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.
Monday, December 30, 2013
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.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Our flight from Mulu didn't depart until 1:45pm so we had the morning to relax. I finished my first book (Children of Dune) and started reading Tai Pan). I wanted to go onto book three of the Dune series but didn't have web access to figure out which book was next.
We walked across the suspension bridge to leave Mulu Park - it felt odd to leave even though it was just across the bridge, having been in Mulu Park the last few days.
Paid 5 ringgit each for transport to the airport. We were able to check our baggage all the way to Kuala Lumpur even though I had bought the two legs separately on the web.
We waited in departures hoping to see our plane arrive - this was the flight that had been cancelled on our way into Mulu. Finally it arrived about 30 minutes late - we were nervous for a few minutes until they announced (no loudspeaker - just a person talking - it's a very small airport) that it was the flight to Miri and not the next flight to Kuching.
We had enough time in Miri for another 3 ringgit automated massage before the flight to Kuala Lumpur.
There was a distinct feeling landing at KLIA that we were no longer in Borneo. After three weeks of adventures in national parks and small towns, we were now back in the big city - the tarmac was filled with A380s and Dreamliners from all over the world.
It was a long 1 hour 45 minute taxi ride from the airport to the city centre, almost as long as the flight.
The checkin at Traders was very professional (it's a Shangri La hotel). Our room had a great view of the Petronas Towers - we had booked here because it's the best view of the towers.
It was pretty late (after 9pm) so we just ate in the hotel restaurant, and then called it a night.
...
We had signed up for the Traders Club access when we booked. At the time I was wondering if we'd actually use any of the benefits but it turned out to be a great deal. We has a very good breakfast in the Traders Lounge - it's almost at the same height as the skybridge that connects the Petronas Towers and so has great 360* views of KL.
Heather shopped at Suria KLCC, the big mall at the foot of the Petronas Towers. Apparently it has some pretty good stores that aren't in Canada.
Headed to Chinatown on the LRT (very easy to navigate), and had lunch in a street food market. We pointed to order and ended up with some great tasting noodle soups. Another guy came around to take drink orders and we had had a teh tarik each. Overall an excellent lunch.
Walked over to see the Masjid Negara mosque, and then to the Islamic Arts Museum which was amazing. One display was models of significant mosques around the world - I was surprised that I'd only seen one out of the 20 or so displayed. There are some very cool looking ones in Uzbekistan - we'll have to look at that for a future trip :)
We got back to the hotel in time for happy hour at Traders Lounge. It's a great happy hour - free food and drinks from 5pm to 7pm. I had a few Tigers (which I just learnt is brewed in Singapore) and Heather had white wine.
One of the best nightspots in KL is the Skybar at the top of our hotel and it was a Saturday night so we decided to check it out. A few drinks later it was after midnight and we headed off to bed.
We walked across the suspension bridge to leave Mulu Park - it felt odd to leave even though it was just across the bridge, having been in Mulu Park the last few days.
Paid 5 ringgit each for transport to the airport. We were able to check our baggage all the way to Kuala Lumpur even though I had bought the two legs separately on the web.
We waited in departures hoping to see our plane arrive - this was the flight that had been cancelled on our way into Mulu. Finally it arrived about 30 minutes late - we were nervous for a few minutes until they announced (no loudspeaker - just a person talking - it's a very small airport) that it was the flight to Miri and not the next flight to Kuching.
We had enough time in Miri for another 3 ringgit automated massage before the flight to Kuala Lumpur.
There was a distinct feeling landing at KLIA that we were no longer in Borneo. After three weeks of adventures in national parks and small towns, we were now back in the big city - the tarmac was filled with A380s and Dreamliners from all over the world.
It was a long 1 hour 45 minute taxi ride from the airport to the city centre, almost as long as the flight.
The checkin at Traders was very professional (it's a Shangri La hotel). Our room had a great view of the Petronas Towers - we had booked here because it's the best view of the towers.
It was pretty late (after 9pm) so we just ate in the hotel restaurant, and then called it a night.
...
We had signed up for the Traders Club access when we booked. At the time I was wondering if we'd actually use any of the benefits but it turned out to be a great deal. We has a very good breakfast in the Traders Lounge - it's almost at the same height as the skybridge that connects the Petronas Towers and so has great 360* views of KL.
Heather shopped at Suria KLCC, the big mall at the foot of the Petronas Towers. Apparently it has some pretty good stores that aren't in Canada.
Headed to Chinatown on the LRT (very easy to navigate), and had lunch in a street food market. We pointed to order and ended up with some great tasting noodle soups. Another guy came around to take drink orders and we had had a teh tarik each. Overall an excellent lunch.
Walked over to see the Masjid Negara mosque, and then to the Islamic Arts Museum which was amazing. One display was models of significant mosques around the world - I was surprised that I'd only seen one out of the 20 or so displayed. There are some very cool looking ones in Uzbekistan - we'll have to look at that for a future trip :)
We got back to the hotel in time for happy hour at Traders Lounge. It's a great happy hour - free food and drinks from 5pm to 7pm. I had a few Tigers (which I just learnt is brewed in Singapore) and Heather had white wine.
One of the best nightspots in KL is the Skybar at the top of our hotel and it was a Saturday night so we decided to check it out. A few drinks later it was after midnight and we headed off to bed.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Mulu Park, Malaysia - Day 3
It rained heavily most of the night, and it was still drizzling when we walked to breakfast. There are boardwalks to get around to the chalets and restaurant because when it rains like we had the ground gets flooded a couple feet deep. Luckily the 2 million bats keep the mosquitos under control, what with all the stagnant water.
The sun was poking through as our group met at the park office at 9am to start today's trek through Racer Cave. The caves at Mulu Park are categorized as Show Caves or Adventure Caves. The Show Caves were the ones we had done the past two days, and are fully boardwalked and have illuminated pathways inside the caves. The Adventure Caves require prior caving experience or membership in a recognized spelunking organization. Racer Cave (named after the Racer Snakes in the cave) is the only cave that you can do if you don't have prior experience.
We picked our helmets (with attached lights) and then the 7 of us took the 15 minute boat ride to the cave entrance. The other 5 had just completed the 3 day Pinnacle trek so they all knew each other.
The Racer Cave started with a rope-assisted climb up a 15' wall; then a rope-assisted 30' descent straight down; and then squeezing sideways through a very narrow passage in the rock. There were a few more ups and downs using ropes, and other places where we were sliding on our bums because the ground was so slippery. We got very dirty. Occasionally I was able to rinse my hands in the water falling in the cave.
There were no lights inside the cave like in the Show Caves, just the lights from our headlights. Our guide had us turn off our lights briefly after we entered the cave, just to experience the total darkness. We could hear a couple bats flying around us - they sounded louder in complete darkness. By this time we had become used to bats and so neither of us were freaked out.
We saw spiders as big as my hand, crickets with 15cm attenae, swiftlets, bats, and one racer snake.
The 2km walk (1km in, 1km out) took us almost three hours. The cave was as interesting as yesterday's Fast Lane, but we hardly noticed the rock formations because we had to watch where we were walking. When I did stop to look around it looked almost fake - as if someone had taken a bunch of big rocks and arranged them in a warehouse and turned off the lights.
Overall it was a really cool experience. The Show Caves are cool too because you can look around as you walk; but the Adventure Caves really are an adventure.
We arrived back at park headquarters and showered. All of our clothes and shoes were filthy too.
Rushed though lunch because we had the canopy walk booked at 2pm. There's a lot of places that now have canopy walks. The one at Mulu Park is supposedly the longest in the world at 480m. We liked the one at Danum Valley better - it was sturdier, and offered a better chance to see wildlife.
Back at headquarters we had the afternoon to relax, and so hung out in the restaurant from 4pm till 9pm. Luckily we got there early as it poured rain again from 5pm to 8pm. Also lucky we had seen the bat exodus our first day in because it rained the past two days at sunset when the bats come out.
The sun was poking through as our group met at the park office at 9am to start today's trek through Racer Cave. The caves at Mulu Park are categorized as Show Caves or Adventure Caves. The Show Caves were the ones we had done the past two days, and are fully boardwalked and have illuminated pathways inside the caves. The Adventure Caves require prior caving experience or membership in a recognized spelunking organization. Racer Cave (named after the Racer Snakes in the cave) is the only cave that you can do if you don't have prior experience.
