Travel Indignities

Final post

Kate — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 17:19:00 +0000

After much badgering from Michael, I'm finally putting up my final post. After rediscovering my password and remembering how to post to my blog, here goes.

After the Not So Great Barrier Reef, we had a lovely visit in Sydney with friends of Michael's family. They were incredibly gracious hosts and it was a great way to finish off our journey.

Upon returning to America our first stop was Carmel Valley, CA to visit Michael's mother, catch up on New Yorkers, and some much needed sleep. After a few days, we settled into life in Boston. I returned to UMMS, and after a summer off and 5 weeks in Europe, Michael started work at Bose.

And last week brought the biggest change in our lives to date. Sam Kinyon Agerbak was born on March 22 (3 weeks early) at 4:57 pm, weighing 6 lbs 12 ounces.

And last but not least, we set a date to get married - October 14th, 2007.

The Not So Great Barrier Reef

Kate — Fri, 12 May 2006 04:53:00 +0000

Next, onto Cairns. Cairns is another popular beach town which caters to folks wanting to dive the outer bits of the Great Barrier Reef. The advantage of going further out is that the Reef is less trafficked and has not suffered as much damage from all the tourism.

While the original idea was to do an overnight on a dive boat, a refreshingly honest travel agent told us the weather was pretty harsh out on the Reef and she would not recommend doing more than a day trip. She had just been out diving a few days before so it seemed pretty good advice.

That said, we found a one day, two dive trip that left the following morning. As the travel agent had warned about rough seas I picked up some seasickness medication for the trip. This comes in two varieties - natural (which is basically ginger) and chemical. The chemical kind makes you sleepy so I went for natural. This may have been my first mistake.

So we get on the boat and are informed that it's going to be a hard and wet ride. We are advised to take seasickness medication and shown where the seasickness bags are kept. We are told that the winds are at 30 knots so be prepared.

I was actually pretty ok for the first hour (of an hour and 45 minute trip). When I started to feel sick I requested some of the chemical medication but I think it was a little late as I filled three full barfbags about 10 minutes later. The good news was that I was not the only one and I felt much better after the fact. Nicole Richie's got nothing on me - I can take her. See photo of me with barfbags (an after shot).

By the time we got to the first dive site my stomach had calmed down. Most of the folks onboard were snorkeling, a few were doing an intro dive (for people who aren't certified divers but want to get the feel of diving), and a few were doing guided dives. We were the only folks doing a nonguided dive so we were pretty psyched about that.

What was nuts was the winds were still going strong and the waves were pretty high and you're out in the middle of nowhere. How anyone snorkeled here I have no idea. It's so much better underwater. I really thought those snorkelers were nuts.

So first dive was good - the visibility wasn't great but it was fun to be on our own. The only freaky part was when we surfaced we came up facing nothing - no boat, no people, no nothing. It was like that bad movie where the divers get left behind. Luckily when we turned around we saw the boat about 100 feet away and just swam over.

After lunch was when the trouble began for me. We were briefed on the dive and the routine was pretty much just like the first time. So we jumped in and swam over to the reef just like before. But this time it was raining harder and the waves seemed to be bigger and I started to freak out. When we got to the reef, Michael gave the signal to go down and as we started to descend I freaked out. I came up after going down about 3 feet and felt like I couldn't breathe. In short I was hyperventilating. I've never been a big fan of the initial descent anyway so being as I was already freaked out from the conditions I think I was just panicking a bit.

Michael came up and swam closer and tried to figure out what was going on. I told him I was hyperventaliting, etc. and he talked me through slowing down my breathing, etc. The funny thing is that I knew it was better underwater - no waves, all the air I could want, etc. but I was just having a hard time getting down. After about two minutes I was ready to try again and this time we made it down without incident. This is now known as the, "Michael saves Katie's life" event. After that it was pretty smooth going. There were some cool swim-throughs which we had never done before and we got to pose by a huge purple clam for an underwater photographer.

The boat ride back was just crazy as the ride there. By the time we got back to shore I had taken a total of five seasickness pills BUT I used no barfbags on the way back. A minor victory.

Now we spend the next 24 hours in Cairns (as you have to wait to fly after diving) and then off to Melbourne.

Final observation. Here's a little piece of art I saw this am in Cairns - a bunch of plastic and wooden turtles and things in the shape of turtles going into the local art museum. Just my kind of art.

Come a Waltzing Matilda with Me

Kate — Fri, 12 May 2006 04:47:00 +0000

We were lucky that our boat had fewer passengers than usual - 10 instead of 14. This gave us all a bit more room to spread out and relax. Wayne was our trusty skipper and Paul our chef - I use that term loosely - and overall boat guy. We were also lucky that everyone on the boat was nice and interesting - no obvious weirdos or strange folks. In sum, four Germans, two Brits (not including Michael), two Americans and us.

Our days were spent sailing, snorkeling, and hanging out on the beach.

