We had a quick breakfast and were on the road by 7:30am, headed for QENP. Our driver had a mix up and had gone to the Gorilla Safari Lodge in Buhoma, a five hour drive at the other side of the park. He had planned to get in the night before and rest, but instead spent half of it driving to our lodge in Rushaga.
It was a long bumpy and dusty six hour drive to Isasha, en route to QENP. In Isasha we picked up a ranger and drove to see the tree-climbing lions. They're GPS'd so easy to find, but also seemed to be cheating. The collar also takes away from the pics.
Another bumpy and dusty four hours brought us to QENP and Mweya Safari Lodge. It's on the tip of The Kazinga Channel, with great views of the hippos, crocodiles and buffaloes on the opposite shore. They're further away than we had thought, but with our binoculars and fancy cameras we were able to see them.
The Bradt guide refers to Mweya as the Sheraton of safari. We're here for four nights and it's a nice place to relax after being on the go for the past week.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
We were up for breakfast at 7:00 and on the way to the park entrance by 7:30. The lodge manager walked with us to the gate and helped us register with our permits. You need your passport to sign in (the limited permits are sold in advance), and the manager took them back to the lodge so we didn't have to lug them around on the trek.
We each hired a porter to carry our daypacks. It helps contribute to the local economy and at $15 USD a pretty good deal, what with 2L of water in addition to other gear in our packs.
Our guide gave us an intro briefing, and then we were off. It was pretty warm even at 8am -- about 18C. We wore our base layers and rain jackets - we had to prepare for both a downpour in the undergrowth, and the hot sun in open areas. There was a ranger at the front and back with AK47s (to protect us from unhabituated gorillas and other game), the guide, our porters and us. There were trackers out in the field to search for the gorilla family that our guide was in contact with so we knew where to head.
The trek started off easy enough, along a path used by villagers. Then it became more difficult, single file with the forest growth twice our height in both sides. Then we started going up and down inclines, sometimes with the guide hacking the path with his machete.
About an hour in, our guide got word from the trackers on the gorillas' location. It was about 90 minutes from us. The path became even more challenging. It was an uphill climb for 45 minutes and then along a ledge, with the path cut into a 60* slope. The path encouraged you to slip or step in the wrong place and send you falling down through the undergrowth.
We reached the trackers and then our guide gave us another briefing on how to behave around the gorillas. There's no food or drink allowed and so we had some water and then left our porters and carried on with guide and trackers.
We then pretty much crawled over top of the undergrowth for five minutes to reach an area to view the gorillas. It was the most challenging portion I've ever done.
Finally we could see the gorillas! Although, we were on a steep slope with lots of undergrowth between us and the gorillas. It was a family of ten, and we think we saw about six or seven of them. At first they were moving about in the low light, which didn't make for good pictures. The silverback had climbed up a tree with the bright sky in the background which made even worse pictures.
The gorilla visits are limited to one hour and our guide gave us updates as the visit proceeded. After 30 minutes the gorillas became accustomed to us and came down from the trees which made for better pictures. Then a year-old gorilla scampered over to Heather, touched her knees and then held her hand! It looked like the gorilla might hug her too, but then it went over to Marissa, touched her knees, and then did the same with me. It was almost like the baby gorilla was greeting the newcomers, because it only touched us and not the guide and trackers that it would see frequently. It was really cool.
We sat precariously perched on the slope for the remainder of the hour taking pictures and watching the gorillas. Finally the hour was up and we made our way back to the porters, had our packed lunches, and then started the trek back out.
We walked a different route on the way out. At points there wasn't even a path - we were walking through undergrowth twice our height and so thick I could barely see the person in front of me.
It took us over two hours to walk out. In all, we were trekking for 4 1/2 hours plus the hour with the gorillas. On a scale, I'd rate the trek as difficult, but it just depends on where the gorillas are that day. When Marissa and I saw the gorillas in Rwanda in 2005, it was a trek through a bamboo forest which I'd rate as easy to medium. I'm glad I had my new camera with manual focus, because the auto-focus picked up branches and leaves instead of the gorillas. The low light also needed a longer exposure and for the gorillas to stay motionless.
It was nice that our lodge was just a ten minute walk - we were tired and dirty and in need of a shower and food.
We had an early start the next day for our drive to Queen Elizabeth NP so we were in bed pretty early at 9pm.
We each hired a porter to carry our daypacks. It helps contribute to the local economy and at $15 USD a pretty good deal, what with 2L of water in addition to other gear in our packs.
Our guide gave us an intro briefing, and then we were off. It was pretty warm even at 8am -- about 18C. We wore our base layers and rain jackets - we had to prepare for both a downpour in the undergrowth, and the hot sun in open areas. There was a ranger at the front and back with AK47s (to protect us from unhabituated gorillas and other game), the guide, our porters and us. There were trackers out in the field to search for the gorilla family that our guide was in contact with so we knew where to head.
The trek started off easy enough, along a path used by villagers. Then it became more difficult, single file with the forest growth twice our height in both sides. Then we started going up and down inclines, sometimes with the guide hacking the path with his machete.
About an hour in, our guide got word from the trackers on the gorillas' location. It was about 90 minutes from us. The path became even more challenging. It was an uphill climb for 45 minutes and then along a ledge, with the path cut into a 60* slope. The path encouraged you to slip or step in the wrong place and send you falling down through the undergrowth.
We reached the trackers and then our guide gave us another briefing on how to behave around the gorillas. There's no food or drink allowed and so we had some water and then left our porters and carried on with guide and trackers.
We then pretty much crawled over top of the undergrowth for five minutes to reach an area to view the gorillas. It was the most challenging portion I've ever done.
Finally we could see the gorillas! Although, we were on a steep slope with lots of undergrowth between us and the gorillas. It was a family of ten, and we think we saw about six or seven of them. At first they were moving about in the low light, which didn't make for good pictures. The silverback had climbed up a tree with the bright sky in the background which made even worse pictures.
The gorilla visits are limited to one hour and our guide gave us updates as the visit proceeded. After 30 minutes the gorillas became accustomed to us and came down from the trees which made for better pictures. Then a year-old gorilla scampered over to Heather, touched her knees and then held her hand! It looked like the gorilla might hug her too, but then it went over to Marissa, touched her knees, and then did the same with me. It was almost like the baby gorilla was greeting the newcomers, because it only touched us and not the guide and trackers that it would see frequently. It was really cool.
We sat precariously perched on the slope for the remainder of the hour taking pictures and watching the gorillas. Finally the hour was up and we made our way back to the porters, had our packed lunches, and then started the trek back out.
We walked a different route on the way out. At points there wasn't even a path - we were walking through undergrowth twice our height and so thick I could barely see the person in front of me.
It took us over two hours to walk out. In all, we were trekking for 4 1/2 hours plus the hour with the gorillas. On a scale, I'd rate the trek as difficult, but it just depends on where the gorillas are that day. When Marissa and I saw the gorillas in Rwanda in 2005, it was a trek through a bamboo forest which I'd rate as easy to medium. I'm glad I had my new camera with manual focus, because the auto-focus picked up branches and leaves instead of the gorillas. The low light also needed a longer exposure and for the gorillas to stay motionless.
It was nice that our lodge was just a ten minute walk - we were tired and dirty and in need of a shower and food.
We had an early start the next day for our drive to Queen Elizabeth NP so we were in bed pretty early at 9pm.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
We were up and ready for our driver at 9:00am as planned. He was still a no-show at 9:30 and we were planning when we should start to panic. The receptionist came by concerned and asked how she could help. We didn't have the driver's number but he was booked through the previous hotel, so the receptionist called the Karibu and in her telephone voice asked if they could contact the driver. It turns out he had a flat tire in the morning and showed up a few minutes after we called.
And so we were off for Rushaga, our entry point to Bwindi to see the mountain gorillas. It was market day in a few towns we passed through and they were bustling. There was even a livestock market at one. We did some drive-by touristing, taking pictures through rolled-down windows from the moving car.
Closer to Rushaga, the road was signposted with the hotels and lodges. There were a couple forks that weren't marked and unfortunately we chose poorly both times.
We arrived at the Gorilla Safari Lodge around 1pm. Once again we were the only guests. The lodge was okay - not as nice as Apoka, but prices are inflated around Bwindi. The whole area is very hilly and it's at least a 50m vertical down the path from the main lodge area to our cabins.
Electrical outlets are only in the main lodge and so first on the agenda was recharging phones, iPad and camera batteries. Good thing we were the only guests!
We took a walk along the road to warm up for the next day's trek, as we had been very inactive since we arrived, sitting in safari vehicles for most of the day. We saw the locals farming in 45* slopes, school kids playing soccer and goats and sheep herded along the road.
We cleaned up and then met up in the main lodge for a few Clubs (a pilsener that's our favourite local beer). We had dinner around 7:30pm and then went to bed early, with our big adventure tomorrow to see the mountain gorillas!