We picked our helmets (with attached lights) and then the 7 of us took the 15 minute boat ride to the cave entrance. The other 5 had just completed the 3 day Pinnacle trek so they all knew each other.
The Racer Cave started with a rope-assisted climb up a 15' wall; then a rope-assisted 30' descent straight down; and then squeezing sideways through a very narrow passage in the rock. There were a few more ups and downs using ropes, and other places where we were sliding on our bums because the ground was so slippery. We got very dirty. Occasionally I was able to rinse my hands in the water falling in the cave.
There were no lights inside the cave like in the Show Caves, just the lights from our headlights. Our guide had us turn off our lights briefly after we entered the cave, just to experience the total darkness. We could hear a couple bats flying around us - they sounded louder in complete darkness. By this time we had become used to bats and so neither of us were freaked out.
We saw spiders as big as my hand, crickets with 15cm attenae, swiftlets, bats, and one racer snake.
The 2km walk (1km in, 1km out) took us almost three hours. The cave was as interesting as yesterday's Fast Lane, but we hardly noticed the rock formations because we had to watch where we were walking. When I did stop to look around it looked almost fake - as if someone had taken a bunch of big rocks and arranged them in a warehouse and turned off the lights.
Overall it was a really cool experience. The Show Caves are cool too because you can look around as you walk; but the Adventure Caves really are an adventure.
We arrived back at park headquarters and showered. All of our clothes and shoes were filthy too.
Rushed though lunch because we had the canopy walk booked at 2pm. There's a lot of places that now have canopy walks. The one at Mulu Park is supposedly the longest in the world at 480m. We liked the one at Danum Valley better - it was sturdier, and offered a better chance to see wildlife.
Back at headquarters we had the afternoon to relax, and so hung out in the restaurant from 4pm till 9pm. Luckily we got there early as it poured rain again from 5pm to 8pm. Also lucky we had seen the bat exodus our first day in because it rained the past two days at sunset when the bats come out.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Mulu Park, Malaysia - Day 2
We were up at 7am for breakfast (I had pancakes which were okay, a bit crepe-like).
Our morning trek was to Wind and Clearwater Caves. It's a 10 minute boat ride to the starting point - and there's also a tourist stop at Batu Bungan, a local village.
Both caves were okay - the Clearwater cave was better, with its long pathway around the perimeter - there's lighting inside the cave so you can get perspective of just how big it is. The lighting just appears as specks of light in the distance and don't light up the cave (it's too big for that), so you can see the bigness but it doesn't come out in a pic.
Outside the cave it's possible to swim in river, we waited while some of the other tourists took a quick dip.
Back to park HQ for a rushed lunch, and then on to our 2pm trek, to Fast Lane Cave. I think this tour could be an hour, but it's a bit Disney-fied and catering to the slow walkers, so it took us 3 hours.
The cave itself is really cool and worth walking slowly through to appreciate all the stalactites and stalagmites. (It's the 1km walk to the cave at a crawl that was tedious).
As a bonus, the guide couldn't get the cave lights to switch on, so we just had the lighting from 8 flashlights, which added to the adventure.
At one point the formations were as thick as a forest - the walkway was built around stalagmites sticking up the middle of the path.
Back at the chalet, we showered and then waited out the evening rains - good thing we weren't trying to see the bats tonight.
By 7pm the rains let up a bit and we headed over to the park restaurant for dinner. We were running out of things to try on the menu, plus there were more insects with the fewer bats out. We tried a couple different dishes that were okay, and then called it an early night.
Our morning trek was to Wind and Clearwater Caves. It's a 10 minute boat ride to the starting point - and there's also a tourist stop at Batu Bungan, a local village.
Both caves were okay - the Clearwater cave was better, with its long pathway around the perimeter - there's lighting inside the cave so you can get perspective of just how big it is. The lighting just appears as specks of light in the distance and don't light up the cave (it's too big for that), so you can see the bigness but it doesn't come out in a pic.
Outside the cave it's possible to swim in river, we waited while some of the other tourists took a quick dip.
Back to park HQ for a rushed lunch, and then on to our 2pm trek, to Fast Lane Cave. I think this tour could be an hour, but it's a bit Disney-fied and catering to the slow walkers, so it took us 3 hours.
The cave itself is really cool and worth walking slowly through to appreciate all the stalactites and stalagmites. (It's the 1km walk to the cave at a crawl that was tedious).
As a bonus, the guide couldn't get the cave lights to switch on, so we just had the lighting from 8 flashlights, which added to the adventure.
At one point the formations were as thick as a forest - the walkway was built around stalagmites sticking up the middle of the path.
Back at the chalet, we showered and then waited out the evening rains - good thing we weren't trying to see the bats tonight.
By 7pm the rains let up a bit and we headed over to the park restaurant for dinner. We were running out of things to try on the menu, plus there were more insects with the fewer bats out. We tried a couple different dishes that were okay, and then called it an early night.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Mulu Park, Malaysia - Day 1
Our flight was delayed slightly from Miri but eventually our flight was called for boarding. Yay!
It's a short 30 minute flight to Mulu. Mulu's airport is one of the smaller ones I've seen. There was transport of sorts for the 5 minute drive to Mulu Park - a single Land Rover that took people 4 at a time. We had to wait for the 3rd trip.
More line ups at Mulu Park HQ - we had to register for the park and our walks, check-in to our chalet, and reschedule the canopy walk, which we were supposed to be on this morning but missed because of the cancelled flight.
Our chalet was pretty nice, an even had air conditioning. We had lunch at the open air restaurant beside the park office - nasi goreng, it was really tasty.
We geared up for our 2pm trek to Lang's Cave and Deer Cave. We had way over-geared - the trek is a boardwalk the entire way, and in fact is wheelchair accessible for almost the whole walk, including partially into the caves.
Lang's cave was okay; Deer Cave was amazing - 2km long and 174m high at its maximum. Because it's so big it seemed more like a big tunnel than a cave, but it was still really cool. It's also home to 2-3 million bats - you smell the guano well before you see the cave.
The cave is open on both ends, so there was a cool breeze blowing through. Our dork lights came in handy to watch where we were walking, and also to see the crickets with 15cm attenae.
In the piles of guano there were mongoose footprints - I can safely say I've never seen that before.
The panoramic view near sunset (the sun shines into the cave at this hour) is an amazing view - it makes my list of top things to see in the world.
After Deer Cave we waited at the "Bat Observatory" - just a couple benches in a semi circle facing Deer Cave. Around 6pm, the 2-3 million bats fly out in a spiral. The bats don't come out if it's raining (cause their echo location doesn't work as well in the rain) so we were lucky to have a blue sky as we waited.
Sure enough, around 5:50pm the first waves of bats appeared. They spiraled out (to avoid the hawks that prey on them). After a few waves, a constant stream lasting about 5 minutes came out of Deer Cave - it was pretty cool to see.
It was a bit like watching fireworks or making popcorn - how do you know when it's done? After the interval between bat spirals reached 3 seconds, we headed back to park HQ. (Actually, there's only so many bat spirals you can see before it gets repetitive.).
Showered, then had dinner at the park restaurant. It's a nice place to hang out - the bats keep it relatively insect free, and there's a nice breeze going through. Plus, the kitchen serves up pretty tasty food, and desserts (and beer and wine, although I was still feeling a bit under the weather so did not partake).
It's a short 30 minute flight to Mulu. Mulu's airport is one of the smaller ones I've seen. There was transport of sorts for the 5 minute drive to Mulu Park - a single Land Rover that took people 4 at a time. We had to wait for the 3rd trip.
More line ups at Mulu Park HQ - we had to register for the park and our walks, check-in to our chalet, and reschedule the canopy walk, which we were supposed to be on this morning but missed because of the cancelled flight.
Our chalet was pretty nice, an even had air conditioning. We had lunch at the open air restaurant beside the park office - nasi goreng, it was really tasty.
