1. Chiang Mai in Thailand
2. Phu Quoc in Vietnam
3. Bako national park in Malaysia
4. Apo island in Philippines
5. Lamma island in Hong Kong
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Last day in Hong Kong
Today I've been exploring on Lamma, one to the islands in Hong Kong. Quite a contrast to all the shopping centres and bustling street life of Kowloon and Hong Kong island central. Lamma has a couple of quite nice beaches, beuatiful mountains and a couple of small fishing villages. After a couple of hours walk, I and another girl from the hostel feasted on seafood: lobster, prawns, clams and squid, yummy!
I've packed my bags, found my Oyster card, and checked in online. Ready to go out one last night in Hong Kong before flying home tomorrow.
I've packed my bags, found my Oyster card, and checked in online. Ready to go out one last night in Hong Kong before flying home tomorrow.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
5 best food dishes I've had
I've eaten so much great food, these are some of my favourites:
1. Thailand: Green papaya and prawn salad
2. Vietnam: Cau lau noodles
3. Malaysia: Laksa soup
4. Philippines: Kinilaw (fresh fish marinated in kalmansi lime juice and chili and coconut)
5. Hong Kong: Dim sum
1. Thailand: Green papaya and prawn salad
2. Vietnam: Cau lau noodles
3. Malaysia: Laksa soup
4. Philippines: Kinilaw (fresh fish marinated in kalmansi lime juice and chili and coconut)
5. Hong Kong: Dim sum
2 days to go: Feasting on dim sum in Hong Kong
I've been in Hong Kong for a few days now, and it's a great city if you love food!!! I've been eating SO much, fantastic dim sum and lovely sea food, mmmmmmmm..... Food is not too expensive here, but everything else. I went out for a few drinks with 3 girls from my dorm last night, and was quite chocked to see that a pint of beer is around 50-70 HKD (5-7 GBP)! Basically Swedish prices :S Not used to that after 4 months in cheap SE Asia. It's going to take some time to get used to the London prices again when I'm back....
Today I've been to some of the markets here, like the bird and goldfish markets. Shop after shop selling songbirds, the noise was unbelievable. The street with goldfish shops were a lot more quiet! They also had a couple of shops selling puppies and kittens, I wanted to take all of the home with me... So looking forward to go over to my sister and her boyfriend later this year, they're getting a puppy in a month or so :) Well, obviously I'm also looking forward to see my sister and Lars, luckily they'll come to London already in a few weeks time.
London...., feels so weird and unreal that I go home the day after tomorrow. In a way I haven't really been able to fully appreciate Hong Kong, because I know that these are my last days on this trip. At the same time, it's going to be fantastic to see everyone again, and I'm quite looking forward to getting on with my life in London.
Today I've been to some of the markets here, like the bird and goldfish markets. Shop after shop selling songbirds, the noise was unbelievable. The street with goldfish shops were a lot more quiet! They also had a couple of shops selling puppies and kittens, I wanted to take all of the home with me... So looking forward to go over to my sister and her boyfriend later this year, they're getting a puppy in a month or so :) Well, obviously I'm also looking forward to see my sister and Lars, luckily they'll come to London already in a few weeks time.
London...., feels so weird and unreal that I go home the day after tomorrow. In a way I haven't really been able to fully appreciate Hong Kong, because I know that these are my last days on this trip. At the same time, it's going to be fantastic to see everyone again, and I'm quite looking forward to getting on with my life in London.
Friday, 20 February 2009
5 best things I packed
Because I'm getting closer and closer to the end of my trip, I thought that I would start to summarize some of my experiences. Here are the 5 best things I brought with me:
1. Torch/flashlight: To be able to find my way home along dark beaches, for when there's no electricity, and to make sure no snakes are hiding under the bed
2. Army knife: To peel fruit, open bottles, and the scissor is pretty good too
3. Sarong: Towel, blanket, skirt and bag in one handy piece of cloth
4. Duvet cover: To use as a sleeping bag for the times when the bed doesn't look exactly clean
5. iPod: For all those long journeys
1. Torch/flashlight: To be able to find my way home along dark beaches, for when there's no electricity, and to make sure no snakes are hiding under the bed
2. Army knife: To peel fruit, open bottles, and the scissor is pretty good too
3. Sarong: Towel, blanket, skirt and bag in one handy piece of cloth
4. Duvet cover: To use as a sleeping bag for the times when the bed doesn't look exactly clean
5. iPod: For all those long journeys
6 days to go: Shop till you drop
It feels SO strange to have less than a week left, I fly back to London from Hong Kong on Thursday. I've had such an amazing time so far, and it has all gone by very very quickly. It feels sad to go home, there are so many many many more places I would like to go to! At the same time, I'm so looking forward to come home and see all of my friends and family again.
I'm in Manila now, and today I spent the whole day at Ayala center's Glorietta malls. Lots and lots of malls here in the Philippines. I've almost done no shopping during this trip, except for replacing broken sun glasses etc, and was really looking forward to some retail joy. But...., first I couldn't find anything I wanted to buy! It was like I forgotten how to shop! Strange. But then it slowly came back to me, turns out shopping is like cycling, you never really forget how to do it ;)
However, certain things are impossible to buy here: I've been looking everywhere for 2 months now for ear plugs. Ear plugs are essential to be able to sleep undisturbed from roosters, traffic, noisy dorm mates, karaoke. I lost my last pair in Vietnam and have been unable to find new ones. When I asked for ear plugs in one pharmacy in Hanoi, I was instead offered valium... Not exactly the same thing. The other thing that I can't find here is a travel guide to Hong Kong. Shanghai, Bejing, Singapore, Rome, Barcelona, London, even Stockholm, or basically any major city, but not Hong Kong. Weird. Hope I can find one actually in Hong Kong. Always nice to get some ideas of what to see and information on things like local transport. I guess that if I meet loads of Filipinos in HK, I'll know why there is no guide books to buy in Manila...
I'm in Manila now, and today I spent the whole day at Ayala center's Glorietta malls. Lots and lots of malls here in the Philippines. I've almost done no shopping during this trip, except for replacing broken sun glasses etc, and was really looking forward to some retail joy. But...., first I couldn't find anything I wanted to buy! It was like I forgotten how to shop! Strange. But then it slowly came back to me, turns out shopping is like cycling, you never really forget how to do it ;)
However, certain things are impossible to buy here: I've been looking everywhere for 2 months now for ear plugs. Ear plugs are essential to be able to sleep undisturbed from roosters, traffic, noisy dorm mates, karaoke. I lost my last pair in Vietnam and have been unable to find new ones. When I asked for ear plugs in one pharmacy in Hanoi, I was instead offered valium... Not exactly the same thing. The other thing that I can't find here is a travel guide to Hong Kong. Shanghai, Bejing, Singapore, Rome, Barcelona, London, even Stockholm, or basically any major city, but not Hong Kong. Weird. Hope I can find one actually in Hong Kong. Always nice to get some ideas of what to see and information on things like local transport. I guess that if I meet loads of Filipinos in HK, I'll know why there is no guide books to buy in Manila...
Hej mormor! Del 5: Dykning och regn i Filippinerna
Nu har jag snart varit i Filippinerna i en manad, och det har varit fantastiskt! Jag har dykt massor och sett bl.a otroliga korallrev och sota skoldpaddor. Det hade ju forstas kunnat vara lite battre vader, men regnet verkar folja med mig var jag an ar. Jag har verklingen fatt anvandning for min regn poncho nu.... Jag ar anda haft en del tur, dagen efter jag tog farjan mellan tva oar, Bohol och Leyte, sa stangdes all farjetrafik darimellan pga en tyfon! Dar jag var sa marktes det dock inget av tyfonen, det var bara det "vanliga" regnet.
Filippinerna ar otroligt vackert, och nog det land som det varit lattast att resa i, bl.a for att i princip alla pratar engelska. Jag vill aka hit igen och se mer, jag har bara hunnit se ytterst fa av alla 7000 oar...
Min absolut basta upplevelse har ar nog att jag fick snorkla med en valhaj i Donsol! Det var helt otroligt, den simmade kanske 2 m under mig! En annan annorlunda upplevelse var pa farjan pa vag till Donsol da jag sjong karaoke till staende ovationer! Karaoke ar otroligt populart har (och overallt dar jag varit hittills i Asien), oavsett om man kan sjunga eller ej. Vilket ju ar tur for mig som i princip tondov. Misstanker att ovationer hade mer att gora med att jag som enda vasterlanning pa farjan sjong an att jag plotsligt utvecklat en hittills okand sangtalang... Kul var det iaf!
