So, as I said in my first entry, one of my favorite things is to travel. I must admit, I have a lot of the pages of my passport stamped, but not for awhile...however, it's a passion that I will continue doing, and it's so great to have met someone that loves to travel as much as I do. So, back from my traveling days, I created a blog with only a few entries to share my travel experiences. I have always wanted to combine my travel blogs and my life into one page, and so I have copied the contents of my travelblog (getjealous.com/jee9355) onto here. Hope this works!
22nd Jan 2007 - 27th Jan 2007Finally Arrived!Man... rough travels from the freaken beginning! So I leave my house to go to the airport in blizzard conditions at the ass crack of dawn so I can make my flight...and all's well and great until I get to Tokyo, Japan. First off, I didn't even know that I had a layover in Japan until I checked in, and to make matters worse, they made me wait for 3 hours inside Narita International Airport, of which at the end they tell me that my flight to Bangkok is cancelled! At this point, I'm about to crap my pants...and after another 5 hours of waiting they comp a hotel room for me so I can catch another flight the next day. Phew~!!! I'm not complaining though...the five-star hotel with great buffets was compensation enough!
After that little bit of panic attack, I safely arrived in Bangkok and went to Koh San Road, which is a popular traveller's place with lots of hostels and great restaurants. I got settled in, and met up with a few of my friends and had dinner and drinks. Oh man~ for all you people stuck in the snow or rain, or other crappy weather conditions, you guys must make a trip out here! The weather is GORGEOUS here... it's a combination of the cool breeze and warm sun.
The Thailand that I've experienced so far is NOTHING like how it was last year when I came. Word of advice: DON'T GO WITH TOUR GROUPS!!!! I was telling some other travellers that I've met along the way that the tour group from last year took me to places like Pattaya...and they were APALLED!! They couldn't believe that these people would take tourists to Hookerville of Thailand...Anyways...you always learn from your mistakes, so it's a better vacation already.
Now get this... you all know that I TRY to be active as possible, but that doesn't always work out...i don't know...maybe due to my laziness and all...but I have decided to take up SCUBA DIVING!!!! I'm leaving to the island of Koh Tao, which is on the eastern side of the peninsula...and I will be getting certified to become an Open Water diver! So look forward to my adventures in the deep ocean!!!
27th Jan 2007 - 3rd Feb 2007Becoming Certified!So I arrived in Koh Tao, because that's the place that I paid to get certifed to dive in open waters. It's an AMAZING place because it's not yet been too commercialized, so you can definitely get the island feeling, which is EXACTLY what I wanted. So after settling in, it was time for school again! AHHHH~ I got done graduating and having to study and pass a final exam seemed like a "deja-vu" gone bad. But, it gave me a chance to meet a few cool people, a few of them from Sweden, and a girl from Canada, and my teacher, Kenji is from Japan. It took some getting used to his broken English, but being that I am also from the "fob" descent, it was pretty easy to decipher what he wanted us to get out of lecture. Anyways, the first couple of days were a lot of book work, and a little bit of pool time with our gears on, and then on the third day..... "~dum dum dum~" it was final exam time. I BARELY passed, the minimum being 75% to pass the exam. See, the philosophy that I had when I was going to CU still holds overseas. Don't OVER-ACHIEVE!!! hahaha...
Thinking that now it was time to get some real action, I was once again disappointed to learn that I had to pass yet ANOTHER test: physical examination. It included swimming a distance of 20 meters, float for 10 min, then swim back to shore. I don't know if any of you have seen me swim, but I'm NO professional by any means. Anyways, my classmates and I started to swim,and maybe after 10 strokes or so, my lungs start taking its toll, so i end up resting for a little bit, which is fine and dandy, except this Swedish guy Alex has to be the hero and help "rescue" me back to shore. Humiliating?? I think YES!! Adding to my humiliation, Kenji lets me know that I have to retake my physical exam AGAIN! Damn it! Now, as many of you ALSO know, I am a great negotiator. I could take money from a homeless guy in exchange for crap and make him think he's the winner of the trade. Anyways...so I start negotiating with Kenji, and the deal was this: a pass on my physical in exchange for 3 beers...haha... There's to be a lesson learned here all...."Bribery is an international language!!" haha
Here are a few pics that I took while in Koh Tao:
I loved it here so much, and the dives were so amazing, that I stayed here for a few more days to get my Advanced Open Water Diving certificate, which allows me to go night-diving, and as deep as 30 m (about 100 ft).
4th Feb 2007 - 14th Feb 2007Phuket and beyond~Ever since a few years back, I've always had a strong affinity to see Phuket. So what better timing than when I'm in Thailand right? I slowly made my way down to Phuket, not entirely sure of what to expect or what to do once I got there.