And so we were off for Rushaga, our entry point to Bwindi to see the mountain gorillas. It was market day in a few towns we passed through and they were bustling. There was even a livestock market at one. We did some drive-by touristing, taking pictures through rolled-down windows from the moving car.
Closer to Rushaga, the road was signposted with the hotels and lodges. There were a couple forks that weren't marked and unfortunately we chose poorly both times.
We arrived at the Gorilla Safari Lodge around 1pm. Once again we were the only guests. The lodge was okay - not as nice as Apoka, but prices are inflated around Bwindi. The whole area is very hilly and it's at least a 50m vertical down the path from the main lodge area to our cabins.
Electrical outlets are only in the main lodge and so first on the agenda was recharging phones, iPad and camera batteries. Good thing we were the only guests!
We took a walk along the road to warm up for the next day's trek, as we had been very inactive since we arrived, sitting in safari vehicles for most of the day. We saw the locals farming in 45* slopes, school kids playing soccer and goats and sheep herded along the road.
We cleaned up and then met up in the main lodge for a few Clubs (a pilsener that's our favourite local beer). We had dinner around 7:30pm and then went to bed early, with our big adventure tomorrow to see the mountain gorillas!
Monday, December 15, 2014
Kabale, Uganda
We took a special hire (a long-distance taxi) to Kabale. The road is newly paved and was quite comfortable. Our driver has said it was a five-hour drive but it took us nine hours, including a stop for lunch. The countryside was lush and green, and there were little produce stalls on the side of the road selling potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and fresh fish from Lake Bunyonyi.
We stopped at the equator for a touristy pic. There's a restaurant that sits right on the equator, and you can get a table with people sitting in different hemispheres.
Kabale has limited tourist options. We had booked into Cepha's Inn, a mid-range place rated highly in the guide books but not so great on tripadvisor. We debated on the drive about upgrading to a nicer (more expensive) hotel in the nearby Lake Bunyonyi but decided to stay at Cepha's because it was just a transit stop and more convenient to get to Bwindi.
We liked our driver so arranged with him to drive us the next day to Bwindi.
We found out we've been mispronouncing 'Bwindi' - we've been saying b-win-di but it's actually bwin-di with a consonant blend on the 'bw' similar to 'tw' in twin.
Cepha's was okay, but there are two wings - the newer wing is what was reviewed in the guide books, and the older wing got the bad reviews on tripadvisor. We were in the older wing. It was clean and had hot water, a mosquito net and a comfortable bed so it was good enough.
Dinner was pretty good again. We've been surprised at the great meals we've had so far in Uganda. Marissa's vegetarian and there's been good options for her too. At Cepha's I had the 'fish allachef' which tasted great. We finished up our beers and called it a night.
We stopped at the equator for a touristy pic. There's a restaurant that sits right on the equator, and you can get a table with people sitting in different hemispheres.
Kabale has limited tourist options. We had booked into Cepha's Inn, a mid-range place rated highly in the guide books but not so great on tripadvisor. We debated on the drive about upgrading to a nicer (more expensive) hotel in the nearby Lake Bunyonyi but decided to stay at Cepha's because it was just a transit stop and more convenient to get to Bwindi.
We liked our driver so arranged with him to drive us the next day to Bwindi.
We found out we've been mispronouncing 'Bwindi' - we've been saying b-win-di but it's actually bwin-di with a consonant blend on the 'bw' similar to 'tw' in twin.
Cepha's was okay, but there are two wings - the newer wing is what was reviewed in the guide books, and the older wing got the bad reviews on tripadvisor. We were in the older wing. It was clean and had hot water, a mosquito net and a comfortable bed so it was good enough.
Dinner was pretty good again. We've been surprised at the great meals we've had so far in Uganda. Marissa's vegetarian and there's been good options for her too. At Cepha's I had the 'fish allachef' which tasted great. We finished up our beers and called it a night.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda - Day 4
For our last game activity we tried out the game walk. We drove out to an area that giraffes frequently graze, and then started the game walk, joined by an armed ranger.
Our guide went through some pointers: walk in single file, some hand signals, and what to do if an animal charged us (hide between the guide and ranger).
We saw the usual animals, but the giraffes were in a distant field and so we didn't get close. Apparently the giraffes just ignore people and you can get within a few feet. A selfie with a giraffe would have been cool.
On the drive back we saw a large group of 35 elephants.
For the record, over our time at Kidepo we saw:
Reeboks, Cape buffalo, vultures, waterbucks, Patas monkeys, jackals, Jackson hartebeest, absent brown hornbills, Rothschild giraffe, oribi, lion, warthogs, Marshall eagles, Abyssinian rollers, storks, kobs, leopard and Abyssinian ground hornbill.
At the lodge we packed up, had lunch, and then departed for the airstrip. Zac took us on a fly-by of the lodge and then flew low over the park so we could see the game from the air. It was really cool.
We were whisked immigration and security by the Aerolink staff, continuing the VIP experience. We had had a private plane to Apoka, and then the lodge and national park to pretty much ourselves for three days.
Back in Entebbe we watched another beautiful sunset and had dinner. We were all tired (probably catching up from the lack of sleep) so had an early night.
Our guide went through some pointers: walk in single file, some hand signals, and what to do if an animal charged us (hide between the guide and ranger).
We saw the usual animals, but the giraffes were in a distant field and so we didn't get close. Apparently the giraffes just ignore people and you can get within a few feet. A selfie with a giraffe would have been cool.
On the drive back we saw a large group of 35 elephants.
For the record, over our time at Kidepo we saw:
Reeboks, Cape buffalo, vultures, waterbucks, Patas monkeys, jackals, Jackson hartebeest, absent brown hornbills, Rothschild giraffe, oribi, lion, warthogs, Marshall eagles, Abyssinian rollers, storks, kobs, leopard and Abyssinian ground hornbill.
At the lodge we packed up, had lunch, and then departed for the airstrip. Zac took us on a fly-by of the lodge and then flew low over the park so we could see the game from the air. It was really cool.
We were whisked immigration and security by the Aerolink staff, continuing the VIP experience. We had had a private plane to Apoka, and then the lodge and national park to pretty much ourselves for three days.
Back in Entebbe we watched another beautiful sunset and had dinner. We were all tired (probably catching up from the lack of sleep) so had an early night.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda - Day 3
I was finally able to sleep through the night, but then it seemed like more effort to get up at 5:45am for the morning game drive.
Day 3 was similar to The previous day - a morning game drive from 6.30-10:00am, an evening game drive from 4:30-7:00pm and in between watch the game from the main lounge.
For the morning game drive we were joined by the pilots, Zak and Roman, (we had started hanging out together at the lodge), and a new guest, Tamden, who arrived the previous night.
The guide said that a lion had been through the lodge grounds overnight and had let out a big roar at 5am. We tried to track it but no luck. We saw a lot of zebra, buffalo, waterbucks and hartebeests, and towards the end saw a giraffe.
Marissa jumped in the pool after brunch, along with Zak and Tamden. It's built into a
natural rock basin beside the main lounge. The waterbucks will sometimes drink from the pool (I guess because they're last in the queue for the watering hole) and don't mind people lounging on the other side.
It was hotter today - about 33C, but it was nice in the lounge with a breeze going through.
Had our high tea and then went for the evening game drive. Saw another group of 20 elephants. Then our guide tracked a leopard! They are shy animals, so we took some pics from afar and then slowly approached. The leopard detected us when we were still 200m away and disappeared into the underbrush. Oh well.
The staff had a special dinner as it was our last night, with tables set up on the rocks under the stars. We even saw a couple of shooting stars!
We stayed up and had a few beers after dinner, making it to bed around 1am.
Day 3 was similar to The previous day - a morning game drive from 6.30-10:00am, an evening game drive from 4:30-7:00pm and in between watch the game from the main lounge.
For the morning game drive we were joined by the pilots, Zak and Roman, (we had started hanging out together at the lodge), and a new guest, Tamden, who arrived the previous night.
The guide said that a lion had been through the lodge grounds overnight and had let out a big roar at 5am. We tried to track it but no luck. We saw a lot of zebra, buffalo, waterbucks and hartebeests, and towards the end saw a giraffe.
Marissa jumped in the pool after brunch, along with Zak and Tamden. It's built into a
natural rock basin beside the main lounge. The waterbucks will sometimes drink from the pool (I guess because they're last in the queue for the watering hole) and don't mind people lounging on the other side.
It was hotter today - about 33C, but it was nice in the lounge with a breeze going through.
Had our high tea and then went for the evening game drive. Saw another group of 20 elephants. Then our guide tracked a leopard! They are shy animals, so we took some pics from afar and then slowly approached. The leopard detected us when we were still 200m away and disappeared into the underbrush. Oh well.
The staff had a special dinner as it was our last night, with tables set up on the rocks under the stars. We even saw a couple of shooting stars!
We stayed up and had a few beers after dinner, making it to bed around 1am.
Friday, December 12, 2014
Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda - Day 2
I was still jet lagged and was awake at 2am, so I just lazed in bed until our alarm went off at 5:45am. It was much quieter at night in the savannah than the Borneo rainforest, just the occasional grunts.