Nu ar jag tillbaka i Manila, och pa sondag flyger jag vidare till Hong Kong, och sen till slut till London pa torsdag. Mindre an en vecka kvar nu, det ar konstigt, sorgligt och roligt pa en gang.
Filippinerna ar otroligt vackert, och nog det land som det varit lattast att resa i, bl.a for att i princip alla pratar engelska. Jag vill aka hit igen och se mer, jag har bara hunnit se ytterst fa av alla 7000 oar...
Min absolut basta upplevelse har ar nog att jag fick snorkla med en valhaj i Donsol! Det var helt otroligt, den simmade kanske 2 m under mig! En annan annorlunda upplevelse var pa farjan pa vag till Donsol da jag sjong karaoke till staende ovationer! Karaoke ar otroligt populart har (och overallt dar jag varit hittills i Asien), oavsett om man kan sjunga eller ej. Vilket ju ar tur for mig som i princip tondov. Misstanker att ovationer hade mer att gora med att jag som enda vasterlanning pa farjan sjong an att jag plotsligt utvecklat en hittills okand sangtalang... Kul var det iaf!
Nu ar jag tillbaka i Manila, och pa sondag flyger jag vidare till Hong Kong, och sen till slut till London pa torsdag. Mindre an en vecka kvar nu, det ar konstigt, sorgligt och roligt pa en gang.
Whale sharks!!!
I took a minivan from Legaspi to Donsol, where I stayed in a small bungalow in cozy resort, Amor Beach Farm Resort, 5 min walk away from the visitor centre that organizes boat trips to see the whale sharks. Although it is the season the see them, there is of course no guarantee. Indeed, one couple I met at the resort hadn't seen any whale sharks that day when they went out. The unstable weather the last couple of weeks have also made sighting less common than usual.
The next morning I woke up to the all too familiar sound of rain... Luckily it soon stopped and the skies cleared. I went out in bangka boat with 6 others, and then we waited and waited and waited. Suddenly we saw something! A big fin! Wohoo, whale sharks! But no, it wasn't that big a fin, it was a dolphin. Probably the only time in my life that I've been disappointed to see dolphins.... Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. When we were almost ready to give up after 4 h on the boat, the spotter shouted that he saw one. But once I got into the water, the whale shark had already disappeared.... Luckily, we soon spotted another shark (or possibly the same again), and this time I did see it! It swam maybe 2 m under me, and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was very happy when I returned to land :) It also felt like a perfect way to end my stay in the Philippines. I now only have a few days in Manila and Hong Kong left, then I go home....
The next morning I woke up to the all too familiar sound of rain... Luckily it soon stopped and the skies cleared. I went out in bangka boat with 6 others, and then we waited and waited and waited. Suddenly we saw something! A big fin! Wohoo, whale sharks! But no, it wasn't that big a fin, it was a dolphin. Probably the only time in my life that I've been disappointed to see dolphins.... Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. When we were almost ready to give up after 4 h on the boat, the spotter shouted that he saw one. But once I got into the water, the whale shark had already disappeared.... Luckily, we soon spotted another shark (or possibly the same again), and this time I did see it! It swam maybe 2 m under me, and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was very happy when I returned to land :) It also felt like a perfect way to end my stay in the Philippines. I now only have a few days in Manila and Hong Kong left, then I go home....
I'm a Barbie girl
Since I got a cold and couldn't dive, I decided to leave PB early and instead try to go up to Donsol, a village in the Bicol region of south Luzon that's known to have lots of whale sharks this time of the year. I decided to go overland as I would otherwise have to either backtrack via Cebu to take the ferry or fly to Legaspi (closest largest city to Donsol). Also, you see a lot more and meet more people going by bus. I first thought that I would have to take a vast number of different buses, vans, and jeepneys to get there, but the couple I rented my room from said that I actually could take an aircon bus all the way and wouldn't have to do any chances. Well, that obviously sounded a lot easier, and at 1 am in the morning I jumped on the bus in PB to start my journey north through Leyte, over and across Samar (Leyte and Samar is connected with a very long bridge (Asia's longest?), 2 km) and then finally over to Luzon. With some luck I should arrive in Legaspi late afternoon.
As it turned out, I must have used up my luck for speedy journeys when going to PB, because I didn't arrive in Legaspi until 1 am the following morning, after 24 h.... However, it was an interesting journey through a beautiful landscape. Most memorable was probably the 5 h on the ferry from Samar to Luzon (the ferry actually only takes 1 h, but for some reason we had to wait on the ferry for 4 h before leaving...), 5 h of videoke. Karaoke/videoke is enormously popular in Asia, you can find it everywhere in the Philippines and everyone sings, no matter if you actually can sing or not. Yours truly, who can't sing to save her life, actually did a performance with Thom, one of the Filipino guys on the bus, of Aqua's "Barbie girl"... And we got standing ovations and had to do a repeat performance!!!! Obviously I would like to believe that I suddenly discovered how to sing, but sadly I think the ovations had more to do with the novelty of the only Westerner on the ferry singing....
A couple of hours later I arrived completely exhausted to Legaspi and probably fell asleep before my head even had landed on the pillow in my hotel.
As it turned out, I must have used up my luck for speedy journeys when going to PB, because I didn't arrive in Legaspi until 1 am the following morning, after 24 h.... However, it was an interesting journey through a beautiful landscape. Most memorable was probably the 5 h on the ferry from Samar to Luzon (the ferry actually only takes 1 h, but for some reason we had to wait on the ferry for 4 h before leaving...), 5 h of videoke. Karaoke/videoke is enormously popular in Asia, you can find it everywhere in the Philippines and everyone sings, no matter if you actually can sing or not. Yours truly, who can't sing to save her life, actually did a performance with Thom, one of the Filipino guys on the bus, of Aqua's "Barbie girl"... And we got standing ovations and had to do a repeat performance!!!! Obviously I would like to believe that I suddenly discovered how to sing, but sadly I think the ovations had more to do with the novelty of the only Westerner on the ferry singing....
A couple of hours later I arrived completely exhausted to Legaspi and probably fell asleep before my head even had landed on the pillow in my hotel.
Friday 13th = typhoon....
I decided to stay overnight in Tagbilaran, and early the day after (the 12th) I started my journey to Padre Burgos (PB) on Leyte. I didn't know much about the bus and ferry connections to go from Bohol to Leyte, but figured that I probably would need 2 days, one to travel through Bohol, and one on Leyte. After 3 months in Asia I've learned to leave plenty of time for travels, you never know when the bus might break down, or you'll have to wait 3 h for the minivan to fill up etc etc. This time though everything went very smoothly, the bus from Tagbilaran to Ubay left 15 min after I arrived by tricyle to the bus terminal, the bangka boat from Ubay to Bato on Leyte left 30 min after I arrived to Ubay etc. So 4 tricycles, 2 buses and 1 boat later I arrived late afternoon in Maasin on Leyte, where I decided to stay the night before continuing down to PB as I needed some rest and also to stock up on more cash. You can hardly pay by credit card anywhere in the Philippines so usually you need to carry quite a lot of cash, especially when heading to smaller places like PB that won't have any cash machines. It can be quite a challenge to get enough cash, as some cash machines have a limit of 4000 pesos (ca 60 GBP), or might have connection problems and therefore refuse all your cards...
Anyhow, I arrived in PB the morning after, on Friday the 13th. And this time Friday the 13th really was bad luck for some, as a typhoon came in over Cebu and therefore all boat connections to Leyte were cancelled. If I hadn't been so lucky with all my connections the day before, I would have been stranded in Ubay... The weather in PB was not too bad, some rain and wind (I'm certainly getting more use of my rain poncho than I thought....) but definitely no storm.
On Valentine's day I got roses from the sweet staff at the resort I stayed in :) Actually might be one of the few times ever in my life I got flowers on Valentine's.... Rest of the day was less romantic though with a nice dive. Unfortunately my one and only dive in PB as I got a bit of a cold the day after :(
Anyhow, I arrived in PB the morning after, on Friday the 13th. And this time Friday the 13th really was bad luck for some, as a typhoon came in over Cebu and therefore all boat connections to Leyte were cancelled. If I hadn't been so lucky with all my connections the day before, I would have been stranded in Ubay... The weather in PB was not too bad, some rain and wind (I'm certainly getting more use of my rain poncho than I thought....) but definitely no storm.
