Our flight from Miri to Mulu was cancelled, and MASwings rebooked us for the first flight out the next morning, and then gave us a voucher for a hotel, dinner and breakfast, and taxi to and from the airport. The flight itself cost us $36 CAD so we made out pretty good :)
The hotel was a resort hotel near the airport, with nothing to do except stay in the hotel. Out meal vouchers got us a set meal that sounded not so great, so instead we moved to the lounge (it was happy hour from 5:30pm - 8:30pm), ordered off the menu and figured to pay for it ourselves. However the lounge staff let us use the monetary value of the voucher against our meal so we ate for free.
With most of our trip to date having been organized to the detail (Danum Valley, Sipadan and Mulu Park all had to be booked at least three months in advance), the night in Miri felt like a little adventure from our vacation. It's how we usually travel when not going somewhere in high season.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam
Most people we met here in Borneo, when they found out we were planning a day in Brunei, asked us why? But we enjoyed our day here.
We were staying at Hotel Brunei, very centrally located. Our room overlooked the morning market across the canal. We checked it out before breakfast.
Breakfast was the standard buffet plus eggs a la carte.
We toured around the Omar Ali Saifuddien mosque in the centre, which was okay, in a nice setting on an artificial lagoon. Next was the Royal Regalia Museum, which was mostly a display of gifts to the Sultan for his coronation. It also had original texts of all the documents up to Borneo attaining independence. Heather found these pretty interesting.
For a change we had Korean food for lunch, in the food court at the mall (which is where most of the food stalls are). It was really good.
At 4:30pm we took a water taxi cruise in search of proboscis monkeys. Whereas in Kota Kinabalu it's a two hour drive, here it's a 10 minute boat ride to see the monkeys.
We were lucky both that the rain held off, and then that we saw a family of 6 or 7 proboscis monkeys, including the male, eating and sitting in a tree. Unfortunately the branches and leaves prevented a decent pic, so we just observed them for about 20 minutes.
For dinner we tried a sushi place. At first we were a bit skeptical but tripadvisor rated it #1 in Brunei so we gave it a try. It was excellent.
---
The next morning we were up at 5:30am to catch the 7am bus to Miri. Breakfast started at 6:30 so we had a quick serving of French toast and some fruit, and then walked the 5 minutes to where the bus departed from.
The bus ride was five hours long, including a 45 minute traffic backlog at the border. A 10 minute taxi ride brought us to the airport.
Our flight to Mulu is delayed, so we're hanging out in The Coffee Bean in the departure level, enjoying a tea and free wifi.
We have four days in Mulu exploring the bat caves and spelunking. The Lonely Planet says wifi is spotty in Mulu so the next time you hear from us may be Dec 20 from Kuala Lumpur.
We were staying at Hotel Brunei, very centrally located. Our room overlooked the morning market across the canal. We checked it out before breakfast.
Breakfast was the standard buffet plus eggs a la carte.
We toured around the Omar Ali Saifuddien mosque in the centre, which was okay, in a nice setting on an artificial lagoon. Next was the Royal Regalia Museum, which was mostly a display of gifts to the Sultan for his coronation. It also had original texts of all the documents up to Borneo attaining independence. Heather found these pretty interesting.
For a change we had Korean food for lunch, in the food court at the mall (which is where most of the food stalls are). It was really good.
At 4:30pm we took a water taxi cruise in search of proboscis monkeys. Whereas in Kota Kinabalu it's a two hour drive, here it's a 10 minute boat ride to see the monkeys.
We were lucky both that the rain held off, and then that we saw a family of 6 or 7 proboscis monkeys, including the male, eating and sitting in a tree. Unfortunately the branches and leaves prevented a decent pic, so we just observed them for about 20 minutes.
For dinner we tried a sushi place. At first we were a bit skeptical but tripadvisor rated it #1 in Brunei so we gave it a try. It was excellent.
---
The next morning we were up at 5:30am to catch the 7am bus to Miri. Breakfast started at 6:30 so we had a quick serving of French toast and some fruit, and then walked the 5 minutes to where the bus departed from.
The bus ride was five hours long, including a 45 minute traffic backlog at the border. A 10 minute taxi ride brought us to the airport.
Our flight to Mulu is delayed, so we're hanging out in The Coffee Bean in the departure level, enjoying a tea and free wifi.
We have four days in Mulu exploring the bat caves and spelunking. The Lonely Planet says wifi is spotty in Mulu so the next time you hear from us may be Dec 20 from Kuala Lumpur.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Tawau, Malaysia
I had to wait 24 hours after diving before we could fly, so we spent the extra day in Tawau rather than Semporna.
Tawau is a 90 minute drive along the coast from Semporna. We arrived just before noon, and checked into the My Inn Hotel. I had prepaid $30 on agoda.com and thought it was the deposit, and then realized that that was the full cost. It was a pretty good mid-range hotel.
There's a chocolate factory in Tawau that runs tours, and so we hopped in a taxi for Teck Guan Cocoa.
Unfortunately you need to book the tour in advance, as they then arrange for the staff who run the museum and tour. There was a manager on duty and she was nice enough to give a quick tour, show us the cocoa bean, split to see the inside. I don't the the factory was running because it's Friday (Malaysia is largely Muslim). What we saw was pretty cool, although too bad we didn't know to book ahead.
There's not much else to do in Tawau so we just relaxed and read away the rest of the afternoon.
Had dinner at a place that served mostly pasta, although we had local dishes. (None of the other places looked particularly appetizing to us). Had a couple Tiger beers too.
The next day was a long travel day. We had an early morning flight from Tawau back to Kota Kinabalu and then a six hour layover before flying to Brunei.
We've become addicted to the automated massage chairs that are everywhere in the airports. We took care to save up our $1 ringgit notes, it's 3 MYR for 9 minutes, about $1 CAD.
Finally our flight time arrived, and it was a short 40 minute flight to Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. Unfortunately the gate got stuck and so we taxied to another gate, which took longer than the flight.
The airport's undergoing construction and they don't have the ATM's hooked up yet. So we grabbed a taxi to the Brunei Hotel, and had the driver stop at an ATM so we could get Brunei dollars.
It was already 8pm by the time we arrived at the hotel, it was pouring rain and I was feeling a bit under the weather so we just ate at the hotel restaurant. It wasn't too bad, actually better than what we'd had over the last few days.
We've been somewhat disappointed by the food on Borneo after hearing lots of good things about food here. We're hoping things will be different back on the peninsula. It could also be that we do get pretty decent Thai, Chinese and Indian restaurants in Toronto, and so we're not blown away by the food here. It's okay, but about average compared to what we can get back home. Or maybe we just don't know how to choose a restaurant here :)
Tawau is a 90 minute drive along the coast from Semporna. We arrived just before noon, and checked into the My Inn Hotel. I had prepaid $30 on agoda.com and thought it was the deposit, and then realized that that was the full cost. It was a pretty good mid-range hotel.
There's a chocolate factory in Tawau that runs tours, and so we hopped in a taxi for Teck Guan Cocoa.
Unfortunately you need to book the tour in advance, as they then arrange for the staff who run the museum and tour. There was a manager on duty and she was nice enough to give a quick tour, show us the cocoa bean, split to see the inside. I don't the the factory was running because it's Friday (Malaysia is largely Muslim). What we saw was pretty cool, although too bad we didn't know to book ahead.