It's chilly in the mornings so we layered with our mid layers for the morning game drive. First a quick snack of freshly baked muffins and tea, and then we were off on the game drive at 6:30am.
We saw three giraffes and hundreds of zebras, Cape buffalo and Jackson hartebeest. We spent a couple hours looking for lions and elephants. There are anthills dotting the savannah which look very similar to sitting animals at a distance, which make it harder to spot game. After a few false alarms from us (our guide didn't have any issues recognizing anthills), we saw an anthill beside the dirt road, which turned out to be a lion! Spartacus (the staff name the lions) walked a few metres and then settled into the shade of a bush. We offroaded to get a good angle for pictures and then watched the lion for about 10 minutes.
We got back to the lodge about 10:00, and had a big brunch. Then there was free time until high tea at 3pm and the afternoon game drive at 4:30pm. We spent most of the time in the main lounge area watching the animals taking turns at the watering hole. There's a pecking order - the buffaloes are at the top, followed by zebras and then waterbucks. The warthogs jump in whenever they can.
It was still quite warm when we headed out for the evening game drive (about 30C). First we tracked some elephants -two groups of 10, and then a smaller group of 5. We waited about 100m downwind and let the elephants walk past. It was pretty cool. Next we slowly drove through a herd of over 2,000 buffalo.
For the sundowner we drove to a rock promontory overlooking the park and watched the sunset while having our drinks.
Back at the lodge, cleaned up and had a yummy dinner. Another great day at Apoka!
It's chilly in the mornings so we layered with our mid layers for the morning game drive. First a quick snack of freshly baked muffins and tea, and then we were off on the game drive at 6:30am.
We saw three giraffes and hundreds of zebras, Cape buffalo and Jackson hartebeest. We spent a couple hours looking for lions and elephants. There are anthills dotting the savannah which look very similar to sitting animals at a distance, which make it harder to spot game. After a few false alarms from us (our guide didn't have any issues recognizing anthills), we saw an anthill beside the dirt road, which turned out to be a lion! Spartacus (the staff name the lions) walked a few metres and then settled into the shade of a bush. We offroaded to get a good angle for pictures and then watched the lion for about 10 minutes.
We got back to the lodge about 10:00, and had a big brunch. Then there was free time until high tea at 3pm and the afternoon game drive at 4:30pm. We spent most of the time in the main lounge area watching the animals taking turns at the watering hole. There's a pecking order - the buffaloes are at the top, followed by zebras and then waterbucks. The warthogs jump in whenever they can.
It was still quite warm when we headed out for the evening game drive (about 30C). First we tracked some elephants -two groups of 10, and then a smaller group of 5. We waited about 100m downwind and let the elephants walk past. It was pretty cool. Next we slowly drove through a herd of over 2,000 buffalo.
For the sundowner we drove to a rock promontory overlooking the park and watched the sunset while having our drinks.
Back at the lodge, cleaned up and had a yummy dinner. Another great day at Apoka!
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Kidepo Valley National Park, Uganda - Day 1
Our friend Marissa arrived in Entebbe later the same night as us. She's joining us for the Uganda part of our trip, to see the gorillas and all the other animals.
Breakfast at the Karibu Guest House was pretty good. At first we thought we had a choice of fruit salad and pancakes, or an English breakfast, but it turned out that it was a listing of the courses - it was a big breakfast.
We took a taxi to the airport for our charter Aerolink flight to Kidepo at 12:30pm. We arrived just before 11am, and the lady at the Aerolink counter asked us to wait as she had to announce that the counter was open for check-in. So she made the announcement and then checked us in. It turned out we were the only three passengers on the flight; but I guess she had to follow procedure. The whole rest of the process was the same, with everything announced over the PA before she did anything. We half-expected her to open boarding to business class passengers first.
So Marissa, Heather and I boarded the 11-seater single prop Cessna. The pilot made the safety announcements over his shoulder from the cockpit; and then we were off.
The 90-minute flight was pretty smooth. The fields below gave way to unfenced national parkland, and then the airstrip was visible. We signed the guest registration book at the airport and then boarded the safari vehicle that came to pick us up. The pilots joined us - there are no other passengers until we leave, so they're staying at the lodge until then.
We saw a lot of animals on the five minute drive to Apoka Safari Lodge - zebras, waterbucks, warthogs. Apoka is the only lodge in Kidepo National Park, and we were the only guests at the lodge - an entire national park to ourselves!
Apoka was ranked by CNN as the 2nd best safari lodge in the world - it's very nice. We had a lemon and ginger drink on arrival which helped to calm stomachs upset from the flight. Then we were shown our rooms - they blend right into the landscape and have screens but no glass windows - so you feel like you're sleeping out in the savannah.
We had a high tea and then were off for our first game drive. It's amazing that 36 hours after leaving Toronto, Marissa was on a game drive. We saw dozens of zebras, waterbucks and Cape buffalo up close, and some elephants off in the distance. The drivers are allowed to off-road so you can get the right lighting for pictures. At 6pm we stopped in the middle of the savannah for the "sundowner" - a drink while we watched the sunset. They make a big deal at the lodge about having your favourite drink for sundowner, but we all went with a local pilsener, Club, which was great. A Rotchschild giraffe wandered by as the sunset. It was an excellent day, one of Heather's favourite vacation days yet.
We drove back to the lodge and cleaned up before dinner, for which we had selected our menu options prior to the game drive. Dinner was great, served in the open air main hall overlooking the savannah. Surprisingly there were no bugs either.
Breakfast at the Karibu Guest House was pretty good. At first we thought we had a choice of fruit salad and pancakes, or an English breakfast, but it turned out that it was a listing of the courses - it was a big breakfast.
We took a taxi to the airport for our charter Aerolink flight to Kidepo at 12:30pm. We arrived just before 11am, and the lady at the Aerolink counter asked us to wait as she had to announce that the counter was open for check-in. So she made the announcement and then checked us in. It turned out we were the only three passengers on the flight; but I guess she had to follow procedure. The whole rest of the process was the same, with everything announced over the PA before she did anything. We half-expected her to open boarding to business class passengers first.
So Marissa, Heather and I boarded the 11-seater single prop Cessna. The pilot made the safety announcements over his shoulder from the cockpit; and then we were off.
The 90-minute flight was pretty smooth. The fields below gave way to unfenced national parkland, and then the airstrip was visible. We signed the guest registration book at the airport and then boarded the safari vehicle that came to pick us up. The pilots joined us - there are no other passengers until we leave, so they're staying at the lodge until then.
We saw a lot of animals on the five minute drive to Apoka Safari Lodge - zebras, waterbucks, warthogs. Apoka is the only lodge in Kidepo National Park, and we were the only guests at the lodge - an entire national park to ourselves!
Apoka was ranked by CNN as the 2nd best safari lodge in the world - it's very nice. We had a lemon and ginger drink on arrival which helped to calm stomachs upset from the flight. Then we were shown our rooms - they blend right into the landscape and have screens but no glass windows - so you feel like you're sleeping out in the savannah.
We had a high tea and then were off for our first game drive. It's amazing that 36 hours after leaving Toronto, Marissa was on a game drive. We saw dozens of zebras, waterbucks and Cape buffalo up close, and some elephants off in the distance. The drivers are allowed to off-road so you can get the right lighting for pictures. At 6pm we stopped in the middle of the savannah for the "sundowner" - a drink while we watched the sunset. They make a big deal at the lodge about having your favourite drink for sundowner, but we all went with a local pilsener, Club, which was great. A Rotchschild giraffe wandered by as the sunset. It was an excellent day, one of Heather's favourite vacation days yet.
We drove back to the lodge and cleaned up before dinner, for which we had selected our menu options prior to the game drive. Dinner was great, served in the open air main hall overlooking the savannah. Surprisingly there were no bugs either.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Entebbe, Uganda
We arrived in Entebbe a couple hours ago, 12 hours from Toronto to Addis, and then two hours to Entebbe. It was our first time flying with Ethiopian Airlines and we were suitably impressed.
There was screening for Ebola in the airports at both Addis and Entebbe. In Addis, there was a body temperature scanner; in Entebbe there was a separate form to fill out, and then a temperature scan. We also had our hands sprayed with something as we entered the Entebbe airport which I suppose is good for overall hygiene but is probably not very effective at stopping Ebola.
Although as I like to point out, it's just about the same distance from Monrovia to St. John's Newfoundland as it is from Monrovia to Djibouti (6060km vs 5844km).
We are staying at the Karibu Guest House near the airport, as we fly out tomorrow morning to Kidepo National Park. Right now we're enjoying a Ugandan chai tea with fresh banana bread, sitting on the veranda, watching the sun slowly set over Lake Victoria. So far a good start to the trip!
There was screening for Ebola in the airports at both Addis and Entebbe. In Addis, there was a body temperature scanner; in Entebbe there was a separate form to fill out, and then a temperature scan. We also had our hands sprayed with something as we entered the Entebbe airport which I suppose is good for overall hygiene but is probably not very effective at stopping Ebola.