I had to stop by in a port city called Krabi, before stopping by Koh Phi Phi islands before arriving in Phuket. Now, this is where my naivete plays its part. In the guesthouse that I was staying at, the owner suggested to me that since I'll be in Krabi for two days, I should go to the Tiger Cave Temple, which will make half the day pass by. So, unknowing of what was in store for me, I set off to the temples. Once I got there, I seriously thought that I was going to be attacked by monkeys! They were EVERYWHERE! I thought if ever I will contract a disease while traveling, it would be here, in a crappy town of Krabi, visiting a Buddhist temple. I walked away unscathed, but not without pains. I started up to the main temple, and at first I thought it was strange that there were only stairs leading up to a hill, instead of a temple, but against my better judgement, I trudged on forward. After maybe half an hour's worth of me panting and sweating my ass off, I passed by a few others who were on their way down from visiting the temple on the hill, and on their way down, they told me that i was maybe a half of the way done before reaching the top. OH MY GOD~!!! Can you believe that?? Like I said, I should've been a little more attentive before starting on this expedition, because I did notice what seemed to me like random numbers on the railings, and come to find out, they indicate how many steps that I have gone up. I came to the realization on my 637th step, of which I had 600 more steps to go. It's moments like this, where my stupidity shines through, because most people would've stopped and turned around, but no...that was not good enough for Jess....so on I went to the top, and saw the temples, and I had another 1237 steps left to go on down. So this marked the beginning of what I thought was going to be beaches and cocktails, oh my! I started off my journey to Phuket walking like a retard and painful muscles.
I left to go to Koh Phi Phi, which by the way is the location where Leo DiCapriio's awful movie, "The Beach" was filmed. Anyways, like I said, I seriously could not even bend my legs or even touch them, that the task of finding a bungalow off the beach was a formidable one. I didn't enjoy the beaches of Koh Phi Phi as much as the scenery provided, mainly because I couldn't walk more than two steps without feeling pains. So what started off as maybe 4 nights of luxurious beach time, ended up being 2 nights of painful messages so that I can be well enough to travel to Phuket.
So I got to Phuket, and it was unlike any other islands that I've visited thus far. It's HUGE, and more westerners than freaken America!!! Don't get me wrong, after settling into a nice hotel room in Karon Beach, I enjoyed my times. I got to talking often to a couple of local ladies that sell clothes, so it was nice to hear from the local's perspective. Anyways, as nice and enjoyable a time it was, it was still a shock to find how prostitution was so apparent there! Even I was looked upon as a freaken Thai hooker, I'm guessing from the dark tan that I've obtained on the beaches so far, and it's not that the locals are actively promoting it, it's the freaken western old men that make it last! GEEZ~~!!! if u can't get it on your OWN, then DON'T~!!!!!! Aside from that, I really just lazed around on the beaches, and took up to renting a motorscooter, that I took for a tour around the island. Who can say that they have driven around all of Phuket?? I seriously see a motor scooter as an investment in the near future, if I end up moving into a city. hehe...anybody up for a ride?? haha Anyways, those who know me, know how much of a conservative freak i am, but I'm slowly starting to break that shell, because I had my very first TOPLESS experience on the beach!! hahaha...I had to perfect my tan right??? No, but seriously, everybody on the beach was topless, I was one of the very few who actually had a top on! hehe..So i tried it for a few minutes, and on my stomach~ but an experience nontheless...
Oh~! Another great experience I had was parasailing. Man~ that's a GREAT feeling! For you to be flying with nothing to see but white sands, crystal blue waters, and green hills...wow...that's an experience in itself...
I'm very sorry for the late entry of this particular diary...but going from islands to jungles, it's hard to find any internet! So thank you for checking in on me...and I'll be updating my pics and diaries as soon as I can. Coming up next is Jess in the rainforests of Malaysia...
17th Feb 2007 - 20th Feb 2007Happy New Year!So I get a tip from several of the travellers I've met, and they all said that Georgetown in Pinang, Malaysia, is THE place to be for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration. I was with Dave, Billy & Kristen at this time, so all of us were stoked! It couldn't have been better timing for us! I was already planning on going, but what a cherry on my sundae if I can catch the "real" celebration, right?
Well, I'm assuming that most of you who are reading this knows where I'm going with this, but I arrived during the night time on the 17th, and of course everything was closed. "Ok, Ok...it's the night time, of course there's nothing going on." was what I was telling myself. The next morning I wanted to check out the Kek Lok Si temple, which is the biggest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, and as I got up to go to the bus station the next morning, I noticed the eery feeling of being in a ghost town. I shook off that feeling, and had a wonderful time seeing the ins & outs of the temple as well as some parts of the town, but even after we got back, all the shops were still closed. "dum dum dum..." I was so curious on why this busy town was so deserted, so I asked the guesthouse owner, and he tells me that everyone has left to go celebrate with their families for the new year, and everything will reopen in 2 days. GEEZ! Great timing my ass!
Come to find out, usually the celebration lasts approximately 15 days, and the first 3 days are observed as national holiday, so everything...and i mean EVERYTHING closes for the first 3 days. It's the celebrations AFTERWARD that is so amazing. Of course, I wasn't planning on spending 15-16 days in Georgetown, so I just accepted it as my loss, and moved on to enjoy the rest of the time there.
We ended up doing a half-day walking tour of the city, and the people are very friendly and excited to see foreigners and not shy on talking at all. It was here, in Georgetown, that I tasted "Nasi Lemok," which is a Malay dish with rice mixed in with coconut, and a hot chili sauce mixed in with anchovies...YUMMY!! I'm serious...it was DAMN good.
