark. Watch the video Horst took while he swims away.

We then went to the island of Koh Bon and Koh Tachai for our second and third dives of the day. The highlight of those dives were these huge batfish that were just chillin at their cleaning stations just getting their pedicures (do fish have toes?). The next day we headed off to Koh Chi where I saw my first sea turtle! It moved so slowly yet effortlessly. I thought it was headed out to sea when it turned back and did another circle through us. Horst took another good video of this as well. By the way my dive group consisted of 3 Germans and me so when they decided to talk quickly it was in German and I was basically in Mars somewhere so that was fun. Ok, back to the diving. Our last day was at what is said to be the best dive site in Thailand: Richelieu Rock. It had an abundant amount of marine life but unfortunately the visibility was not so good. But it was still fun and while we were coming up on our final dive we got to swim alongside a school of barracuda. Mmmm, tasty. All along everyone was secretly hoping to see a whale shark or manta ray that occasionally visit these waters but that wasn't the case this trip. Hopefully with more exotic sites I'll run across one of these massive creatures.