Although as I like to point out, it's just about the same distance from Monrovia to St. John's Newfoundland as it is from Monrovia to Djibouti (6060km vs 5844km).
We are staying at the Karibu Guest House near the airport, as we fly out tomorrow morning to Kidepo National Park. Right now we're enjoying a Ugandan chai tea with fresh banana bread, sitting on the veranda, watching the sun slowly set over Lake Victoria. So far a good start to the trip!
Monday, December 01, 2014
Toronto, Canada
This trip is to Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Heather's been suggesting Ethiopia for a trip for the past couple years, primarily to see the churches in Lalibela. Once we started googling we realized there is a lot of really cool stuff to see in Ethiopia. There's more rock hewn churches 200m up the side of cliffs in Tigray, a lava lake at Erta Ale, the Danakil Depression, and bands of gelada baboons while trekking in the Semien Mountains. Ethiopia is where coffee originates. It's a fairly mountainous country -- most of the time we'll be above 2,000m, and the highest camp of the trek is over 3,600m.
We added Uganda to the trip when I was looking at our world map in the basement, and realized Uganda was relatively close to Ethiopia. The mountain gorillas are high on Heather's list of things to see. Our friend Marissa, who introduced Heather and me way back when, is joining us for the Uganda part of the trip.
We have a short side trip to Djibouti to snorkel with the whale sharks.
Similar to our last trip, we've pre-booked most of the hotels and excursions. Ethiopia has really cheap domestic flights, available to foreign non-residents if you book your international flight with Ethiopian Airlines. We replaced a lot of 10 hour bus rides through winding mountain roads with 45 minute flights for about $40.
Unusual for this trip is the number of highlights. On most trips there's two or three highlights, and the rest of the sights are more "while you're there" types of places. On this trip they're almost all highlights.
We have a bit more planning to do and then we take off on December 9th!
Heather's been suggesting Ethiopia for a trip for the past couple years, primarily to see the churches in Lalibela. Once we started googling we realized there is a lot of really cool stuff to see in Ethiopia. There's more rock hewn churches 200m up the side of cliffs in Tigray, a lava lake at Erta Ale, the Danakil Depression, and bands of gelada baboons while trekking in the Semien Mountains. Ethiopia is where coffee originates. It's a fairly mountainous country -- most of the time we'll be above 2,000m, and the highest camp of the trek is over 3,600m.
We added Uganda to the trip when I was looking at our world map in the basement, and realized Uganda was relatively close to Ethiopia. The mountain gorillas are high on Heather's list of things to see. Our friend Marissa, who introduced Heather and me way back when, is joining us for the Uganda part of the trip.
We have a short side trip to Djibouti to snorkel with the whale sharks.
Similar to our last trip, we've pre-booked most of the hotels and excursions. Ethiopia has really cheap domestic flights, available to foreign non-residents if you book your international flight with Ethiopian Airlines. We replaced a lot of 10 hour bus rides through winding mountain roads with 45 minute flights for about $40.
Unusual for this trip is the number of highlights. On most trips there's two or three highlights, and the rest of the sights are more "while you're there" types of places. On this trip they're almost all highlights.
We have a bit more planning to do and then we take off on December 9th!
Saturday, January 04, 2014
Toronto, Canada
We arrived back home in Toronto on one of the nicest days so far this winter -- it was 1C and clear skies. The days before and after it was -20C with a lot of flight cancellations so we were lucky.
It was an 8 hour flight from Singapore to Beijing. Even in winter, the air in Beijing was really polluted. We couldn't see the control tower from the airport, it was so bad. We had a 5 hour layover between the flights. We looked around at the lunch options. The wait staff were surprisingly active in their sales pitch, with menus thrust into our faces as we walked by. I've seen that in streetside restaurants, but never in an airport!
Then it was a 13 hour flight to Toronto. After the efficiency of Singapore's airport, Toronto's Pearson looked downright bad. In Singapore, it took us 20 minutes from landing to being in a taxi. In Toronto, it was a 20 minute walk from the plane to the arrivals terminal! Then a bottleneck going through immigration and customs. And then it took 90 minutes for the first bag to appear on the conveyor! (this was in good weather too). It might almost be faster to fly into Buffalo and drive to Toronto.
Overall our trip was great. We really enjoyed the adventure stuff in Borneo: trekking through the rainforest in Danum Valley, diving in Sipadan, and exploring the caves at Mulu Park. The wildlife was more difficult to spot in the rainforest (say compared to a safari in Africa), and while we did see proboscis monkeys and orangutans, it was from a distance. It was still really cool though. The food wasn't as great as the hype we had read - maybe because in Toronto it's pretty easy to get the same variety of food and so we weren't easily impressed. In the smaller towns (Ipoh, Penang) we had some really great food, using food bloggers for suggestions. In the big cities (KL, Singapore) it was more hit-and-miss.
The big cities also weren't as photogenic as I had thought. On the other hand, Penang was great for pictures - I have a separate album just with the street art in Penang.
It was an 8 hour flight from Singapore to Beijing. Even in winter, the air in Beijing was really polluted. We couldn't see the control tower from the airport, it was so bad. We had a 5 hour layover between the flights. We looked around at the lunch options. The wait staff were surprisingly active in their sales pitch, with menus thrust into our faces as we walked by. I've seen that in streetside restaurants, but never in an airport!
Then it was a 13 hour flight to Toronto. After the efficiency of Singapore's airport, Toronto's Pearson looked downright bad. In Singapore, it took us 20 minutes from landing to being in a taxi. In Toronto, it was a 20 minute walk from the plane to the arrivals terminal! Then a bottleneck going through immigration and customs. And then it took 90 minutes for the first bag to appear on the conveyor! (this was in good weather too). It might almost be faster to fly into Buffalo and drive to Toronto.
Overall our trip was great. We really enjoyed the adventure stuff in Borneo: trekking through the rainforest in Danum Valley, diving in Sipadan, and exploring the caves at Mulu Park. The wildlife was more difficult to spot in the rainforest (say compared to a safari in Africa), and while we did see proboscis monkeys and orangutans, it was from a distance. It was still really cool though. The food wasn't as great as the hype we had read - maybe because in Toronto it's pretty easy to get the same variety of food and so we weren't easily impressed. In the smaller towns (Ipoh, Penang) we had some really great food, using food bloggers for suggestions. In the big cities (KL, Singapore) it was more hit-and-miss.
The big cities also weren't as photogenic as I had thought. On the other hand, Penang was great for pictures - I have a separate album just with the street art in Penang.
Friday, January 03, 2014
Singapore, Singapore
We flew from Ipoh to Singapore on Firefly. We had wanted to take the train but it's a 11 hour journey that arrived just before midnight, and that didn't sound like a good time to arrive on New Year's Eve. So we booked online for the flight.
The Ipoh airport was only a 15 minute drive from our hotel. The airport was new and very clean. On all the internal Malaysian flights we were able to take water through security but this was an international flight and so we had to toss our waters. They also gave more scrutiny to the wooden souvenirs that we had taken as carry-on on previous flights without problems.
The flight actually took off 5 minutes early! We arrived in Singapore 90 minutes later around 11am. The Singapore airport was very efficient - we were in a taxi about 20 minutes after landing, which included taxiing to the gate, disembarking, retrieving our luggage, going through immigration and customs, changing ringgit to dollars, and getting through the taxi queue.
We thought about taking the MRT, but it wasn't too much more ($18 for a taxi, $5 for MRT) and more convenient with a taxi.
We're staying at Wanderlust in Little India. The room was bigger than we expected - Singapore hotel rooms are generally on the smaller side. (They actually list the square footage on hotel websites when you browse for hotels).
The hotel had given us a little map with restaurant recommendations in the area. We tried one out for lunch. It was very busy. The food was okay.
We had an unexciting NYE dinner in Bugis Market just outside Little India. Went for beers at a small café near our hotel. They had 85 bottles on hand from around the world - including Moosehead. We just had Tiger, as we were in Singapore after all.
We made it to about 10pm and then called it a night, and year.
...
I had a bit of a slow start the next day. Breakfast at the hotel was excellent - pancakes with real bacon and real maple syrup! Most places in Malaysia had served beef bacon or other non-pork substitutes, and honey or jam. We also ordered the fruit salad (it was a choice, so we paid extra to have the fruit too) which was really good.
Started the day at the Singapore Art Museum. We really like the art exhibits. Then we walked over to Gardens by the Bay. Walking there was a bit off a challenge as they hadn't yet taken down the barricades to control the NYE crowds that came to watch the fireworks. We finally made it down there, stopping for lunch at one of the many malls along the way.
Gardens by the Bay is pretty cool. The highlights are the supertrees that you've likely seen pictures - they look like metal frames of trees. It was really hazy so I didn't bother taking pictures - night time is better for pics I think.
The Gardens are representative of the various landscapes around Malaysia - the rainforest, caves with rock formations etc. It was well done, but we were fortunate enough to be able to see the real thing so didn't bother to pay to enter any of the ticketed attractions.