If you want to dive around here and you're not on a dive boat - no problem. Your sailboat will take you to the dive boat. It's sort of like a floating bookmobile where they ferry you over and on this little boat are wetsuits, tanks, BCDs, fins, etc. So while others were snorkeling one day we did a dive. Saw some really big fish which was cool.

Because it is still jellyfish season you cannot get into the water without a stinger suit. These are lycra body suits which are hard for anyone to pull off. I thought this picture of Michael looked pretty good - I call it the Charlie's Angels shot.

My favorite part of the trip were the sunsets. We would sit on deck, drinking from our boxes of wine, eating processed cheese and crackers. All this while someone else was preparing dinner and would later do the dishes. We were clearly back in a first world country.

During one of our beach mornings Michael went walking between these two islands on a sandbar that was about 1 foot underwater.

After three days it was time to return to dry land. While I had a great time I'm not sure I have the best sea legs for the long haul. This will become more apparent in the next posting. But all in all, good fun and highly recommended.

Welcome to Oz

Kate — Fri, 12 May 2006 04:44:00 +0000

After climbing the glaciers it was time to head east again and get ready for our trip to Australia. We hauled ass for 2 days driving on some very curvy and narrow roads, which made night driving pretty exciting. One night in the middle of the drive through the Southern Alps we had to find our rough camping site in complete darkness. We pulled over at one place by the railroad tracks but both Susanne and I got freaked out when we saw a lone campervan hidden in the bushes. Much to Michael's dismay we insisted on moving, luckily only another mile up the road. Here we saw a few more campers and it didn't feel so much like a scene out of a Friday the 13th movie.

We spent our last night in Christchurch at the airport holiday park so we would be close by for our 6:15 am departure to Brisbane. Susanne was a real trooper - not only did she get up at 4 am to drive us to the airport, she also had to clean out the camper all by herself - even the yucky bits.

Getting to Australia turned out to be a bit of a chore - see Michael's blog for details of our visa fiasco. I think that after almost five months of traveling we might be losing our touch a bit - getting a bit lazy, a little slack, whatever. In the end it was a miracle that we were able to board our flight.

That same day we flew up the east coast of Australia to Airlie Beach. The gig in Airlie Beach is to take a 2-3 day cruise around the Whitsunday Islands that are part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. There are numerous boats to choose from - the classic booze cruise, racing boats, catamarans, sail boats, really expensive boats, etc. I pretty much based my boat choice on the name - the Waltzing Matilda. It evoked just the image I was looking for. Traditional and classic and not so fast moving. Anyway, we left the following morning on the Waltzing Matilda for a 3 day, 2 night cruise. As you are not allowed to bring any glass on board I purchased my first box of wine and prepared for the journey.

Glacier City

Kate — Tue, 02 May 2006 22:02:00 +0000

Next we headed north of Queenstown and up the west coast to Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. We stopped briefly at Fox Glacier on our way to our accommodation for the night. As I'd never seen a glacier I had no idea what to expect. In short, it looked like a huge pile of dirty ice. But really huge. At Fox we didn't get on the glacier but we did manage to sneak a peek.

The next day Susanne and I got up really early to go on a full day hike on the Franz Josef. As Michael had already done some glacier hiking on his trip he opted out and stayed back and tried to sort out some plane ticket issues.

Franz Josef is 6 kms high and 1.5 kms across. Our hiking company suited us up with waterproof jackets, pants, hiking boots, wool socks, hats and gloves. All we had to bring was food for lunch and sunscreen - remember, no ozone in NZ.

The hike was pretty cool. The first hour was spent climbing ice stairs - big stairs so it was pretty tiring.

After that we just hiking around on the glacier discovering little paths, climbing ice walls, crossing bridges, etc.

The entire trip was 14 km roundtrip. Writing this the morning after I'm still pretty tired and sore. Now it's time to head back to Christchurch where we grab a flight to Australia at the end of the week to begin the last 2 and a half weeks of our trip.

Adventures Day Two

Kate — Tue, 02 May 2006 21:58:00 +0000

After a night of camping rough - no holiday park, just parked at the end of a dirt road - we headed off for our second day of adventures. First up, flying to Milford Sound. Michael rented a plane and took us on a 90 minute sight seeing tour.

The scenery is just amazing. We flew over big snow-covered mountains. In our small plane we were able to fly between the mountains all the way to Milford Sound on the Tasman Sea.

On the flight back clouds were coming in below us in the mountains which made for some incredible sights.

Our final adventure was not one we had planned but it too was really cool. Susanne's friend Lee works on the 1992 New Zealand America's Cup yacht. The NZ14 does tours twice a day out of Queenstown on Lake Wakatipu. Lee got us half price tickets for the afternoon voyage and we jumped at the chance.

This was the boat with the famous funky keel that was kept secret for so long. This was a wonderful way to see Queenstown and a truly unique experience that I don't think we would have gotten anywhere else.