We geared up for our 2pm trek to Lang's Cave and Deer Cave. We had way over-geared - the trek is a boardwalk the entire way, and in fact is wheelchair accessible for almost the whole walk, including partially into the caves.
Lang's cave was okay; Deer Cave was amazing - 2km long and 174m high at its maximum. Because it's so big it seemed more like a big tunnel than a cave, but it was still really cool. It's also home to 2-3 million bats - you smell the guano well before you see the cave.
The cave is open on both ends, so there was a cool breeze blowing through. Our dork lights came in handy to watch where we were walking, and also to see the crickets with 15cm attenae.
In the piles of guano there were mongoose footprints - I can safely say I've never seen that before.
The panoramic view near sunset (the sun shines into the cave at this hour) is an amazing view - it makes my list of top things to see in the world.
After Deer Cave we waited at the "Bat Observatory" - just a couple benches in a semi circle facing Deer Cave. Around 6pm, the 2-3 million bats fly out in a spiral. The bats don't come out if it's raining (cause their echo location doesn't work as well in the rain) so we were lucky to have a blue sky as we waited.
Sure enough, around 5:50pm the first waves of bats appeared. They spiraled out (to avoid the hawks that prey on them). After a few waves, a constant stream lasting about 5 minutes came out of Deer Cave - it was pretty cool to see.
It was a bit like watching fireworks or making popcorn - how do you know when it's done? After the interval between bat spirals reached 3 seconds, we headed back to park HQ. (Actually, there's only so many bat spirals you can see before it gets repetitive.).
Showered, then had dinner at the park restaurant. It's a nice place to hang out - the bats keep it relatively insect free, and there's a nice breeze going through. Plus, the kitchen serves up pretty tasty food, and desserts (and beer and wine, although I was still feeling a bit under the weather so did not partake).
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Miri, Malaysia
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.
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.
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 :)
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Madaba, Jordan
The plan for today was to do some sightseeing, shop for souvenirs and relax in a café. There's so much to see in Madaba that we never actually got to the relaxing part. It was still a great day though.
Started at St George's Church. It has a mosaic, created in AD 560, the oldest map of Palestine in existence. Most tourists stop in at Madaba on an excursion, see St George's, and get back on the tour bus. However there is much more in Madaba, better preserved mosaics that look nicer.
We did a little souvenir shopping, dropped them off at the hotel, and grabbed some lunch from a busy little take-out place.
Next was back to sightseeing. We followed the suggested walking tour in the Lonely Planet. You really get a sense of the history in Madaba. It's the longest continuously inhabited place in the world -- people have been living here since 4500 BC. There are a couple archaeological sites where you see layer upon layer of buildings from different eras.
The Shrine of the Beheading of John the Baptist was really interesting. The church itself was okay. But you can climb to the top of the belfry for great views of Madaba (in Jordan there's not many high buildings where you can do this). And then under the church are tunnels and the Acropolis Museum, which has a working Moabite well from 3000 years ago.
After our touristing, we called in at the Black Iris to plan out excursions for the remainder of our trip. It's getting a little busier tourist-wise, so we also made hotel reservations for the rest of the trip.
Went back to Haret Jdoudna for dinner. They had another live band. The singer for this band had really great stage presence - we were both impressed with him.
Started at St George's Church. It has a mosaic, created in AD 560, the oldest map of Palestine in existence. Most tourists stop in at Madaba on an excursion, see St George's, and get back on the tour bus. However there is much more in Madaba, better preserved mosaics that look nicer.
We did a little souvenir shopping, dropped them off at the hotel, and grabbed some lunch from a busy little take-out place.
Next was back to sightseeing. We followed the suggested walking tour in the Lonely Planet. You really get a sense of the history in Madaba. It's the longest continuously inhabited place in the world -- people have been living here since 4500 BC. There are a couple archaeological sites where you see layer upon layer of buildings from different eras.
The Shrine of the Beheading of John the Baptist was really interesting. The church itself was okay. But you can climb to the top of the belfry for great views of Madaba (in Jordan there's not many high buildings where you can do this). And then under the church are tunnels and the Acropolis Museum, which has a working Moabite well from 3000 years ago.
After our touristing, we called in at the Black Iris to plan out excursions for the remainder of our trip. It's getting a little busier tourist-wise, so we also made hotel reservations for the rest of the trip.
Went back to Haret Jdoudna for dinner. They had another live band. The singer for this band had really great stage presence - we were both impressed with him.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Madaba, Jordan
Today was a day trip to the Desert Castles. We met at the Black Iris. We met the other person, she was an Italian working in England.
The desert castles were built by the Umayyads around 700 AD. I hadn't heard of the Umayyads before this trip, but they had the 5th largest contiguous empire in history, from Portugal and Morocco to Arabia and Persia.
It was a two hour drive to the first castle, Qasr Kharana. Heather and I both slept on and off through most of it. Qasr Kharana reminds me of the gates to Qoth in Game of Thrones. Wandered about and took a lot of pictures. There were a handful of other tourists, that we saw at each of the castles (the desert castle route is a common day trip).
Next up was Qusayr Amra. It's famous for the frescoes on the walls and ceiling, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Last up was Qasr al-Azraq. This is on a busy road in Azraq, unlike the other two sites which were in the middle of the desert. It's made from basalt, which doesn't look as black as I thought it would. The doors are single pieces of stone, but still movable.
Had lunch at another roadside tourist complex. It was so-so, I'd rather have had a falafel sandwich somewhere.
It took over two hours to drive back through rush hour traffic. I slept through most of it.
We cleaned up at our hotel and headed to Haret Jdoudna for dinner. It was pretty good. They had live music, a couple guys singing Arabic tunes, which was pretty cool.
The desert castles were built by the Umayyads around 700 AD. I hadn't heard of the Umayyads before this trip, but they had the 5th largest contiguous empire in history, from Portugal and Morocco to Arabia and Persia.
It was a two hour drive to the first castle, Qasr Kharana. Heather and I both slept on and off through most of it. Qasr Kharana reminds me of the gates to Qoth in Game of Thrones. Wandered about and took a lot of pictures. There were a handful of other tourists, that we saw at each of the castles (the desert castle route is a common day trip).
Next up was Qusayr Amra. It's famous for the frescoes on the walls and ceiling, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Last up was Qasr al-Azraq. This is on a busy road in Azraq, unlike the other two sites which were in the middle of the desert. It's made from basalt, which doesn't look as black as I thought it would. The doors are single pieces of stone, but still movable.
Had lunch at another roadside tourist complex. It was so-so, I'd rather have had a falafel sandwich somewhere.
It took over two hours to drive back through rush hour traffic. I slept through most of it.
We cleaned up at our hotel and headed to Haret Jdoudna for dinner. It was pretty good. They had live music, a couple guys singing Arabic tunes, which was pretty cool.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Madaba, Jordan
Our bus to Amman was at 11am so we had time to get up, have breakfast and pack without being rushed.
We debated taking a taxi (it's a seven minute walk to the JETT bus station), because we had our big packs, day packs, a bag of food for the bus trip, plus a big duffle bag of souvenirs. Also I was starting to come down with a cold. It was a nice day so decided just to walk to the bus.
The bus was a double decker, and like in Morocco the seat assignments were treated a bit loosely. The bus was only half full so it didn't really matter.
The evening before, we had stocked up on food for the bus ride: pitas (from the bakery I took a pic inside), triangle cheese, mixed nuts, and bananas.
There was a bit extra customs to load the bus because Aqaba is in a tax-free zone, but they didn't pay much attention to tourists.
We slept through most of the ride to Amman. I was starting my cold and so didn't mind sleeping. The bus left promptly at 11am, and arrived in Amman without stops at 3pm right on schedule.
We quickly grabbed a taxi (20JD) to the Mosaic City hotel in Madaba. The traffic wasn't too bad because it was Christmas, a national holiday here.
Our hotel was an excellent mid-range hotel. It's fairly new, it was very clean, good shower and the heat worked.
The plan was to use Madaba as a base for day trips around northern Jordan. The excursion prices seemed a bit high at our hotel so we went to the nearby Black Iris Hotel to book out day trips.
