Big Mountain, Large Animals

January 22 - 25
We got into Pak Chong train station and were immediately surrounded by tour guides all wanting to whisk us away to their accommodation and tour package of Khao Yai National Park. We were planning on going "solo"(as usual) but mom was caught up in the action and I thought it would be a good way for her to see the park since she's not the hiking-all-day-in-the-sun type. So, we sattled up with Wildlife Safari Tours for a 1.5 day tour for 1500 Baht per person.

Day 1. The 1/2 day:
We went to the local mineral spring (not I did not say hot). The water was too cool for comfortable winter bathing.

Next was the Buddhist temple where our guide Tuk (a darling woman) taught us very enthusiastically about Buddhism. Then we went to the Buddhist cave where we saw some horseshoe bats and little meditation alters. The cave was very odd and was strung with fluorescent bulbs which lit it up in an eerie glow. There were also many shrines to Buddha in different chambers of the cave. Tuk informed us that sometimes the monks go down there to practice meditation.


Just before dusk we headed to the Bat Cave with Tuk. As we, along with a couple dozen other tourists, craned our necks to see the cave a small stream of wrinkle lipped bats started drifting out. Slowly and steadily the ribbon of bats became thicker and darker as the concentration of bats soared. It was incredible watching MILLIONS of bats flow out of the cave like a slow motion cyclone. We watched for a good half hour before our necks hurt and the sky began to darken.


Day 2: Wildlife Safari
We had requested the night before that we leave early on our tour in order to take advantage of prime bird-watching hours. Our guide was eager to please, though he seemed a little nervous since he's no bird expert. We assured him that we are also novice birders and we would be excited about seeing any birds. This seemed to please him and he began calling some of his birder guide friends who gave him a few pointers on where to find some of the birds Casey was eager to see. We made our first stop on the road outside of the park, where we found some brightly colored birds that for some reason, aren't in the park itself.

Once inside the park, we took are time driving along the road. Apparently this used to be a TERRIFIC way to see wildlife, but because the park has become so popular in recent years, the wildlife around the road has fled further inside. Even still, we managed to see an array of animals in between the cars that were flashing past us. Some of the animals included: pig-tailed macaques, which we ogled at first, but which were so abundant that they eventually were considered pests (especially after they stole some of our delicious oranges straight off of our lunch table), a muntjac (a small deerish creature with a cool name) and jungle fowl (picture a rooster in the wild).



After the slow driving, we began our slow hiking. From the road, we could hear the calls of the gibbons, which sounded as if they were just beyond the first stand of trees. Quickly and as quietly as possible we wormed our way off of the trail until we were standing directly under the gibbon-laden tree. It was breathtaking! Unlike the gibbons of Borneo, the White-Handed Gibbons live with their families in the tree tops. Parents and children swinging from branch to branch and calling to distant relatives together each morning. During this hike, we were be privileged to watch four separate groups of White-Handed Gibbons as well as partake in some excellent bird watching (which bored mom).

After going to the famed waterfall of the movie "The Beach" (there was a waterfall in "The Beach"?) we went to a small pond to watch birds and relax during the hottest part of the day. Aside from some cool looking birds, we also had an up close and personal look at a large male Sambar Deer. As we were milling about, he sauntered directly past mom and Casey. He got so close I began to have visions of a deer encounter gone awry and found myself wondering how far the nearest hospital was. The only thing on his mind, however, were the fruits from the low hanging branches of a nearby tree. We watched him heave himself off his two front legs as his head disappeared into the foliage above.

Then we went on a long drive in search of an elusive, monsterous beast: the Asian Elephant. These elephants are very closley related to the one we saw in Borneo, but they reach larger heights than their island cousins. We have seen them in Ayutthaya, but they were always dressed up for the tourists and not running free in their natural environs. We were all excited to see these large creatures and I was especially eager to share the experience with mum. Unfortunately, it was not our day. But we did run into (almost literally) quite a few pig tailed macaques who were playing in the road.

After our failed expedition, we climbed to the top of the highest peak in the park, with the help of our truck of course. We went there to hopefully catch a glimpse of the elusive Malayan Sun Bear we have been tracking since Borneo. The military who live on the mountain feed the bear, so we weren't sure it would count as a "wildlife" spotting, we were excited none-the-less. Apparently the bear's taste for rice wasn't piqued that evening, but as we waited we did get a wonderful view of a gorgeous male Silver pheasant with his harem of 7 females as they crossed the road. On the way home we spotted the threatened Malayan porcupine.

We had decided to spend some time in the park without the assistance of a guide. We rented out an entire cabin, complete with 3 rooms of 3 beds each and 3 bathrooms. This seemed a might ridiculous, since we could have easily divided the price up into thirds and only occupied 1 of the rooms, but things are never that simple. We picked the location so we were close to the park headquarters and a restaurant. We planned to walk or hitchhike to reach hiking destinations further afield. The room was cozy and it had a nice little porch that mom utilized in full as she waited for us to finish our forays.