Walked all the way home, about 5km. Singapore has nice big wide walkways under building overhangs on all the major streets, so it's easy as a pedestrian. The only part I didn't like is that the pedestrian crossings aren't synchronized, so it can take two full light cycles to cross an intersection.
We wanted to have dinner at our hotel restaurant but it was closed, and so instead went to Mustard, a little Indian restaurant that Heather found on the web. They were full with reservations but took us in. Dinner was okay.
...
The next day we started at another museum, the National Museum of Singapore. It was well done and is a good historical account of Singapore. It tries to be more interactive (I suppose it's what the kids want) but we found it a bit too much.
The museum is close to the east end of Orchard Rd which was our next stop. Orchard Rd is the main shopping street in Singapore. It's lined with malls full of high-end stores. They're all interconnected with escalators running all over, inside and out. There's no doors at the entrances, just open space, so air conditioning is pouring out all the time. The whole street reminded me of those futuristic cities where you can't tell where "ground" level is, and in fact inside and outside lose all meaning. There was one intersection that pedestrians had to use an underpass. Normally these are straight forward. However this one routed through a mall and it took us about 10 minutes to figure out how to get out on the other side.
We had lunch at Tonkatsu by Ma Maison in Mandarin Gallery, based on the recommendation of our favourite Ipoh blogger. Fans of Japanese food will know the food - it's panko crusted pork served with shredded cabbage, miso soup and rice. The food was most excellent.
Continued walking down the length of Orchard Rd, to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. This was very well done, and the paths well-marked. However, again, as we'd just come back from the real rainforest it wasn't as exciting. It was nice for a walk, and a nice break from museums and malls.
Took the MRT back home. It was one of the cleanest subways I've been on.
We had made reservations for dinner at our hotel. The breakfasts were quite good and we thought French food would be a nice for a change. The food was pretty good (we shared the pork collar) but nothing I couldn't cook at home. But it was conveniently located, and after another big day of walking (about 12km today) we didn't feel like going too far.
...
Started off our last day in Singapore at yet another museum, the Asian Civilizations Museum. This museum gets our vote as the best in Singapore. It really does require a couple visits to do it justice.
Had lunch at an arts centre of some sort just near the museum. It was a $15 set lunch and it was really good, Vietnamese inspired.
We were travelled-out by this time and so just walked back to our hotel.
Grabbed our books (meaning, iPad and iPhone) and went to a nearby restaurant to read. We're sitting at a sidewalk table catching up with our reading and me with our blog.
The call to prayers just started. I forgot to mention in Ipoh, because the room wasn't too sound proof, and with the mosque very nearby, it was the loudest call to prayers we've heard. They also had a pretty decent sound system, with no clipping. Most sound like a high school PA speaker, but the one in Ipoh sounded really good.
We've been checking the weather forecast in Toronto and when we return, it will be -20C, and feel like -30C with the wind chill. The temperature today in Singapore was 31C and with humidity it felt like 40C. That's a 70C swing in temperatures for us. I just turned off vacation mode on our thermostat, which gives our house 36 hours to heat up. Hope that's enough time!
The Ipoh airport was only a 15 minute drive from our hotel. The airport was new and very clean. On all the internal Malaysian flights we were able to take water through security but this was an international flight and so we had to toss our waters. They also gave more scrutiny to the wooden souvenirs that we had taken as carry-on on previous flights without problems.
The flight actually took off 5 minutes early! We arrived in Singapore 90 minutes later around 11am. The Singapore airport was very efficient - we were in a taxi about 20 minutes after landing, which included taxiing to the gate, disembarking, retrieving our luggage, going through immigration and customs, changing ringgit to dollars, and getting through the taxi queue.
We thought about taking the MRT, but it wasn't too much more ($18 for a taxi, $5 for MRT) and more convenient with a taxi.
We're staying at Wanderlust in Little India. The room was bigger than we expected - Singapore hotel rooms are generally on the smaller side. (They actually list the square footage on hotel websites when you browse for hotels).
The hotel had given us a little map with restaurant recommendations in the area. We tried one out for lunch. It was very busy. The food was okay.
We had an unexciting NYE dinner in Bugis Market just outside Little India. Went for beers at a small café near our hotel. They had 85 bottles on hand from around the world - including Moosehead. We just had Tiger, as we were in Singapore after all.
We made it to about 10pm and then called it a night, and year.
...
I had a bit of a slow start the next day. Breakfast at the hotel was excellent - pancakes with real bacon and real maple syrup! Most places in Malaysia had served beef bacon or other non-pork substitutes, and honey or jam. We also ordered the fruit salad (it was a choice, so we paid extra to have the fruit too) which was really good.
Started the day at the Singapore Art Museum. We really like the art exhibits. Then we walked over to Gardens by the Bay. Walking there was a bit off a challenge as they hadn't yet taken down the barricades to control the NYE crowds that came to watch the fireworks. We finally made it down there, stopping for lunch at one of the many malls along the way.
Gardens by the Bay is pretty cool. The highlights are the supertrees that you've likely seen pictures - they look like metal frames of trees. It was really hazy so I didn't bother taking pictures - night time is better for pics I think.
The Gardens are representative of the various landscapes around Malaysia - the rainforest, caves with rock formations etc. It was well done, but we were fortunate enough to be able to see the real thing so didn't bother to pay to enter any of the ticketed attractions.
Walked all the way home, about 5km. Singapore has nice big wide walkways under building overhangs on all the major streets, so it's easy as a pedestrian. The only part I didn't like is that the pedestrian crossings aren't synchronized, so it can take two full light cycles to cross an intersection.
We wanted to have dinner at our hotel restaurant but it was closed, and so instead went to Mustard, a little Indian restaurant that Heather found on the web. They were full with reservations but took us in. Dinner was okay.
...
The next day we started at another museum, the National Museum of Singapore. It was well done and is a good historical account of Singapore. It tries to be more interactive (I suppose it's what the kids want) but we found it a bit too much.
The museum is close to the east end of Orchard Rd which was our next stop. Orchard Rd is the main shopping street in Singapore. It's lined with malls full of high-end stores. They're all interconnected with escalators running all over, inside and out. There's no doors at the entrances, just open space, so air conditioning is pouring out all the time. The whole street reminded me of those futuristic cities where you can't tell where "ground" level is, and in fact inside and outside lose all meaning. There was one intersection that pedestrians had to use an underpass. Normally these are straight forward. However this one routed through a mall and it took us about 10 minutes to figure out how to get out on the other side.
We had lunch at Tonkatsu by Ma Maison in Mandarin Gallery, based on the recommendation of our favourite Ipoh blogger. Fans of Japanese food will know the food - it's panko crusted pork served with shredded cabbage, miso soup and rice. The food was most excellent.
Continued walking down the length of Orchard Rd, to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. This was very well done, and the paths well-marked. However, again, as we'd just come back from the real rainforest it wasn't as exciting. It was nice for a walk, and a nice break from museums and malls.
Took the MRT back home. It was one of the cleanest subways I've been on.
We had made reservations for dinner at our hotel. The breakfasts were quite good and we thought French food would be a nice for a change. The food was pretty good (we shared the pork collar) but nothing I couldn't cook at home. But it was conveniently located, and after another big day of walking (about 12km today) we didn't feel like going too far.
...
Started off our last day in Singapore at yet another museum, the Asian Civilizations Museum. This museum gets our vote as the best in Singapore. It really does require a couple visits to do it justice.
Had lunch at an arts centre of some sort just near the museum. It was a $15 set lunch and it was really good, Vietnamese inspired.
We were travelled-out by this time and so just walked back to our hotel.
Grabbed our books (meaning, iPad and iPhone) and went to a nearby restaurant to read. We're sitting at a sidewalk table catching up with our reading and me with our blog.
The call to prayers just started. I forgot to mention in Ipoh, because the room wasn't too sound proof, and with the mosque very nearby, it was the loudest call to prayers we've heard. They also had a pretty decent sound system, with no clipping. Most sound like a high school PA speaker, but the one in Ipoh sounded really good.
We've been checking the weather forecast in Toronto and when we return, it will be -20C, and feel like -30C with the wind chill. The temperature today in Singapore was 31C and with humidity it felt like 40C. That's a 70C swing in temperatures for us. I just turned off vacation mode on our thermostat, which gives our house 36 hours to heat up. Hope that's enough time!
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
Ipoh, Malaysia
We had the day to tour around Ipoh. There's a couple walking tours of historical buildings published by the tourist board, and we figured that would take up most of the day.
Tour 1 starts off pretty nicely, with the train station, city hall and post office, all built around the early 1900's. Then we went off-tour to visit the museum, but it was closed for renovations. Back to the tour.
The buildings became less impressive (although historically cool) and it was very hot and humid, and so we gave up on Tour 1 about 75% of the way through. Looked quickly at the map for Tour 2 and it continued the downwards trend in importance of buildings. We were very close to our hotel, and so that was the end of our touring of Ipoh.
