We arrived two days ago in the place we have been told has the best diving around-Sipidan. Sipidan is an island off of the coast of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (the eastern state of Malaysian Borneo). Noone is allowed to stay on Sipidan anymore since it is now a marine park and also has some political relevance since the Phillipines have been trying to claim it as their own. So now only military men live on the island, and others are granted permits (only so many per day which is why it's necessary to book ahead for snorkelling and diving) for the day for 40RM each or $10. We luckily got to go to Sipidan diving yesterday since some other people had cancelled. We saw reef sharks, many turtles (big huge ones), angelfish, and triggerfish. It was a great 3 dives-one was right off the coast of Sipidan where there is a really deep dropoff-the reef just drops for 2,000 meters not far from the beach. It's a beautiful island-and kind of nice to see from the boat the whole unspoiled side where there are no buildings or people allowed.
Semporna, the town we are staying in is very sleepy. There is not much to do despite the many tourists who come to dive famous Sipidan. We found a good place to stay with a tv which was probably a good call since there's little to do.
We were supposed to go diving today but woke up to pouring rain and cancelled-i know we're wimps but i just didnt feel like being out all day in the rain. Now we are looking into our options for exploring the rest of the region. I will be posting pictures later today.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
the tiger
So apparently, that growl we heard in the jungle, was pretty much most likely a tiger. I talked to one of the guides on the bus back to Jerantut (so we could catch the night train to Singapore), and he said yeah that was prob a tiger. He said he was walking with two people one day and there were two tigers-one on either side of them. There's apparently not much you can do but wittle a stick into a sharp point and remain calm.
Well hah thankfully, I am still alive.
In other news, Singapore is a really cool city. It's so clean probably because chewing gum is not allowed, you can't spit in public, and the MRT (subway) has a sign that says it is $500 Singapore dollars for eating or drinking on the subway, and $1000 fine for smoking (it's 1.70 Singapore dollars to the US Dollar). Raffles Hotel is this classic, old hotel, that has such a Marilyn Monroe-esque glamourous feel to it. And Orchard Street area is lined with malls-I think Singapore and Bangkok have more malls in one place then I have seen anywhere else. There's also some really good Muslim-Middle Eastern food here.
Tomorrow, I have to catch a bus to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia so I can fly out in the a.m. the next morning to Malaysian Borneo. Until Later, Brittany
Well hah thankfully, I am still alive.
In other news, Singapore is a really cool city. It's so clean probably because chewing gum is not allowed, you can't spit in public, and the MRT (subway) has a sign that says it is $500 Singapore dollars for eating or drinking on the subway, and $1000 fine for smoking (it's 1.70 Singapore dollars to the US Dollar). Raffles Hotel is this classic, old hotel, that has such a Marilyn Monroe-esque glamourous feel to it. And Orchard Street area is lined with malls-I think Singapore and Bangkok have more malls in one place then I have seen anywhere else. There's also some really good Muslim-Middle Eastern food here.
Tomorrow, I have to catch a bus to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia so I can fly out in the a.m. the next morning to Malaysian Borneo. Until Later, Brittany
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Ko Tao to the jungle
After Kanchanaburi and a brief stint in Bangkok, we took the overnight train and then early a.m. ferry to Ko Tao, an island on the east coast of the Southern peninsula of Thailand. Ko Tao is absolutely beautiful so stay tuned for some pictures once i get around to uploading them. I finished my open water and advanced diving course at Buddha View divers in Ko Tao which means I can now dive to 30 meters. I saw my first sharks while diving! Grey tipped reef sharks which according to the dive instructors will not harm you...i'm still not quite so sure about that, but they def are not great whites so that's a plus.
After a fantastic week in Ko Tao, we unwillingly left after two days of checking out and back into the same hotel room (hah we had a hard time leaving), we spent a day getting to the West Coast of the Southern tip of Thailand-to Krabi. We stayed in the best hotel room there for only 10 dollars. It had a sea motif and an outdoor shower which was really cool. We spent a day on Ao Nang and Hat Rai Lay West beaches-completely beautiful and surrounded by limestone cliffs. Krabi and surroundings is where many people go to rock climb-it looked pretty tough to me, but I can see why they would choose that location.
From Krabi, we took a day journey to Georgetown, Malaysia (on the island of Pulau Penang off the West coast of Malaysia) and only spent one night there to get up the next morning and head straight to the Perhentian Islands on the East Coast of Malaysia. We stayed on the small island called Perhentian Kecil, which was gorgeous. The water was incredibly clear. We did two dives and were amazed by the first one. It was called Temple of the Sea and there were just so many different types of fish, stingrays (blue spotted-really cool looking), and sharks (really small-hide under rocks-bamboo sharks mostly-the only sharks i'm def not afraid of). The second dive was at Sugar Wreck-a shipwreck that sunk about a year and a half ago carrying sugar from Thailand. There were scorpion fish and other fish that completely look like rocks at this site---these fish are poisonous-well only if you accidentally touch them, so you have to be careful.
We then spent another day's journey to get to Taman Negara, Malaysia (right smack in the middle). Taman Negara means National Park. We hiked yesterday to the Canopy Walk, which was cool and made me aware of a slight fear I have of heights. We then hiked yesterday evening to a hide (a small building on high stilts) where we spent the night on the lookout for wild animals. We managed to see a Tapir (a large anteater-really cool looking). The hike to get to the hide, which is built near a salt lick (not exactly sure what that is hah even though I've been there), was a bit frightening as we were asked to wait a half hour to leave since it was raining and then since it wasn't letting up were told we'd have to go really quickly and hike as fast as we could. The hiking fast was not easy as because of the rain it was very muddy. To make things more frightening-about 10 minutes into our 45 minute hike we heard a loud growl. We never found out what it was exactly but I am convinced it was some sort of large cat. The experience was definitely worth it.
