Gonna rise up, find my direction magnetically

Hello from Cambodia! Mitch and I arrived a few days ago after getting up at 3:00 am to make it to the airport on time. Needless to say, a bit tired.

We have just finished 9 days in Malaysia which were incredible to say the least. 7 of those days were spent in the state of Sabah which is on the island of Borneo. We arrived in Kota Kinabalu (a major hub in Sabah) from Singapore and hit the ground running. We spent the first little while figuring out exactly what we would be doing over the next week while still trying to enjoy KK. Our first day in town was spent at the Tunku Abdul Rahman national park, which is a collection of islands off of the coast of KK. We did some snorkeling and exploring of the island which was a great ice breaker to the country.
Mitch and I mapped out our plans for the next week and actually decided to rent a car to see what we wanted to see. We are both into doing things cost efficiently and this was the best option for us to see what we wanted to see at an affordable price. Looking back we went into it a bit naïve having no idea what the roads or the traffic would be like, throw on top of that the fact they drive on the opposite side of the road, something Mitch has never experienced and it was a bit daunting. Everything worked out great though!

We read about this place called Danum Valley which is home rhinos, elephants and heaps of other jungle animals. We decided that is where we wanted to spend the majority of our time hiking and thrashing through the rainforest. Danum Valley is accessible through the town of Lahad Datu so that was our first stop. We arrived in LD just before the tour companies were closing only to find out that the park was WAY out of our price range. They wanted something like USD$300 for a 2 day 1 night trip and we definitely couldn’t afford that. The agent (who was incredibly helpful) suggested we head to Tawau Hills National Park where we would be able to do some hiking. We spent the night in Lahad Datu which we now refer to as the ghetto of Borneo and made our way to Tawau the next morning.

After asking about every local in the Tawau area how to get there, and getting lost for about 2.5 hours we finally arrived at the park to find out that not only were we the only people spending the night, but we were also the only people IN the national park. We dropped our stuff and headed out on our first hike to a water fall that was about 5.2km round trip. Arriving at the waterfall was one of the most surreal moments of my life, and probably the best moment I have had since leaving Canada in January. I can’t explain it but it was absolutely breathtaking. After having set back after set back and refusing to pay ridiculous prices to see the rainforest I felt like we were truly being rewarded for our persistence to see things our way, and in a way that few will ever get to see.

The following day we headed out for another day of hiking after one of the loudest thunderstorms I have ever heard overnight. The ground was soaked and the leeches were out in full form! We were advised to wear leach socks which are essentially knee high socks made out of canvas. Today we were heading to the hot springs, which required us to cross a couple of rivers which was a lot of fun. The fun sort of stopped when the leech reality set in, they were everywhere. I think between Mitch and I we probably had about 40 or so leeches on every part of our body throughout the course of the day and that number would probably be tripled if it weren’t for the socks. Not an ideal situation but we made the most out of it. The sulphuric hot springs were great and river rapids beside them made for a great massage!

The next day we headed to Sandakan and more specifically the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. We were very lucky and the apes decided to treat us to a pre-feeding show, posing for pictures along with a dozen or so other monkeys. It was an amazing experience and very cool to see. We also made a stop at a crocodile farm which was also quite the experience, unfortunately not for the same reasons. There were probably over 50 crocs there and we saw a croc show which included a guy dancing with a live croc on his back.

We spent the night in Sandakan and headed back to KK the next day. On the way back we stopped at Kinabalu National Park which is home to Mount Kinabalu. The park was beautiful and we did some hiking around the park before heading back into town.

We returned our car and headed by plane to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital.

Kuala Lumpur was a lot like Singapore with a lot more grime. In this particular case grime is a good thing, because Singapore is eerily sterile. We checked out the some of the sights of KL including Little India, Chinatown markets, Merdeka Square and of course the Petronas Twin Towers (which stand as the nicest building(s) I have ever seen, especially when they are lit up at night. On our last night in KL we went to see Manchester United play Malaysia and the national stadium which seats 100,000 people. They had played a game in KL a few days later and were supposed to head to Indonesia for their next game, however due to a terrorist attack in Jakarta the team pulled out and decided to do another game in KL. Mitch nor I are soccer fans in the slightest but it was still incredible to see one of the world’s best teams in action and the passion and enthusiasm the Malays showed towards them.

Our time in Malaysia far exceeded my expectations. There is something about being alone in the rainforest with one of your best friends that is extremely invigorating. We wanted to take the “off the beaten track” approach to travel in Borneo and we definitely experienced it on our own terms. I know this post is long but it just scratches the surface on our time in Borneo, we had an absolute blast and there are plenty more stories that I can’t wait to share.

Cambodia is up to bat, I can’t wait.

Until next time,

kc

I want to break free

Hello dear readers! My apologies for my mysterious disappearance over the last few weeks. I would formally like to blame the Chinese government who have deemed Blogspot unworthy to view by the “People’s” Republic. A true democracy isn’t it?!

Where to begin?...How about China seeing as though that is where I have been hiding the past little while. For those of you who have dreamt up China as a polluted, overcrowded mess of peace signs, you actually aren’t that far off the mark. While it may be bursting with western world stereotypes I almost instantaneously fell in love with the complete and utter chaos that is China. Simply put the country is amazing. There is never a dull moment while the sights and sounds provide for a truly unique and amazing experience.