The food blogger we followed in Ipoh recommended Thean Chun which is right beside our hotel, so we went there for lunch. We got help from how to order from the couple that were seated at the same table. I walked to the stall up front to order the chicken kuey teow soup, ordered the caramel egg custard from the lady who took drink orders, and the satays were placed on the table and you eat what you want, and then they count your skewers at the end to see what you owe. These were the three items that locals come here for, according to the couple. They actually pulled up the same blogger to refer us to a coffee place. At least we were reading the right blogs! They asked us where else we had eaten in Ipoh and they gave nods of approval for each, in particular for yesterday's dim sum place.
All the food was excellent. The satays were really moist and tender. The soup broth was amazing, and the noodles perfectly silky. The bean sprouts fat and tasty. And the custard was really yummy, one of the best I've had.
Fortunately the hotel was next door because the most we could do after all the food was roll into the room and crash. Got up enough energy to walk down the street for the best white coffee in Ipoh, at Sin Yoon Loong. The couple from lunch had told us we had to order it with toast, so we did, not sure what we'd get. Turns out it is toast. Two pieces of wonderbread equivalent, toasted, with margarine and something sweet and jam-like. We were still stuffed from lunch so just nibbled it to try it out. The coffee was very smooth and slightly muddy, with no bitterness. I'm a tea drinker but could drink coffee like this.
Later in the afternoon went to Burps and Giggles (around the block from our hotel) to read and have a beer. We were still full from lunch and so just stayed there for dinner and split a fish burger - it was pretty good.
Tour 1 starts off pretty nicely, with the train station, city hall and post office, all built around the early 1900's. Then we went off-tour to visit the museum, but it was closed for renovations. Back to the tour.
The buildings became less impressive (although historically cool) and it was very hot and humid, and so we gave up on Tour 1 about 75% of the way through. Looked quickly at the map for Tour 2 and it continued the downwards trend in importance of buildings. We were very close to our hotel, and so that was the end of our touring of Ipoh.
The food blogger we followed in Ipoh recommended Thean Chun which is right beside our hotel, so we went there for lunch. We got help from how to order from the couple that were seated at the same table. I walked to the stall up front to order the chicken kuey teow soup, ordered the caramel egg custard from the lady who took drink orders, and the satays were placed on the table and you eat what you want, and then they count your skewers at the end to see what you owe. These were the three items that locals come here for, according to the couple. They actually pulled up the same blogger to refer us to a coffee place. At least we were reading the right blogs! They asked us where else we had eaten in Ipoh and they gave nods of approval for each, in particular for yesterday's dim sum place.
All the food was excellent. The satays were really moist and tender. The soup broth was amazing, and the noodles perfectly silky. The bean sprouts fat and tasty. And the custard was really yummy, one of the best I've had.
Fortunately the hotel was next door because the most we could do after all the food was roll into the room and crash. Got up enough energy to walk down the street for the best white coffee in Ipoh, at Sin Yoon Loong. The couple from lunch had told us we had to order it with toast, so we did, not sure what we'd get. Turns out it is toast. Two pieces of wonderbread equivalent, toasted, with margarine and something sweet and jam-like. We were still stuffed from lunch so just nibbled it to try it out. The coffee was very smooth and slightly muddy, with no bitterness. I'm a tea drinker but could drink coffee like this.
Later in the afternoon went to Burps and Giggles (around the block from our hotel) to read and have a beer. We were still full from lunch and so just stayed there for dinner and split a fish burger - it was pretty good.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
We had a day trip today to Cameron Highlands to visit the BOH Sungei Palas Tea Estate. It's not common as a day trip from Ipoh - most people stay in Cameron Highlands for a few days cause at 1500m, it's a nice cool break from the rest of Malaysia. There's no fully organized excursions from Ipoh - we had to organize our day trip the old fashioned way, on our own (cue the grumpy old man, and we liked it!).
Took a two hour bus ride from Ipoh to Tanah Rata. The road climbs up pretty sharply, our ears were popping most of the way. We then hired a taxi to take us to BOH estates, 75 ringgit round trip including the wait at BOH. Our taxi driver turned out to be very knowledgeable about BOH - his parents worked on the estate for many years, and he knew more about tea than most tour guides!
We stopped at a couple vantage points for pics of the tea plantations - the view of the tea plants growing in uneven rows is one of the reasons I originally wanted to come to Malaysia. Our driver explained how the leaves were picked in the old days (two leaves and a bud) nowadays it's all automated. I also didn't realize that if left unpruned, a tea tree will grow more than 20ft tall.
It was drizzling and misty and droplets were getting on my lens as I was taking pics :(
The road up to BOH Estate is narrow and single car width at times. This caused large backups especially as it was the weekend and there were day trippers unfamiliar with the road etiquette. Took us almost an hour for a 8km drive.
Normally you take an organized tour that lasts an hour, but our driver pointed out how to visit the factory on our own. It was really cool, they still use the original equipment in the various stages of tea leaf production.
Had a pot of tea and scones at the very busy restaurant. Took many more pics of the tea plants on the hillside. Bought a souvenir mug (it seemed appropriate to buy a mug from a tea plantation :) ).
We took the taxi back to Tanah Rata, and then walked down the main strip. It's a covered sidewalk (so we didn't need to worry about the rain) with many restaurants and shops.
Had tandoori chicken and roti made to order in a real tandoor. It was excellent. Had a mango lassi too, which was also good. We thought lassis would be more prevalent in Malaysia but we've only seen them in Indian restaurants.
Caught the 3pm bus back to Ipoh. With all the traffic it took us an hour longer to get back, at 6pm. The traffic is mostly local day-trippers, coming up to buy fresh fruits. Only strawberries grow in Cameron Highland's climate, the rest of the fruit is trucked in - but still people come all the way up here for the fruit markets!
After the full day at cooler temperatures (about 24C) we could feel the heat and humidity back in Ipoh as we descended. We looked like locals getting off the bus early, as we passed our street a few minutes before the station.
We weren't motivated to walk too far for dinner because it was pouring rain, and also almost everything was closed on Sundays. So we ate at Plan B, part of the hotel complex. It was really good fusion. Caught up a bit in my blog, had a couple beers, a relaxing evening.
Took a two hour bus ride from Ipoh to Tanah Rata. The road climbs up pretty sharply, our ears were popping most of the way. We then hired a taxi to take us to BOH estates, 75 ringgit round trip including the wait at BOH. Our taxi driver turned out to be very knowledgeable about BOH - his parents worked on the estate for many years, and he knew more about tea than most tour guides!
We stopped at a couple vantage points for pics of the tea plantations - the view of the tea plants growing in uneven rows is one of the reasons I originally wanted to come to Malaysia. Our driver explained how the leaves were picked in the old days (two leaves and a bud) nowadays it's all automated. I also didn't realize that if left unpruned, a tea tree will grow more than 20ft tall.
It was drizzling and misty and droplets were getting on my lens as I was taking pics :(
The road up to BOH Estate is narrow and single car width at times. This caused large backups especially as it was the weekend and there were day trippers unfamiliar with the road etiquette. Took us almost an hour for a 8km drive.
Normally you take an organized tour that lasts an hour, but our driver pointed out how to visit the factory on our own. It was really cool, they still use the original equipment in the various stages of tea leaf production.
Had a pot of tea and scones at the very busy restaurant. Took many more pics of the tea plants on the hillside. Bought a souvenir mug (it seemed appropriate to buy a mug from a tea plantation :) ).
We took the taxi back to Tanah Rata, and then walked down the main strip. It's a covered sidewalk (so we didn't need to worry about the rain) with many restaurants and shops.
Had tandoori chicken and roti made to order in a real tandoor. It was excellent. Had a mango lassi too, which was also good. We thought lassis would be more prevalent in Malaysia but we've only seen them in Indian restaurants.
Caught the 3pm bus back to Ipoh. With all the traffic it took us an hour longer to get back, at 6pm. The traffic is mostly local day-trippers, coming up to buy fresh fruits. Only strawberries grow in Cameron Highland's climate, the rest of the fruit is trucked in - but still people come all the way up here for the fruit markets!
After the full day at cooler temperatures (about 24C) we could feel the heat and humidity back in Ipoh as we descended. We looked like locals getting off the bus early, as we passed our street a few minutes before the station.
We weren't motivated to walk too far for dinner because it was pouring rain, and also almost everything was closed on Sundays. So we ate at Plan B, part of the hotel complex. It was really good fusion. Caught up a bit in my blog, had a couple beers, a relaxing evening.
Ipoh, Malaysia
We booked the train from Penang to Ipoh for a change of transportation. I also like taking the train in different countries.
I finally figured out where to buy tickets online on the KTM website, rather than try to navigate I just googled for the page. Once there it was pretty easy to book out seats from Butterworth (the town on the mainland across from Penang).
We took a taxi from our hotel at 6:45am to the ferry. It was only a 10 minute walk pretty much down the street but it was really humid so I didn't want to walk with our packs. However we didn't tell the taxi driver which ferry we wanted, and as we found out there's a different dock for the ferry to Langkawi than Butterworth. So we ended up walking in the humidity anyways about 10 minutes.