Queenstown - NZ Adventure Capital

Kate — Tue, 02 May 2006 21:55:00 +0000

Next on the agenda was Queenstown where we planned to spend a few days doing some adventure activities and visiting friends of Susanne's who had emigrated from the UK. After dropping Susanne off at Lara and Lee's we found our holiday park (which is what they call camper parks here) and rested up...for adventure. As far as holiday parks go we had a pretty sweet view.

First adventure - jetboating through Shotover Canyon. These boats can go in 2 inches of water and can accelerate to 100/kmh in 2 seconds. Read Michael's blog for the full account and video but suffice to say it's incredibly scary, fast, and somewhat wet.

Next adventure - bungy jumping. This was too scary for me so I decided to just watch. But I have to say that even watching was scary. This particular jump hangs from cables over a 450 foot high canyon. So once you arrive at the very remote canyon, you ride a cable car out to the jump site. To illustrate how serious this is, even spectators like myself have to get all geared up and clamp on to the safety wire to get out to the jump site.

Again, read Michael's blog for accounts of the jump. It was unbelievable to watch him (and everyone else for that matter) jump literally into the abyss. Just a little beyond my reach I think but it did look amazing.

Oh Susanna

Kate — Tue, 02 May 2006 21:54:00 +0000

We were both thrilled to be finally meeting up with Michael's sister Susanne. The unfortunate news was that meeting Susanne in Christchurch coincided with three torrential days of rain. Still we were pretty psyched to have 11 days together to tour the South Island.

First stop was picking up our camper van. Traveling by camper van is pretty popular here in NZ so its been fun to be part of the in crowd. While she's small, we've learned to love our little van.

From Christchurch we headed south to Dunedin where we were pretty much trapped as the hard rains had closed many of the roads. Luckily some family friends of Michael and Susanne were also in Dunedin so we were able to spend some time together, most enjoyably in the Cadbury Chocolate Factory.

While we all had to wear hairnets during the tour, Michael was one of the few who also had to wear one on his beard. And he doesn't even like chocolate that much - a real trooper.

Once the roads were passable we made our way to Queenstown. The scenery was just amazing. While the North Island was much more rolling hills with sheep the South Island has more dramatic landscapes with snow covered peaks and ice blue rivers...and more sheep of course.

Land of Mordor

Kate — Tue, 02 May 2006 21:49:00 +0000

Next stop, Tongariro National Park. As with almost all of NZ, part of Lord of the Rings was filmed here. We stayed about 15 minutes out of town in another one of these towns that exists only to house tourists and travelers. Our plan was to do the Tongariro Crossing, a 17 km hike that takes all day. These plans, however, quickly changed as I put on my hiking boots and discovered that my feet were still pretty sore from the Glow Worm caving experience.

So we moved on to plan B which included a 7 km hike that was relatively easy and scenic, and didn't tear up my feet further.

The Sky is Falling

Kate — Tue, 02 May 2006 21:45:00 +0000

Or wait, I was falling. This was the day of reckoning - the skydive birthday present. We lucked out with the weather as it was a perfect sunny, blue sky day. We arrived promptly at 10:30 and immediately filled out a form with the following questions: #1 - Name (fair enough); #2 - Next of Kin (what ever happened to emergency contact?); #3 - Weight (which they then write on your hand in magic marker that stays for three days).

When it was our turn to jump we were suited up in adorable little red jumpsuits with skullcap hats. We were shown a 5 minute video - yep, just 5 minutes - on what to do during the jump. I stopped paying attention when they mentioned the banana pose.

As it was a tandem jump I got to go with this super cute Kiwi - Kane. All was good as we boarded the plane until I realized that last in meant first out - yikes. We flew up to 12,000 feet where the fun started. First I got to sit on Kane's lap as he harnessed us together. Next, we moved awkwardly toward the door with me on Kane's lap. By now the door was open and we were looking 2 miles down. Double yikes. We sat with my legs dangling out the door for about 30 seconds before we just jumped.

The first 3-4 seconds are pretty terrifying as you're gaining speed - up to 200 km/hour. Once you hit terminal velocity you just feel like you're flying, even though you're really plummeting toward earth. This lasts for about 25 seconds before the chute is pulled and you're jerked straight up. I actually found the freefall scarier than the initial jump as we were doing all these sharp turns and you really have time to realize just how high up you are. From there it's about 3-5 minutes to landing which was surprisingly easy.

At this point the jump was about 2 weeks ago but I can't stop thinking about it. It's totally amazing and I think I'd do it again.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Worm

Kate — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 07:42:00 +0000

The only thing Waitomo is known for is these little worms that live on the ceilings of underground caves. The worms are the pupa of what will become a little fly - a sad little fly that has no mouth and therefore only lives 2-3 days. This seems an unusually cruel trick of nature - that, and having your poo glow while you're a worm. That's right, glowing poo. Pretty cool.