My time in China began in Beijing after a connection (and breakfast with Eamon) in Hong Kong from Sydney. I was a bit apprehensive about leaving the airport via subway however the system was extremely easy to navigate (thanks in part to the 2008 Olympics I’m sure) and I was able to find my hostel which was located near Tiananmen Square nestled in between an ever changing construction site.

I spent the first full day in Beijing checking out Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen had an extremely powerful feeling however you can’t help but feel that “big brother” is watching you constantly. The Forbidden City was also quite spectacular and extremely massive. It originally housed the Chinese emperor but is now open to the public.

My second day was out at the Great Wall. The hostel I stayed at ran a secret wall tour where we were taken 2.5 hours outside of Beijing to climb a largely untouched, and original part of the wall. We met this old Chinese woman who was very yoda-like and probably in her early 70’s who led us up the mountain and through the wall, all with her cane! It was quite hilarious but absolutely beautiful. There was not another tourist in sight, aside from our group and the wall wrapped around the mountains for as far as the eye could see. You really appreciate what a fascinating feat of engineering and sheer will power the wall is after taking this trek…unlike anything I have ever seen or experienced.

In the first few days in Beijing I got out to the Olympic park where the birds nest was lit up in all its glory at night. It is even more fantastic in real life and the water cube was equally as cool. I was lucky to meet a Swedish brother and sister (Robin and Sara) who I travelled with up until Xi’an. We had some great times at the Beijing Zoo (for the sake of animals everywhere…NEVER go here), Summer Palace, Mao’s grave, silk markets, Temple of Heaven among many, many others. Travelling with these two was an absolute riot and they basically sold me on Sweden being the greatest country on earth (Ikea, H&M, WESC and Volvo...what more can you want? Oh yeah…and ABBA haha). Ray, a friend of Robin’s from Beijing and took us out for a night on the town including some shopping and great Tibetan food.

We travelled together on the “hard seat” to Xi’an which according to Ray is only for the poor and students. Lucky for me I am both of those and it was actually a lot of fun. Nobody spoke a word of English but we still managed to have a lot of fun with (some at the expense of) the people around us.

Beijing got an A++ in my books and is an absolute must for anyone.

We arrived in Xi’an which is famous for the Terracotta Army, and instantly melted. Up until this point the thermometer had yet to dip below 34 degrees. Xi’an was a cool city with a great Muslim district and city wall. We headed to the Terracotta Army the second day and we were all slightly disappointed. They have somehow managed to turn a potentially amazing place into a disaster of a tourist trap. It was far less impressive than what our expectations held but still neat to see. The day got better though when we returned to the city and rented bikes and drove along the city wall which runs 13km. Xi’an was a fun little town (5,000,000 is little by Chinese standards) and far less hectic than Beijing.

Xi’an gets an A-.

The dynamic duo and I went our separate ways from Xi’an. I headed to Guilin and the Swedes were off to Chonqing. I arrived in Guilin late at night and planned for the next day. Guilin is famous for the Li river which is full of mountainous limestone peaks. The following day I took a boat cruise on a bamboo boat down to the town of Yangshuo with two Germans. Yangshuo, like Guilin is very touristy and but still beautiful. We rented bikes and a guide took us out to Moon Hill and then through an extremely scenic trip through some small villages. The second part of the bike trip may have been the most beautiful landscape I have ever experienced. I tried to take hundreds of pictures to try and capture it but none even come close to doing it justice. It was just phenomenal and a great day on the whole. I somehow managed to get pretty sick from something I ate the next day so aside from checking out a few sites in the town I just relaxed and caught up on some sleep. Up until this point it had been complete and utter nonstop go go go and it was nice to catch my breath for a bit before I headed to Singapore.

Guilin gets a B-

Yangshuo the town a C+

The Li river an A+

and the area surrounding Yangshuo an A++++.

From Guilin I flew to Guangzhou and spent the night in the un air conditioned pitch black airport. It was fairly new so that was nice but a tad uncomfortable. I flew from Guangzhou to Singapore on the 11th where Mitch met me at the airport. I can’t tell you how nice it was to see him. We have been planning this for what seems like forever and I don’t think either of us could wipe the smile off our faces for the first little while.

Singapore was a bit of a disappointment, but on the other hand I had no expectations. It is for all purposes a giant shopping complex that lacks any real substance, aside from a few corners of town. Nice place to meet up though.

We are now in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia also known as Borneo. Tomorrow we are heading into the jungle for a couple of days and Mitch and I have already started to think of a plan of attack should we encounter any Rhino’s which apparently is a possibility in the part we will be trekking. We have opted to do it tourless and guideless so it should be a real off the beaten track type approach. More on Borneo next week.

Again, my apologies for not writing this sooner. Spread the news that I am back in business and will be writing at least once a week until I get home. For the record China is a can’t miss country…the only problem is that it’s so massive that you can’t help but miss things. I will be back again though…maybe sooner rather than later actually, but time will tell. There is so much that I didn't include in this post that I can't wait to share with all of you. My time in the Mao-velous country was only enhanced by travelling with two incredible people, so a big thank you to Robin and Sara…I’ll see you soon.

Also if you get bored of me, Mitch is here as well http://mbushuk.blogspot.com/. Read his blog…it will likely include bigger words and cohesive sentences! p.s. comment the hell out of it!

Talk to you soon.

kc