On Valentine's day I got roses from the sweet staff at the resort I stayed in :) Actually might be one of the few times ever in my life I got flowers on Valentine's.... Rest of the day was less romantic though with a nice dive. Unfortunately my one and only dive in PB as I got a bit of a cold the day after :(
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Diving in the rain
Seriously, it's raining AGAIN!!!! Wherever I go, it rains... At least it's not snowing, like in the UK a couple of days ago, and of course at home in Sweden. Luckily, despite all the raining, have still managed to do quite a lot of diving. Life at 25 m depth quite unaffected by rain.
I'm at Alona beach on Panglao, a small island outside Bohol. It's quite a small place, with a nice white beach and loads of dive resorts. It's a little bit like a miniature version of Boracay. It also has the best mangoes ever!!! Fresh mango, mango daiquiris and dried mango, mmmmm, delicious!
Today I went out and did two dives around Balincasag island, fantastic wall dives (wall is 50 m, but don't worry, I stayed at my safe 30 m). Visability at first dive was great, actually felt a bit of vertigo going down. Feels in a way like you're flying going down... Fantastic soft and hard coral, I know this might not make sense, but it gives me a feeling of "magic forest", I keep thinking of John Bauers illustrations, but under water of course. Lots of beautiful fish and turtles :)
After Boracay I first went to Cebu city. Unfortunately, my bag decided to leave me and go to Manila... Might have been something I said, it's really been putting on weight recently.... Anyhow, we were finally reunited and took the ferry to Dumaguete, a small university city on Negros. Quite a sweet little city, stayed in very nice hostel, Harold's mansion, there. Superclean and even a TV in the dorm. After a fun night in Dumaguete, including a reggae band performing Cardigan's "Lovefool", I left Dumaguete on a tiny bangka boat to go out to Apo island. I arrived completely soaked (when I left Apo, I was clever enough to do it in bikini and rain poncho instead) to the small island. Apo has a small village, and there's two resorts. I stayed at Liberty's lodge, in their dorm. There's no running water, and electricity for only a few hours a day, lights out at 9.30 pm (guess that may explain why everyone there have like 5 kids each....). No need to set an alarm, as the rooster starts crooning at around 4.30 am, and they are loud. Roosters and karaoke, the soundtrack of the Philippines... I did quite a lot of diving, and it was amazing!!! Fantastic soft and hard coral, thousands of fishes (including a ornate ghost pipefish!), lots of turtles. Amazing, awesome, absolutely fantastic! First days were quite nice and sunny, but then it rained and rained and rained.... By the time I left for Bohol, all my clothes were very wet and smelly.
I'm trying to decide what I'm doing tomorrow, my plan was to just relax on the beach but it's been raining since late this afternoon and weather prognosis is not promising... Might head to Tagilaran on Bohol instead and stock up on some essentials (mosquito repellent, sun block (for when the sun actually is shining, have a very red nose at the moment), books) before going over to Leyte on Friday (happens to be the 13th, not that I'm superstitious but..., let's just hope that I don't break another toe or miss the only ferry or some other stupid thing). I'm going to Padre burgos in Leyte for more diving. I hope for two things: OK weather (please, no more rain! Or strong winds), and whale sharks. Would be totally amazing to see whale sharks!!!
After Leyte I'm heading back to Manila for 2 days before going to Hong Kong, and after 4 days in Hong Kong I'm going back to London. Can't believe it's only 2 weeks left! The time has gone so quickly, at the same time it feels like I've been away forever. Weird.
Time to go and celebrate that I did my 20th dive today with a mango daiquiri! And maybe have a pizza. Not much else to do when it's raining....
Btw, the pizza restaurant I'm going to tonight has this slogan "No pizza for 7 days makes one weak" I agree!
I'm at Alona beach on Panglao, a small island outside Bohol. It's quite a small place, with a nice white beach and loads of dive resorts. It's a little bit like a miniature version of Boracay. It also has the best mangoes ever!!! Fresh mango, mango daiquiris and dried mango, mmmmm, delicious!
Today I went out and did two dives around Balincasag island, fantastic wall dives (wall is 50 m, but don't worry, I stayed at my safe 30 m). Visability at first dive was great, actually felt a bit of vertigo going down. Feels in a way like you're flying going down... Fantastic soft and hard coral, I know this might not make sense, but it gives me a feeling of "magic forest", I keep thinking of John Bauers illustrations, but under water of course. Lots of beautiful fish and turtles :)
After Boracay I first went to Cebu city. Unfortunately, my bag decided to leave me and go to Manila... Might have been something I said, it's really been putting on weight recently.... Anyhow, we were finally reunited and took the ferry to Dumaguete, a small university city on Negros. Quite a sweet little city, stayed in very nice hostel, Harold's mansion, there. Superclean and even a TV in the dorm. After a fun night in Dumaguete, including a reggae band performing Cardigan's "Lovefool", I left Dumaguete on a tiny bangka boat to go out to Apo island. I arrived completely soaked (when I left Apo, I was clever enough to do it in bikini and rain poncho instead) to the small island. Apo has a small village, and there's two resorts. I stayed at Liberty's lodge, in their dorm. There's no running water, and electricity for only a few hours a day, lights out at 9.30 pm (guess that may explain why everyone there have like 5 kids each....). No need to set an alarm, as the rooster starts crooning at around 4.30 am, and they are loud. Roosters and karaoke, the soundtrack of the Philippines... I did quite a lot of diving, and it was amazing!!! Fantastic soft and hard coral, thousands of fishes (including a ornate ghost pipefish!), lots of turtles. Amazing, awesome, absolutely fantastic! First days were quite nice and sunny, but then it rained and rained and rained.... By the time I left for Bohol, all my clothes were very wet and smelly.
I'm trying to decide what I'm doing tomorrow, my plan was to just relax on the beach but it's been raining since late this afternoon and weather prognosis is not promising... Might head to Tagilaran on Bohol instead and stock up on some essentials (mosquito repellent, sun block (for when the sun actually is shining, have a very red nose at the moment), books) before going over to Leyte on Friday (happens to be the 13th, not that I'm superstitious but..., let's just hope that I don't break another toe or miss the only ferry or some other stupid thing). I'm going to Padre burgos in Leyte for more diving. I hope for two things: OK weather (please, no more rain! Or strong winds), and whale sharks. Would be totally amazing to see whale sharks!!!
After Leyte I'm heading back to Manila for 2 days before going to Hong Kong, and after 4 days in Hong Kong I'm going back to London. Can't believe it's only 2 weeks left! The time has gone so quickly, at the same time it feels like I've been away forever. Weird.
Time to go and celebrate that I did my 20th dive today with a mango daiquiri! And maybe have a pizza. Not much else to do when it's raining....
Btw, the pizza restaurant I'm going to tonight has this slogan "No pizza for 7 days makes one weak" I agree!
Friday, 30 January 2009
Boracay island - not easy to leave
I've been on Boracay, a small island outside Panay island, for almost a week now. Boracay is a beautiful tropical paradise, with a long white beach and turqoise water. It's quite touristy with lots of restaurants and beach bars, but still has a nice relaxed vibe. I'm staying in a very nice and social hostel, 5 min walk from the beach. The first couple of days here I was just focusing on preparing for my phone interview that I had 2 days ago. The interview went quite well, even though I had an overactive rooster giving a concert in the background. Lots and lots of roosters here in the Phillipines. Anyhow, they must have like what I said, because they e-mailed me today and I have a proper interview with them when I get back to London!!!
After the interview, I tried to make a plan for what to do and where to go in the Philippines. Not that easy when you have 7000 island to choose between! Not to mention trying to figure out where you can fly, and ferry schedules between different islands. I initially planned to leave Boracay directly after the interview, but this is a nice place to stay, and also, I can't get a flight from Caticlan (closest airport) and Cebu city until 3rd February anyway. So I've decided to stay here and do my advanced PADI dive certificate, starting tomorrow. Really looking forward to do more diving! And my toe is finally better so think should be OK to put on a pair of fins... On the 3rd I fly to Cebu city, and from there I'll take the ferry down to Dumuguete on Negros. I'll probably just stay one night in Dumuguete before going out to Apo island for more beaches and diving. From Apo I plan to head to Bohol and Panglao island for even more beaches and diving, and then, if I have time I think I'm going to Padre Burgos on Leyte for, guess what? MORE beaches and diving :) Might go to either Moalboal or Malapascua instead, it's so hard to decide!