We just missed the ferry, and then because it was Saturday they didn't run every 10 minutes as the LP stated. Our ferry left at 7:35, arriving at Butterworth at 7:50. The train station is only a five minute walk and people were very helpful in pointing the way. Caught our 8am train with three minutes to spare!
We had a nice air conditioned train in 1st class to Ipoh. Even got served tasty banana bread, and I bought some teh tarik from the food car.
The train station in Ipoh is the top rated sight in the LP, it's a nice old building.
We walked to our hotel, about 10 minutes. One of the nice things about train stations is that they are very centrally located, unlike most bus stations and airports.
We stayed at the Sekeping Kong Heng. Sekeping runs a series of artsy boutique hotels in the region. At first we had trouble finding it, for the 2nd time this trip the LP had our hotel marked incorrectly on their map. We asked a shopkeeper and then we found it easily.
It was only 11:30am and our rooms weren't ready so we checked our big packs and took off for lunch.
Ipoh is known for several foods, one being dim sum. The food blogs we read in Penang said don't bother with dim sum there, go to Ipoh instead cause there are more people of Cantonese ancestry.
The place to have dim sum is Ming Court, so that's where we headed. Luckily they were still serving when we arrived (dim sum is very much a morning meal more so here). The dim sum was excellent, the best we've had.
Walked back to the Kong Heng and checked in. The rooms are pretty out there, probably not a place I'd stay in more than once. The shower is a glass cube and the toilet has just a sheer curtain separating it from the room. Not much for privacy!
The hotel is the centre of a complex that reminded me of the Distillery. Little arts and crafts shops, cobblestone walkways, art exhibits, newlyweds having their pictures taken, cozy little cafés.
For dinner we headed to Onn Kee for another Ipoh specialty, tauge ayam (chicken bean sprouts). Onn Kee and Lou Wong's are the two best places and are kitty corner to each other, and their outside seating spills out into the street and closes the street at night. The two restaurants are really popular.
The food was amazing. Dinner is served in three dishes: bean sprouts, boiled chicken, and rice noodles.
The bean sprouts are short and fat in Ipoh, and taste really really good. They're not part of a salad or stir fry, you get an actual plateful of bean sprouts. Yummy. The rice noodles were also amazing. The chicken was good, but the real attractions are the bean sprouts and rice noodles.
We walked through the night market that was just setting up and then walked back to our hotel.
So far, an excellent start to the food of Ipoh!
I finally figured out where to buy tickets online on the KTM website, rather than try to navigate I just googled for the page. Once there it was pretty easy to book out seats from Butterworth (the town on the mainland across from Penang).
We took a taxi from our hotel at 6:45am to the ferry. It was only a 10 minute walk pretty much down the street but it was really humid so I didn't want to walk with our packs. However we didn't tell the taxi driver which ferry we wanted, and as we found out there's a different dock for the ferry to Langkawi than Butterworth. So we ended up walking in the humidity anyways about 10 minutes.
We just missed the ferry, and then because it was Saturday they didn't run every 10 minutes as the LP stated. Our ferry left at 7:35, arriving at Butterworth at 7:50. The train station is only a five minute walk and people were very helpful in pointing the way. Caught our 8am train with three minutes to spare!
We had a nice air conditioned train in 1st class to Ipoh. Even got served tasty banana bread, and I bought some teh tarik from the food car.
The train station in Ipoh is the top rated sight in the LP, it's a nice old building.
We walked to our hotel, about 10 minutes. One of the nice things about train stations is that they are very centrally located, unlike most bus stations and airports.
We stayed at the Sekeping Kong Heng. Sekeping runs a series of artsy boutique hotels in the region. At first we had trouble finding it, for the 2nd time this trip the LP had our hotel marked incorrectly on their map. We asked a shopkeeper and then we found it easily.
It was only 11:30am and our rooms weren't ready so we checked our big packs and took off for lunch.
Ipoh is known for several foods, one being dim sum. The food blogs we read in Penang said don't bother with dim sum there, go to Ipoh instead cause there are more people of Cantonese ancestry.
The place to have dim sum is Ming Court, so that's where we headed. Luckily they were still serving when we arrived (dim sum is very much a morning meal more so here). The dim sum was excellent, the best we've had.
Walked back to the Kong Heng and checked in. The rooms are pretty out there, probably not a place I'd stay in more than once. The shower is a glass cube and the toilet has just a sheer curtain separating it from the room. Not much for privacy!
The hotel is the centre of a complex that reminded me of the Distillery. Little arts and crafts shops, cobblestone walkways, art exhibits, newlyweds having their pictures taken, cozy little cafés.
For dinner we headed to Onn Kee for another Ipoh specialty, tauge ayam (chicken bean sprouts). Onn Kee and Lou Wong's are the two best places and are kitty corner to each other, and their outside seating spills out into the street and closes the street at night. The two restaurants are really popular.
The food was amazing. Dinner is served in three dishes: bean sprouts, boiled chicken, and rice noodles.
The bean sprouts are short and fat in Ipoh, and taste really really good. They're not part of a salad or stir fry, you get an actual plateful of bean sprouts. Yummy. The rice noodles were also amazing. The chicken was good, but the real attractions are the bean sprouts and rice noodles.
We walked through the night market that was just setting up and then walked back to our hotel.
So far, an excellent start to the food of Ipoh!
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Penang, Malaysia
We spent the next three days touristing around Penang. We'd have breakfast, see some sights in the morning, have lunch, relax back in a/c in the mid afternoon, see some more sights in the evening, and then have dinner and drinks.
The first day we had lunch in Little India at Sri Ananda Bahwan, roti with a chicken curry and mutton curry. The mango lassies we had to start sort of filled me up. It was a good lunch, although pretty filling.
We had dinner at a random place just outside the UNESCO protected area, Hon Kei Food Corner. It was very busy with locals (or at least, non-western tourists). The laksa was pretty good, we also tried the deep fried specialties, and the hundred year egg (tasted like a boiled egg).
The second day we had lunch at the LP recommended Sky Hotel. There were only two options, siew bak (bbq'd pork belly) and roast duck. We ordered one of each. It took a while for the food to arrive as there was only one guy who does all the chopping up of the meats, and the restaurant was packed and there was plenty of takeout. Despite all the positive indications about the food, we found it just okay. Our lunch the day we arrived at the place next door was much better.
So we decided to change our approach to finding good restaurants, as our random picking and LP suggestions weren't always great. Instead, as it is 2013, we used google to search for food bloggers.
From a recommendation on travelfish we had dinner at Chuan Bee Cafe. We had to use the pic that was posted to find the place - it's not signed very well. We were a bit dubious about the place at first, as it was empty and didn't seem to be open for food. We ordered based on the blogger's recommendation (otherwise we would have got some interpretation of what locals think westerners want). We started with roti babi, and then had joo har char and kam heong (see the link for explanations and pics). It was amazing, the best food we've had so far.
Based on dinner, we tried a couple more of the same guy's recommendations on our third day. Lunch was at Joo Hooi Cafe, a Penang institution. We again ordered based on the blogger. All Penang staples: asam laksa, char koay teow and then cendol and ais kacang. All great, although the ais kacang is probably an acquired taste.
We had dinner at a touristy place just up the street, Muntri Mews. We had had a couple drinks mid-afternoon on their patio, and got lazy and decided to eat there too. (Our favourite Penang food blogger had also given it thumbs up so that helped convince us). It was really good, sort of a modern take on Malaysian classics.
In between the eating and surfing for the next place to eat, we did do some touristing. The Penang Museum was well presented, and at 1 ringgit a great deal. We also checked out the Camera Museum (recently opened, and very good), the Chocolate and Coffee Museum (more of a sales pitch for a chocolate company, but it was free and included lots of yummy sampling), Khoo Kongsi (an old clan house beautifully restored) and the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (apparently in the LP's top 20 mansions, but we didn't find it that special, except for the most excellent tour guide who reminded me of my Aunt Brille).
Overall a very relaxing (and filling) stay in Penang.
The first day we had lunch in Little India at Sri Ananda Bahwan, roti with a chicken curry and mutton curry. The mango lassies we had to start sort of filled me up. It was a good lunch, although pretty filling.
We had dinner at a random place just outside the UNESCO protected area, Hon Kei Food Corner. It was very busy with locals (or at least, non-western tourists). The laksa was pretty good, we also tried the deep fried specialties, and the hundred year egg (tasted like a boiled egg).
The second day we had lunch at the LP recommended Sky Hotel. There were only two options, siew bak (bbq'd pork belly) and roast duck. We ordered one of each. It took a while for the food to arrive as there was only one guy who does all the chopping up of the meats, and the restaurant was packed and there was plenty of takeout. Despite all the positive indications about the food, we found it just okay. Our lunch the day we arrived at the place next door was much better.