Afterwards, it was time to prepare to go to Cameron Highlands...to do some light jungle treks, in the rain forests of Malaysia...hmm...i wonder how that will go..?
20th Feb 2007 - 28th Feb 2007JUNGLE FEVER!!!Boy...i don't even know how to begin talking about Cameron Highlands. To tell you the truth, this would be my first experience in an actual "jungle," so i didn't even know what to expect. From what i heard though, the weather is cooler, and the scenery is excellent..and it's definitely an experience and a warm up, that all people should go through before heading over to the rainforst, Taman Negara. For all of you who know me, I do like to go on little day hikes throughout Boulder, and being that it's a "solo" sport, I took advantage of this exercise many times back home. So in my mind, I thought I was in good enough shape to go on a jungle hike, NO PROBLEM!
UH...WRONG!!!
The first day would be what I consider to be "pain in my calves." It started out innocent enough. We thought that since it was going to be a few hour hike, we were just going to go on trails that were clearly marked on the map. [Just as a side note, I've acquired a pair of fake "Crocs" while travelling, because as much as high heels make a woman feel good, the blisters that form after a day's worth of walking does not. So, my main shoes these last couple of months has been the crocs.] So, I'm in my crocs, not knowing what was in store for us when we started our hike, but after maybe 30 min of walking, we made our way into the jungle. I mean the whole works, with ravines, mud, trees everywhere, brushes, bugs, and sweat. Seriously, a person could not see 5 ft. ahead of them because the forest engulfs you when you step in it. So we're climbing up, swinging through creeks on ravines (just picture Tarzan!!! haha), walking through water to get to the other bank, cutting through spikey plants,and god knows what other poisonous plants...and a jungle hike cannot be called a "hike," unless people get lost. So of course, we HAVE to experience ALL OF IT, and we get lost on top of a trail, and cannot find another trail to go back down into town. After maybe 30min of backtracking, and searching for trail marks, we find the way we came up...and that's the end of day 1.
Second day..is what i like to refer to as "beginning to lose sense in my calves"
As if the first day wasn't bad enough, we hired a guide for the day to lead us into the jungle. His name is John, from Germany. He's actually been travelling for 14 years...and loves it out in Cameron Highlands (so see guys? I'm not too crazy to travel a mere few months!!) Shoot...i have to continue this entry tomorrow...the internet place is closing...sorry!
22nd Feb 2007 - 28th Feb 2007JUNGLE FEVER...Part 2Sorry for the interruption! It seems that in Vietnam, internet only works during certain hours of the day, instead of all throughout the day. Also, everything closes pretty early, which means that after my bouts with drinking and enjoying the nightlife, the internet places are closed. Anyways..where was I?
Aw...the hike with John right? Alright, so he was telling our group that he's been trekking Cameron Highlands for years, and he has not hiked the same trail twice, and he goes practically EVERY freaken day!! He did let me know that I should consider buying some closed-toe shoes, instead of hiking with my Crocs, so I went out into "town" (it was really a small street with 1 supermarket) and given my choices, I chose these horrific black rubber shoes, which cost me $3, to do my hike in. So, we were pretty excited and none the wiser for what was in store for us. He took us through what seemed like a lifetime (actual time was 2.5hours) of straight trekking; up and down, through mud and dust..etc, where we came to a tea plantation (I guess Cameron Highlands is THE place to drink or buy tea, for there are many tea plantations all over which are picked and sent through the factory to be mass produced and manufactured worldwide) for a little break. Mind you, we were 7 filthy people who were sweating balls, with mud all over our clothes, and the tea plantations in Cameron Highlands are usually a very touristy spot, with well-dressed vacationers with their families, so you can imagine the shock on these people's faces when they saw the 7 of us coming down the mountain. After our 20-30min break, we had to be off into the jungle to get back home before sun-down, so again, the seven of us were off, up into the jungles of Cameron Highlands, with awe-struck faces behind us. I mean they probably thought that we were freaks or something! Most people came there in air-conditioned buses/vans/cars, and we were traipsing into the jungle like some weirdo-wild cavemen or something...haha!
So that was the end of my time in Cameron Highlands. And the black rubber shoes prove to be quite the purchase, for they were life-savers for my trek in Taman Negara. But, that's a future diary entry, which will be up soon! After the highlands, we were off to the Perhentian Islands, back to soaking up the sun!