There's not much else to do in Tawau so we just relaxed and read away the rest of the afternoon.
Had dinner at a place that served mostly pasta, although we had local dishes. (None of the other places looked particularly appetizing to us). Had a couple Tiger beers too.
The next day was a long travel day. We had an early morning flight from Tawau back to Kota Kinabalu and then a six hour layover before flying to Brunei.
We've become addicted to the automated massage chairs that are everywhere in the airports. We took care to save up our $1 ringgit notes, it's 3 MYR for 9 minutes, about $1 CAD.
Finally our flight time arrived, and it was a short 40 minute flight to Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. Unfortunately the gate got stuck and so we taxied to another gate, which took longer than the flight.
The airport's undergoing construction and they don't have the ATM's hooked up yet. So we grabbed a taxi to the Brunei Hotel, and had the driver stop at an ATM so we could get Brunei dollars.
It was already 8pm by the time we arrived at the hotel, it was pouring rain and I was feeling a bit under the weather so we just ate at the hotel restaurant. It wasn't too bad, actually better than what we'd had over the last few days.
We've been somewhat disappointed by the food on Borneo after hearing lots of good things about food here. We're hoping things will be different back on the peninsula. It could also be that we do get pretty decent Thai, Chinese and Indian restaurants in Toronto, and so we're not blown away by the food here. It's okay, but about average compared to what we can get back home. Or maybe we just don't know how to choose a restaurant here :)
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Sipadan, Malaysia
Today was the big dive excursion to Sipadan!
Heather had a 2nd day of snorkeling with Big John's and I was off to Sipadan.
Big John's had booked me through BUMS (Borneo Unlimited Marine Sports) which was conveniently located behind our hotel. There were 6 of us diving, plus a divemaster and a 2nd dive guide.
It was about an hour boat ride to Sipadan. We registered at the office on the island, and then we were off.
Our first dive was from Barracuda Point. We saw lots of green turtles, a couple barracudas and some sharks.
In between dives we went ashore where they have shelters set up, and had our snacks and coffee that the dive shop provided.
The 2nd dive we tracked down the schools of barracuda before jumping in. It was amazing, about 1000 barracuda, each about 6'-8' long, swimming in a tornado pattern. Just after we got back on board, the captain spotted some bumphead parrotfish and so we jumped back in and snorkeled over to see them. That covered of two of the three main attractions of Sipadan!
The 3rd big thing to see is the schools of jacks. For our 3rs dive, again the captain searched out the schools before we dived in. The schools were big, about the size of a house, with a couple thousand jacks (each about 2'-3' long). They swam in slow formation, winding back and forth. I swam slowly right up to the school and then was in the middle! It was pretty cool. We stayed with the school for almost 30 minutes, most of the dive. There were turtles and sharks about too but the main attraction on this dive was the jacks.
We headed back to Semporna after the last dive, a great day of diving. We were lucky to have seen all three attractions! There's also hammerheads at Sipadan but not at this time of year. I'll have to see them elsewhere.
We went out for dinner at a different restaurant, a Chinese one that was pretty good. At least with Chinese food it's easy to get our greens. We had a beer for only the 2nd time on this trip, I had finished diving so could have a drink.
We had a fresh coconut on the way home, I think it was freshly picked because it was still warm, and slightly fizzy.
Heather had a 2nd day of snorkeling with Big John's and I was off to Sipadan.
Big John's had booked me through BUMS (Borneo Unlimited Marine Sports) which was conveniently located behind our hotel. There were 6 of us diving, plus a divemaster and a 2nd dive guide.
It was about an hour boat ride to Sipadan. We registered at the office on the island, and then we were off.
Our first dive was from Barracuda Point. We saw lots of green turtles, a couple barracudas and some sharks.
In between dives we went ashore where they have shelters set up, and had our snacks and coffee that the dive shop provided.
The 2nd dive we tracked down the schools of barracuda before jumping in. It was amazing, about 1000 barracuda, each about 6'-8' long, swimming in a tornado pattern. Just after we got back on board, the captain spotted some bumphead parrotfish and so we jumped back in and snorkeled over to see them. That covered of two of the three main attractions of Sipadan!
The 3rd big thing to see is the schools of jacks. For our 3rs dive, again the captain searched out the schools before we dived in. The schools were big, about the size of a house, with a couple thousand jacks (each about 2'-3' long). They swam in slow formation, winding back and forth. I swam slowly right up to the school and then was in the middle! It was pretty cool. We stayed with the school for almost 30 minutes, most of the dive. There were turtles and sharks about too but the main attraction on this dive was the jacks.
We headed back to Semporna after the last dive, a great day of diving. We were lucky to have seen all three attractions! There's also hammerheads at Sipadan but not at this time of year. I'll have to see them elsewhere.
We went out for dinner at a different restaurant, a Chinese one that was pretty good. At least with Chinese food it's easy to get our greens. We had a beer for only the 2nd time on this trip, I had finished diving so could have a drink.
We had a fresh coconut on the way home, I think it was freshly picked because it was still warm, and slightly fizzy.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Semporna, Malaysia
We had to be at the dive shop at 7:45am so we were up early to catch the start of breakfast at 7am. At first we didn't see the western breakfast buffet and so had served a Malay breakfast. We both changed to scrambled eggs and toast :)
We had prebooked our diving with Big John Diving, run by a local Malay named John who is pretty big. It was one of the few places that took bookings for Sipadan without forcing you to buy a 3 or 4 day dive package. Big John doesn't get allocated any of the 120 permits per day so they booked my Sipadan dive with an operator that did.
Today's excursion was two dives around Mabul and then one at Kapalai. It's a 45 minute boat ride to Mabul, where Big John's has their dive operations. It's a very family-like atmosphere - all the staff and guests were chatting and joking around.
Heather went snorkeling at the same sites that I was diving. They actually had a snorkel guide - to assist with the currents etc.
I had rented a camera for today. I decided not to rent it for Sipadan because I was worried I would be to focused on the camera and not on enjoying the dive.
The two dives around Mabul were okay. Heather saw a few green turtles, about 3' - 4' big. I saw a couple too. With the camera I was mostly focused on the macro - the small little fishies that I otherwise ignore. My divemaster took half of the pictures I posted until he was comfortable with my diving experience, and then he passed me the camera.
I suppose it's just experience, but I found it hard to keep my buoyancy and forgot to equalize at times.
In between each dive we zipped back to the dive shop on Mabul and had yummy snacks and lunch.
The third dive site was at Kapalai. The visibility wasn't as good, and the fish were slightly different. The water temperature was nice, around 29C. Much better than the 24C in the Red Sea!
Back at the dive shop we had the most excellent freshly-made doughnuts! Food always tastes better after diving, but these were especially good.
After the 45 minute return boat ride back to Semporna we showered up and then headed for dinner. We ate at the same place as yesterday, and we both tried the roti, which was great.
We had prebooked our diving with Big John Diving, run by a local Malay named John who is pretty big. It was one of the few places that took bookings for Sipadan without forcing you to buy a 3 or 4 day dive package. Big John doesn't get allocated any of the 120 permits per day so they booked my Sipadan dive with an operator that did.
Today's excursion was two dives around Mabul and then one at Kapalai. It's a 45 minute boat ride to Mabul, where Big John's has their dive operations. It's a very family-like atmosphere - all the staff and guests were chatting and joking around.