Tomorrow I leave for Singapore. From the jungle to a really clean city, I'm seeing it all.
After a fantastic week in Ko Tao, we unwillingly left after two days of checking out and back into the same hotel room (hah we had a hard time leaving), we spent a day getting to the West Coast of the Southern tip of Thailand-to Krabi. We stayed in the best hotel room there for only 10 dollars. It had a sea motif and an outdoor shower which was really cool. We spent a day on Ao Nang and Hat Rai Lay West beaches-completely beautiful and surrounded by limestone cliffs. Krabi and surroundings is where many people go to rock climb-it looked pretty tough to me, but I can see why they would choose that location.
From Krabi, we took a day journey to Georgetown, Malaysia (on the island of Pulau Penang off the West coast of Malaysia) and only spent one night there to get up the next morning and head straight to the Perhentian Islands on the East Coast of Malaysia. We stayed on the small island called Perhentian Kecil, which was gorgeous. The water was incredibly clear. We did two dives and were amazed by the first one. It was called Temple of the Sea and there were just so many different types of fish, stingrays (blue spotted-really cool looking), and sharks (really small-hide under rocks-bamboo sharks mostly-the only sharks i'm def not afraid of). The second dive was at Sugar Wreck-a shipwreck that sunk about a year and a half ago carrying sugar from Thailand. There were scorpion fish and other fish that completely look like rocks at this site---these fish are poisonous-well only if you accidentally touch them, so you have to be careful.
We then spent another day's journey to get to Taman Negara, Malaysia (right smack in the middle). Taman Negara means National Park. We hiked yesterday to the Canopy Walk, which was cool and made me aware of a slight fear I have of heights. We then hiked yesterday evening to a hide (a small building on high stilts) where we spent the night on the lookout for wild animals. We managed to see a Tapir (a large anteater-really cool looking). The hike to get to the hide, which is built near a salt lick (not exactly sure what that is hah even though I've been there), was a bit frightening as we were asked to wait a half hour to leave since it was raining and then since it wasn't letting up were told we'd have to go really quickly and hike as fast as we could. The hiking fast was not easy as because of the rain it was very muddy. To make things more frightening-about 10 minutes into our 45 minute hike we heard a loud growl. We never found out what it was exactly but I am convinced it was some sort of large cat. The experience was definitely worth it.
Tomorrow I leave for Singapore. From the jungle to a really clean city, I'm seeing it all.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
PICTURES!!!
Go here for pictures--you shouldn't need to have facebook to view them.
For N. Thailand, Laos, and N.Vietnam:
http://umass.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124465&l=9d4ab&id=9111623
and
For Mid-S. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Central Thailand:
http://umass.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124493&l=0c5d3&id=9111623
For N. Thailand, Laos, and N.Vietnam:
http://umass.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124465&l=9d4ab&id=9111623
and
For Mid-S. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Central Thailand:
http://umass.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2124493&l=0c5d3&id=9111623
Kanchanaburi
We are now in Kanchanaburi about 3 hrs by train and 2 hrs by bus West of Bangkok. It is a really relaxing, serene town that reminds me a lot of the towns we visited in Laos. The locals have been extremely nice and a great break from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. Everyone in Bangkok seems like they're trying to scam you, well except maybe the one guy we met who actually seemed like he was just trying to help us find our way....but other than that the taxi drivers, the tuk tuk drivers, and even normal looking guys just hanging on the street were trying to get us to do some overpriced tour. The point is I really like Kanchanaburi...it's beautiful, scenic, and a great place to relax
Today, we rented a motorbike and found our way to Erawan National Park. There is a 7 tiered waterfall at this park, which was beautiful. We swam in a couple of the pools and hiked to the top. We drove by mountains, a dam, and beautiful scenery to an Elephant Park. This is a sanctuary for elephants who would otherwise become extinct in modern day Thailand-they used to roam wild but it appears that is no longer possible. It was really quiet there and the elephants were so cool to watch--if you stick out your hand towards them they try to touch you with their trunk. We then got a flat tire so got that fixed for $2.50 cool huh---and then tried to get to the Tiger Temple (monks raise tigers from birth and you can sit with and touch the tigers), but we got there as they were closing--oh well-a trip for another time hopefully.
We're heading back to Bangkok tomorrow. I definitely think Kanchanaburi was worth the trip. I'm posting pictures on facebook so if anyone wants to take a look.
Today, we rented a motorbike and found our way to Erawan National Park. There is a 7 tiered waterfall at this park, which was beautiful. We swam in a couple of the pools and hiked to the top. We drove by mountains, a dam, and beautiful scenery to an Elephant Park. This is a sanctuary for elephants who would otherwise become extinct in modern day Thailand-they used to roam wild but it appears that is no longer possible. It was really quiet there and the elephants were so cool to watch--if you stick out your hand towards them they try to touch you with their trunk. We then got a flat tire so got that fixed for $2.50 cool huh---and then tried to get to the Tiger Temple (monks raise tigers from birth and you can sit with and touch the tigers), but we got there as they were closing--oh well-a trip for another time hopefully.
We're heading back to Bangkok tomorrow. I definitely think Kanchanaburi was worth the trip. I'm posting pictures on facebook so if anyone wants to take a look.
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