The Black Iris owner was excellent at helping us plan out day trips. He's really knowledgeable about the area. He had another guest who wanted to do the Desert Castle tour the next day, so we signed up for that (JD 45 for the car, split between the three of us)
Walked down to Haret Jdoudna for dinner. It's the top rated restaurant in the area. It looked good, except all the diners were having a Christmas sing-a-long. I suppose some people like that, but it wasn't for us.
Ended up at Adonis Restaurant. It had a good atmosphere. We had a nice Christmas dinner with a bottle of Jordanian red (from St George, right here in Madaba)
We debated taking a taxi (it's a seven minute walk to the JETT bus station), because we had our big packs, day packs, a bag of food for the bus trip, plus a big duffle bag of souvenirs. Also I was starting to come down with a cold. It was a nice day so decided just to walk to the bus.
The bus was a double decker, and like in Morocco the seat assignments were treated a bit loosely. The bus was only half full so it didn't really matter.
The evening before, we had stocked up on food for the bus ride: pitas (from the bakery I took a pic inside), triangle cheese, mixed nuts, and bananas.
There was a bit extra customs to load the bus because Aqaba is in a tax-free zone, but they didn't pay much attention to tourists.
We slept through most of the ride to Amman. I was starting my cold and so didn't mind sleeping. The bus left promptly at 11am, and arrived in Amman without stops at 3pm right on schedule.
We quickly grabbed a taxi (20JD) to the Mosaic City hotel in Madaba. The traffic wasn't too bad because it was Christmas, a national holiday here.
Our hotel was an excellent mid-range hotel. It's fairly new, it was very clean, good shower and the heat worked.
The plan was to use Madaba as a base for day trips around northern Jordan. The excursion prices seemed a bit high at our hotel so we went to the nearby Black Iris Hotel to book out day trips.
The Black Iris owner was excellent at helping us plan out day trips. He's really knowledgeable about the area. He had another guest who wanted to do the Desert Castle tour the next day, so we signed up for that (JD 45 for the car, split between the three of us)
Walked down to Haret Jdoudna for dinner. It's the top rated restaurant in the area. It looked good, except all the diners were having a Christmas sing-a-long. I suppose some people like that, but it wasn't for us.
Ended up at Adonis Restaurant. It had a good atmosphere. We had a nice Christmas dinner with a bottle of Jordanian red (from St George, right here in Madaba)
Monday, December 24, 2012
Aqaba, Jordan
I was up with my alarm yet again (what kind of vacation is this?) for a 2nd day of diving. Heather decided to spend the day relaxing around the hotel rather than snorkeling. However she joined me on the short walk to the dive centre so we could book the overnight excursion to Wadi Rum from a travel agency next door.
There were only three of us diving today. The Norwegian guy wanted to see the tank (an army tank scuttled in about 5m of water, perfect for a safety stop), so we went to that site for our first dive. The sun was out today, and visibility is pretty amazing. Maybe that's why the Red Sea is so highly rated for diving.
Froze in the wind in between the dives. Just as I stopped shivering, we were back the water for the 2nd dive, this one at Japanese Garden. It was okay.
Got back home and warmed up with a hot shower. According to the Norwegian guy (he had all kinds of dive paraphernalia), the water was 23C, the coldest I've dived.
Heather and I walked around the souq, souvenir hunting. We found a shop selling the antique coffee grinders! The price was much lower than we expected, and so didn't even bargain. It was the one-sided bartering like in the Monty Python movie, with the vendor arguing both sides. Heather also bought some jewelry.
Bought our bus ticket to Amman for Christmas Day, from where we'll take a taxi to Madaba.
Had a drink at the infinity pool at our hotel watching the sunset over Egypt or Israel (I'm not sure exactly where the border lies) (Saudi Arabia is 14km south from us as well).
We had dinner at Ali Baba's again. We had two mains and a couple appetizers, everything was amazing again. Split a bottle of Jordanian red.
...
Slept in (!) for the first time this trip. We just had to be ready for 1pm for our Wadi Rum excursion. Caught the tail end of breakfast, packed up and checked out. With the souvenirs and our boots in plastic bags (so we could put them on quickly in Wadi Rum) we looked distinctly like non-Hilton guests.
Had lunch in the souq, and would have timed it perfectly to be ready at 1pm except we forgot about the free tea at the end of the meal (it would be insulting to turn down) and so we were a few minutes late.
The weather was perfect for visiting Wadi Rum -- about 18C, sunny, and no wind to kick up dust storms.
We switched from a taxi to a 4WD in Wadi Rum (a Toyota, the favoured vehicle everywhere I've been on excursions because of its maintainability). Drove around the desert landscape (wadi means valley in Arabic, and rum is moon, so literally translates to Valley of the Moon). Took pics at all the appropriate places. It was cool, but I wouldn't rate it in the top 5 things to see in Jordan. I thought the landscape around Petra was more interesting.
Our camp was great, a tent with actual beds and comfortable mattresses! We were the only two tourists (the camp can hold up to 100 people in tents) so had the owner's attention all night. Had an excellent dinner, and chatted about travel. Heather and I crashed around 9pm. The owner pulled out his laptop and surfed using a USB stick. As he said, welcome to 2013. (Although, we did read on our iPad / iPhone before falling asleep).
We woke up a couple times in the night from the call to prayers. The Imams had excellent voices and the sound carried well in the desert. What didn't add to it was the howling of dogs off-key.
We got up at 6am to watch the sunrise. We were both comfy warm in our sleeping bags and a couple blankets (much warmer than our night in Karak!) but froze once we got up. It might have been 3C.
The sun was just starting to hide the stars. It was a great view to the horizon. Watched the sky change, at one point we could see rays from the sun like how a kid draws the sun. Finally we felt some warmth after an hour or so.
We had an excellent traditional breakfast. Learnt we were supposed to dip the pita in olive oil and then in the spice mixture. (We had had the spice mixture before, but didn't know what to do with it).
To emphasize that times have changed, the camp owner asked if we could give him a good rating on tripadvisor.
Our driver picked us up at 9am as arranged, and we returned to the Hilton. It was odd, with our backpacks and dusty clothes and looking like we just spent a night in the desert, to be greeted with a Welcome back, sir at the Hilton.
Cleaned up and went for lunch at Al Shami. It was excellent grilled food, done perfectly.
Bought a duffle bag to carry our souvenirs (we don't normally buy so many things this early in a trip, but we don't think we'll get Bedouin stuff up north). At least we'll look more respectable leaving the Hilton tomorrow.
Now we're relaxing at the infinity pool again. We're yet again back to Ali Baba's for our Christmas Eve dinner.
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!
There were only three of us diving today. The Norwegian guy wanted to see the tank (an army tank scuttled in about 5m of water, perfect for a safety stop), so we went to that site for our first dive. The sun was out today, and visibility is pretty amazing. Maybe that's why the Red Sea is so highly rated for diving.
Froze in the wind in between the dives. Just as I stopped shivering, we were back the water for the 2nd dive, this one at Japanese Garden. It was okay.
Got back home and warmed up with a hot shower. According to the Norwegian guy (he had all kinds of dive paraphernalia), the water was 23C, the coldest I've dived.
Heather and I walked around the souq, souvenir hunting. We found a shop selling the antique coffee grinders! The price was much lower than we expected, and so didn't even bargain. It was the one-sided bartering like in the Monty Python movie, with the vendor arguing both sides. Heather also bought some jewelry.
Bought our bus ticket to Amman for Christmas Day, from where we'll take a taxi to Madaba.
Had a drink at the infinity pool at our hotel watching the sunset over Egypt or Israel (I'm not sure exactly where the border lies) (Saudi Arabia is 14km south from us as well).
We had dinner at Ali Baba's again. We had two mains and a couple appetizers, everything was amazing again. Split a bottle of Jordanian red.
...
Slept in (!) for the first time this trip. We just had to be ready for 1pm for our Wadi Rum excursion. Caught the tail end of breakfast, packed up and checked out. With the souvenirs and our boots in plastic bags (so we could put them on quickly in Wadi Rum) we looked distinctly like non-Hilton guests.