Heather went snorkeling at the same sites that I was diving. They actually had a snorkel guide - to assist with the currents etc.
I had rented a camera for today. I decided not to rent it for Sipadan because I was worried I would be to focused on the camera and not on enjoying the dive.
The two dives around Mabul were okay. Heather saw a few green turtles, about 3' - 4' big. I saw a couple too. With the camera I was mostly focused on the macro - the small little fishies that I otherwise ignore. My divemaster took half of the pictures I posted until he was comfortable with my diving experience, and then he passed me the camera.
I suppose it's just experience, but I found it hard to keep my buoyancy and forgot to equalize at times.
In between each dive we zipped back to the dive shop on Mabul and had yummy snacks and lunch.
The third dive site was at Kapalai. The visibility wasn't as good, and the fish were slightly different. The water temperature was nice, around 29C. Much better than the 24C in the Red Sea!
Back at the dive shop we had the most excellent freshly-made doughnuts! Food always tastes better after diving, but these were especially good.
After the 45 minute return boat ride back to Semporna we showered up and then headed for dinner. We ate at the same place as yesterday, and we both tried the roti, which was great.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Borneo Rainforest Lodge, Danum Valley, Malaysia - Day 4
We were up at 5am so that we could get to the canopy walk to watch the sunrise. This really meant watching the day start and burn off the mist, and see the rainforest slowly appear.
It had rained heavily overnight so it was particularly muggy.
Once again it was just the two of us overlooking the rainforest from the canopy walk. It was really cool to see the mist burn off.
We walked back slowly along tr road back to the lodge, on the lookout for a final view of wildlife. Unfortunately, aside from a small squirrel, we didn't see anything.
We had breakfast, served a la carte rather than buffet because there were only 8 guests this morning. The pancakes were excellent.
Relaxed back in our room and packed up to leave. I had to check for leeches in our shoes - as our guide had explained, you stick your hand in the shoe. If there's a leech it will go for your hand; and then you flick it off before it attaches. Lucky for me there weren't any leeches in our shoes.
Had a big lunch, and then we were off, headed for the junction where we'd connect with a prearranged taxi to take us to Semporna.
It takes about 90 minutes to actually exit the conservation area. Just as we had resigned ourselves to the limited wildlife we had seen on our treks, suddenly our driver stopped the vehicle and pointed out a mother orang utan carrying a baby, high up in a tree.
We got out our binoculars and cameras, and watched the orang utans for a few minutes.
I joked that the next stop was the elephants. However we just saw recent elephant droppings, but no elephant. Oh well. We did see an eagle at the side of the road, about 15 feet away.
We changed to the taxi at the junction, as then it was a two hour drive to the Seafest Hotel in Semporna.
We arrived at 6pm, and quickly checked in and then walked over to the dive centre to sort out logistics for our dive excursion the next morning.
Walked ten minutes into the town centre for dinner. It was a bit of a shock seeing so many tourists after being in Danum Valley for four days.
We avoided the tourist-filled restaurants and instead found a local kopi. At first they gave us an english menu but we didn't recognize any of their translations so asked for the malay menu instead. It was mmm good. Finished off with a
teh tarik, which is a pulled tea with condensed milk.
ps I've posted pics from today's dive excursion. I'll write about it tomorrow
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Borneo Rainforest Lodge, Danum Valley, Malaysia - Day 3
We were up at 5:45am for an early morning trek before breakfast.
It was another cool trek through the rainforest, but without seeing many animals. It's very different from African safaris, where you see huge herds of ungulates. A major difference is in Africa you're on the plains of the Serengeti, not the thick jungle. It is much more difficult to spot the big animals in Borneo - a lot of it is luck.
We had another trek after breakfast. We had a couple leeches on our shoes after the trek, but the leech socks did their job and kept the leeches on the outside. (The fabric is dense enough to prevent leeches from passing through).
Our last trek of the day didn't start until 5:45pm so Heather and I walked out to the canopy walk again. Once again we were the only people on it; although there were only 8 guests in total this night at the lodge so we had almost the entire conservation area to ourselves.
The evening walk was cool. We started at dusk, and heard the "6 o'clock cicadas" - they are the rainforest's evening alarm clock. The sounds slowly changed from the day creatures to the nocturnal ones. It was really cool.
The trek then turned into another freaky walk at night. This time we also had little bats flying around. It was very Blair Witch-like. We saw a strange spider that even the guide had never seen before.
Back at the lodge we had another big dinner, and then showered and crashed.
It was another cool trek through the rainforest, but without seeing many animals. It's very different from African safaris, where you see huge herds of ungulates. A major difference is in Africa you're on the plains of the Serengeti, not the thick jungle. It is much more difficult to spot the big animals in Borneo - a lot of it is luck.
We had another trek after breakfast. We had a couple leeches on our shoes after the trek, but the leech socks did their job and kept the leeches on the outside. (The fabric is dense enough to prevent leeches from passing through).
Our last trek of the day didn't start until 5:45pm so Heather and I walked out to the canopy walk again. Once again we were the only people on it; although there were only 8 guests in total this night at the lodge so we had almost the entire conservation area to ourselves.
The evening walk was cool. We started at dusk, and heard the "6 o'clock cicadas" - they are the rainforest's evening alarm clock. The sounds slowly changed from the day creatures to the nocturnal ones. It was really cool.
The trek then turned into another freaky walk at night. This time we also had little bats flying around. It was very Blair Witch-like. We saw a strange spider that even the guide had never seen before.
Back at the lodge we had another big dinner, and then showered and crashed.
Monday, December 09, 2013
Borneo Rainforest Lodge, Danum Valley, Malaysia - Day 2
I had set my alarm for 6:30, but the white noise of the rainforest (crickets, cicadas, river, frogs etc) is so loud that I didn't hear it. Fortunately Heather was already awake and woke me up.
We had a big buffet breakfast with lots of fresh fruit, and then got ready for our trek at 8:30am - sun screen, bug repellant, leech socks.
Today's trek was to the viewpoint 100m high overlooking the lodge. We walked the 3km at a casual pace, stopping to look for wildlife. We saw some birds but no orangutans. The viewpoint was nice, even better with the breeze. There's very little sun at the base of the rainforest because the canopy is so thick but the humidity makes it very warm.
On the way back down we stopped at a small waterfall called Jacuzzi Pool. The water contains those fish that are in some spas that nibble at your dead skin, which costs a lot of money in expensive spas. Here it's free, but having the fish nibble at my feet was a little freaky. (My feet did feel nice after though). I jumped in fully for a few seconds at then got out before the fish came over.
Back at the hotel we had a big lunch, and then had a couple hours to relax. I managed to connect to the wifi but it was flaky and the only time I was able to connect.
We had another trek late afternoon. Saw lots of evidence of the large animals but no actual sightings. Heather and I headed to the Canopy Walk after the trek as we had some time before dinner. The canopy is one of the few walks that they allow guests to do without a guide. It was really cool - we were the only people on the canopy walk, all alone with the rainforest. Heather spotted a group of about 7 red-leafed monkeys about 20 feet from the path, the closest we had seen to that point.
Dinner was great, and then we headed out for a night walk. The night walk is all about the small creatures - insects, frogs, snakes. In addition to all the dayside gear I was also wearing an mosquito net over my head (I forget what they're called), and so the all the flying bugs didn't bother me. We saw a snake slowly slithering up on a couple frogs. We watched for 10 minutes but unlike tv it doesn't fast-forward to the end, so we gave up watching and continued on.