That evening we hoped on one of the SIX nightdrive trucks in the hopes to see some amazing night life. We weren't expecting to be in a spotlighting caravan and I'm not sure it made for optimal wildlife viewing, but we took it all in stride. We did get an interesting running commentary from one of the other guests as we strained to look into the dark beyond. Though we were not blessed with gifts of grand elephant herds, we did see some small cat-like creatures (a civet?) and over course, Sambar Deer. Where were the tigers? There was obviously plenty of meat for them to catch. Alas, we learned that there are only 3 known tigers left in this national park.

Day 3: Big Whammy

We hitched a ride to the campsite to refine our birding skills. We also had a grand time chasing pig-tailed macaques away from the food that campers had stupidly left out the night before. Eventually, we made our way down a hiking trail, which bordered a small river. We went excrutiatingly slow for the couple behind us, who were looking for a little alone time. I swear we heard to purr of a tiger amoung all the chatter of the birds. We ran into a million hornbills, but none of them were of the "Great" variety we had hoped to see. As I was frantically searching for otters in the river, Casey came across a Siamese Crocodile about to heave itself up onto a log. No wonder there were no otters around! We snapped a thousand pics and watch the highly endangered animal sun itself.

As we began walking along the road, on the way back from our morning hike, we were greeted by a passing car with "Beware, elephant ahead." Beware? I thought as I quickened my pace to meet the giant face to face. I, obviously hadn't thought this completely through and though I was stoked, I was beginning to have my doubts about the brillance of meeting a 2 ton wild animal.

Just when we were beginning to discuss the pros and cons of trying to pet a wild elephant, a car pulled up with 3 Germans who were willing to give us a ride. Gladly we accepted the chance to cruise past the elephant in the relative safety of a car. Little did we know what kind of elephant we were about to face. This was no gentle mother. On the contrary, it was a large male, who was fond of fighting (as was evident by the missing tusk). He was creating a rukus in the middle of the road and had caused a traffic jam. But the German's weren't afraid and they reved ahead in their small compact car, with the elephant towering over us. To assist us in getting the perfect closeup, made the mistake of slowing the car down just as we past the creature. In retaliation, he made a mini charge at the back of the car. I will be honest here...this really freaked me out. I imagined the headlines "Death by Elephant" in a car no less. But, the driver craftly sped away before the elephant could do any damage.

The German's kindly allowed us to tag along as they drove south to the highest waterfalls in the park. I say waterfalls here, but the park service likes to think of them as one unit "one 3-tiered waterfall." This, of course, makes it seem like the waterfall is much taller than it actually is, since it really consists of 3 separate waterfalls, but we won't get into technicalities. Anyway, regardless of whether it was 3 waterfalls or one tiered waterfall was immaterial as it was one of the most impressive sites involving falling water that I have ever seen. In three large turns (each about 100-150 meters high), a great expanse of water rushed down the edge of a plateau.

As we played among the edge of the top tier, the driver told us an interesting story of a herd of elephants, which got washed away in the rush of the river during a flood. The elephants were thrown over the cliff onto the top of the 2nd tier. A rescus operation tried to save 2 of the elephants, but the waters were too strong and they soon were swept away to the lowest tier. It is unfathomable to me to imagine rushes of water strong enough to wipe out an entire elephant herd! (keep in mind, i'm a native Arizonan).

Day 4: More heart-ache
We woke up bright and early, not really bright since the sun hadn't risen yet. Our plan was to hike to a watchtower, where we would see dholes (wild dogs) running alongside the elephants and deer. From the last sentence you should know that our plan was flawed. For one thing, when have we ever seen so much wildlife all at once? Also, we were forgetting our luck. We misjudged the distance to the watchtower and arrived long after all of the animals had run back to the coolness of the forest (that is, if they were ever frolicking on the pastures).

Disheartened from a relatively animal-free morning, we hitched back to our cabin, where we packed up and hitched back into town. Then we caught the train to Ayutthaya where we waited for the train to Chiang Mai.

More Wats But A Bit Older This Time

January 20 - 22

One of the things that Casey really wanted to do in Thailand was go to a famous National Park, Khao Yai, which is only a few hours northwest of Bangkok. The only problem with this was that when we finished our touring in Bangkok, it was the weekend and we had heard that it was not the best idea to visit the park on the weekend since hoards of locals also visit at this timing making it a bit overrun. Since the main purpose of visiting the park was to spot wildlife and birds and since lots of people do not make for the best wildlife spotting opportunities we figured that we would have to figure out how to spend a few days in the meantime.

So we decided on Ayutthaya which turned out to be an interesting and worthwhile short side trip. Today Ayutthaya is a modern city with the traffic, 7-11's and internet stations of other modern Thai cities but it is littered with the ruins of the past. Ayutthaya was the 'second' major kingdom in Thai history which ruled over a large swath of land starting around 1350. The Burmese came through in the 1767 and conquered the capital and also destroyed many of the temples, buildings and other structures. The ruins have been left as they were, some have been minimally restored and the most centrally located ones have been designated as an historical park. Other ruins have been built around and they are just left as part of the landscape. It is a bit odd to be walking down a busy street and catch a glimpse of an old ruin that it seems there has been little effort to restore or improve but also no attempt to tear down.