Had lunch in the souq, and would have timed it perfectly to be ready at 1pm except we forgot about the free tea at the end of the meal (it would be insulting to turn down) and so we were a few minutes late.
The weather was perfect for visiting Wadi Rum -- about 18C, sunny, and no wind to kick up dust storms.
We switched from a taxi to a 4WD in Wadi Rum (a Toyota, the favoured vehicle everywhere I've been on excursions because of its maintainability). Drove around the desert landscape (wadi means valley in Arabic, and rum is moon, so literally translates to Valley of the Moon). Took pics at all the appropriate places. It was cool, but I wouldn't rate it in the top 5 things to see in Jordan. I thought the landscape around Petra was more interesting.
Our camp was great, a tent with actual beds and comfortable mattresses! We were the only two tourists (the camp can hold up to 100 people in tents) so had the owner's attention all night. Had an excellent dinner, and chatted about travel. Heather and I crashed around 9pm. The owner pulled out his laptop and surfed using a USB stick. As he said, welcome to 2013. (Although, we did read on our iPad / iPhone before falling asleep).
We woke up a couple times in the night from the call to prayers. The Imams had excellent voices and the sound carried well in the desert. What didn't add to it was the howling of dogs off-key.
We got up at 6am to watch the sunrise. We were both comfy warm in our sleeping bags and a couple blankets (much warmer than our night in Karak!) but froze once we got up. It might have been 3C.
The sun was just starting to hide the stars. It was a great view to the horizon. Watched the sky change, at one point we could see rays from the sun like how a kid draws the sun. Finally we felt some warmth after an hour or so.
We had an excellent traditional breakfast. Learnt we were supposed to dip the pita in olive oil and then in the spice mixture. (We had had the spice mixture before, but didn't know what to do with it).
To emphasize that times have changed, the camp owner asked if we could give him a good rating on tripadvisor.
Our driver picked us up at 9am as arranged, and we returned to the Hilton. It was odd, with our backpacks and dusty clothes and looking like we just spent a night in the desert, to be greeted with a Welcome back, sir at the Hilton.
Cleaned up and went for lunch at Al Shami. It was excellent grilled food, done perfectly.
Bought a duffle bag to carry our souvenirs (we don't normally buy so many things this early in a trip, but we don't think we'll get Bedouin stuff up north). At least we'll look more respectable leaving the Hilton tomorrow.
Now we're relaxing at the infinity pool again. We're yet again back to Ali Baba's for our Christmas Eve dinner.
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 21, 2012
Aqaba, Jordan
It's a short 90 minute drive from Wadi Musa to Aqaba. Heather and I fell asleep in the car for most of it. We had decided not to include a day trip stop to Wadi Rum (of Lawrence of Arabia fame), even though it's along the way.
We checked into the Double Tree Hilton, for 89JD a night. We're finding there's not much mid-range accommodation in Jordan. Our criteria for hotels includes heat in the room, hot showers, and a comfortable bed. The mid-range hotels (for what exists) don't meet all of those, so we may end up in higher end hotels for the rest of the trip.
Our room is pretty nice, with the hottest shower we've had on the trip so far (out of four places we've stayed). It's the first shower we didn't have on full heat. We also got a complimentary cookie when we checked in :)
Because we had taken a private car, we still had most of the day to tour around Aqaba. Walked through the souq, which here is just the busy commercial area, and not like the souqs in Morocco. Saw some cool antiques that we liked, especially some antique Bedouin coffee grinders. Unfortunately these weren't for sale in the store we saw them in, but just "museum" pieces. We think they were for sale, because they had Visa signs all around. Anyways we're on a hunt for another one that is for sale.
We dropped by Dive Aqaba (I'm doing a couple days of diving with them). Got some restaurant recommendations (one down side of staying at a Hilton is that they don't really know what we're looking for in travel -- we'd much rather find a street stall serving falafel than a fancy restaurant). We had dinner at a seafood place called Al Moubrak. It was good, but not great. We stepped into a dessert place for something small, and they gave us samples which was all we really wanted. But the samples were amazing so we bought a small platter of desserts for JD2. Now we have enough desserts to last us a week.
...
Had to set my alarm yet again to get up for diving. The breakfast at the Hilton was excellent.
We walked over to Dive Aqaba, just around the corner (the Hilton is very conveniently located in Aqaba). Signed some disclaimers, got fitted for wet suits. Heather was planning to snorkel, and I was diving. They gave me two wet suits (a first for me) and dive boots.
The dive site was about 30 minutes out from the dive shop. There was a couple from South Africa on the boat (he was diving, she was pregnant so was just snorkeling, so it worked out well with Heather diving too), and a family of three, learning to dive.
The first dive was just over coral. I was a bit disappointed by the coral, it was mostly dead and not very many fishies. Also the water felt darned cold, far colder than the advertised 24C. We think it was maybe 20C. The sun had disappeared behind clouds when we came up, so we were shivering for a while before heating up. We were hoping for lunch before the second dive, but it was just a 45 minute break and then back into the cold.
The second dive was cool, it was a wreck dive through a tanker that had been scuttled. We dove under the wreck (25m) and then through the ship, through some rather small areas. I think the divemaster was using the first dive to gauge the South African's and my abilities, because it was a bit technical and I don't think everyone goes through the ship. Anyways it was way cool.
In busy season I can imagine that the wreck is covered with divers, but with tourism down so much, there was just one other dive shop at the wreck.
Lunch was onboard during the slow ride back, and was excellent. Although, I find anything excellent after diving.
The dive excursion took up most of the day -- by the time we showered and changed, it was already 5pm.
The South Africans were cool to talk with, they are similar in travel style to us. They highly recommended Wadi Rum, so we've decided to give it a go. We looked around for tour agencies in the tourist area, but didn't see any -- I think they're all affiliated with hotels. We're going to check out a cheaper hotel for the tour, because we don't want to book through the Hilton :)
Had dinner at Ali Babas, it was the best meal we've had on the trip so far. We split a number of appetizers and a main (sayadieh - a local specialty of fish layered onto rice with tomato, onion and pepper sauce), and we liked every dish. We want to go back for the sayadieh, because by the time we got to it we were full from the other dishes. Heather tried a local Cabernet Sauvignon that went well with dinner.
From the looks of it we might be spending Christmas on a bus back to Amman. Oh well, everyday is like Christmas when we're on vacation :) Also realized today was the day the world was supposed to end.
I'm reading a book called Redshirts by John Scalzi that Craig recommended. It's written from the perspective of the ensigns that get killed off in Star Trek episodes. It's rather funny.
Well we're off for a herbal tea and some Jordanian sweets.
We checked into the Double Tree Hilton, for 89JD a night. We're finding there's not much mid-range accommodation in Jordan. Our criteria for hotels includes heat in the room, hot showers, and a comfortable bed. The mid-range hotels (for what exists) don't meet all of those, so we may end up in higher end hotels for the rest of the trip.
Our room is pretty nice, with the hottest shower we've had on the trip so far (out of four places we've stayed). It's the first shower we didn't have on full heat. We also got a complimentary cookie when we checked in :)
Because we had taken a private car, we still had most of the day to tour around Aqaba. Walked through the souq, which here is just the busy commercial area, and not like the souqs in Morocco. Saw some cool antiques that we liked, especially some antique Bedouin coffee grinders. Unfortunately these weren't for sale in the store we saw them in, but just "museum" pieces. We think they were for sale, because they had Visa signs all around. Anyways we're on a hunt for another one that is for sale.
We dropped by Dive Aqaba (I'm doing a couple days of diving with them). Got some restaurant recommendations (one down side of staying at a Hilton is that they don't really know what we're looking for in travel -- we'd much rather find a street stall serving falafel than a fancy restaurant). We had dinner at a seafood place called Al Moubrak. It was good, but not great. We stepped into a dessert place for something small, and they gave us samples which was all we really wanted. But the samples were amazing so we bought a small platter of desserts for JD2. Now we have enough desserts to last us a week.
...
Had to set my alarm yet again to get up for diving. The breakfast at the Hilton was excellent.
We walked over to Dive Aqaba, just around the corner (the Hilton is very conveniently located in Aqaba). Signed some disclaimers, got fitted for wet suits. Heather was planning to snorkel, and I was diving. They gave me two wet suits (a first for me) and dive boots.