Getting to Perhentian Islands was quite a bumpy and uncomfortable experience, for after several hours in a mini-van (without a/c!!!), we were dropped off at the port, from where we had to take a "speed boat" to the beach. The speed boat was packed on with 8-10 people+driver+worker, and off we went!! I swear, I think the speed boat driver and the worker got some sick satisfaction of scaring the passengers, because every wave was felt on the boat as well as splashes of sea water, and because they were going so fast, everyone was holding onto the rails for dear life, which was accompanied by their laughs. I think I lost an inch or two from landing so hard on my seat from these jumps! Anyways, being that the island just opened maybe a week or two before we went (I guess it was "off season"), it was fairly quiet, with not many tourists crowding the beach. We wanted to spend a relaxing 4-5 days, filled with diving and beach time before heading off to Taman Negara, and I wanted to take full advantage of the allotted beach fun! The bungalow that I was to stay in for the time on the island, was definitely not my #1 choice, for after opening the door, I was confronted by a freaken gecko, the size of my forearm, and an ant farm, blocking the entry. The gecko obviously didn't do its job of eating the freaken insects, because I had to evacuate the premises after I sprayed the whole room down with insecticide! But after that initial shock, I started to really enjoy the beach. Just imagine...the sound of the waves hitting the shore in the distance, with the quiet sound of nature just outside your window, and a soft breeze gently flowing through your hair....hmm...it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!! The rest of the days on the island consisted of walking 10min a day to get to the other beach (have you guys ever seen a monitor lizzard before? It's a monster of an amphibian, ranging from 3-6ft long!), 3 dives, and a lot of beach fun (throwing frisbees, snorkeling, reading, etc...), and it was time to say good-bye to start another adventure in Taman Negara. So stay tuned...more fun times to come!!
28th Feb 2007 - 2nd Mar 2007Queen of the jungle!
So a little background information is called for when explaining the terrains and environment of Taman Negara. It is the National Rainforest of Malaysia, which is famous because it is estimated to be the oldest jungle in the world, at 130 million years old. Supposedly the last Ice Age did not have any effect here, and the area has not been impacted by volcanic activity, earthquakes or other geological catastrophies. This means that the eco-system had evolved uninterrupted, which resulted in freakishly huge insects and wild animals. Of course, I was expecting a couple of days worth of REALLY being in the wild, trekking. If you guys are wondering what the hell I was thinking, well.. me too! As many of you know, the only camping I did was back in highschool, and I ended up sleeping in the car, and Angie and I went down to the local 7-11 to brush our teeth in the morning. So, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into, but it had to be done.
I was fairly lucky because on the bus-ride (I say the term "bus" loosely, because it was actually a 12-seater van without freaken a/c!) I met 4 other people on, a couple from Holland (Brechia & Rumor) and two from Switzerland (their names escape me at this time). Anyways, we started to talk and they were wondering if I wanted to go in with them to hire a guide for our trek in Taman Negara, of which I gladly accepted. We got along famously, being from different nations/cultures, so we were more curious of each other than anything else. So we get to the town, and we book our rooms at the Park Lodge, and we set off to book our guide for the next day. In order to do so, we needed to cross the river to the booking office. Now, here's a great job for anyone who's looking. There's a guy in a boat with a motor attached, with make-shift benches who's main goal is to drive back and forth for $1/person each way, a distance of maybe 10-15 meters. The ride lasted only a few seconds for crying out loud! Anyways, we book our guide for 1-night, 2-days, and we were told that we had to have enough supplies (food & water) to last the whole group 2 full days. In actualy terms, we ended up buying 24 of the 1.5L waters, as well as 2 cans of tuna, 2 bottles of jam, 3 salt shakers and 6 loaves of bread. Just as a side note: If any of you are wondering why salt, right? Well, the rain forest is known for its many leeches and in order to get them off, you need to sprinkle salt on them and they just pop right off. After hearing about the leeches, my fashion was rolled up pants with socks over them with my black rubber shoes.
So in our group of 6 plus guide, we divided the packs up and each of us had to have 6 bottles of water on our backs for the first day. Hell has a new meaning to me now, because not only was I in constant lookout for insects (ants 1.5 inches long!) and leeches, I had to lug all the weight of my pack as well. After a full day's worth of hiking (4-5hours of rough terrain), we get to our "hide" (a hut on stilts so that wild animals can't eat you in the night) to camp out for the night. When we booked our trek, the office told us that the hide came with beds/cots and bathrooms with running water, but that was far from the truth. What the hide consisted of were wooden cots (think concentration camp style) and ONE bathroom with no light & a nice HUGE ass spider right near the door. I was SOAKED through with sweat (it's tropical weather in the rainforest and I had to walk for 5 hours! Give me a break!) but I did not even have energy to get up wash myself, or anything. For our dinner before we went to sleep, we had tuna spread on white bread (protein) & delicious water! There's really not much to do in the wild, with no form of entertainment, and in order for the wild animals to come out, we all had to be really quiet, but during this time we had fun learning more about each other's cultures and just being silly. Anyways, I must have passed out from exhaustion, and what seemed like only a few minutes of shut-eye, our guide wakes us up to see a Tapir (a rare animal found in Asia, see pictures page). It was just an amazing experience altogether though, the closeness of our group, the adventures in nature, the incredible forestation and plantlife, and wild animals and insects.. wow! This trek will leave a lasting impression for as long as I'll live! I'm thinking my next vacation should be the Amazon!! Anyone want to join?? Haha..
this thing was HUGE!! yikes!
In the midst of the forest, there's many canopy walkways (just imagine the walking the bridge at Royal Gorge, but instead of the bridge being as wide enough for a car to go through, it was only wide enough for maybe one small person, and the bridge shakes as you walk through!), which we definitely wanted to go through. Anyways, at the end of 2 days, we all made it back safely, me being the only one that had no leeches!! One guy had freaken 10 after we got back to our hotel (refer to picture). After our adventure, it was time to leave this wonderful place, and the jetty boat ride out of Teman Negara was as pleasant as trekking in it.