So we decided to change our approach to finding good restaurants, as our random picking and LP suggestions weren't always great. Instead, as it is 2013, we used google to search for food bloggers.
From a recommendation on travelfish we had dinner at Chuan Bee Cafe. We had to use the pic that was posted to find the place - it's not signed very well. We were a bit dubious about the place at first, as it was empty and didn't seem to be open for food. We ordered based on the blogger's recommendation (otherwise we would have got some interpretation of what locals think westerners want). We started with roti babi, and then had joo har char and kam heong (see the link for explanations and pics). It was amazing, the best food we've had so far.
Based on dinner, we tried a couple more of the same guy's recommendations on our third day. Lunch was at Joo Hooi Cafe, a Penang institution. We again ordered based on the blogger. All Penang staples: asam laksa, char koay teow and then cendol and ais kacang. All great, although the ais kacang is probably an acquired taste.
We had dinner at a touristy place just up the street, Muntri Mews. We had had a couple drinks mid-afternoon on their patio, and got lazy and decided to eat there too. (Our favourite Penang food blogger had also given it thumbs up so that helped convince us). It was really good, sort of a modern take on Malaysian classics.
In between the eating and surfing for the next place to eat, we did do some touristing. The Penang Museum was well presented, and at 1 ringgit a great deal. We also checked out the Camera Museum (recently opened, and very good), the Chocolate and Coffee Museum (more of a sales pitch for a chocolate company, but it was free and included lots of yummy sampling), Khoo Kongsi (an old clan house beautifully restored) and the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (apparently in the LP's top 20 mansions, but we didn't find it that special, except for the most excellent tour guide who reminded me of my Aunt Brille).
Overall a very relaxing (and filling) stay in Penang.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Penang, Malaysia
Had a quick breakfast and then checked out. We had a 11:40am flight to Penang flying out of Subang, a closer regional airport. We reached in plenty of time (KL traffic is pretty bad).
Our flight was on time. We got a tasty gingerbread man as the in-flight snack - it was a very nice seasonal touch.
As we disembarked at Penang it felt like we had arrived at an island in the Caribbean. The architecture, relaxed feel, humidity and sea air, and British influence all reminded me of the Caribbean.
Took a taxi to our hotel, Coffee Atelier. It's built into a former shop house, and it's kept the old charm and quirkiness. Our bathroom is outdoors - it's covered, but the room itself is open air. I thought there would be bugs but there weren't any.
Had lunch at a little place on Lebuh Chulia. The only menu option is Hainan chicken rice, either steamed or bbq'd. You wouldn't think chicken and rice could taste this good. It was a successful start to eating in Penang, which is supposed to be a great foodie town.
Walked around random streets in the old part of Penang. It's a UNESCO world heritage site and has great looking colonial buildings. Plus the town sponsored a couple street art works in recent years. The last one in 2012 was a series of interactive murals by Ernest Zacharevic. He combines paintings with real life objects like motorcycles - and now people line up to take pictures with them. I had to wait almost 10 minutes for my turn to take a picture at the most popular ones.
We had dinner at Red Garden, a touristy night market. I tried the fish head curry. It was rather large, and tasted okay. It's a Carlsberg sponsored market, and so we celebrated Christmas Eve with some Asahi's. They serve the 660ml bottles in ice buckets, which serve as the equivalent of pitchers - you share the bottle, in smaller glasses. The waitstaff was too attentive -- after every sip they'd top up your glass.
The heat and humidity were a bit draining and so we went home and were in bed by 10pm. We should have kept our leech socks from Danum Valley - they're the same size and shape as Christmas stockings. But we didn't, so Santa didn't leave anything for us overnight.
Our flight was on time. We got a tasty gingerbread man as the in-flight snack - it was a very nice seasonal touch.
As we disembarked at Penang it felt like we had arrived at an island in the Caribbean. The architecture, relaxed feel, humidity and sea air, and British influence all reminded me of the Caribbean.
Took a taxi to our hotel, Coffee Atelier. It's built into a former shop house, and it's kept the old charm and quirkiness. Our bathroom is outdoors - it's covered, but the room itself is open air. I thought there would be bugs but there weren't any.
Had lunch at a little place on Lebuh Chulia. The only menu option is Hainan chicken rice, either steamed or bbq'd. You wouldn't think chicken and rice could taste this good. It was a successful start to eating in Penang, which is supposed to be a great foodie town.
Walked around random streets in the old part of Penang. It's a UNESCO world heritage site and has great looking colonial buildings. Plus the town sponsored a couple street art works in recent years. The last one in 2012 was a series of interactive murals by Ernest Zacharevic. He combines paintings with real life objects like motorcycles - and now people line up to take pictures with them. I had to wait almost 10 minutes for my turn to take a picture at the most popular ones.
We had dinner at Red Garden, a touristy night market. I tried the fish head curry. It was rather large, and tasted okay. It's a Carlsberg sponsored market, and so we celebrated Christmas Eve with some Asahi's. They serve the 660ml bottles in ice buckets, which serve as the equivalent of pitchers - you share the bottle, in smaller glasses. The waitstaff was too attentive -- after every sip they'd top up your glass.
The heat and humidity were a bit draining and so we went home and were in bed by 10pm. We should have kept our leech socks from Danum Valley - they're the same size and shape as Christmas stockings. But we didn't, so Santa didn't leave anything for us overnight.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
We started the day at Thean Hou Temple, near the new Little India in Brickfields. It was a little more difficult to get there than the Lonely Planet suggests - without Google Maps, we wouldn't have found it. (I discovered that without wifi, Google Maps will still plot your current location using GPS on an cached map).
It was a nice looking temple, but probably not worth the effort to get there. Instead of walking back in the heat we took a taxi back to Chinatown for lunch.
After lunch we took the LRT back to KLCC, with intentions to visit Galerie Petronas. However, it ended up being closed on Mondays :(
So we relaxed back at Traders Lounge with free food and drinks.
For dinner we went back to Jalan Alor, and tried the LP recommended Kedai Makanan. The Sichuan food was excellent. We watched the chef afterwards, he was very meticulous. All the sous chefs were studying his every move.
It was a nice looking temple, but probably not worth the effort to get there. Instead of walking back in the heat we took a taxi back to Chinatown for lunch.
After lunch we took the LRT back to KLCC, with intentions to visit Galerie Petronas. However, it ended up being closed on Mondays :(
So we relaxed back at Traders Lounge with free food and drinks.
For dinner we went back to Jalan Alor, and tried the LP recommended Kedai Makanan. The Sichuan food was excellent. We watched the chef afterwards, he was very meticulous. All the sous chefs were studying his every move.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Our day started a bit slowly after our festive Saturday night. We finally made it out around noon, and caught the LRT to Masjid Jamek for the Central Market. It was touristy, but we did find some cool souvenirs from Borneo, including a blow gun, which is surprisingly easy to use and aim. They let me try it out in the store after I bought it, it comes with a wooden dart.
Had lunch in the food court in the central market (it was so-so) and a refreshing coconut water just outside. We walked around some more markets in Little India and Chinatown but these were selling mostly knock-offs. It was cool to just walk through them though.
Got back to Traders around 5pm, in time for Happy Hour. We relaxed with the views of Petronas Towers, had enough food to call it dinner. I wanted to see the night market at Jalan Alor to take some pictures - it wasn't raining so I though it would be a good chance. The hotel staff were surprised that we wanted to walk - they were suggesting a taxi. It was only a 20 minute walk, and the streets were so crowded I'm sure the taxi would have taken longer. We cut through the Pavilion, which is a shopping mall but has a cool pedestrian court with restaurants spilling out into the patios.
We reached Jalan Alor through crowded streets. Pedestrians take over the streets but somehow taxis and trishaws still crawl through, slightly slower than we were walking.
We finally tried durian. One of the stalls sold small pieces, and provided throwaway gloves to eat with. We both thought it was okay, but nothing special enough to put up with the smell. Heather also tried a peanut crusted gelatinous rice dessert (muah chee) that she liked.
Had lunch in the food court in the central market (it was so-so) and a refreshing coconut water just outside. We walked around some more markets in Little India and Chinatown but these were selling mostly knock-offs. It was cool to just walk through them though.
Got back to Traders around 5pm, in time for Happy Hour. We relaxed with the views of Petronas Towers, had enough food to call it dinner. I wanted to see the night market at Jalan Alor to take some pictures - it wasn't raining so I though it would be a good chance. The hotel staff were surprised that we wanted to walk - they were suggesting a taxi. It was only a 20 minute walk, and the streets were so crowded I'm sure the taxi would have taken longer. We cut through the Pavilion, which is a shopping mall but has a cool pedestrian court with restaurants spilling out into the patios.
We reached Jalan Alor through crowded streets. Pedestrians take over the streets but somehow taxis and trishaws still crawl through, slightly slower than we were walking.
We finally tried durian. One of the stalls sold small pieces, and provided throwaway gloves to eat with. We both thought it was okay, but nothing special enough to put up with the smell. Heather also tried a peanut crusted gelatinous rice dessert (muah chee) that she liked.
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