It was a long day, and we fell asleep pretty quickly.
We had a big buffet breakfast with lots of fresh fruit, and then got ready for our trek at 8:30am - sun screen, bug repellant, leech socks.
Today's trek was to the viewpoint 100m high overlooking the lodge. We walked the 3km at a casual pace, stopping to look for wildlife. We saw some birds but no orangutans. The viewpoint was nice, even better with the breeze. There's very little sun at the base of the rainforest because the canopy is so thick but the humidity makes it very warm.
On the way back down we stopped at a small waterfall called Jacuzzi Pool. The water contains those fish that are in some spas that nibble at your dead skin, which costs a lot of money in expensive spas. Here it's free, but having the fish nibble at my feet was a little freaky. (My feet did feel nice after though). I jumped in fully for a few seconds at then got out before the fish came over.
Back at the hotel we had a big lunch, and then had a couple hours to relax. I managed to connect to the wifi but it was flaky and the only time I was able to connect.
We had another trek late afternoon. Saw lots of evidence of the large animals but no actual sightings. Heather and I headed to the Canopy Walk after the trek as we had some time before dinner. The canopy is one of the few walks that they allow guests to do without a guide. It was really cool - we were the only people on the canopy walk, all alone with the rainforest. Heather spotted a group of about 7 red-leafed monkeys about 20 feet from the path, the closest we had seen to that point.
Dinner was great, and then we headed out for a night walk. The night walk is all about the small creatures - insects, frogs, snakes. In addition to all the dayside gear I was also wearing an mosquito net over my head (I forget what they're called), and so the all the flying bugs didn't bother me. We saw a snake slowly slithering up on a couple frogs. We watched for 10 minutes but unlike tv it doesn't fast-forward to the end, so we gave up watching and continued on.
It was a long day, and we fell asleep pretty quickly.
Sunday, December 08, 2013
Borneo Rainforest Lodge, Danum Valley, Malaysia - Day 1
We're relaxing in between the morning and evening treks at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge.
We arrived yesterday, after a very early 6:20am flight from Kota Kinabalu to Lahad Datu. The BRL folks met us at the airport for the two hour drive the lodge, in the middle of the primary rainforest of Danum Valley conservation area. The last 90 minutes is over gravel and was a little bumpy. We spotted a bearded pig on the drive in.
The lodge itself is amazing, a great place to relax and base our trekking and wildlife spotting. And yes, in the middle of the rainforest, they have wifi.
Our room is a cabin reached by boardwalk from the main building. It's amazing how nice it is considering the location.
A stay at BRL is filled with treks. Our guide introduced himself, and then we had the afternoon to relax. The animals are smart enough to not go out during midday sun, and so the treks are morning and evenings.
Lunch was amazing, served overlooking at river that runs past the lodge with a 100m high ridge in the background. The open-air lodge is well designed so it feels cool even though there's no air conditioning.
We met up at 3:30 to start our first little trek. There was a Finnish couple with us. This time of year is low season so it's only four tourists to a guide.
We were suited up in out trekking gear, including leech socks. Leech socks look like Christmas stockings that are worn over your socks and pants, and tie up under your knee.
We had only walked about 50m when we ran into a researcher (there's a research facility in the conservation area) who was tracking a dominant male orangutan. We waited a few minutes but he didn't appear so we carried on.
The short trek on the first day is the canopy walk, a suspended bridge over the valley. It's great for spotting wildlife at tree top level. We saw an adolescent orangutan, and several hornbills.
Back at the lodge we had an hour to relax before heading out on a night drive. There were 10 of us in the back of a truck, with a guide up top with a big search light. It seemed a bit odd and not very sporting. We did see a small cat, a deer and an owl.
We were both exhausted with the day (having started at 4am to catch the flight). Had dinner, showered and fell asleep to the natural white noise of the rainforest.
We arrived yesterday, after a very early 6:20am flight from Kota Kinabalu to Lahad Datu. The BRL folks met us at the airport for the two hour drive the lodge, in the middle of the primary rainforest of Danum Valley conservation area. The last 90 minutes is over gravel and was a little bumpy. We spotted a bearded pig on the drive in.
The lodge itself is amazing, a great place to relax and base our trekking and wildlife spotting. And yes, in the middle of the rainforest, they have wifi.
Our room is a cabin reached by boardwalk from the main building. It's amazing how nice it is considering the location.
A stay at BRL is filled with treks. Our guide introduced himself, and then we had the afternoon to relax. The animals are smart enough to not go out during midday sun, and so the treks are morning and evenings.
Lunch was amazing, served overlooking at river that runs past the lodge with a 100m high ridge in the background. The open-air lodge is well designed so it feels cool even though there's no air conditioning.
We met up at 3:30 to start our first little trek. There was a Finnish couple with us. This time of year is low season so it's only four tourists to a guide.
We were suited up in out trekking gear, including leech socks. Leech socks look like Christmas stockings that are worn over your socks and pants, and tie up under your knee.
We had only walked about 50m when we ran into a researcher (there's a research facility in the conservation area) who was tracking a dominant male orangutan. We waited a few minutes but he didn't appear so we carried on.
The short trek on the first day is the canopy walk, a suspended bridge over the valley. It's great for spotting wildlife at tree top level. We saw an adolescent orangutan, and several hornbills.
Back at the lodge we had an hour to relax before heading out on a night drive. There were 10 of us in the back of a truck, with a guide up top with a big search light. It seemed a bit odd and not very sporting. We did see a small cat, a deer and an owl.
We were both exhausted with the day (having started at 4am to catch the flight). Had dinner, showered and fell asleep to the natural white noise of the rainforest.
Thursday, December 05, 2013
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
The flight from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu was uneventful. We could feel the heat as we disembarked -- the forecast for the next few days is 34C, which is normal.
We're staying at Hotel Sixty3 in KK. Our room wasn't ready (it was only 11am) so we dropped our bags and went for for a little walk. Had a coconut juice each at the market. These are very refreshing and pretty cheap - only 3 ringgit, about $1. We were in between the market times - the fish markets were already done for the day, and the evening markets weren't set up, so there wasn't much to see.
KK is a transit town for most tourists, on their way to the highlights of Borneo. We had planned to stay here for three days, in case we needed the time after the long flights from home. KK has a vibe, but is a little short on attractions. The big thing to do is a day trip to see the proboscis monkeys, which was one of the reasons we wanted to come to Borneo in the first place. So we signed up for an excursion for the next day.
We headed to the night market for dinner. I was a little unsure of what we'd find, as all we had seen on our earlier walk was a big empty lot where the market was marked on the map. However at night, it's transformed into one of the largest open air markets I've seen. Unfortunately it was also pouring rain so I didn't take any pictures. There's row upon row of food stalls, barbecue grills, fresh fish markets. There's tarps strung up over the tables and stalls, but it's impossible to walk around with an umbrella with all the rope holding down the tarps. So while we could eat without getting rained on, we were soaked before we got there. The food was okay, although I prefer the coffee shops (little family run restaurants).
The next morning we were happy to see that our clothes were almost all dry - including our shoes. We had chosen quick-drying clothes for this trip, being in the rainforest in rainy season we expected a bit of, umm, rain.