Since we've traveled all this way to see glowing poo we were going to do it right which in NZ means taking an adventure tour. Our trip, called Tuma Tuma Toobing, consisted of four hours (2.5 of it underground) in full on black wet suits, white rubber boots, and red hard hats with miner lights, slithering around wet caves. It was so cool. The water was freezing as you'd imagine (it's almost winter here) but we moved around a fair bit which made it bearable. Lots of time was spent on our hands and knees crawling through the smallest of spaces. At one point, we reached an impasse where we were floating with our head on one side of a rock formation and our feet on the other side. When the guide yelled "go," they pushed our head under the water and pulled us up by our feet on the other side. This is NZ fun and it's just that - really fun. My feet were a little worse for wear at the end of the day but it was all worth it. The glowworms were amazing and the climbing, crawling, and awesome outfits were equally cool. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Next we visited Rotorua, a town nicknamed "Sulphur City." With the smell of egg salad in the air, we visited one of the thermal pools where you can lounge in pools of increasing temperature increments from 36 to 43 degree C. This was a great way to unwind after a day of crawling around in the mud with worms with glowing poo.

Lake Taupo was next, the largest lake in NZ -606 square kilometers. After a short drive from Rotorua, we settled in a nice guesthouse and went off to have a picnic and get a preview of tomorrow's activity.

Michael's belated birthday present is to go skydiving. Yes, skydiving. While it seemed a big deal when I thought about it back home, here it's happening all around you so you'd feel like a wimp if you weren't doing it. That said, I'm going too. While picnicking on Lake Taupo we saw them coming down every 15 minutes or so. While it looks super scary I can't wait.

Welcome to New Zealand

Kate — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 07:37:00 +0000

Another plane ride - so exciting. More good food, movies galore, and 11 hours of pampering. Again, excited to go to the airport.

Upon arriving in Auckland we grabbed a ferry to Waiheke Island, about 30 minutes outside of the city. We were guests of Michael's San Francisco roommate Rochelle's family who were there for the weekend. As we've done many times during this trip we managed to arrive in the middle of a major holiday - this time, Easter. The Wordsworths were incredibly generous and welcoming of us. Home cooked meals, dinners at lovely bistros, fluffy towels, visits from the Easter bunny, and a bed with sheets and a wonderful view were only some of the luxuries we experienced.

One morning we took in a hike along the water to Palm Beach. Well the intention was to take a walk along the water but in reality we ended up wandering the streets somewhat but this too was enjoyable. Plus, an ice cream stand with milkshakes magically appeared at the end of our walkabout. I'm so grateful for proper dairy.

As painful as it was to leave the Wordsworths, we had to get moving. For the first time in a while we did have somewhat of a schedule to keep. Michael's sister Susanne is meeting us in Christchurch in about a week so we had to see our sites on the North Island before meeting up.

That said, we rented a cute little car called the Starlet. I've never heard of this car but I liked the sound of it...and it was the cheapest one we could find.

After picking her up we headed three hours south to Waitomo, land of the glowworms.

Jackie Chan, Number One Son

Kate — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 07:22:00 +0000

Next, another luxurious plane ride to Hong Kong. This time we weren't staying in the airport even though after seeing our room the airport might have been a better choice. The "hotel" as it were is in a building that takes up a whole city block and is a fire and rat trap for sure. You go up in a very small elevator with various tailors, transvestites, and the occasional traveler. Our room was quite small - two twin beds and a tiny, tiny little bathroom. Enough room, however, for two quite large cockroaches to visit - one in Michael's bag and one under my shoe. At least they split the grief between us.

It was great fun to be back in a big, urban city. High buildings and high prices. But it was worth it in my estimation to get a reasonable bagel and cup of coffee. We spent the afternoon walking around Victoria peak on Hong Kong Island. Not great weather but a wonderful view. One of the best bits was taking the local ferry between HK and Kowloon Islands which afforded more spectacular scenery.

No trip to Hong Kong would be complete without a visit to the Avenue of Stars. The only star I knew was Jackie Chan - these folks LOVE Jackie Chan.

After less than 48 hours it was time to be off again, this time to New Zealand. It was hard to believe that three and a half months had passed and we'd be leaving Asia for good. I was a bit sad, but at the same time I was ready for the change.

The English Patient

Kate — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 04:07:00 +0000

Next, more diving. Our goal was to get to Tulamben on the east coast of Bali. While Tulamben is only about 18 miles as the crow flies from Ganung Batur there is no direct way to get there. Taking public transportation is highly discouraged by everyone you talk to for two reasons (we think). One, if you take public transport you wont take more expensive taxis; and, two, there are very few direct routes. The trip to Tulamben would have required four different bemos, which are like minibuses, and would likely have taken all day. This seemed a good time to cash in my Christmas gift transportation upgrade coupon. This meant we took a taxi for the trip and completed it in a little under three hours. Half of the trip was through the mountains and the other half along the coast.

We chose Tulamben because you can dive the USS Liberty. This cargo ship was damaged during the WWII and sat on the Tulamben coast line until it was pushed into the Bali Sea by the force of the explosion during the 1963 eruption of Gunung Agung.

We stayed at Tulamben Wreck Divers, a hotel catering to divers right across the street from the wreck. The town is very small and its main industry is catering to divers. What's nice about being right at the wreck is that you can dive any time you want, as often as you want.