After the interview, I tried to make a plan for what to do and where to go in the Philippines. Not that easy when you have 7000 island to choose between! Not to mention trying to figure out where you can fly, and ferry schedules between different islands. I initially planned to leave Boracay directly after the interview, but this is a nice place to stay, and also, I can't get a flight from Caticlan (closest airport) and Cebu city until 3rd February anyway. So I've decided to stay here and do my advanced PADI dive certificate, starting tomorrow. Really looking forward to do more diving! And my toe is finally better so think should be OK to put on a pair of fins... On the 3rd I fly to Cebu city, and from there I'll take the ferry down to Dumuguete on Negros. I'll probably just stay one night in Dumuguete before going out to Apo island for more beaches and diving. From Apo I plan to head to Bohol and Panglao island for even more beaches and diving, and then, if I have time I think I'm going to Padre Burgos on Leyte for, guess what? MORE beaches and diving :) Might go to either Moalboal or Malapascua instead, it's so hard to decide!
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Hej mormor! Del 4: Iglar, olyckor, och Manila
Sen senast jag skrev sa var jag forst pa en 2-dgrs tur pa Kinabatangan-floden. Det var fantasiskt, och vi sag bl.a orangutanger! Sen pa kvallen sa blev djurlivet lite val narganget, efter en tur pa natten genom djungeln sa hade jag ett par blodiglar! Usch, inte trevligt!
Efter Kinabatangen sa akte jag till Semporna for att darifran snorkla och dyka vid de fantastiska korallreven dar. Tyvarr blev det ingen dykning for mig, for nar jag var pa vag till mitt hotell den forsta kvallen, sa kom det ett gang aggressiva hundar. I mitt forsok att undvika hundarna sa foll jag ner i ett hal i trottoaren! Jag foll ner till midjan, och slog i hoften ratt rejalt och brot min ena storta (inte samma som for ett par ar sen, utan den andra). Tur dock att jag inte brot ett ben eller arm rakt av! Det hade kunnat vara mycket varre. Sa nu ar jag annu mer bla, jag har ett blamarke i pannkaksstorlek pa ena hoften. Eftersom det inte var nagon chans att lyckas satta pa sig en fena pa den brutna tan, sa akte jag fran Semporna till Tawau och lyxade genom att bo pa ett fint hotell i ett par dagar. Efter det kandes allt mycket battre, och min hoft ar pa gang att bli helt bra.
De sista dagarna i Malaysia sa hade jag lite extra tid eftersom jag inte kunde dyka, sa jag satt ratt lange framfor datorn pa ett IT cafe, och da fick jag for mig att kolla lite efter jobb. Jag hade egentlingen bestamt mig for att jag inte skulle kolla efter jobb tills jag kom tillbaka till London, men det ar lite svart nu att inte tanka pa framtiden nar det bara ar en manad kvar. Sen sa laser och hor jag hela tiden pa nyheterna om finanskrisen och hor om folk hemma som blir uppsagda eller har svart att hitta jobb. Hursomhelst, jag hittade en annons pa GE i Amersham (ca 1 timmes pendling fran mig), och det ar mitt dromjobb! Sa jag skickade in en ansokan, och i forrgar sa ringde de fran GE och jag ska ha en telefonintervju med dem pa onsdag!!! Sa hall tummarna for att det kommer ga bra!
Just nu ar jag i Manila, men om ett par dagar ska jag aka till Boracay, en turistort som ska ha en fantastisk strand. Dar tankte jag tillbringa mandag och tisdag pa stranden och forbereda mig for telefonintervjun. Jag har ocksa hort att det ska finnas flera stallen for internationella telefonsamtal dar, jag behover vara nagonstans med en ok telefon och helst tyst sa att jag kan fokusera.
Hoppas att allt ar val hemma i Uppsala, det ska bli valdigt trevligt att komma hem i mars och traffa er allihopa.
Efter Kinabatangen sa akte jag till Semporna for att darifran snorkla och dyka vid de fantastiska korallreven dar. Tyvarr blev det ingen dykning for mig, for nar jag var pa vag till mitt hotell den forsta kvallen, sa kom det ett gang aggressiva hundar. I mitt forsok att undvika hundarna sa foll jag ner i ett hal i trottoaren! Jag foll ner till midjan, och slog i hoften ratt rejalt och brot min ena storta (inte samma som for ett par ar sen, utan den andra). Tur dock att jag inte brot ett ben eller arm rakt av! Det hade kunnat vara mycket varre. Sa nu ar jag annu mer bla, jag har ett blamarke i pannkaksstorlek pa ena hoften. Eftersom det inte var nagon chans att lyckas satta pa sig en fena pa den brutna tan, sa akte jag fran Semporna till Tawau och lyxade genom att bo pa ett fint hotell i ett par dagar. Efter det kandes allt mycket battre, och min hoft ar pa gang att bli helt bra.
De sista dagarna i Malaysia sa hade jag lite extra tid eftersom jag inte kunde dyka, sa jag satt ratt lange framfor datorn pa ett IT cafe, och da fick jag for mig att kolla lite efter jobb. Jag hade egentlingen bestamt mig for att jag inte skulle kolla efter jobb tills jag kom tillbaka till London, men det ar lite svart nu att inte tanka pa framtiden nar det bara ar en manad kvar. Sen sa laser och hor jag hela tiden pa nyheterna om finanskrisen och hor om folk hemma som blir uppsagda eller har svart att hitta jobb. Hursomhelst, jag hittade en annons pa GE i Amersham (ca 1 timmes pendling fran mig), och det ar mitt dromjobb! Sa jag skickade in en ansokan, och i forrgar sa ringde de fran GE och jag ska ha en telefonintervju med dem pa onsdag!!! Sa hall tummarna for att det kommer ga bra!
Just nu ar jag i Manila, men om ett par dagar ska jag aka till Boracay, en turistort som ska ha en fantastisk strand. Dar tankte jag tillbringa mandag och tisdag pa stranden och forbereda mig for telefonintervjun. Jag har ocksa hort att det ska finnas flera stallen for internationella telefonsamtal dar, jag behover vara nagonstans med en ok telefon och helst tyst sa att jag kan fokusera.
Hoppas att allt ar val hemma i Uppsala, det ska bli valdigt trevligt att komma hem i mars och traffa er allihopa.
Philippine phone number
In case you want to sms or call me, my number in the Philippines is +63-9156709445
Reality check
I am now in Manila, staying in a fun, but maybe not the cleanest, hostel. I haven't managed to see much of Manila yet, but it actually isn't as bad as I heard (except for the 1.5 h through immigration at the airport). I stay in the Malate area, and there are loads of restaurants and bars here, and a massive shopping centre that I really wish had a map as it feels like the size of a small country...
However, my mind has really not been in Manila but in London. When I had the accident in Semporna and broke my toe and went to Tawau, I had lots of extra time without anything really to do. So I ended up for quite some time in an IT cafe. I had promised myself to not look for any jobs while away, but as the time goes and it's now only a month left, it's hard to avoid thinking about that I actually am unemployed. To constantly hear and read in the news about the financial crisis, and hear stories about people being made redundant at home, don't exactly make it easier to avoid thinking of the future.
Anyhow, I was sitting bored in Tawau and decided to make a job search. And I actually found a few positions I could apply for, and then I saw the an advertisement at GE Healthcare, and seriously, it's my dream job! In fact, I have seen this job advertised before, in October last year, but then decided that I regretfully couldn't apply for it then, as I was going to be away for 4 months. Anyhow, I decided to apply for the job, and spent a day writing my cv and a cover letter. I so wish my laptop hadn't been stolen, because then I could have just asked my flatmates to e-mail me my cv that I had on my computer. Instead I had to do it from scratch, using the not very good Open office free software, on a dodgy IT connection, surrounded by noisy Malay computer game geeks.... Not exactly ideal. I did a few last changes in Kuala Lumpur and then tried to upload my application. And all the spacing and tabs went funny and everything looked horrible. After several hours, and a lot of cursing over Open office, I managed to fix most of it. Still, it was with some dread that I finally sent it off, thinking that maybe I shouldn't have written in my cover letter that I'm meticulous and then include a cv with not exactly meticulous layout....