We had the morning free, so walked a bit more about town, although with the heat we didn't get far. One of the local specialities is roti, so we searched that out for lunch. Heather had the roti canai which has an egg beat into the batter, served with lentils and a curry sauce. I had roti with chicken. Both were mmm good.
The excursion started in the afternoon as the monkeys are more easily spotted at dusk when they feed. The tour bus picked us up at 1pm and then it was a two hour drive to the Garama river, near Beaufort. It poured rain for parts of the drive, which didn't bode well for sighting animals. Next we boarded little river boats - about 10 tourists per boat. There were covers on the boats, that were probably better at providing shade than rain protection. The river (really a mangrove) was very narrow, at points we could touch the overhanging branches on both sides of the boat.
We were lucky as the rain started to peter out as we started the boat tour. We spotted silvered leaf monkeys and macaques, about 15m high in the tree tops. About 30 minutes in, we saw the proboscis monkey! Although, it was the females (the males have the large noses). It's not the best photo taking - shooting a dimly lit subject (being dusk) into a hazy sky background with both the monkey in motion and from a boat, with a long zoom. I posted the best one; unfortunately the monkey is also looking away.
The excursion also includes seeing the fireflies. Dozens of fireflies light up trees here and there like LED Christmas lights. It was really cool to see.
We had a buffet dinner overlooking the mangrove. Sitting in the mangrove just after sunset isn't the best idea for mosquitos, but our clothing and repellant held up and we weren't bitten.
The two hour bus ride back was a bit uncomfortable after the two hours sitting in a small boat. Showered back at the hotel and then crashed at 11pm, the latest I've stayed up so far.
We're staying at Hotel Sixty3 in KK. Our room wasn't ready (it was only 11am) so we dropped our bags and went for for a little walk. Had a coconut juice each at the market. These are very refreshing and pretty cheap - only 3 ringgit, about $1. We were in between the market times - the fish markets were already done for the day, and the evening markets weren't set up, so there wasn't much to see.
KK is a transit town for most tourists, on their way to the highlights of Borneo. We had planned to stay here for three days, in case we needed the time after the long flights from home. KK has a vibe, but is a little short on attractions. The big thing to do is a day trip to see the proboscis monkeys, which was one of the reasons we wanted to come to Borneo in the first place. So we signed up for an excursion for the next day.
We headed to the night market for dinner. I was a little unsure of what we'd find, as all we had seen on our earlier walk was a big empty lot where the market was marked on the map. However at night, it's transformed into one of the largest open air markets I've seen. Unfortunately it was also pouring rain so I didn't take any pictures. There's row upon row of food stalls, barbecue grills, fresh fish markets. There's tarps strung up over the tables and stalls, but it's impossible to walk around with an umbrella with all the rope holding down the tarps. So while we could eat without getting rained on, we were soaked before we got there. The food was okay, although I prefer the coffee shops (little family run restaurants).
The next morning we were happy to see that our clothes were almost all dry - including our shoes. We had chosen quick-drying clothes for this trip, being in the rainforest in rainy season we expected a bit of, umm, rain.
We had the morning free, so walked a bit more about town, although with the heat we didn't get far. One of the local specialities is roti, so we searched that out for lunch. Heather had the roti canai which has an egg beat into the batter, served with lentils and a curry sauce. I had roti with chicken. Both were mmm good.
The excursion started in the afternoon as the monkeys are more easily spotted at dusk when they feed. The tour bus picked us up at 1pm and then it was a two hour drive to the Garama river, near Beaufort. It poured rain for parts of the drive, which didn't bode well for sighting animals. Next we boarded little river boats - about 10 tourists per boat. There were covers on the boats, that were probably better at providing shade than rain protection. The river (really a mangrove) was very narrow, at points we could touch the overhanging branches on both sides of the boat.
We were lucky as the rain started to peter out as we started the boat tour. We spotted silvered leaf monkeys and macaques, about 15m high in the tree tops. About 30 minutes in, we saw the proboscis monkey! Although, it was the females (the males have the large noses). It's not the best photo taking - shooting a dimly lit subject (being dusk) into a hazy sky background with both the monkey in motion and from a boat, with a long zoom. I posted the best one; unfortunately the monkey is also looking away.
The excursion also includes seeing the fireflies. Dozens of fireflies light up trees here and there like LED Christmas lights. It was really cool to see.
We had a buffet dinner overlooking the mangrove. Sitting in the mangrove just after sunset isn't the best idea for mosquitos, but our clothing and repellant held up and we weren't bitten.
The two hour bus ride back was a bit uncomfortable after the two hours sitting in a small boat. Showered back at the hotel and then crashed at 11pm, the latest I've stayed up so far.
Monday, December 02, 2013
Singapore, Singapore
We booked our flight for the Sunday so that we weren't rushed to pack and leave. I haven't flown through Terminal 1 at Pearson for a year, and wow have they improved the experience. Where there used to be rows of uninviting seats, there's now lounge seating that rivals Porter, and every seat has an iPad with free web access (you have to watch a 10 second ad), and USB and electrical outlets. It's very impressive.
Another benefit of flying out on Sunday is that the flight to Tokyo was only 75% full. We had a row to ourselves to stretch out. Thirteen hours to Tokyo, two hours layover and then seven hours to Singapore. 28 hours door to door.
Heather had picked up homeopathic tablets called NoJetLag, and maybe it works or maybe it's a placebo effect, but we feel pretty good this morning. We're staying at the Naomi Liora hotel in Chinatown. We walked over to the hawker stalls in the Chinatown Complex for breakfast, mmm good.
The rest of today is just relaxing and eating and trying to stay awake. Tomorrow morning we fly out to Borneo. It's a short three-hour flight :)
Another benefit of flying out on Sunday is that the flight to Tokyo was only 75% full. We had a row to ourselves to stretch out. Thirteen hours to Tokyo, two hours layover and then seven hours to Singapore. 28 hours door to door.
Heather had picked up homeopathic tablets called NoJetLag, and maybe it works or maybe it's a placebo effect, but we feel pretty good this morning. We're staying at the Naomi Liora hotel in Chinatown. We walked over to the hawker stalls in the Chinatown Complex for breakfast, mmm good.
The rest of today is just relaxing and eating and trying to stay awake. Tomorrow morning we fly out to Borneo. It's a short three-hour flight :)
Sunday, December 01, 2013
Toronto, Canada
This trip is to Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. We decided on this region by googling for places to travel in December (that's when I had time off). I for one was greatly surprised to find out that Brunei is actually in Borneo and not in the Middle East. As we read up on the region we realized there's a lot of cool things to do in Borneo and so we're spending 3 of our 5 weeks in Borneo. On the itinerary is trekking in the rainforest to see the orang-utans, proboscis monkeys and possibly a pygmy elephant or a bearded pig; diving in Sipadan to see a hammerhead shark; and then exploring the bat caves in Mulu Park.
Unusual for us is that we've prebooked the whole trip, in part due to the popularity of the Borneo excursions (for example Sipadan issues permits for only 18 divers a day); and then traveling over Christmas. Internal flights are pretty inexpensive (typically $40 one way) so we've booked a few of these to save time, and wear on our bodies.
For those counting (Gerry, Tanya) I'll get three new countries, which will make it 64.
Finally, let's not forget about the food! We are really looking forward to all the yummy street food.