The dive site was about 30 minutes out from the dive shop. There was a couple from South Africa on the boat (he was diving, she was pregnant so was just snorkeling, so it worked out well with Heather diving too), and a family of three, learning to dive.
The first dive was just over coral. I was a bit disappointed by the coral, it was mostly dead and not very many fishies. Also the water felt darned cold, far colder than the advertised 24C. We think it was maybe 20C. The sun had disappeared behind clouds when we came up, so we were shivering for a while before heating up. We were hoping for lunch before the second dive, but it was just a 45 minute break and then back into the cold.
The second dive was cool, it was a wreck dive through a tanker that had been scuttled. We dove under the wreck (25m) and then through the ship, through some rather small areas. I think the divemaster was using the first dive to gauge the South African's and my abilities, because it was a bit technical and I don't think everyone goes through the ship. Anyways it was way cool.
In busy season I can imagine that the wreck is covered with divers, but with tourism down so much, there was just one other dive shop at the wreck.
Lunch was onboard during the slow ride back, and was excellent. Although, I find anything excellent after diving.
The dive excursion took up most of the day -- by the time we showered and changed, it was already 5pm.
The South Africans were cool to talk with, they are similar in travel style to us. They highly recommended Wadi Rum, so we've decided to give it a go. We looked around for tour agencies in the tourist area, but didn't see any -- I think they're all affiliated with hotels. We're going to check out a cheaper hotel for the tour, because we don't want to book through the Hilton :)
Had dinner at Ali Babas, it was the best meal we've had on the trip so far. We split a number of appetizers and a main (sayadieh - a local specialty of fish layered onto rice with tomato, onion and pepper sauce), and we liked every dish. We want to go back for the sayadieh, because by the time we got to it we were full from the other dishes. Heather tried a local Cabernet Sauvignon that went well with dinner.
From the looks of it we might be spending Christmas on a bus back to Amman. Oh well, everyday is like Christmas when we're on vacation :) Also realized today was the day the world was supposed to end.
I'm reading a book called Redshirts by John Scalzi that Craig recommended. It's written from the perspective of the ensigns that get killed off in Star Trek episodes. It's rather funny.
Well we're off for a herbal tea and some Jordanian sweets.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Petra Day 2, Jordan
We were up again early for breakfast at 7am and at the entrance gate to Petra by 8am. We walked through the 1.2km long Siq (it's still one of the highlights of Petra, even though this was the 5th time through). There seemed to be less tourists today, at times we were all alone. Took some more pictures at the Treasury, and then through the Street of Facades and on towards the Monastery.
We passed by a excavation in progress, and wandered up the stairs to see what it was about. It turned out to be an amazing roman ruin, built in AD 106. Most of the site is still half-buried in sand -- excavation only started in 1993. Toppled pillars lie like fallen dominoes in the sand. It's really odd to be walking over rock pieces that are pieces of ruins 2000 years old. We hadn't done much pre-reading about Petra, so this was a cool bonus.
We reached the start of the trail to the Monastery, just past the Crown Plaza restaurant (?!). It was a 45 minute climb up an easy to follow trail, with more than 800 ancient steps along the old processional route. Finally we reached the top. It took a couple seconds to realize the Monastery was around the rocks to the right -- after the reaching the end of the trail, the first thing you see is a big sign in the distance that says "VIEW".
The Monastery is huge (45m high, 50m wide). It's my favourite in Petra. I actually had no idea that there was more to Petra beyond the Treasury, but it's way more than that. The Treasury is probably only in the top 5 things to see in Petra -- the Siq, the Monastery, roman ruins, Street of Facades and Royal Tombs are equally or more impressive.
We were the only tourists at the Monastery when we arrived. We climbed a facing rock formation to sit and relax and take in the view. We laughed as tourists slowly dribbled in, and did the same thing we did -- look at the view sign, and only moments later see the Monastery and then gasp in awe.
After our little break, we continued onto the VIEW sign to get a better viewpoint. We then trekked back to the Crown Plaza restaurant, and decided to have the buffet lunch. I was starved after all the exercise and poor dinner the night before.
We carried on back, and took a detour over a hill around the back of the roman ruins. There were great panoramic views of the Royal Tombs in the distance. We walked back along the hilltop, and saw more Nabatean caves and facades, that were tourist-free (even while the crowds filled up the main path below). Just like the day before, it was as if we had our own private tour of Petra. And it wasn't even that far off the beaten path. Using a Toronto comparison, it would be like everyone was walking down Adelaide and we decided to check out Richmond.
Back at the hotel, we cleaned up and then headed for dinner. We went to the Cave Bar in the Crown Plaza, which is built into a 2000-year-old Nabatean tomb. When we first saw the Cave Bar, we thought it was cheesy that they made the bar look like a fake tomb. It was only at lunch that we realized that it was a real tomb -- so we had to have a beer there. Because of the buffet lunch, we weren't too hungry and so just had some appetizers and called it tapas. (Oh yah, a couple pints of Tuborg).
The weather was excellent over the two days -- it was sunny and about 16C. We couldn't imagine doing all that trekking and climbing in the summer heat. Yet another reason to come in off-season!
We passed by a excavation in progress, and wandered up the stairs to see what it was about. It turned out to be an amazing roman ruin, built in AD 106. Most of the site is still half-buried in sand -- excavation only started in 1993. Toppled pillars lie like fallen dominoes in the sand. It's really odd to be walking over rock pieces that are pieces of ruins 2000 years old. We hadn't done much pre-reading about Petra, so this was a cool bonus.
We reached the start of the trail to the Monastery, just past the Crown Plaza restaurant (?!). It was a 45 minute climb up an easy to follow trail, with more than 800 ancient steps along the old processional route. Finally we reached the top. It took a couple seconds to realize the Monastery was around the rocks to the right -- after the reaching the end of the trail, the first thing you see is a big sign in the distance that says "VIEW".
The Monastery is huge (45m high, 50m wide). It's my favourite in Petra. I actually had no idea that there was more to Petra beyond the Treasury, but it's way more than that. The Treasury is probably only in the top 5 things to see in Petra -- the Siq, the Monastery, roman ruins, Street of Facades and Royal Tombs are equally or more impressive.
We were the only tourists at the Monastery when we arrived. We climbed a facing rock formation to sit and relax and take in the view. We laughed as tourists slowly dribbled in, and did the same thing we did -- look at the view sign, and only moments later see the Monastery and then gasp in awe.
After our little break, we continued onto the VIEW sign to get a better viewpoint. We then trekked back to the Crown Plaza restaurant, and decided to have the buffet lunch. I was starved after all the exercise and poor dinner the night before.
We carried on back, and took a detour over a hill around the back of the roman ruins. There were great panoramic views of the Royal Tombs in the distance. We walked back along the hilltop, and saw more Nabatean caves and facades, that were tourist-free (even while the crowds filled up the main path below). Just like the day before, it was as if we had our own private tour of Petra. And it wasn't even that far off the beaten path. Using a Toronto comparison, it would be like everyone was walking down Adelaide and we decided to check out Richmond.
Back at the hotel, we cleaned up and then headed for dinner. We went to the Cave Bar in the Crown Plaza, which is built into a 2000-year-old Nabatean tomb. When we first saw the Cave Bar, we thought it was cheesy that they made the bar look like a fake tomb. It was only at lunch that we realized that it was a real tomb -- so we had to have a beer there. Because of the buffet lunch, we weren't too hungry and so just had some appetizers and called it tapas. (Oh yah, a couple pints of Tuborg).
The weather was excellent over the two days -- it was sunny and about 16C. We couldn't imagine doing all that trekking and climbing in the summer heat. Yet another reason to come in off-season!
Petra Day 1, Jordan
We were down for breakfast at 7am to get an early start with Petra. We bought a 3-day pass for 60 JD. I thought we'd be Petra'd-out after two days, but we weren't sure if my ankle would need a break. The 2-day pass was 55 JD so the extra day was just a 5 JD insurance.