Two days later, during my first night in Manila, I got a phone call from GE HR, and I'm going to have a phone interview with them on Wednesday!!!! I spent yesterday trying to make a plan for where to go, and where I would be on Wednesday. Obviously I have to be somewhere that I can talk uninterrupted and not be disturbed by noise or bad connection. I've decided to head to Boracay, a tourist resort by the beach, where I'm been told they have lots of places for international phone calls, hopefully with isolated phone booths... I also found a book on interview questions, and hope that Hannis and Elin might be able to give me some tips on phone interviews as they both work with HR. The plan is to spend Monday and Tuesday on the beach in Boracay preparing for the phone interview.
Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well on Wednesday!!!
However, my mind has really not been in Manila but in London. When I had the accident in Semporna and broke my toe and went to Tawau, I had lots of extra time without anything really to do. So I ended up for quite some time in an IT cafe. I had promised myself to not look for any jobs while away, but as the time goes and it's now only a month left, it's hard to avoid thinking about that I actually am unemployed. To constantly hear and read in the news about the financial crisis, and hear stories about people being made redundant at home, don't exactly make it easier to avoid thinking of the future.
Anyhow, I was sitting bored in Tawau and decided to make a job search. And I actually found a few positions I could apply for, and then I saw the an advertisement at GE Healthcare, and seriously, it's my dream job! In fact, I have seen this job advertised before, in October last year, but then decided that I regretfully couldn't apply for it then, as I was going to be away for 4 months. Anyhow, I decided to apply for the job, and spent a day writing my cv and a cover letter. I so wish my laptop hadn't been stolen, because then I could have just asked my flatmates to e-mail me my cv that I had on my computer. Instead I had to do it from scratch, using the not very good Open office free software, on a dodgy IT connection, surrounded by noisy Malay computer game geeks.... Not exactly ideal. I did a few last changes in Kuala Lumpur and then tried to upload my application. And all the spacing and tabs went funny and everything looked horrible. After several hours, and a lot of cursing over Open office, I managed to fix most of it. Still, it was with some dread that I finally sent it off, thinking that maybe I shouldn't have written in my cover letter that I'm meticulous and then include a cv with not exactly meticulous layout....
Two days later, during my first night in Manila, I got a phone call from GE HR, and I'm going to have a phone interview with them on Wednesday!!!! I spent yesterday trying to make a plan for where to go, and where I would be on Wednesday. Obviously I have to be somewhere that I can talk uninterrupted and not be disturbed by noise or bad connection. I've decided to head to Boracay, a tourist resort by the beach, where I'm been told they have lots of places for international phone calls, hopefully with isolated phone booths... I also found a book on interview questions, and hope that Hannis and Elin might be able to give me some tips on phone interviews as they both work with HR. The plan is to spend Monday and Tuesday on the beach in Boracay preparing for the phone interview.
Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes well on Wednesday!!!
Lost in airports
On my way to the Philippines, I first went from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong, and then onward to Manila. I already had a return flight Hong Kong-Manila because I had originally planned to go through China to Hong Kong, and I didn't want to waste the ticket. However, I had a 11 h layover in Hong Kong.... If felt pointless to go into Hong Kong for just a few hours, besides I will be in Hong Kong for the last 4 days before going back to London. The hotels close to the airport are really expensive, so I decided to hang out and sleep at the airport instead.
Hong Kong's airport is HUGE. I don't know how many times I got lost just trying to find the airport information, where a lovely lady provided me with a map of the airport. Without it I doubt if I would have been able to find my way back to the right terminal for my flight... After spending a fair few hours eating and drinking coffee, not to mention being fairly lost and confused, it was time to try to get a couple of hours of sleep. There are loads of rows of seats, and you can see people sleeping everywhere. In fact, I think I read somewhere that Hong Kong airport is rated to be one of the best airports to sleep in (there is a website devoted to sleeping in airports actually). Again I was very happy to be short, I don't really understand how tall people handle traveling, as even I find most transportation, especially minivans and buses, to be very cramped. I found three empty seats, unfortunately there was an armrest between seat 2 and 3, but I could still slip my feet under the armrest. It was maybe not the most comfortable night I had, but I still managed to get 3-4 h of sleep. In the morning, after some more coffee and with the map, I managed to find my way to the right gate in time for the flight.
Hong Kong's airport is HUGE. I don't know how many times I got lost just trying to find the airport information, where a lovely lady provided me with a map of the airport. Without it I doubt if I would have been able to find my way back to the right terminal for my flight... After spending a fair few hours eating and drinking coffee, not to mention being fairly lost and confused, it was time to try to get a couple of hours of sleep. There are loads of rows of seats, and you can see people sleeping everywhere. In fact, I think I read somewhere that Hong Kong airport is rated to be one of the best airports to sleep in (there is a website devoted to sleeping in airports actually). Again I was very happy to be short, I don't really understand how tall people handle traveling, as even I find most transportation, especially minivans and buses, to be very cramped. I found three empty seats, unfortunately there was an armrest between seat 2 and 3, but I could still slip my feet under the armrest. It was maybe not the most comfortable night I had, but I still managed to get 3-4 h of sleep. In the morning, after some more coffee and with the map, I managed to find my way to the right gate in time for the flight.
Bloodsucking creatures
No, I haven't encountered any vampires, but got a few leeches after a night trek along the Kinabatangan river, gross!!! The river itself was beautiful, and during the daytime boat trips we were lucky enough to see wild orangutans! We also saw proboscis monkeys, macaques and silverleaf monkeys, and lots of birds, eagles and commodores. I had hoped to see pygme elephants and crocodiles, but was not lucky enough to do so. Like I said, we went on a night trek through the jungle surrounding our camp, and it was a strange and wonderful thing to experience all the sounds of the rain forest at night, and we saw lots of sleeping birds. Unfortunately it was a little bit hard to focus on the experience whilst worrying about leeches. Despite double long socks and rubber boats, I still had some leeches that managed to get through all my clothes and bite me on the side under my arms. Not fun. I didn't sleep very well that night, felt like the whole bed was full of leeches...
The next day after a boat trip at dawn, I headed to Semporna. Semporna is a bit of a dump really, no point being there except for the amazing coral reeves outside. I signed up for first a day of snorkeling and then a couple of dives. When I was leaving the dive shop, it was dark and not much street light. There was also a gang of aggressive dogs. When I tried to avoid the dogs, I instead fell down a hole in the sidewalk! I fell down to my waist into the ditch under the sidewalk (luckily a ditch not filled with sewage but dry and empty), and injured my hip and broke one of my big toes (not the one I broke a few years ago, but the other one). Painful! I was a bit worried about my hip at first, thought that I might have a hairline fracture as it was very painful to walk, stand, sit down, really to do anything. But now that the swelling and bruising is going down, it is much better. However, I missed out on the diving and snorkeling as there was no chance that I would be able to force down my foot into a fin, or manage to get into a boat or wear a weight belt with my hip. So I decided to leave Semporna and go to Tawau for a few days before heading back to Kuala Lumpur. In Tawau I stayed at a quite luxurious hotel, I felt I need a bit of comfort to compensate for not diving, and after a a couple of days of recuperation I felt a lot better and ready to go to the Philippines!
The next day after a boat trip at dawn, I headed to Semporna. Semporna is a bit of a dump really, no point being there except for the amazing coral reeves outside. I signed up for first a day of snorkeling and then a couple of dives. When I was leaving the dive shop, it was dark and not much street light. There was also a gang of aggressive dogs. When I tried to avoid the dogs, I instead fell down a hole in the sidewalk! I fell down to my waist into the ditch under the sidewalk (luckily a ditch not filled with sewage but dry and empty), and injured my hip and broke one of my big toes (not the one I broke a few years ago, but the other one). Painful! I was a bit worried about my hip at first, thought that I might have a hairline fracture as it was very painful to walk, stand, sit down, really to do anything. But now that the swelling and bruising is going down, it is much better. However, I missed out on the diving and snorkeling as there was no chance that I would be able to force down my foot into a fin, or manage to get into a boat or wear a weight belt with my hip. So I decided to leave Semporna and go to Tawau for a few days before heading back to Kuala Lumpur. In Tawau I stayed at a quite luxurious hotel, I felt I need a bit of comfort to compensate for not diving, and after a a couple of days of recuperation I felt a lot better and ready to go to the Philippines!