So what did you guys think about my adventure as a true mountain woman?? Haha It's hard to imagine, I know, but definitely something I'm likely to do more often when I get back. Get ready to go camping!!
22nd Jan 2007 - 27th Jan 2007Finally Arrived!Man... rough travels from the freaken beginning! So I leave my house to go to the airport in blizzard conditions at the ass crack of dawn so I can make my flight...and all's well and great until I get to Tokyo, Japan. First off, I didn't even know that I had a layover in Japan until I checked in, and to make matters worse, they made me wait for 3 hours inside Narita International Airport, of which at the end they tell me that my flight to Bangkok is cancelled! At this point, I'm about to crap my pants...and after another 5 hours of waiting they comp a hotel room for me so I can catch another flight the next day. Phew~!!! I'm not complaining though...the five-star hotel with great buffets was compensation enough!
After that little bit of panic attack, I safely arrived in Bangkok and went to Koh San Road, which is a popular traveller's place with lots of hostels and great restaurants. I got settled in, and met up with a few of my friends and had dinner and drinks. Oh man~ for all you people stuck in the snow or rain, or other crappy weather conditions, you guys must make a trip out here! The weather is GORGEOUS here... it's a combination of the cool breeze and warm sun.
The Thailand that I've experienced so far is NOTHING like how it was last year when I came. Word of advice: DON'T GO WITH TOUR GROUPS!!!! I was telling some other travellers that I've met along the way that the tour group from last year took me to places like Pattaya...and they were APALLED!! They couldn't believe that these people would take tourists to Hookerville of Thailand...Anyways...you always learn from your mistakes, so it's a better vacation already.
Now get this... you all know that I TRY to be active as possible, but that doesn't always work out...i don't know...maybe due to my laziness and all...but I have decided to take up SCUBA DIVING!!!! I'm leaving to the island of Koh Tao, which is on the eastern side of the peninsula...and I will be getting certified to become an Open Water diver! So look forward to my adventures in the deep ocean!!!
27th Jan 2007 - 3rd Feb 2007Becoming Certified!So I arrived in Koh Tao, because that's the place that I paid to get certifed to dive in open waters. It's an AMAZING place because it's not yet been too commercialized, so you can definitely get the island feeling, which is EXACTLY what I wanted. So after settling in, it was time for school again! AHHHH~ I got done graduating and having to study and pass a final exam seemed like a "deja-vu" gone bad. But, it gave me a chance to meet a few cool people, a few of them from Sweden, and a girl from Canada, and my teacher, Kenji is from Japan. It took some getting used to his broken English, but being that I am also from the "fob" descent, it was pretty easy to decipher what he wanted us to get out of lecture. Anyways, the first couple of days were a lot of book work, and a little bit of pool time with our gears on, and then on the third day..... "~dum dum dum~" it was final exam time. I BARELY passed, the minimum being 75% to pass the exam. See, the philosophy that I had when I was going to CU still holds overseas. Don't OVER-ACHIEVE!!! hahaha...
Thinking that now it was time to get some real action, I was once again disappointed to learn that I had to pass yet ANOTHER test: physical examination. It included swimming a distance of 20 meters, float for 10 min, then swim back to shore. I don't know if any of you have seen me swim, but I'm NO professional by any means. Anyways, my classmates and I started to swim,and maybe after 10 strokes or so, my lungs start taking its toll, so i end up resting for a little bit, which is fine and dandy, except this Swedish guy Alex has to be the hero and help "rescue" me back to shore. Humiliating?? I think YES!! Adding to my humiliation, Kenji lets me know that I have to retake my physical exam AGAIN! Damn it! Now, as many of you ALSO know, I am a great negotiator. I could take money from a homeless guy in exchange for crap and make him think he's the winner of the trade. Anyways...so I start negotiating with Kenji, and the deal was this: a pass on my physical in exchange for 3 beers...haha... There's to be a lesson learned here all...."Bribery is an international language!!" haha
Here are a few pics that I took while in Koh Tao:
I loved it here so much, and the dives were so amazing, that I stayed here for a few more days to get my Advanced Open Water Diving certificate, which allows me to go night-diving, and as deep as 30 m (about 100 ft).
4th Feb 2007 - 14th Feb 2007Phuket and beyond~Ever since a few years back, I've always had a strong affinity to see Phuket. So what better timing than when I'm in Thailand right? I slowly made my way down to Phuket, not entirely sure of what to expect or what to do once I got there.