Unusual for us is that we've prebooked the whole trip, in part due to the popularity of the Borneo excursions (for example Sipadan issues permits for only 18 divers a day); and then traveling over Christmas. Internal flights are pretty inexpensive (typically $40 one way) so we've booked a few of these to save time, and wear on our bodies.
For those counting (Gerry, Tanya) I'll get three new countries, which will make it 64.
Finally, let's not forget about the food! We are really looking forward to all the yummy street food.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Toronto, Canada
We arrived back in Toronto safely. We ended up carrying most of our souvenirs as carry-on, which turned out to be much better for fragile souvenirs. We had bought a cheap duffle bag intending to pack it carefully and check it; but then found out it was $70 to check a 2nd bag. So the airplane people suggested we take it carry-on. I think we'll try to do this for future trips!
Overall Jordan was a very enjoyable trip. There weren't any safety issues, even near the borders. The biggest impression was the lack of hard-sell from would-be guides, vendors, etc -- all it took was a single "no thanks" and they would wish us a good time in Jordan. It was very refreshing.
Petra was amazing, it's in my top five places to see in the world.
There were a lot of ruins in Jordan, and we did get out-ruined after a while. Three weeks in Jordan was probably too much time -- normally, Jordan would be part of a trip including Israel, Syria and/or Egypt, which would provide more variety.
Also, there's not much tourist infrastructure. Outside of Petra, Aqaba, Madaba and Amman there is very little mid-range accommodation. Out of 22 days in Jordan, we spent 18 nights in those four cities. I would have preferred a little more variety, but there just weren't places to stay.
Here's our pics from the trip:
Overall Jordan was a very enjoyable trip. There weren't any safety issues, even near the borders. The biggest impression was the lack of hard-sell from would-be guides, vendors, etc -- all it took was a single "no thanks" and they would wish us a good time in Jordan. It was very refreshing.
Petra was amazing, it's in my top five places to see in the world.
There were a lot of ruins in Jordan, and we did get out-ruined after a while. Three weeks in Jordan was probably too much time -- normally, Jordan would be part of a trip including Israel, Syria and/or Egypt, which would provide more variety.
Also, there's not much tourist infrastructure. Outside of Petra, Aqaba, Madaba and Amman there is very little mid-range accommodation. Out of 22 days in Jordan, we spent 18 nights in those four cities. I would have preferred a little more variety, but there just weren't places to stay.
Here's our pics from the trip:
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| 2012 Jordan - favourites |
Saturday, January 05, 2013
Amman, Jordan
We've spent the last couple days of our trip in Amman. There's not that much tourist stuff to see here.
Did the walking tour from the Lonely Planet, which took about two hours. Took a taxi to the top of the Citadel (the Roman ruins at the top of a hill overlooking Amman). It was okay, not as impressive because we were at Jerash the day before. There's good views of the Roman Theatre along the walking tour, so we didn't bother to go inside.
Wandered through the fruit and vegetable souq and some other markets.
Had lunch at Hashem Restaurant, a local legendary falafel place. It was okay, and I suppose you have to eat there once if you visit Amman. There were more locals than tourists.
Had dessert (kunafa) at a little place in an alley with a huge lineup. It was excellent, a honey cake on top of cream cheese smothered in a sweet sauce, sprinkled with crushed pistacios.
We had plans for 6pm to meet a friend of Brendan's (Mohammad) who now lives in Amman, so we got home and cleaned up.
Mohammad met us at our hotel, and we drove out to Rainbow St, a trendy street with lots of cafés and restaurants and galleries.
Mohammed grew up in the area, and actually wrote a book Old Houses of Amman, based on the history of the houses on and around Rainbow St. He gave us a walking tour (much better than the Lonely Planet), and then we had some tea at one of the cafés and chatted away. It was cool to get a local's view, it's otherwise a bit risky to talk about some subjects like politics with strangers while traveling.
The next day was Friday, so we planned the day around things that were open on Fridays (lots is closed). Unfortunately even though the hours said it should be open, the National Gallery of Fine Arts was closed. So we walked up to Rainbow St, had an excellent lunch at La Calle (an Italian place), and Turkish coffees at another place.
We returned to the area for dinner at Cantaloupe, a new restaurant on the 4th floor of some building. The appetizers were pretty interesting, we shared cantaloupe and feta cheese with pesto, and bresaola with roca leaves (tastes a bit like arugula). Bresaola is cured beef, there's no pork served anywhere in Jordan.
Today we had plans to visit the Art Gallery again, except it rained for the first time on our trip. Before the rain, we did get to Darat al-Funun, a privately funded art gallery. It took a bit of searching for the place. We ran into some other tourists walking around lost with guide book in hand who were also looking for the place, the Lonely Planet maps are terrible.
(The Lonely Planets have been getting progressively worse since they were bought by the BBC. The best thing I could say about the Jordan edition is that it had some blank pages for notes. We only bought it because the Rough Guide's updated edition for Jordan was published two days after we left Canada).
We're now back at the hotel, catching up on reading. Our flight is at 5am (all Europe departures are around this time) so we have a taxi arranged for 2am. It's sort of a waste of a hotel room, but really the only option.
Did the walking tour from the Lonely Planet, which took about two hours. Took a taxi to the top of the Citadel (the Roman ruins at the top of a hill overlooking Amman). It was okay, not as impressive because we were at Jerash the day before. There's good views of the Roman Theatre along the walking tour, so we didn't bother to go inside.
Wandered through the fruit and vegetable souq and some other markets.
Had lunch at Hashem Restaurant, a local legendary falafel place. It was okay, and I suppose you have to eat there once if you visit Amman. There were more locals than tourists.
Had dessert (kunafa) at a little place in an alley with a huge lineup. It was excellent, a honey cake on top of cream cheese smothered in a sweet sauce, sprinkled with crushed pistacios.
We had plans for 6pm to meet a friend of Brendan's (Mohammad) who now lives in Amman, so we got home and cleaned up.
Mohammad met us at our hotel, and we drove out to Rainbow St, a trendy street with lots of cafés and restaurants and galleries.
Mohammed grew up in the area, and actually wrote a book Old Houses of Amman, based on the history of the houses on and around Rainbow St. He gave us a walking tour (much better than the Lonely Planet), and then we had some tea at one of the cafés and chatted away. It was cool to get a local's view, it's otherwise a bit risky to talk about some subjects like politics with strangers while traveling.
The next day was Friday, so we planned the day around things that were open on Fridays (lots is closed). Unfortunately even though the hours said it should be open, the National Gallery of Fine Arts was closed. So we walked up to Rainbow St, had an excellent lunch at La Calle (an Italian place), and Turkish coffees at another place.
We returned to the area for dinner at Cantaloupe, a new restaurant on the 4th floor of some building. The appetizers were pretty interesting, we shared cantaloupe and feta cheese with pesto, and bresaola with roca leaves (tastes a bit like arugula). Bresaola is cured beef, there's no pork served anywhere in Jordan.
Today we had plans to visit the Art Gallery again, except it rained for the first time on our trip. Before the rain, we did get to Darat al-Funun, a privately funded art gallery. It took a bit of searching for the place. We ran into some other tourists walking around lost with guide book in hand who were also looking for the place, the Lonely Planet maps are terrible.
(The Lonely Planets have been getting progressively worse since they were bought by the BBC. The best thing I could say about the Jordan edition is that it had some blank pages for notes. We only bought it because the Rough Guide's updated edition for Jordan was published two days after we left Canada).