But, we encountered a setback. Michael had been feeling a bit of an earache when we started out this morning. By the time we reached Tulamben it had grown into a full fledged ear infection. His ear canal had swollen up and by the time we went to sleep he had a 102 temperature. He was in excruciating pain and our supplies of pain killers were fairly limited.

I have to say that folks here have been incredibly nice and helpful during the now three days of convalescence. Sandra, another guest and Australian ER doc was quite generous with her knowledge and her supply of codeine. Tony and Dot, the proprietors, were also great with supplying medication and having their driver make a drug run during a trip to Kuta, the nearest town with any decent medical facilities, over 3 hours away. Michael is slowly getting better but its been a long few days. It is, however, not a bad place to get sick. We luckily had a much nicer set up than usual - sheets, towels, a dvd player and movies to rent, AC, a minifridge - which made things at least a bit more comfortable.

And, as Michael was sleeping much of the time, I also managed to get in four dives. It's a funny little system. You get suited up in your wetsuit and weightbelt and you walk down the main street about 300 feet, take a left at the bush, and wander into a little wooded area till you pop out at the beach. There your tanks and dive jackets await you and there is not another soul around. Again, very James Bond like - your equipment just magically appears. Actually porters carry the tanks on their heads which is also pretty amazing.

From there you suit up and just walk into the water. The diving here is unbelievable - better than Thailand and Malaysia for sure. The visibility was great and the variety of fish is outstanding. On my most recent dive I saw 10 black tip sharks. They were probably about four feet in length and never got too close but you can tell by the way they move that you wouldn't want to get them angry.

After staying in Tulamben for five nights it was time to move on - this time to Kuta where we would lay low for a day until our flight to Hong Kong. Gone will be warm weather and cheap eats - back to reality time.

Ganung Batur

Kate — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 03:59:00 +0000

Next we headed further north to see the volcano, Ganung Batur. Michael and his family climbed this volcano 24 years ago so he was excited to see it all again. On our taxi ride up we were asking our driver about hiking the volcano, the town where we'd be staying, etc. He sort of laughed, mentioned something about the mafia, and then dropped the subject. Hmm, what that was all about we wouldn't find out till later.

We stayed in Penelokan, a small town set on a hillside with an amazing view of Ganung Batur. As there are only two places to stay in town we were somewhat concerned about finding lodging that was within our price range. After striking out at the first place (too expensive), we found a room at an unfinished hotel. From looking at their registration book we think we were their only guests since January. We had the whole place to ourselves and a wonderful view - certainly the best we've had the entire trip.

Our plans to hike the volcano, which one traditionally starts at 4 am, were squashed when we discovered the extorniate cost of the climb. Prices of anywhere from $55/person to $30/person were quoted, which neither of us could stomach paying as this was only a three hour hike. The high cost seems to be a function of a Hiking Guide Association that has cornered the market on this volcano. You cannot climb without them. We learned later of stories of hikers being robbed, threatened, etc. while hiking on their own which reinforced our decision to just stay one night and skip the hike.

Instead we decided to take a walk to the lake, about 1.5 miles down a steep hill. On the walk down we were talked to or stopped at least 25 times by locals offering us rides, wanting to sell their art, offering to guide us up the volcano, etc.

We stopped for lunch about half way down at what turned out to be a not so great restaurant. Luckily there was a large group of mangy looking cats who liked the offerings much more then we did and helped us finish up the grisly bits.

Upon arriving at the lake we were swarmed with locals wanting to sell us bracelets, massages, tours, boat rides, etc. I got the impression that they hadn't seen tourists in quite some time. In fact during our one day stay we saw only two other westerners.

We made our way back up the hill by motorbike. The hill is so steep that I actually had to get off my bike two times so my driver could go back downhill a bit to get more of a running start.

Dinner that night was also another weird experience. The hotel restaurant is also not really open yet so we sat, in the dark, the only two people in the whole place with leaking ceilings and incomplete menus, while two young hotel staff hovered over us.

Breakfast the next morning was more of the same but we sat on the incomplete balcony, complete with exposed rebar and no railing to keep you from falling over. The view, however, was spectacular.

Ubud

Kate — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 03:31:00 +0000

After our few days in Kuta it was time to move north - about one hour north to Ubud. This adorable little town reminded me of Carmel, CA or some other boutique town. There are many artist studios, flash restaurants, day spas, and fancy little resorts. The best part for us was as there was no one there we were able to negotiate (well Michael was able to negotiate) a very good price for a very sweet little place.

The town is filled with tiny boutiques and is quite charming. There is a ton of attention given to all the little things and the opulence was a nice change from cockroaches of the past.

Our first stop was the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. As Michael had been here 24 years earlier, he gave me some warnings - the monkeys KNOW when you have food so don't try to hide it (like I was with my backpack full of bananas) and don't resist - give the monkey what he wants.

Even while it was a bit freaky to have them tugging on my skirt it was very cool to watch them. They clearly are very well fed and have no fear of tourists - if anything it's the other way around.