We took our time going down the Siq. Because we'd already seen the Treasury last night I wasn't in a big rush
We took our time going down the Siq. Because we'd already seen the Treasury last night I wasn't in a big rush
There weren't too many other tourists. The situation in Syria has caused a huge decline in tourism here, even though its a different country. I used to think traveling in shoulder season was the best way to travel; now it seems to be going to a country adjacent to a troubled country.
All the shadows of rock formations we had seen on the night trek were now in full life. It's so surreal it almost looks fake, like a Disney impression of Petra. Except it's real.
We spent a few minutes at the Treasury. There were more workers than tourists at the site. The whole of Petra is kept impeccably clean.
We have been pleasantly surprised at the lack of aggressive sales pitches from guides. Just saying No Thanks once is enough, and they wish you on your way. Much different than any other country I've been too!
We followed the suggested walking tour in the Lonely Planet. After the Treasury is the Street of Façades, where the Nabateans cut 20m high façades into the rock around 2000 years ago. Petra has survived earthquakes because it's not built, but carved out of solid rock. Everything is one piece.
We had the street to ourselves - there were no other tourists in sight.
Next on the LP walk was a climb up to the High Place of Sacrifice. I thought it would just be a short climb, but it actually goes all the way to the top of the 200m rock formations. There were amazing views of the surroundings.
By the time we descended, it was close to noon, and the tour bus tourists had arrived. We waited for tourist free pics of the 8,500 seat Theatre. We had to keep remembering that everything was carved, and not built.
We walked up to the Royal Tombs across from the Theatre. By this time we were getting hungry and tired. Had a box lunch from a restaurant facing the Royal Tombs, which was pretty good (pita bread, cheese, tomato, cucumber, orange and cookies) for 6JD. There are also excellent toilets inside Petra -- much better than we had expected.
Rejuvenated, we headed back to the Royal Tombs along a path we had observed from our lunch seats. It ran above and behind the ground level row of tombs. We had this to ourselves - it's hidden from a casual view (especially if you're checking out the Theatre). It was amazing, with great views looking down on the Street of Façades.
We debated doing some more sightseeing but it had been a long day and we didn't want to push my ankle. So we headed back to the Treasury, took some more pics, and then walked back through the Siq to our hotel.
All the shadows of rock formations we had seen on the night trek were now in full life. It's so surreal it almost looks fake, like a Disney impression of Petra. Except it's real.
We spent a few minutes at the Treasury. There were more workers than tourists at the site. The whole of Petra is kept impeccably clean.
We have been pleasantly surprised at the lack of aggressive sales pitches from guides. Just saying No Thanks once is enough, and they wish you on your way. Much different than any other country I've been too!
We followed the suggested walking tour in the Lonely Planet. After the Treasury is the Street of Façades, where the Nabateans cut 20m high façades into the rock around 2000 years ago. Petra has survived earthquakes because it's not built, but carved out of solid rock. Everything is one piece.
We had the street to ourselves - there were no other tourists in sight.
Next on the LP walk was a climb up to the High Place of Sacrifice. I thought it would just be a short climb, but it actually goes all the way to the top of the 200m rock formations. There were amazing views of the surroundings.
By the time we descended, it was close to noon, and the tour bus tourists had arrived. We waited for tourist free pics of the 8,500 seat Theatre. We had to keep remembering that everything was carved, and not built.
We walked up to the Royal Tombs across from the Theatre. By this time we were getting hungry and tired. Had a box lunch from a restaurant facing the Royal Tombs, which was pretty good (pita bread, cheese, tomato, cucumber, orange and cookies) for 6JD. There are also excellent toilets inside Petra -- much better than we had expected.
Rejuvenated, we headed back to the Royal Tombs along a path we had observed from our lunch seats. It ran above and behind the ground level row of tombs. We had this to ourselves - it's hidden from a casual view (especially if you're checking out the Theatre). It was amazing, with great views looking down on the Street of Façades.
We debated doing some more sightseeing but it had been a long day and we didn't want to push my ankle. So we headed back to the Treasury, took some more pics, and then walked back through the Siq to our hotel.
We showered and headed out for dinner. It was a choice between identical mediocre restaurants and we didn't choose well. Went to the Mövenpick for a celebratory beer.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Petra Night, Jordan
We went on the Petra by Night tour tonight. It was amazing! The 1.2km Siq (the canyon that is the entrance to Petra) is lined with candles. There's enough light to see the canyon walls (200m high) all the way to the top, where the sky is lit by thousands of stars. The walk down the Siq is almost as impressive as seeing the Treasury.
The Treasury is lit by hundreds of candles. There's a musical performance (flute, and some stringed instrument). The 150 or so tourists are seated in the floorspace. The acoustics are pretty good. I'm sure it's a much different experience from the day (we'll find out tomorrow!)
I managed to get a decent pic even with the low light (see the Photo Album link under Jordan in the right sidebar). The performer asked every to take a pic at the same time. I took a long exposure pic, and all the flashes that went off lit up my pic :)
We have an early start tomorrow to catch the early sun, so we're off to bed.
I managed to get a decent pic even with the low light (see the Photo Album link under Jordan in the right sidebar). The performer asked every to take a pic at the same time. I took a long exposure pic, and all the flashes that went off lit up my pic :)
We have an early start tomorrow to catch the early sun, so we're off to bed.
Wadi Musa, Jordan
This trip we've taken our iPad along. One benefit is the ability to download pics from my camera, edit them and then upload to Picasa. So I can create our vacation album on the go! I'm using Photogene to edit the pics and Web Albums to manage uploading. I'm quite happy with both apps.
I also finally made the header pic random, using a php script running on AWS. If you refresh the page you should see a new pic.
I also finally made the header pic random, using a php script running on AWS. If you refresh the page you should see a new pic.
Wadi Musa, Jordan
We took a private car to Karak, about 90 minutes south from Amman. As with almost all private cars we've taken on trips, it was an older Mercedes, but still in great shape.
Our driver explained the road we were taking was historically the route to Mecca for Muslims from the region and Eastern Europe. (In fact the road goes all the way to Sanaa, Yemen, which is on our list of places to see).
We stopped at a touristy roadside place for lunch (the "Petra Tourist Restaurant"), and arrived at Karak around 2pm. We looked at a couple hotels, and settled on the Karak Guest House, right beside the entrance to the castle.
Karak Castle is the main attraction in Karak, a sprawling castle in varying states of disrepair. After paying the JD1 entrance fee, and politely declining a couple guides, we spent the next three hours exploring the linked tunnels and vaulted rooms, some buried deep into the hillside. It was pretty cool. It wasn't as well preserved as castle in Tomar, but still fun to explore.
After we wandered down the main street, and saw lots of trades at work in their shops: someone working a loom (a loomer?), butchers, someone working with animal pelts (a pelter?). I bought a scarf cause it's getting cold at night (3C).
Had dinner at Kir Heres restaurant, which was really good. I really liked the fried haloomi.
We were back at the hotel by 7:30pm. I was exhausted, apparently not over jet lag, and was asleep by 8:30pm. Unfortunately I was also up at 2am and couldn't fall back asleep.
Heather was also up pretty early. The mattresses weren't the most comfortable, and it was really cold in the room, so we decided to get up and were ready to look for breakfast by 7am.
We found a local eatery and sat down for an excellent Jordanian breakfast of hummus, omelette, salad and deep fried eggplant and falafel, with a mint tea to drink. It only cost 6JD ($8 CAD) too!
We had originally scheduled a driver for 11am, but since we were up so early changed it to 9:30am. First was a stop at Shobak, another Crusader castle ruin. It's in more of a ruined state than Karak - the attraction of Shobak is its location perched on the top of a steep hill.
Next we were on to Wadi Musa to see Petra! It was less than an hour drive from Shobak.
We checked into the Petra Moon Hotel. It was one of the few places we had reserved ahead, because we weren't sure how busy Petra would be at this time if year.
There's a night walk to Petra along the Siq (that's the crescent moon in Raiders of the Lost Ark) three nights a week, fortunately tonight's one of them. So we'll be seeing Petra (or at least the Treasury) in a few hours!
Our driver explained the road we were taking was historically the route to Mecca for Muslims from the region and Eastern Europe. (In fact the road goes all the way to Sanaa, Yemen, which is on our list of places to see).