We're now back at the hotel, catching up on reading. Our flight is at 5am (all Europe departures are around this time) so we have a taxi arranged for 2am. It's sort of a waste of a hotel room, but really the only option.
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Jerash, Jordan
Another day, another set of Roman ruins. Our hotel (Hadrian's Gate) is right outside the entrance to the old walled roman city. It was easy enough to walk down to the ticket booth (through a maze of souvenir stalls), buy our tickets and start our visit of Jerash.
We walked through Hadrian's Arch, a 13m tall entrance to the city. It was enormous. Over the next three hours we wandered through the site. The highlights included the Temple of Zeus, the Forum, the South Theatre, Temple of Artemis, and Cardo Maximus. There has been a lot of restoration work here -- there are some before and after pics that show a pile of rubble, and then the current state. It's by far the best set of Roman ruins I've seen.
Fortunately it's December, because it was about 15C and sunny. I couldn't imagine doing all this in 35C in the summer.
Had lunch at a roadside grill place, and then caught a taxi to our hotel in Amman, the final leg of our trip. We're staying at the Crystal Hotel in the business district.
We walked through Hadrian's Arch, a 13m tall entrance to the city. It was enormous. Over the next three hours we wandered through the site. The highlights included the Temple of Zeus, the Forum, the South Theatre, Temple of Artemis, and Cardo Maximus. There has been a lot of restoration work here -- there are some before and after pics that show a pile of rubble, and then the current state. It's by far the best set of Roman ruins I've seen.
Fortunately it's December, because it was about 15C and sunny. I couldn't imagine doing all this in 35C in the summer.
Had lunch at a roadside grill place, and then caught a taxi to our hotel in Amman, the final leg of our trip. We're staying at the Crystal Hotel in the business district.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Jordan Valley, Jordan
We were up at 6:30am for a big road trip. Had breakfast, packed, checked out. Our driver met us at our hotel. Or so we thought. After getting our bags in the trunk and starting off, we realized with the driver that we weren't his passengers -- it was another couple who we going to Petra! So we apologized, found our real driver, and switched our stuff over to his car.
Today were the sights in Jordan Valley. We started at almost Dead Sea level. Heather was just getting into my cold, so now both of us had trouble equalizing with the altitude changes.
First stop was Pella, about two hours north from Madaba, through winding roads. Pella is supposedly the most historically significant site in Jordan, because it's been continuously settled for 7000 years. The ruins lie a scattered amongst farmers fields. At one point we saw a shepherd take a flock of sheep through the ruins site.
In a single view, we saw ruins from the Ummayads (760 AD), Romans (60 BC), Mamluks (1300 AD), Byzantine era (400 AD), and Canaanites (1270 BC).
Next was Umm Qais, in the northwest corner of Jordan. Umm Qais was one of the Decapolis cities of the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. The Lonely Planet says Umm Qais is striking because of the juxtaposition of roman and Ottoman-era ruins, but after Petra with Roman and Nabataean ruins, the Ottoman stuff seems pretty plain.
What is cool about Umm Qais is its location on a hilltop in the corner of Jordan. From a viewpoint (and if it's not hazy like today) you can see Syria, Lebanon, the Golan Heights, and the Sea of Galilee.
The roman ruins are also cool, not yet restored, but pale in comparison to Jerash.
Last for the day was Ajloun Castle. This has been mostly restored, and is fun to wander around and explore all its rooms and levels.
We drove to Jerash to end our day. Checked in at the Hadrian Gate Hotel, and had dinner at the Lebanese House. Supposedly the Lebanese House is pretty famous (the menu has a page full of dignitaries that have eaten there). It was pretty good, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go there.
Today were the sights in Jordan Valley. We started at almost Dead Sea level. Heather was just getting into my cold, so now both of us had trouble equalizing with the altitude changes.
First stop was Pella, about two hours north from Madaba, through winding roads. Pella is supposedly the most historically significant site in Jordan, because it's been continuously settled for 7000 years. The ruins lie a scattered amongst farmers fields. At one point we saw a shepherd take a flock of sheep through the ruins site.
In a single view, we saw ruins from the Ummayads (760 AD), Romans (60 BC), Mamluks (1300 AD), Byzantine era (400 AD), and Canaanites (1270 BC).
Next was Umm Qais, in the northwest corner of Jordan. Umm Qais was one of the Decapolis cities of the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. The Lonely Planet says Umm Qais is striking because of the juxtaposition of roman and Ottoman-era ruins, but after Petra with Roman and Nabataean ruins, the Ottoman stuff seems pretty plain.
What is cool about Umm Qais is its location on a hilltop in the corner of Jordan. From a viewpoint (and if it's not hazy like today) you can see Syria, Lebanon, the Golan Heights, and the Sea of Galilee.
The roman ruins are also cool, not yet restored, but pale in comparison to Jerash.
Last for the day was Ajloun Castle. This has been mostly restored, and is fun to wander around and explore all its rooms and levels.
We drove to Jerash to end our day. Checked in at the Hadrian Gate Hotel, and had dinner at the Lebanese House. Supposedly the Lebanese House is pretty famous (the menu has a page full of dignitaries that have eaten there). It was pretty good, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go there.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Salt, Jordan
We needed a change from ruins, ruins and more ruins, so arranged a driver for a day trip to Salt.
It was harder than we thought to arrange the trip, because no one could believe we wanted to spend three hours in Salt. Salt? Why go to Salt? was the typical reply when we tried to ask for a taxi.
Even our driver tried to turn the trip into a different outing. What about Wadi Mujib? No, we want to go to Salt. Okay, but if you get bored, we go to [insert other more interesting place].
So we got to Salt, about an hour from Madaba. Our driver gave us one last warning about how we couldn't possibly enjoy three hours in Salt, and then we started exploring.
Salt is an old Ottoman city. As the Lonely Planet describes it, it's an undiscovered gem. The Japanese have contributed grants to save the architecture, and so Salt has excellent tourist facilities, but no tourists. It has the best-signed walking tour I've seen. The narrow streets and alleys and staircase shortcuts reminded us of Portugal.
Had lunch in a busy grill place. They get so few tourists here that they don't even have an english menu to pull out. We ordered by pointing, a half rotisserie chicken, and beef kebabs. It was one of the best meals on this trip so far.
Salt was a great day trip. I'd only recommend it if you are in Jordan for more than two weeks - there's too many big ruins to see otherwise. But if you need a break from ruins, Salt is great.
We had an early start the next day, so wrapped up dinner at 9:30pm, just as everyone was starting to go out for New Year's Eve. Fell asleep well before midnight on NYE, I can't remember the last time that happened.
It was harder than we thought to arrange the trip, because no one could believe we wanted to spend three hours in Salt. Salt? Why go to Salt? was the typical reply when we tried to ask for a taxi.
Even our driver tried to turn the trip into a different outing. What about Wadi Mujib? No, we want to go to Salt. Okay, but if you get bored, we go to [insert other more interesting place]
So we got to Salt, about an hour from Madaba. Our driver gave us one last warning about how we couldn't possibly enjoy three hours in Salt, and then we started exploring.
Salt is an old Ottoman city. As the Lonely Planet describes it, it's an undiscovered gem. The Japanese have contributed grants to save the architecture, and so Salt has excellent tourist facilities, but no tourists. It has the best-signed walking tour I've seen. The narrow streets and alleys and staircase shortcuts reminded us of Portugal.