I had to stop by in a port city called Krabi, before stopping by Koh Phi Phi islands before arriving in Phuket. Now, this is where my naivete plays its part. In the guesthouse that I was staying at, the owner suggested to me that since I'll be in Krabi for two days, I should go to the Tiger Cave Temple, which will make half the day pass by. So, unknowing of what was in store for me, I set off to the temples. Once I got there, I seriously thought that I was going to be attacked by monkeys! They were EVERYWHERE! I thought if ever I will contract a disease while traveling, it would be here, in a crappy town of Krabi, visiting a Buddhist temple. I walked away unscathed, but not without pains. I started up to the main temple, and at first I thought it was strange that there were only stairs leading up to a hill, instead of a temple, but against my better judgement, I trudged on forward. After maybe half an hour's worth of me panting and sweating my ass off, I passed by a few others who were on their way down from visiting the temple on the hill, and on their way down, they told me that i was maybe a half of the way done before reaching the top. OH MY GOD~!!! Can you believe that?? Like I said, I should've been a little more attentive before starting on this expedition, because I did notice what seemed to me like random numbers on the railings, and come to find out, they indicate how many steps that I have gone up. I came to the realization on my 637th step, of which I had 600 more steps to go. It's moments like this, where my stupidity shines through, because most people would've stopped and turned around, but no...that was not good enough for Jess....so on I went to the top, and saw the temples, and I had another 1237 steps left to go on down. So this marked the beginning of what I thought was going to be beaches and cocktails, oh my! I started off my journey to Phuket walking like a retard and painful muscles.
I left to go to Koh Phi Phi, which by the way is the location where Leo DiCapriio's awful movie, "The Beach" was filmed. Anyways, like I said, I seriously could not even bend my legs or even touch them, that the task of finding a bungalow off the beach was a formidable one. I didn't enjoy the beaches of Koh Phi Phi as much as the scenery provided, mainly because I couldn't walk more than two steps without feeling pains. So what started off as maybe 4 nights of luxurious beach time, ended up being 2 nights of painful messages so that I can be well enough to travel to Phuket.
So I got to Phuket, and it was unlike any other islands that I've visited thus far. It's HUGE, and more westerners than freaken America!!! Don't get me wrong, after settling into a nice hotel room in Karon Beach, I enjoyed my times. I got to talking often to a couple of local ladies that sell clothes, so it was nice to hear from the local's perspective. Anyways, as nice and enjoyable a time it was, it was still a shock to find how prostitution was so apparent there! Even I was looked upon as a freaken Thai hooker, I'm guessing from the dark tan that I've obtained on the beaches so far, and it's not that the locals are actively promoting it, it's the freaken western old men that make it last! GEEZ~~!!! if u can't get it on your OWN, then DON'T~!!!!!! Aside from that, I really just lazed around on the beaches, and took up to renting a motorscooter, that I took for a tour around the island. Who can say that they have driven around all of Phuket?? I seriously see a motor scooter as an investment in the near future, if I end up moving into a city. hehe...anybody up for a ride?? haha Anyways, those who know me, know how much of a conservative freak i am, but I'm slowly starting to break that shell, because I had my very first TOPLESS experience on the beach!! hahaha...I had to perfect my tan right??? No, but seriously, everybody on the beach was topless, I was one of the very few who actually had a top on! hehe..So i tried it for a few minutes, and on my stomach~ but an experience nontheless...
Oh~! Another great experience I had was parasailing. Man~ that's a GREAT feeling! For you to be flying with nothing to see but white sands, crystal blue waters, and green hills...wow...that's an experience in itself...
I'm very sorry for the late entry of this particular diary...but going from islands to jungles, it's hard to find any internet! So thank you for checking in on me...and I'll be updating my pics and diaries as soon as I can. Coming up next is Jess in the rainforests of Malaysia...
17th Feb 2007 - 20th Feb 2007Happy New Year!So I get a tip from several of the travellers I've met, and they all said that Georgetown in Pinang, Malaysia, is THE place to be for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration. I was with Dave, Billy & Kristen at this time, so all of us were stoked! It couldn't have been better timing for us! I was already planning on going, but what a cherry on my sundae if I can catch the "real" celebration, right?
Well, I'm assuming that most of you who are reading this knows where I'm going with this, but I arrived during the night time on the 17th, and of course everything was closed. "Ok, Ok...it's the night time, of course there's nothing going on." was what I was telling myself. The next morning I wanted to check out the Kek Lok Si temple, which is the biggest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, and as I got up to go to the bus station the next morning, I noticed the eery feeling of being in a ghost town. I shook off that feeling, and had a wonderful time seeing the ins & outs of the temple as well as some parts of the town, but even after we got back, all the shops were still closed. "dum dum dum..." I was so curious on why this busy town was so deserted, so I asked the guesthouse owner, and he tells me that everyone has left to go celebrate with their families for the new year, and everything will reopen in 2 days. GEEZ! Great timing my ass!
Come to find out, usually the celebration lasts approximately 15 days, and the first 3 days are observed as national holiday, so everything...and i mean EVERYTHING closes for the first 3 days. It's the celebrations AFTERWARD that is so amazing. Of course, I wasn't planning on spending 15-16 days in Georgetown, so I just accepted it as my loss, and moved on to enjoy the rest of the time there.
We ended up doing a half-day walking tour of the city, and the people are very friendly and excited to see foreigners and not shy on talking at all. It was here, in Georgetown, that I tasted "Nasi Lemok," which is a Malay dish with rice mixed in with coconut, and a hot chili sauce mixed in with anchovies...YUMMY!! I'm serious...it was DAMN good.
Afterwards, it was time to prepare to go to Cameron Highlands...to do some light jungle treks, in the rain forests of Malaysia...hmm...i wonder how that will go..?