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Hej mormor! Del 3: Malaysia
Efter att firat jul och nyar i Vietnam sa bestamde jag mig for att aka till Malaysia istallet for Kina. Jag tyckte att redan Hanoi var alldeles for kallt (14C, brrrrr...) och regnigt sa efter att diskuterat lite olika lander med min syster sa bestamde jag mig for att aka till Malaysia istallet. Har ar det visserligen ocksa regnigt, men 30C sa varmt iaf.
Jag var forst ett par dagar i Kuala Lumpur (KL), som jag tyckte var en jattetrevlig stad, sarskilt efter Vietnam som ar ratt hektiskt och kaotiskt. Jag lyckades gora en del nodvandig shopping, regnjacka och malaria profylax bl.a, och passade pa att ga pa bio vilket kandes som varsta lyxen efter 2 manader pa resande fot.
Fran KL sa flog jag forst till Kuching i Sarawak-regionen pa Borneo, och darifran akte jag till Bako nationalpark. Bako var fantastiskt, och jag sag massor av proboscis apor. Proboscisapor finns bara pa Borneo, och ar ratt stora med en stor mage och en stor korv-liknade nasa. Det fanns ratt manga olika stigar som man kunde folja runt i nationalparken, och regnskogen var otroligt vacker. Dock sa var regnskogen ratt regnig. Det ar regnsasong just nu, sa det regnar en hel del... Lite jobbigt mellan varven, t.ex gor det alla stigar mellanvarven ar mer som ett gyttjebad eller back, och alla mina klader ar mer eller mindre blota och leriga. Trots det sa hade jag tre bra dagar i Bako, aven om nagot har festat rejalt pa mitt ben sista natten. Inte myggbett, och ser inte riktigt ut som bed bugs/vaggloss. Alla bett ar infekterade, och vackert ar det inte, men det verkar halla pa och laka ihop nu.
Efter Bako sa flog jag till Kota Kinabalu i Sabah-regionen pa Borneo, och darifran akte jag till Mount Kinabalu, som ar Borneos hogsta berg. Manga bestiger berget, men jag kande att jag inte riktigt har ratt kondition for att klara det. Jag tror att jag nog skulle kunna ta mig upp, men ner..., mitt kna gillar inte riktigt att ga brant nerfor. Istallet sa bestamde jag mig for att ga en del av de andra stigar som finns uppfor bergen. Forsta dagen dar hade jag fint vader och tog mig upp nastan halvvags uppfor berget. Dagen efter hade jag planerat att ga mer, men jag vaknade till sporegn. Efter ett par timmars regn sa gav jag upp och akte vidare till Sandakan, en liten kuststad i ostra Sabah.
Sandkan ar inte direkt en metropol, och det har mer eller mindre regnat sen jag kom hit i forrgar. Igar gick jag och Kate och Kylie som jag delar rum med och bowlade och pa bio for att forsoka roa oss. Apropa att dela rum, nar jag forst kom hit sa klattrade jag upp i min sang, jag hade overslafen i vaningssangen. Men sa fort jag hade satt mig i sangen sa lossnade sangbotten och jag foll rakt ner! Tur att Paul som har sangen under inte var dar... Jag klarade mig undan med ett massivt blamarke, och har nu en annan sang...
Imorgon ska jag ivag pa en 2-dgrs trip langs floden Kinabatangan. Hall tummarna for att det inte kommer regna hela tiden!
Jag var forst ett par dagar i Kuala Lumpur (KL), som jag tyckte var en jattetrevlig stad, sarskilt efter Vietnam som ar ratt hektiskt och kaotiskt. Jag lyckades gora en del nodvandig shopping, regnjacka och malaria profylax bl.a, och passade pa att ga pa bio vilket kandes som varsta lyxen efter 2 manader pa resande fot.
Fran KL sa flog jag forst till Kuching i Sarawak-regionen pa Borneo, och darifran akte jag till Bako nationalpark. Bako var fantastiskt, och jag sag massor av proboscis apor. Proboscisapor finns bara pa Borneo, och ar ratt stora med en stor mage och en stor korv-liknade nasa. Det fanns ratt manga olika stigar som man kunde folja runt i nationalparken, och regnskogen var otroligt vacker. Dock sa var regnskogen ratt regnig. Det ar regnsasong just nu, sa det regnar en hel del... Lite jobbigt mellan varven, t.ex gor det alla stigar mellanvarven ar mer som ett gyttjebad eller back, och alla mina klader ar mer eller mindre blota och leriga. Trots det sa hade jag tre bra dagar i Bako, aven om nagot har festat rejalt pa mitt ben sista natten. Inte myggbett, och ser inte riktigt ut som bed bugs/vaggloss. Alla bett ar infekterade, och vackert ar det inte, men det verkar halla pa och laka ihop nu.
Efter Bako sa flog jag till Kota Kinabalu i Sabah-regionen pa Borneo, och darifran akte jag till Mount Kinabalu, som ar Borneos hogsta berg. Manga bestiger berget, men jag kande att jag inte riktigt har ratt kondition for att klara det. Jag tror att jag nog skulle kunna ta mig upp, men ner..., mitt kna gillar inte riktigt att ga brant nerfor. Istallet sa bestamde jag mig for att ga en del av de andra stigar som finns uppfor bergen. Forsta dagen dar hade jag fint vader och tog mig upp nastan halvvags uppfor berget. Dagen efter hade jag planerat att ga mer, men jag vaknade till sporegn. Efter ett par timmars regn sa gav jag upp och akte vidare till Sandakan, en liten kuststad i ostra Sabah.
Sandkan ar inte direkt en metropol, och det har mer eller mindre regnat sen jag kom hit i forrgar. Igar gick jag och Kate och Kylie som jag delar rum med och bowlade och pa bio for att forsoka roa oss. Apropa att dela rum, nar jag forst kom hit sa klattrade jag upp i min sang, jag hade overslafen i vaningssangen. Men sa fort jag hade satt mig i sangen sa lossnade sangbotten och jag foll rakt ner! Tur att Paul som har sangen under inte var dar... Jag klarade mig undan med ett massivt blamarke, och har nu en annan sang...
Imorgon ska jag ivag pa en 2-dgrs trip langs floden Kinabatangan. Hall tummarna for att det inte kommer regna hela tiden!
Climbing half a mountain and breaking a bed
I've got to Mount KK, Borneo's highest mountain, early in the morning after one of the most beautiful car trips ever. The scenery was breathtaking. I stayed in a small hostel outside the national park. All the hostels inside the park is very expensive, and as I didn't plan to ascend to the top of the mountain, if felt unnecessary to stay there. The first day I did some of the trails going up almost half the mountain, again the nature was fantastic but the trails very quite muddy, I almost lost a shoe in the mud bath that was the last 500 m going back down. I had planned to do more walking the day after, but I woke up to torrential rain. After a couple of hours, I decided that even if the rain would stop, it would just be miserable trying to do more trekking, so I decided to leave early to go to Sandakan instead.
Sandakan is a small city by the coast in east Sabah. The first night here in Sandakan, when I climbed up to the top bunk bed, the bottom of the bed fell through! Lucky that Paul, who had the bottom bed, was not there or he would have been flat as a pancake... The side of one of my arms is one big bruise. I'm not looking my best at the moment with a leg covered in bites (that are slowly healing) and a blue arm. Ah, the joys of travelling. And all my clothes smells a bit funny, especially my sneakers that refuse to dry. I'm going to have to throw them away when I leave Borneo or they might stop me for carrying a biology hazard with me...
It has more or less rained since I came to Sandakan. Yesterday I and two Aussie girls, Kylie and Kate, tried to keep us entertained in this quite boring little city by going bowling and then to the cinema. Don't see 'Bedtime stories', it's not very good...
Today I'm wasting time watching TV and trying to keep up with e-mails. Tomorrow I'm supposed to go on a 2 day trip down the Kinabatangan river. I hope it won't rain as much then, or I'm literally going to spend two days more or less soaking wet, despite having now both a rain coat and rain poncho. After Kinabatangan I'm going to Semporna to snorkel and dive, and then I'm heading to the Philippines via KL. I'm so looking forward to sunshine and beaches, I'm starting to really resent the rain.
Sandakan is a small city by the coast in east Sabah. The first night here in Sandakan, when I climbed up to the top bunk bed, the bottom of the bed fell through! Lucky that Paul, who had the bottom bed, was not there or he would have been flat as a pancake... The side of one of my arms is one big bruise. I'm not looking my best at the moment with a leg covered in bites (that are slowly healing) and a blue arm. Ah, the joys of travelling. And all my clothes smells a bit funny, especially my sneakers that refuse to dry. I'm going to have to throw them away when I leave Borneo or they might stop me for carrying a biology hazard with me...