Had lunch in a busy grill place. They get so few tourists here that they don't even have an english menu to pull out. We ordered by pointing, a half rotisserie chicken, and beef kebabs. It was one of the best meals on this trip so far.
Salt was a great day trip. I'd only recommend it if you are in Jordan for more than two weeks - there's too many big ruins to see otherwise. But if you need a break from ruins, Salt is great.
We had an early start the next day, so wrapped up dinner at 9:30pm, just as everyone was starting to go out for New Year's Eve. Fell asleep well before midnight on NYE, I can't remember the last time that happened.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Hammanat Ma'in, Jordan
Woke up feeling none the worse for all the rich food and drink yesterday. It was the opposite effect of going to a high altitude.
We had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the Marriott, and do an excursion on the way back to Madaba, so we didn't lose a day to travel.
First off was the hot springs at Hammamat Ma'in. Because after a day at the spa, it's best to go to some hot springs to relax.
We could feel the pressure lift as we drove up to sea level. It was more noticeable than going down. It really felt like I could breathe normally again.
Hammamat Ma'in is the best hot springs I've been to. Water at 45C (65C in the summer) falls into a shallow pool. We stood under the waterfall, which was like a giant rainhead shower. Behind the falls are some caves, where water flows through. Sitting in the caves is like a steam bath. It was more enjoyable than I thought (I'm not one for spas).
Back on the road to Mukawir, the castle of Herod the Great. It's a 15 minute walk uphill from the ticket entrance to the top. It's kinda neat because it's so alone and empty up there (the ruins aren't much to see though).
Last for today was Umm ar-Rasas, UNESCO World Heritage ruins. The ruins themselves are still in ruins, spread as far as we could see. The main attraction were the mosaics at the Church of St Stephen. We thought we were out-mosaic'ed, and then we saw these. They are amazing. One of the top highlights of Jordan. They're not on the typical tourist trail, but they should be. It looks like a giant carpet covering the church floor, but in fact it's a mosaic.
We spent about 45 minutes wandering around the rest of the ruins. We saw three other church ruins with mosaic floors, covered with plastic and sand until they can be restored. Some day this will be a great site.
We got back to Madaba, pretty tired considering we had been at the Dead Sea and hot springs.
We had arranged for a driver to pick us up at the Marriott, and do an excursion on the way back to Madaba, so we didn't lose a day to travel.
First off was the hot springs at Hammamat Ma'in. Because after a day at the spa, it's best to go to some hot springs to relax.
We could feel the pressure lift as we drove up to sea level. It was more noticeable than going down. It really felt like I could breathe normally again.
Hammamat Ma'in is the best hot springs I've been to. Water at 45C (65C in the summer) falls into a shallow pool. We stood under the waterfall, which was like a giant rainhead shower. Behind the falls are some caves, where water flows through. Sitting in the caves is like a steam bath. It was more enjoyable than I thought (I'm not one for spas).
Back on the road to Mukawir, the castle of Herod the Great. It's a 15 minute walk uphill from the ticket entrance to the top. It's kinda neat because it's so alone and empty up there (the ruins aren't much to see though).
Last for today was Umm ar-Rasas, UNESCO World Heritage ruins. The ruins themselves are still in ruins, spread as far as we could see. The main attraction were the mosaics at the Church of St Stephen. We thought we were out-mosaic'ed, and then we saw these. They are amazing. One of the top highlights of Jordan. They're not on the typical tourist trail, but they should be. It looks like a giant carpet covering the church floor, but in fact it's a mosaic.
We spent about 45 minutes wandering around the rest of the ruins. We saw three other church ruins with mosaic floors, covered with plastic and sand until they can be restored. Some day this will be a great site.
We got back to Madaba, pretty tired considering we had been at the Dead Sea and hot springs.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Dead Sea, Jordan
Today the trip went downhill, to 423m below sea level.
Along the way from Madaba to our hotel on the Dead Sea (we booked at the Marriott), we stopped Mt Nebo. Mt Nebo is where Moses is said to have seen the promised land. It must not have been a hazy day when Moses was here, because we couldn't see much. The church was under complete renovations, and off-limits. So I took a couple pictures of the haze and then we carried on.
It was a long winding drive down to the Dead Sea. I was still recovering from my cold and so couldn't equalize very well. It was a trip of plugged ears.
We arrived at the Marriott around 11am, and got an early checkin. Wandered around the hotel (we needed a map, it's pretty big), and had lunch at the Italian restaurant. It was very good. Next was the reason we came to the Dead Sea, to sit in the salty water. Got our beach towels and beach slippers (plastic slippers so you don't cut your feet on the rocks). They actually advise you not to shave before going into the Dead Sea, cause it hurts if you have a small cut!
There was a sign explaining how to enter the water -- walk in backwards, slowly, until you can sit backwards. So we did.
It was pretty cool to float without moving.
After a few minutes that got boring, so we got back on shore and covered ourselves with mud, like all the other tourists. You can buy small amounts for facials for large amounts of money. But here at the Dead Sea, the hotel has a big bucket of free mud.
I think you're supposed to wait 15 minutes, but it was getting icky so we went back in the Dead Sea and washed off the mud.
Watched the sunset from the outdoor lounge. Not as colourful as I imagined, because the sun disappears behind hills before it sets. Still hazy so couldn't really see much of Israel.
Later we had dinner at the steak restaurant. It was excellent.
For those interested, some details about the Dead Sea when we visited:
Elevation -423m
Salt concentration 31.5%
pH 6.0
340 g/L total dissolved salts
Density 1.24 kg/L
We arrived at the Marriott around 11am, and got an early checkin. Wandered around the hotel (we needed a map, it's pretty big), and had lunch at the Italian restaurant. It was very good. Next was the reason we came to the Dead Sea, to sit in the salty water. Got our beach towels and beach slippers (plastic slippers so you don't cut your feet on the rocks). They actually advise you not to shave before going into the Dead Sea, cause it hurts if you have a small cut!
There was a sign explaining how to enter the water -- walk in backwards, slowly, until you can sit backwards. So we did.
It was pretty cool to float without moving.
After a few minutes that got boring, so we got back on shore and covered ourselves with mud, like all the other tourists. You can buy small amounts for facials for large amounts of money. But here at the Dead Sea, the hotel has a big bucket of free mud.
I think you're supposed to wait 15 minutes, but it was getting icky so we went back in the Dead Sea and washed off the mud.
Watched the sunset from the outdoor lounge. Not as colourful as I imagined, because the sun disappears behind hills before it sets. Still hazy so couldn't really see much of Israel.
Later we had dinner at the steak restaurant. It was excellent.
For those interested, some details about the Dead Sea when we visited:
Elevation -423m
Salt concentration 31.5%
pH 6.0
340 g/L total dissolved salts
Density 1.24 kg/L
Friday, December 28, 2012
Madaba, Jordan
There's not much going on on Fridays in Jordan (it's like a Sunday back home), so we decided to take a down day in Madaba today (the relaxing part that we didn't get to yesterday). So we've been spending time in cafés, catching up on reading and blogging. Right now we're in Dardasheh Café having a Philadelphia lager, listening to classics from the 70's. (Amman was called Philadelphia around 250 BC). We have a couple big days of going to a spa at the Dead Sea tomorrow, and then the hot springs at Hammanat Ma'in, so we want to be well rested :)
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