20th Feb 2007 - 28th Feb 2007JUNGLE FEVER!!!Boy...i don't even know how to begin talking about Cameron Highlands. To tell you the truth, this would be my first experience in an actual "jungle," so i didn't even know what to expect. From what i heard though, the weather is cooler, and the scenery is excellent..and it's definitely an experience and a warm up, that all people should go through before heading over to the rainforst, Taman Negara. For all of you who know me, I do like to go on little day hikes throughout Boulder, and being that it's a "solo" sport, I took advantage of this exercise many times back home. So in my mind, I thought I was in good enough shape to go on a jungle hike, NO PROBLEM!
UH...WRONG!!!
The first day would be what I consider to be "pain in my calves." It started out innocent enough. We thought that since it was going to be a few hour hike, we were just going to go on trails that were clearly marked on the map. [Just as a side note, I've acquired a pair of fake "Crocs" while travelling, because as much as high heels make a woman feel good, the blisters that form after a day's worth of walking does not. So, my main shoes these last couple of months has been the crocs.] So, I'm in my crocs, not knowing what was in store for us when we started our hike, but after maybe 30 min of walking, we made our way into the jungle. I mean the whole works, with ravines, mud, trees everywhere, brushes, bugs, and sweat. Seriously, a person could not see 5 ft. ahead of them because the forest engulfs you when you step in it. So we're climbing up, swinging through creeks on ravines (just picture Tarzan!!! haha), walking through water to get to the other bank, cutting through spikey plants,and god knows what other poisonous plants...and a jungle hike cannot be called a "hike," unless people get lost. So of course, we HAVE to experience ALL OF IT, and we get lost on top of a trail, and cannot find another trail to go back down into town. After maybe 30min of backtracking, and searching for trail marks, we find the way we came up...and that's the end of day 1.
Second day..is what i like to refer to as "beginning to lose sense in my calves"
As if the first day wasn't bad enough, we hired a guide for the day to lead us into the jungle. His name is John, from Germany. He's actually been travelling for 14 years...and loves it out in Cameron Highlands (so see guys? I'm not too crazy to travel a mere few months!!) Shoot...i have to continue this entry tomorrow...the internet place is closing...sorry!
22nd Feb 2007 - 28th Feb 2007JUNGLE FEVER...Part 2Sorry for the interruption! It seems that in Vietnam, internet only works during certain hours of the day, instead of all throughout the day. Also, everything closes pretty early, which means that after my bouts with drinking and enjoying the nightlife, the internet places are closed. Anyways..where was I?
Aw...the hike with John right? Alright, so he was telling our group that he's been trekking Cameron Highlands for years, and he has not hiked the same trail twice, and he goes practically EVERY freaken day!! He did let me know that I should consider buying some closed-toe shoes, instead of hiking with my Crocs, so I went out into "town" (it was really a small street with 1 supermarket) and given my choices, I chose these horrific black rubber shoes, which cost me $3, to do my hike in. So, we were pretty excited and none the wiser for what was in store for us. He took us through what seemed like a lifetime (actual time was 2.5hours) of straight trekking; up and down, through mud and dust..etc, where we came to a tea plantation (I guess Cameron Highlands is THE place to drink or buy tea, for there are many tea plantations all over which are picked and sent through the factory to be mass produced and manufactured worldwide) for a little break. Mind you, we were 7 filthy people who were sweating balls, with mud all over our clothes, and the tea plantations in Cameron Highlands are usually a very touristy spot, with well-dressed vacationers with their families, so you can imagine the shock on these people's faces when they saw the 7 of us coming down the mountain. After our 20-30min break, we had to be off into the jungle to get back home before sun-down, so again, the seven of us were off, up into the jungles of Cameron Highlands, with awe-struck faces behind us. I mean they probably thought that we were freaks or something! Most people came there in air-conditioned buses/vans/cars, and we were traipsing into the jungle like some weirdo-wild cavemen or something...haha!
So that was the end of my time in Cameron Highlands. And the black rubber shoes prove to be quite the purchase, for they were life-savers for my trek in Taman Negara. But, that's a future diary entry, which will be up soon! After the highlands, we were off to the Perhentian Islands, back to soaking up the sun!
Getting to Perhentian Islands was quite a bumpy and uncomfortable experience, for after several hours in a mini-van (without a/c!!!), we were dropped off at the port, from where we had to take a "speed boat" to the beach. The speed boat was packed on with 8-10 people+driver+worker, and off we went!! I swear, I think the speed boat driver and the worker got some sick satisfaction of scaring the passengers, because every wave was felt on the boat as well as splashes of sea water, and because they were going so fast, everyone was holding onto the rails for dear life, which was accompanied by their laughs. I think I lost an inch or two from landing so hard on my seat from these jumps! Anyways, being that the island just opened maybe a week or two before we went (I guess it was "off season"), it was fairly quiet, with not many tourists crowding the beach. We wanted to spend a relaxing 4-5 days, filled with diving and beach time before heading off to Taman Negara, and I wanted to take full advantage of the allotted beach fun! The bungalow that I was to stay in for the time on the island, was definitely not my #1 choice, for after opening the door, I was confronted by a freaken gecko, the size of my forearm, and an ant farm, blocking the entry. The gecko obviously didn't do its job of eating the freaken insects, because I had to evacuate the premises after I sprayed the whole room down with insecticide! But after that initial shock, I started to really enjoy the beach. Just imagine...the sound of the waves hitting the shore in the distance, with the quiet sound of nature just outside your window, and a soft breeze gently flowing through your hair....hmm...it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!! The rest of the days on the island consisted of walking 10min a day to get to the other beach (have you guys ever seen a monitor lizzard before? It's a monster of an amphibian, ranging from 3-6ft long!), 3 dives, and a lot of beach fun (throwing frisbees, snorkeling, reading, etc...), and it was time to say good-bye to start another adventure in Taman Negara. So stay tuned...more fun times to come!!