We took in a little culture and went to the shadow puppet theater. While I thought it would be in a temple or some sacred space the venue was actually in a back alleyway where there were plastic chairs and a dirty sheet hung up as the "stage." For the most part the show appeared pretty traditional albeit for the occasional Monica Lewinsky joke thrown in.

When the rain finally cleared we went for a walk through the rice paddies. The scenery was quite lovely and we barely saw anyone during our two hours of trekking through the fields. When we did see people they were in their tiny artist shops carving wood or painting eggs - two popular art forms here.

After our hike it was time for a little indulgence. I cashed in one of my Christmas gifts from Michael - $30 worth of spa treatments. Thirty US dollars goes a long way in Bali and I had it all mapped out. I went and had a great facial to start.

Michael met me an hour later and we had massages and body scrubs with honey. The massage room was sweet with three walls and an open wall facing the rice paddies.

After they massage all this honey into you they wrap you up in a big sheet of plastic to let you "set." After you bake for 15 minutes you rinse off in the shower and jump into a tub of flower petals, have a cup of tea, and soak for 20 minutes. It was incredibly civilized.

Michael has strong feelings about the required massage attire (disposable black bikini underwear) - see his blog for rantings.

Bali Hai

Kate — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 07:39:00 +0000

Our arrival in Bail was slightly complicated by the fact the one big holiday of the year, Nyepi, was set to begin about one hour after our arrival. For this New Year's celebration the town shuts down. As we couldn't travel too far we settled on Kuta for our first few nights. We were a little reluctant as this is where the Bali bombings occurred in 2003 but so far so good.

After much wandering about we found a nice place, with a pool, where we could settle in before everything shut down.

When the celebration does start you are expected to be quiet (as Nyepi means Quiet Day), not use electricity, and not leave the hotel area. It turned out to be a rainy day which was good for just sitting around and reading. The only challenge came at dinner time as the restaurant was set to close early (5 pm) and didn't have enough food to feed everyone. After placing an order that never arrived, Michael went down to the restaurant and got them to make us a plate of scrambled eggs after they'd closed. While not exactly what we were wanting, we were happy just to have food.

The next day we were able to get out and walk about but many of the stores were still closed. Kuta is full of tiny little streets with this interesting combination of colonial and Hindu culture. It is not uncommon to see beautiful and ornate entryways surrounded by overgrown flowers and gardens. So while the city itself is a bit touristy, it's also quite charming.

Our plan is to move north tomorrow into the hills a bit - this is of course assuming some travel place will be open so we can buy a ticket out of here.

Airplane Food Rocks

Kate — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 07:35:00 +0000

I have never been so excited to get to an airport in my life. The prospect of seeing stores I recognized, being able to read all signs, and knowing there would be no squatting in the bathroom was quite comforting. And, and, not to mention the excitement of airplane food. We were not disappointed. To have dinner, while watching a first run movie, and drinking a glass of wine - not bad. And the Munch seemed to like it too.

After an uneventful flight we arrived in Hong Kong and set about finding our accommodations for the night. The Hong Kong airport is not bad for sleeping as there are many seats together without armrests between them so you can lie out on three of them at once. Just enough space for me, not quite enough for Michael. When bedtime arrived, I just put in my earplugs and my night mask and went about trying to sleep. While I didn't get a full 8 hours I probably got about 3-4 which was better than I expected. What was also nice is that no one bothers you and there were about 10 other people sleeping around us.

The next morning we woke up early and did a little walkabout in the airport to get some morning snacks before our flight to Bali.

Kuala Lumpur

Kate — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 07:16:00 +0000

The next task was to get to Kuala Lumpur to catch our flight to Bali. The trip was relatively easy - boat, bus, and another bus to KL. It was nice to be back in a big city - our first since Bangkok about a month ago.

The Lonely Plant describes budget accommodations in KL as "grim" so I did not have high hopes. We were in high commando mode getting off the bus as we coordinated our bag and map efforts - it paid off as we were on the move in under a minute from when the bus arrived. We picked a hostel called Le Village, a clean and friendly place with incredibly tiny rooms of which there are many - they really cram them in.

We spent one day pretty much in the internet cafe, doing blog updates, getting exchange rates, and researching Bali. I also spent some time researching the Hong Kong airport as we were going to spend the night there on our way to Bali. Our flight from KL arrived at 9:30 pm and our flight to Bali the next day left at 10 am so it didn't make a lot of sense to travel all the way into Hong Kong and find an expensive room just to have to get up early to get back to the airport the next day. I knew there was a website that detailed all the good places to sleep in airports around the world so I spent a little time doing research.

But, before our night in the HK airport we visited the Petronas Towers - the largest twin towers and the 2nd largest towers in the world. While you can't go all the way up to the 88th floor, you can visit the skybridge on the 41st floor which connects the two towers. The whole set up is very space age looking with lots of shiny metal and sharp angles.