We stopped at a touristy roadside place for lunch (the "Petra Tourist Restaurant"), and arrived at Karak around 2pm. We looked at a couple hotels, and settled on the Karak Guest House, right beside the entrance to the castle.
Karak Castle is the main attraction in Karak, a sprawling castle in varying states of disrepair. After paying the JD1 entrance fee, and politely declining a couple guides, we spent the next three hours exploring the linked tunnels and vaulted rooms, some buried deep into the hillside. It was pretty cool. It wasn't as well preserved as castle in Tomar, but still fun to explore.
After we wandered down the main street, and saw lots of trades at work in their shops: someone working a loom (a loomer?), butchers, someone working with animal pelts (a pelter?). I bought a scarf cause it's getting cold at night (3C).
Had dinner at Kir Heres restaurant, which was really good. I really liked the fried haloomi.
We were back at the hotel by 7:30pm. I was exhausted, apparently not over jet lag, and was asleep by 8:30pm. Unfortunately I was also up at 2am and couldn't fall back asleep.
Heather was also up pretty early. The mattresses weren't the most comfortable, and it was really cold in the room, so we decided to get up and were ready to look for breakfast by 7am.
We found a local eatery and sat down for an excellent Jordanian breakfast of hummus, omelette, salad and deep fried eggplant and falafel, with a mint tea to drink. It only cost 6JD ($8 CAD) too!
We had originally scheduled a driver for 11am, but since we were up so early changed it to 9:30am. First was a stop at Shobak, another Crusader castle ruin. It's in more of a ruined state than Karak - the attraction of Shobak is its location perched on the top of a steep hill.
Next we were on to Wadi Musa to see Petra! It was less than an hour drive from Shobak.
We checked into the Petra Moon Hotel. It was one of the few places we had reserved ahead, because we weren't sure how busy Petra would be at this time if year.
There's a night walk to Petra along the Siq (that's the crescent moon in Raiders of the Lost Ark) three nights a week, fortunately tonight's one of them. So we'll be seeing Petra (or at least the Treasury) in a few hours!
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Amman, Jordan
This was the most rushed we've been to leave on a trip. Heather had an appointment at 10am with her back specialist to see if she could get clearance to dive. Heather has a couple partially ruptured disks in her back and the water pressure from diving can be very dangerous to ruptured disks. Unfortunately the advice was that the risk is too great, so diving is off the list. That took a couple hours out of the morning, which left us rushed to leave. Poor Craig, who drove us to the airport, had to wait 40 minutes for us while we finished packing.
The Air France flight was full to Paris. The line up to check in had a lot of people but it moved fairly quickly, it only took us about 20 minutes to get through to the gate.
I had made sandwiches for dinner, which we ate before boarding. That was a mistake because Air France had pretty decent food, and lots of it.
There was also too much on-board entertainment -- it almost seemed like the seven hour flight wouldn't be enough time to read our books, watch movies, listen to new CDs and read the in-flight magazine. I watched The Bourne Legacy (pretty good) and Prometheus (not so good).
We arrived at 7am in Paris. The wine and cognac with dinner had left me a little worse for the wear. As we deplaned, I heard someone call my name, which I ignored because I wasn't expecting anyone to know me in Charles de Gaulle. But it turned out my cousin Tyron had been on the same flight, he on his way to Mumbai! We chatted for a bit. His connecting flight left shortly so we parted after getting through security.
Heather and I had six hours to wait. After freshening up (a bit more planning required post 911 to take airplane sized toothpaste, mouthwash and contact solution), we found some really comfortable lounge seats at the very ends of the terminal. They're hidden from view until you're right up on them, so most passengers weren't aware they were there. We napped for a bit.
The flight to Amman was on a smaller A320 and the seats were more squished. We slept on-and-off on the 4.5 hour flight, in between eating another good meal from Air France. There was a bit of turbulence, but nothing too bad.
On arrival in Amman, we easily withdrew Jordanian Dinars (JD) from an ATM, paid our 20JD fee for the visa, and got our passports stamped. The immigration officials were very friendly, only asking which hotel we were staying at in Jordan (and also where I was from originally, out of curiosity).
Next was picking up our luggage which was already off the conveyor so Heather didn't have time to get worried (she has a long history of lost luggage). I had arranged with the hotel for a pickup from the airport, but we didn't see anyone with our names so we took a taxi from outside the terminal. Heather and I are now 0-4 for airport pickups on our last four trips.
We reached the hotel around 9pm, about 20 hours door-to-door from home. We're staying at the Hishamm hotel, a self-described "boutique style" hotel. As a boutique hotel, it has the requisite popular bar and restaurant on the ground floor. We cleaned up and went downstairs for dinner. The food was yummy (although the Arabic food was listed on the back pages, behind the western food). We also had a local draft beer, which at 7JD was the same price as the main. Smoking is allowed in bars and restaurants, to which we'll need to adjust. It's hard to believe it wasn't that long ago that that was the norm in Toronto.
We crashed pretty quickly after dinner in a very comfortable king sized bed.
This morning I was up at 5am, which isn't too bad for jet lag. The room is pretty quiet so I could just barely hear the call to prayers. Heather noticed a sticker on the ceiling which we couldn't figure out until Heather noticed it pointed the direction to Mecca.
Today we're headed south to see a couple ruins along the way to Petra.
The Air France flight was full to Paris. The line up to check in had a lot of people but it moved fairly quickly, it only took us about 20 minutes to get through to the gate.
I had made sandwiches for dinner, which we ate before boarding. That was a mistake because Air France had pretty decent food, and lots of it.
There was also too much on-board entertainment -- it almost seemed like the seven hour flight wouldn't be enough time to read our books, watch movies, listen to new CDs and read the in-flight magazine. I watched The Bourne Legacy (pretty good) and Prometheus (not so good).
We arrived at 7am in Paris. The wine and cognac with dinner had left me a little worse for the wear. As we deplaned, I heard someone call my name, which I ignored because I wasn't expecting anyone to know me in Charles de Gaulle. But it turned out my cousin Tyron had been on the same flight, he on his way to Mumbai! We chatted for a bit. His connecting flight left shortly so we parted after getting through security.
Heather and I had six hours to wait. After freshening up (a bit more planning required post 911 to take airplane sized toothpaste, mouthwash and contact solution), we found some really comfortable lounge seats at the very ends of the terminal. They're hidden from view until you're right up on them, so most passengers weren't aware they were there. We napped for a bit.
The flight to Amman was on a smaller A320 and the seats were more squished. We slept on-and-off on the 4.5 hour flight, in between eating another good meal from Air France. There was a bit of turbulence, but nothing too bad.
On arrival in Amman, we easily withdrew Jordanian Dinars (JD) from an ATM, paid our 20JD fee for the visa, and got our passports stamped. The immigration officials were very friendly, only asking which hotel we were staying at in Jordan (and also where I was from originally, out of curiosity).
Next was picking up our luggage which was already off the conveyor so Heather didn't have time to get worried (she has a long history of lost luggage). I had arranged with the hotel for a pickup from the airport, but we didn't see anyone with our names so we took a taxi from outside the terminal. Heather and I are now 0-4 for airport pickups on our last four trips.
We reached the hotel around 9pm, about 20 hours door-to-door from home. We're staying at the Hishamm hotel, a self-described "boutique style" hotel. As a boutique hotel, it has the requisite popular bar and restaurant on the ground floor. We cleaned up and went downstairs for dinner. The food was yummy (although the Arabic food was listed on the back pages, behind the western food). We also had a local draft beer, which at 7JD was the same price as the main. Smoking is allowed in bars and restaurants, to which we'll need to adjust. It's hard to believe it wasn't that long ago that that was the norm in Toronto.
We crashed pretty quickly after dinner in a very comfortable king sized bed.
This morning I was up at 5am, which isn't too bad for jet lag. The room is pretty quiet so I could just barely hear the call to prayers. Heather noticed a sticker on the ceiling which we couldn't figure out until Heather noticed it pointed the direction to Mecca.
Today we're headed south to see a couple ruins along the way to Petra.
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