It has more or less rained since I came to Sandakan. Yesterday I and two Aussie girls, Kylie and Kate, tried to keep us entertained in this quite boring little city by going bowling and then to the cinema. Don't see 'Bedtime stories', it's not very good...
Today I'm wasting time watching TV and trying to keep up with e-mails. Tomorrow I'm supposed to go on a 2 day trip down the Kinabatangan river. I hope it won't rain as much then, or I'm literally going to spend two days more or less soaking wet, despite having now both a rain coat and rain poncho. After Kinabatangan I'm going to Semporna to snorkel and dive, and then I'm heading to the Philippines via KL. I'm so looking forward to sunshine and beaches, I'm starting to really resent the rain.
A monkey here, a monkey there, a monkey everywhere
I'm now in Kota Kinabalu in the Sabah region of Borneo. I flew here from Kunching after 3 days in Bako national park. I've just sent off all my clothes to get laundered, everything is dirty and wet...
Bako was SO beautiful and amazing, but a bit wet. I've got a fair bit of rain while I was there, and most of the trails were quite wet and muddy. At times it was more like walking in a small stream than along a trail... Bako is not a big national park, but have lots of different type of vegetation like proper rain forest, swamps, mangroves, sandstone/cliff forest (kerangas). Most of the trails are narrow and steep, and you have to do a fair bit of climbing over rocks and tree roots. Not that easy when it's raining... However, despite the weather it was a great experience, the rain forest is so beautiful! I won't even make an attempt at trying to describe the atmosphere and beauty of it. I saw lots of butterflies, lizards, squirrels and birds. But mostly I saw lots and lots of proboscis monkeys. They're quite big monkeys with huge pot bellies and a big sausage-like nose, and they're only found on Borneo. It was fantastic to see them, and you could come quite close, especially during late afternoon when they would come down to eat in the mangrove trees close to camp. Such beautiful and gentle creatures.
The macaque monkeys are completely different. You could see them all over camp and around the beaches, and they would steal anything left for just a second. In addition to the macaques, there were also a couple of bearded pigs that came close to camp. The bearded pigs are probably the most ugly and funny-looking animals I've ever seen: they're quite big pigs with a very long face, sort of like a hippopotamus, with a beard and a small snout at the end.
The last night at the camp, I've got really bad bites on one leg. I've got maybe 30 bites on my calf, all infected and filled with pus. Not very nice. It's not mosquito bites, and don't look like the bed bug bites I've got before when we had bed bugs in our flat in London. I hope that the bites disappear soon...
To get to Bako, you need to take a 20 min boat trip back to the village. When I went to Bako, the sea was very quite and I had a nice ride there. Going back was a different story, quite rough sea. Stupidly I had put on my last dry clothes before getting into the boat...
I'm going to stay here in KK for a day, and then head to Mount KK national park, I hope the weather is going to improve a bit...
Bako was SO beautiful and amazing, but a bit wet. I've got a fair bit of rain while I was there, and most of the trails were quite wet and muddy. At times it was more like walking in a small stream than along a trail... Bako is not a big national park, but have lots of different type of vegetation like proper rain forest, swamps, mangroves, sandstone/cliff forest (kerangas). Most of the trails are narrow and steep, and you have to do a fair bit of climbing over rocks and tree roots. Not that easy when it's raining... However, despite the weather it was a great experience, the rain forest is so beautiful! I won't even make an attempt at trying to describe the atmosphere and beauty of it. I saw lots of butterflies, lizards, squirrels and birds. But mostly I saw lots and lots of proboscis monkeys. They're quite big monkeys with huge pot bellies and a big sausage-like nose, and they're only found on Borneo. It was fantastic to see them, and you could come quite close, especially during late afternoon when they would come down to eat in the mangrove trees close to camp. Such beautiful and gentle creatures.
The macaque monkeys are completely different. You could see them all over camp and around the beaches, and they would steal anything left for just a second. In addition to the macaques, there were also a couple of bearded pigs that came close to camp. The bearded pigs are probably the most ugly and funny-looking animals I've ever seen: they're quite big pigs with a very long face, sort of like a hippopotamus, with a beard and a small snout at the end.
The last night at the camp, I've got really bad bites on one leg. I've got maybe 30 bites on my calf, all infected and filled with pus. Not very nice. It's not mosquito bites, and don't look like the bed bug bites I've got before when we had bed bugs in our flat in London. I hope that the bites disappear soon...
To get to Bako, you need to take a 20 min boat trip back to the village. When I went to Bako, the sea was very quite and I had a nice ride there. Going back was a different story, quite rough sea. Stupidly I had put on my last dry clothes before getting into the boat...
I'm going to stay here in KK for a day, and then head to Mount KK national park, I hope the weather is going to improve a bit...
Marks & Spencer's to the rescue
I've been looking for a rain coat/jacket for some time, but haven't been able to find any that fits me except for rain ponchos. As I'm planning to do a bit of trekking in rain forests, I think it would to have a rain coat that's a little bit more slimline compared to a poncho to avoid get caught in tree branches etc in the forest.
Today I went to one of KLs biggest shopping centres, KLCC Suria, and there I found a rain coat at a Marks & Spencers branch! I think partly why KL feels like such an easy city and sort of like home is that it does remind of London: tube, rain, Indian food, and British brands like M&S and Tesco. Quite nice after hectic Vietnam. It feels a bit like I have a holiday from my holiday...
After my successful shopping, I had an amazing lunch of Malay food (laksa soup and a coconut/been/shrimp salad), and then went to the cinema to see 'Australia'. Great movie! And lovely going to the cinema for the first time in over 2 months.
Tomorrow I'm flying to Kuching in Sarawak region on Borneo, so looking forward to get out into the rain forest!
Today I went to one of KLs biggest shopping centres, KLCC Suria, and there I found a rain coat at a Marks & Spencers branch! I think partly why KL feels like such an easy city and sort of like home is that it does remind of London: tube, rain, Indian food, and British brands like M&S and Tesco. Quite nice after hectic Vietnam. It feels a bit like I have a holiday from my holiday...
After my successful shopping, I had an amazing lunch of Malay food (laksa soup and a coconut/been/shrimp salad), and then went to the cinema to see 'Australia'. Great movie! And lovely going to the cinema for the first time in over 2 months.
Tomorrow I'm flying to Kuching in Sarawak region on Borneo, so looking forward to get out into the rain forest!
Saturday, 3 January 2009
New year, new country
Time just flies when you're having a good time! I can't believe that I'm already halfway through my journey...
I celebrated Christmas in Hoi An with a group of backpackers, it was great fun and may have involved some vodka and teaching of schnapps songs (of course "vargen", my favourite)... The day after I went to a cooking course with lots of lovely food. I really need to start cooking more when I get back. I guess at least I will have the time as will be unemployed..., and noodles are cheap... Oh well, will try to not think about the future too much yet!
I really liked Hoi An, it's such a sweet little city. I've got a suit made up, it came out really nicely. It was such an amazing, and quite addictive, experience to have clothes made to really fit you. I SO want to go back to Vietnam with an empty suitcase to just shop: clothes, shoes, pottery, china, laquer....
After Hoi An I went to Hue. Hue could be nice I guess, it has lot's of old buildings and citadels, but the rain was pouring down the whole time. Also, we were really hassled the whole time there. That night in Hue I was so homesick. Days of rain (it rained most of the time during Christmas in Hoi an), alone (Steph left for Hanoi while I stayed in Hue), tired, cold, and hassled every step I took.... After a take away pizza eaten in bed while watching spiderman 3 on TV, everything felt a lot better.
The next day I continued by sleeper bus to Hanoi. The other sleeper buses have been OK, but this bus was older and my seat was way too short (shorter than all the others...) for me to try to be comfortable. Combined with Vietnamse karaoke videos on high volume (always appears to be only one volume setting, extremely loud or off), and someone used the toilet resulting in a very persistent stink througout the bus. All in all not a very pleasant journey...