On our way out of the towers we saw a group of limousines, one of which was carrying the King of Cambodia. He's a cute little fellow - looks a bit like Ben Kingsley.

Another favorite was this store I saw while wandering around KL - the Reject Shop. I can only imagine what they sell.

Welcome to the Jungle

Kate — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 08:22:00 +0000

Going into the jungle takes some preparation - lots of water, insect repellent, long pants and hiking boots, food, and a lighter to kill leeches if necessary. I was very hopeful that I'd get to use the lighter. I was hoping of course that I'd get to use it on Michael and not the other way around.

The humidity must have been close to 100% so even though the temperature was in the mid-80s we were both dripping wet before even hitting our first trail. Our first stop was the canopy walk, a creaky, narrow "bridge" that spanned the treetops. The height of the bridges ranged from 50 to 150 feet. It was very cool.

After the canopy walk we continued climbing straight uphill for about an hour. During our hike I stopped to take a picture of an enormous ant. While I was bent over I heard this rumbling in the woods behind me and then Michael yells, "there's a wild boar." I turned around to see two baby boars ripping across the trail. They move very fast and did not look very friendly. We saw a guide a few moments later who told us we were very lucky to see the boars as they're usually not that close to the park entrance.

After reaching the summit we then started our hike straight down hill. I think somewhere along the way we got a little lost as we stopped seeing other hikers and the path seemed to get very narrow. At one point we followed a sign that pointed toward our destination but had scratched on it "bad path, felled trees." We took that path anyway and sure enough spent a lot of time climbing over big felled trees.

This little detour did, however, bring about the most exciting part of the hike. As we're wandering about sweating profusely Michael feels a little bite on his leg, lifts up his pant leg and finds this little critter.

I was pretty excited and started fishing around for the lighter not knowing exactly what I was going to do with it. Not wanting to be accused of overkill and not wanting to get a 3rd degree burn, Michael suggested maybe I try spraying it with insect repellent first. While this was less fun for me it was probably safer for him and the result was still pretty cool. The leech instantly curled up and bright red blood started gushing and the little critter just kept hanging on. We finally flicked him off with a stick and inspected the damage.

Once one gets on you it becomes an obsession where you're convinced that every little pinch or scratch is a leech. Right after we got Michael's off I found two on my shoe trying to crawl into my sock. They are ruthless. At this point I started to get wigged out and kept repeating, "this is freaking me out, let's keep moving." They seem to love it when you stop moving so they can just hop on your shoes and dig in. When we finally got home a few hours later we checked obsessively for more leeches and scolding ourselves for not taking more video of the whole leech episode.

On the way out of town the next day we passed two noteworthy bathrooms. The first one has a sign that says, "Don't go here - snakes inside" (yikes). The second was just a really poor excuse for a toilet.

It's the Journey, Not the Destination

Kate — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 08:12:00 +0000

On the move again, this time eight hours by taxi, bus, another bus, another bus, and boat. The destination was Taman Negara, a primary jungle which is over 130 million years old and covers 4300 square kilometers.

The boat trip was the most fun. You board these very long and narrow boats that probably seat about 20 people total.

The boats sit very low in the water so you feel like you're just skimming over the water during the three hour journey. Our boat had a slight leak so our driver stopped about two to three times during our trip to bail water out of the back seat.

When you're off the boat you slog up a steep little beach and then set about looking for that night's lodging. Often when I make lodging choices I am too taken by the kitsch factor of a place and forget about practical considerations for what would help with a good night's sleep. Consequently we spent our first night at a motel where you might expect to find Papa and Baby Smurf. A series of squat, pink A-frame houses painted bright pink and blue. The room was almost passable but the bathroom really hit a new low. Gecko droppings on the wall, no drain for the shower so the floor stayed wet all the time, mold, and a slug on the floor. I've gotten so used to weird bathrooms that I didn't even notice there was no sink as we've been sinkless for the past few weeks. You just use the hose coming out of the wall.

The next day we picked up and moved to a much cuter place, the Durian Chalet, which was a bit of a hike but well worth it. Still no sink, and a bathroom made out of concrete which absorbs all smells if you get the idea. We picked the least stinky room and settled in.

Cherating

Kate — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 12:03:00 +0000

Our next stop was Cherating, about half way down the east coast of Malaysia. Again, another long day of travel here but not too difficult. We arrived and found some sweet little bungalows where we are hanging out trying to get better as we've both caught colds in the last day or so. This is not such a bad place to be under the weather. It's practically empty, it's not horribly hot, and it has been raining a lot so you don't feel guilty about sitting around reading and napping.

One reason these bungalows are nice is that they have the trifecta of ammenities - the three Ts. Toilet paper, towels, and top sheet. You often have none, sometimes have one or maybe two, but I don't know that we've ever had all three so it's quite a treat.

As part of our "getting better" plan we spent one morning walking along a rather pretty beach. Part of what made it so nice is that there was barely anyone else around so we had the place to ourselves.

Feeling somewhat better, but still not great, we headed off to the jungle.

Paradise Island?