28th Feb 2007 - 2nd Mar 2007Queen of the jungle!
So a little background information is called for when explaining the terrains and environment of Taman Negara. It is the National Rainforest of Malaysia, which is famous because it is estimated to be the oldest jungle in the world, at 130 million years old. Supposedly the last Ice Age did not have any effect here, and the area has not been impacted by volcanic activity, earthquakes or other geological catastrophies. This means that the eco-system had evolved uninterrupted, which resulted in freakishly huge insects and wild animals. Of course, I was expecting a couple of days worth of REALLY being in the wild, trekking. If you guys are wondering what the hell I was thinking, well.. me too! As many of you know, the only camping I did was back in highschool, and I ended up sleeping in the car, and Angie and I went down to the local 7-11 to brush our teeth in the morning. So, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into, but it had to be done.
I was fairly lucky because on the bus-ride (I say the term "bus" loosely, because it was actually a 12-seater van without freaken a/c!) I met 4 other people on, a couple from Holland (Brechia & Rumor) and two from Switzerland (their names escape me at this time). Anyways, we started to talk and they were wondering if I wanted to go in with them to hire a guide for our trek in Taman Negara, of which I gladly accepted. We got along famously, being from different nations/cultures, so we were more curious of each other than anything else. So we get to the town, and we book our rooms at the Park Lodge, and we set off to book our guide for the next day. In order to do so, we needed to cross the river to the booking office. Now, here's a great job for anyone who's looking. There's a guy in a boat with a motor attached, with make-shift benches who's main goal is to drive back and forth for $1/person each way, a distance of maybe 10-15 meters. The ride lasted only a few seconds for crying out loud! Anyways, we book our guide for 1-night, 2-days, and we were told that we had to have enough supplies (food & water) to last the whole group 2 full days. In actualy terms, we ended up buying 24 of the 1.5L waters, as well as 2 cans of tuna, 2 bottles of jam, 3 salt shakers and 6 loaves of bread. Just as a side note: If any of you are wondering why salt, right? Well, the rain forest is known for its many leeches and in order to get them off, you need to sprinkle salt on them and they just pop right off. After hearing about the leeches, my fashion was rolled up pants with socks over them with my black rubber shoes.
So in our group of 6 plus guide, we divided the packs up and each of us had to have 6 bottles of water on our backs for the first day. Hell has a new meaning to me now, because not only was I in constant lookout for insects (ants 1.5 inches long!) and leeches, I had to lug all the weight of my pack as well. After a full day's worth of hiking (4-5hours of rough terrain), we get to our "hide" (a hut on stilts so that wild animals can't eat you in the night) to camp out for the night. When we booked our trek, the office told us that the hide came with beds/cots and bathrooms with running water, but that was far from the truth. What the hide consisted of were wooden cots (think concentration camp style) and ONE bathroom with no light & a nice HUGE ass spider right near the door. I was SOAKED through with sweat (it's tropical weather in the rainforest and I had to walk for 5 hours! Give me a break!) but I did not even have energy to get up wash myself, or anything. For our dinner before we went to sleep, we had tuna spread on white bread (protein) & delicious water! There's really not much to do in the wild, with no form of entertainment, and in order for the wild animals to come out, we all had to be really quiet, but during this time we had fun learning more about each other's cultures and just being silly. Anyways, I must have passed out from exhaustion, and what seemed like only a few minutes of shut-eye, our guide wakes us up to see a Tapir (a rare animal found in Asia, see pictures page). It was just an amazing experience altogether though, the closeness of our group, the adventures in nature, the incredible forestation and plantlife, and wild animals and insects.. wow! This trek will leave a lasting impression for as long as I'll live! I'm thinking my next vacation should be the Amazon!! Anyone want to join?? Haha..
this thing was HUGE!! yikes!
In the midst of the forest, there's many canopy walkways (just imagine the walking the bridge at Royal Gorge, but instead of the bridge being as wide enough for a car to go through, it was only wide enough for maybe one small person, and the bridge shakes as you walk through!), which we definitely wanted to go through. Anyways, at the end of 2 days, we all made it back safely, me being the only one that had no leeches!! One guy had freaken 10 after we got back to our hotel (refer to picture). After our adventure, it was time to leave this wonderful place, and the jetty boat ride out of Teman Negara was as pleasant as trekking in it.
So what did you guys think about my adventure as a true mountain woman?? Haha It's hard to imagine, I know, but definitely something I'm likely to do more often when I get back. Get ready to go camping!!