In Hanoi I stayed at a hostel, with one of the best beds I had for 2 months, great! Great hostel overall, met lots of fun people. I was in Hanoi for about 4 days, I thought about going to Halong bay or Sapa, but decided in the end that I was quite tired and really wanted to stay in the same place for a few days. I celebrated new years at the hostel, lots of fun! I had a very relaxing first day of the year, just strolling around with a couple of the girls from the hostel, eating lovely ginger ice cream and lots of great Vietnamese food. If the rest of 2009 is going to be like the first day, then this will really be a good year :)
My plan originally was to go to Yunnan and Guangxi in China after Vietnam, but I changed my mind. Already Hanoi felt freezing (15-18C, but I've so got used to warmer climate now...) and was quite rainy, so I decided although I still really want to go to China, I'll save money and go next year (2010) instead at a time when the weather hopefully will be better. I hate to be both wet and cold... So where to go instead? Talk about luxury problem.... I've talked to my sister, discussing pros and cons of Malaysia, Laos and India, and finally decided on Malaysia because it's warm, cheap, and I really want to see the rainforests and orangutangs on Borneo.
I got to Kuala Lumpur yesterday, and I'm staying at one of the friendliest hostels ever. Great great staff! I've been walking around a little yesterday and today, and it's really hot and humid so once in awhile it's nice to cool down in one of all the shopping malls. KL is such a contrast to Vietnam. Lots of traffic here too, sure, but it's so quiet! Not the constant honking and millions of motorbikes and cars, and you can actually walk on the sidewalks as they're not used as parking space/garage/restaurant/shop/road.... And they have a metro and tram system!
Hmmm, just read through what I written, and don't want it to sound like I don't like Vietnam. I had a great great time in Vietnam, and really want to go there again, but Vietnam can be a bit full on at times. A bit exhausting really.
Anyhow, I booked a flight to Kuching in Sarawak region of Borneo for Monday. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do, but hope to first see some of Buko national park, maybe do a river trip along the Batang rejang and stay at longhouse. Then I think I either want to go to Gunung Mulu national park and then go to Kutu Kinabulo (KK) in the Sabak region of Borneo, or go directly from Kuching to KK. From KK I want to go to the Mount KK national park. Although I will for sure not try to walk up the mountain..., and from there to Sandakan and Sepilok orangutang rehabilitation centre. After visiting the orangutangs I think want to go to Sipadan to dive or snorkel, supposed to be amazing reefs there. Then finally back to Kuala Lumpur, then to Manila in Philippines via Hong Kong. I don't think I have time for both Gunung Mulu national park and Mount KK national park, but can't really decide on which to go to...
I've just been to the KL tower, amazing view despite clouds and drizzling rain. Walking around the towering scyscrapers feels almost like walking through a surreal forest made of concrete and glass... I'm going to head to Little India for lunch now (dhal, mmmm....) and to Chinatown later (more lovely food there I hope!). Sometimes I feel a bit obsessed by food, but I think it's one of the greatest things with travelling. And so far I've been lucky to not get ill no matter how much street food I've had... Yesterday tho I feasted on sushi, first time in 2 months so really had bad bad cravings for miso and wasabi.
Tomorrow I plan to do some more sightseeing, and also some shopping. I need new underwear! Seriously, this is a problem, and I couldn't really buy any knickers in Vietnam as I'm the size of two Vietnamese... When I was planning this trip and getting advice on what to pack, everyone said to not pack a lot of clothes because you can do your laundry everywhere and really cheaply. Sure, but after constant washing, my 5 pairs of underwear are falling to pieces... Really, how much more space and weight would another 5 pairs have taken???
Really really time to get going again, I'm starving...
Have an amazing new year all of you!!!
I celebrated Christmas in Hoi An with a group of backpackers, it was great fun and may have involved some vodka and teaching of schnapps songs (of course "vargen", my favourite)... The day after I went to a cooking course with lots of lovely food. I really need to start cooking more when I get back. I guess at least I will have the time as will be unemployed..., and noodles are cheap... Oh well, will try to not think about the future too much yet!
I really liked Hoi An, it's such a sweet little city. I've got a suit made up, it came out really nicely. It was such an amazing, and quite addictive, experience to have clothes made to really fit you. I SO want to go back to Vietnam with an empty suitcase to just shop: clothes, shoes, pottery, china, laquer....
After Hoi An I went to Hue. Hue could be nice I guess, it has lot's of old buildings and citadels, but the rain was pouring down the whole time. Also, we were really hassled the whole time there. That night in Hue I was so homesick. Days of rain (it rained most of the time during Christmas in Hoi an), alone (Steph left for Hanoi while I stayed in Hue), tired, cold, and hassled every step I took.... After a take away pizza eaten in bed while watching spiderman 3 on TV, everything felt a lot better.
The next day I continued by sleeper bus to Hanoi. The other sleeper buses have been OK, but this bus was older and my seat was way too short (shorter than all the others...) for me to try to be comfortable. Combined with Vietnamse karaoke videos on high volume (always appears to be only one volume setting, extremely loud or off), and someone used the toilet resulting in a very persistent stink througout the bus. All in all not a very pleasant journey...
In Hanoi I stayed at a hostel, with one of the best beds I had for 2 months, great! Great hostel overall, met lots of fun people. I was in Hanoi for about 4 days, I thought about going to Halong bay or Sapa, but decided in the end that I was quite tired and really wanted to stay in the same place for a few days. I celebrated new years at the hostel, lots of fun! I had a very relaxing first day of the year, just strolling around with a couple of the girls from the hostel, eating lovely ginger ice cream and lots of great Vietnamese food. If the rest of 2009 is going to be like the first day, then this will really be a good year :)
My plan originally was to go to Yunnan and Guangxi in China after Vietnam, but I changed my mind. Already Hanoi felt freezing (15-18C, but I've so got used to warmer climate now...) and was quite rainy, so I decided although I still really want to go to China, I'll save money and go next year (2010) instead at a time when the weather hopefully will be better. I hate to be both wet and cold... So where to go instead? Talk about luxury problem.... I've talked to my sister, discussing pros and cons of Malaysia, Laos and India, and finally decided on Malaysia because it's warm, cheap, and I really want to see the rainforests and orangutangs on Borneo.
I got to Kuala Lumpur yesterday, and I'm staying at one of the friendliest hostels ever. Great great staff! I've been walking around a little yesterday and today, and it's really hot and humid so once in awhile it's nice to cool down in one of all the shopping malls. KL is such a contrast to Vietnam. Lots of traffic here too, sure, but it's so quiet! Not the constant honking and millions of motorbikes and cars, and you can actually walk on the sidewalks as they're not used as parking space/garage/restaurant/shop/road.... And they have a metro and tram system!
Hmmm, just read through what I written, and don't want it to sound like I don't like Vietnam. I had a great great time in Vietnam, and really want to go there again, but Vietnam can be a bit full on at times. A bit exhausting really.
Anyhow, I booked a flight to Kuching in Sarawak region of Borneo for Monday. Not sure exactly what I'm going to do, but hope to first see some of Buko national park, maybe do a river trip along the Batang rejang and stay at longhouse. Then I think I either want to go to Gunung Mulu national park and then go to Kutu Kinabulo (KK) in the Sabak region of Borneo, or go directly from Kuching to KK. From KK I want to go to the Mount KK national park. Although I will for sure not try to walk up the mountain..., and from there to Sandakan and Sepilok orangutang rehabilitation centre. After visiting the orangutangs I think want to go to Sipadan to dive or snorkel, supposed to be amazing reefs there. Then finally back to Kuala Lumpur, then to Manila in Philippines via Hong Kong. I don't think I have time for both Gunung Mulu national park and Mount KK national park, but can't really decide on which to go to...
I've just been to the KL tower, amazing view despite clouds and drizzling rain. Walking around the towering scyscrapers feels almost like walking through a surreal forest made of concrete and glass... I'm going to head to Little India for lunch now (dhal, mmmm....) and to Chinatown later (more lovely food there I hope!). Sometimes I feel a bit obsessed by food, but I think it's one of the greatest things with travelling. And so far I've been lucky to not get ill no matter how much street food I've had... Yesterday tho I feasted on sushi, first time in 2 months so really had bad bad cravings for miso and wasabi.
Tomorrow I plan to do some more sightseeing, and also some shopping. I need new underwear! Seriously, this is a problem, and I couldn't really buy any knickers in Vietnam as I'm the size of two Vietnamese... When I was planning this trip and getting advice on what to pack, everyone said to not pack a lot of clothes because you can do your laundry everywhere and really cheaply. Sure, but after constant washing, my 5 pairs of underwear are falling to pieces... Really, how much more space and weight would another 5 pairs have taken???
Really really time to get going again, I'm starving...
Have an amazing new year all of you!!!
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