Kate — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 12:02:00 +0000

Now that I have my diving certification I'm interested in trying to get as much diving in on this trip as possible as a) there's a lot of opportunity; b) it's awfully inexpensive; and c) it must be better than diving in Boston. That said we headed to the east coast of Malaysia to the Perhentian islands. We had high hopes as we headed this way - awesome diving, relaxing beaches, cool little bungalows.

Getting here was a bit of a chore. Required two minibuses and a boat. No big deal for us at this point, but everything seemed to be running just a bit late which is a drag when you're trying to get somewhere, especially an island with no cars or transport other than boats, before sunset. I suppose the problems really started when we arrived at the jetty and the boat we were supposed to take didn't even exist. So we bought new tickets for the "fast boat." This boat is supposed to take 45 minutes but 2.5 hours later we were no where close to our destination. Factors including crew seasickness (not particularly confidence inspiring) and really rough seas resulted in us arriving close to our destination but not quite close enough. The rough seas are an issue as there are no piers and you need small boats to come meet you on your big boat to bring you ashore. Given the bad conditions no one would come to meet our boat so we were dropped off on the Big Island at the Paradise Island Resort. I only mention the name because the place was anything but paradise. Dingy rooms complete with cockroaches. Not our first cockroaches mind you but it's really just about the last thing you want to see after 12 long hours of travel. Here Mr. Cockroach is seeing the toilet after been squashed by Michael's flip flop.

The next day we managed to make it to the Little Island, our original destination, where we secured a little bungalow and set about finding a good dive for the next day.

We settled on diving the Sugar Wreck, which is the remains of a cargo ship that was carrying sugar that sank in 2000. While the visibility was not great it was very cool to swim around a wreck. We even got to swim through big hatches which was a little scary as I am new to diving and certainly not used to diving with anything hanging over my head. Michael and I were dive buddies for the first time and I only abandoned him once which I thought was pretty good for our first time out.

The real excitement came on the ride home. We were diving off a tiny boat - held only 11 people and our dive equipment. It had been raining a bit when we originally descended but was clear when we surfaced. Once we were all ready to go we headed back toward the Small Island. We could see rain ahead but were truly unprepared for the huge storm that we rode in to. We were totally exposed on this boat and it was raining so hard that it felt like hail. People had their dive masks on because it was the only way to see anything. Visability was almost zero and, no surprise, we got lost. Somehow the boat got totally turned around and after 30 minutes we were back where we started at the dive site. When someone finally got a compass out we moved in what we hoped was the right direction and finally found our way home, very, very cold and wet and an hour late. While I was never worried about making it home the experience illustrated how easy it is to get lost at sea and lose your bearings. Why these boats don't have GPS or even a compass is a little mindboggeling.

Heidi is Malaysian?

Kate — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 12:00:00 +0000

Our next stop was the Cameron Highlands about 5 hours southeast of Penang. This place was so cool - literally. As it's in the "high lands" it's about 30 degrees cooler than Penang, which was a welcome relief. We stayed in this charming little place called Father's Guesthouse. I think it used to be a missionary in the 1920s and was also used by British soldiers during World War II. It had a great vibe and was charming with well tended gardens and an attentive staff. And the view from our front garden was great.

This area has a whole Swiss Alps theme going on. I'm not sure how this started or whose idea it was but it's everywhere from the mock tudor condos to the tea, scones and clotted cream served in the local restaurants.

For our one full day in Cameron Highlands we rented a motorbike - one of only two in town we think. After a false start with a bike with a flat tire we were off.....to get gas. The closest gas station was 10 miles away, straight down hill on some of the craziest roads I've ever seen. Michael was an excellent driver though so no worries (other than our slight "falling off the bike" mishap which is described in Michael's blog).

Our daytrip consisted of a visit to the Boh Tea Plantation (beautiful), two stops for tea and scones (very yummy), a visit to the butterfly farm (many cool critters), and an afternoon of driving in the pouring rain (wet). All and all a great visit. Now time to get hot again.

EZ Bake Oven Part 27

Kate — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 11:59:00 +0000

Time to move again, this time Malaysia. It's fun to be in a place where Michael has spent so much time. It's interesting to hear his recollections and remembrances from his childhood here. While he has only visited a few places in the extreme north I think we'll be in more familiar territory as we head south.

First though we need another hot bus ride. I've decided these bus trips are like being trapped inside an EZ Bake Oven, just right under the lightbulb that bakes your chocolate cake. Here is Michael when we're at about 102 in the back row of a minivan where the windows don't open.

We finally reach the island of Penang at about 9pm after a good 11 hours of traveling. As Michael describes in his blog we stayed in a real crap of a room that resulted in a pretty horrible night's sleep. The next day was not much better as it's just ridiculously hot there - over 100 with no breeze in the middle of a city. These guys sort of say it all - it's just too hot to do much of anything.

That said, we left the next day taking the public bus to the bigger bus station. Notice the sign reminding you not to spit (it's on the left in the 2nd picture). Nice touch.