We arrived by train from Bangkok and got Ayutthaya in the later afternoon. After the traveling and a long morning, Laura's mom decided to rest but Casey was raring to go (as usual) see what the town was all about. The old town where most of the ruins are concentrated is actually separated from the new town (which is busier) by a river which actually was made into a moat like structure for protection of the city (although it did not work so well against the invading Burmese). While the old town is still fairly busy, most of the 'must-see' ruins are within easy walking or biking distance from anywhere else in this square grid inside the moat. We were at first just going to walk around before it got dark and then maybe rent a bike the following day to go farther afield. But as we walked down the street a bike rental shop was still open and we decided why not just rent it now so we could have it in the evening and also early in the morning. Bikes were also very cheap to rent as they are most places in Thailand ($1 or $2 a day) which is very nice and unlike the Philippines where they are $10 or more a day if they even have any. So we started pedaling and were soon struck with the amazing views of the huge structures of Wat Phra Mahathat and Wat Ratburana (more Cambodian style temple). These were extensive complexes within the park with many ruins which were quite beautiful in the late afternoon light. We decided to bike in the historical park a bit but it turned out this was not such a good idea since Casey's wheel soon got a flat due to the thorns (the wheels were very thin). Luckily the bike guy was still around and he had no problems changing bikes and he just asked us to stay on the road which we did in the future.


Thailand Eats

After exchanging the bike we decided to head back to the hotel, pick up Laura’s mother and head to the night market for dinner. Choosing what to eat in Thailand is always interesting. We usually like to eat at local and cheap places as they have not only the most authentic and cheapest food but also usually the best tasting. I know this may be counterintuitive as this is not always the way that it works in the States (cheap often does not mean good tasting) but from our experiences in SE Asia street food or food from small holes in the wall is often the best. However unlike the other places that we have been, most places in Thailand do not have menus and when they do they are in Thai lettering. This does make sense as we are in Thailand, but it makes hard for people that cannot discern the Thai alphabet. Now in Indonesia for instance, meals at food stalls are not in English either but they do use the Roman alphabet so at least you can read and pronounce the different dishes and soon you learn what each is and if you like it or not. In Thailand this is not the case so you have a few choices. The first one is just point to what someone else has nearby that looks edible and they will dish it out. This works well unless there is no one else eating. Option number two is look through a phrase book and randomly pick out a dish that sounds good and see if they will make it for you. Sometimes they will and sometimes they will not depending on ingredients and such. A third option is to ask some people who have been here for awhile what are some good dishes and have them write them down for you (preferably in Thai alphabet so that you can show them to your cook and Roman alphabet for you). This also works and we have tried all three and have gotten pretty decent food most of the time.

However it seems that some people fall into this last pattern but have only mastered the language of three dishes: som tom (a green papaya salad), tom yam (a hot and sour soup) and the most popular pad thai (fried noodles). While these three are wonderful dishes and I think some of the best, it seems that many farang do not venture out of this list at all. Hey if you want to live on pad thai three meals a day for a month in Thailand, be my guest but you are limiting your palette just a bit. And there is a lot on the Thai menu to offer but I know some people are not used to the spicy and other flavors so whatever floats your boat. Another thing we have found out is to avoid places which cater to tourists for Thai food (such as many of the ones in Lonely Planet) as every time we have been to a place like this the food has been pretty bad. It is not spicy even if you ask for it (I know not all Thai food is spicy but if it says spicy on the menu it should be spicy and not bland), it will certainly cost more and it just does not taste good in general. Sure they will have an English menu and maybe even have a wooden chair instead of plastic but if you are going for food quality I have found it often to be lacking. Now if you are looking for Western food, Lonely Planet does do a decent job there pointing you in the right direction. Hey they are after all Westerners writing it and many Westerners will search high and low for the best restaurant that has food like home.

Anyway (back to Ayutthaya eating at night market) we walked around the market a bit and looked at the food stalls and finally chose one. We were even handed an English menu. It seems that enough foreigners come through Ayutthaya that nearly every place has an English menu even the cheaper stalls and restaurants. During this meal we tried something that said it was a spicy curry soup and we decided to try it with frog. It was one of the spiciest dishes I have ever had and not bad and the frog was good except it was a bit bony. After dinner we had a mango and sticky rice desert and then walked to Wat Rataburana which is one of the four temple complexes that they light up at night. It was even more striking at night than during the day and we stood in awe at this ancient structure for a few minutes. Ayutthaya is still gorgeous today when in ruins but during its heyday (in the 1600’s and 1700’s) it is said that traders, diplomats and travelers from around the world who visited the city proclaimed that it was the illustrious city that they had ever seen.


A Morning of History

The next morning we rose early to get up before the extreme heat hit (in the flat plains of Ayutthaya this heat starts before 10 AM) and started off on our bikes passing a number of temple complexes on the way. Our main stop which we were privileged to be the first at was Wat Phra Si Sanphet which is right next to the old palace grounds. Three spires remain in this complex which is probably one of the most photographed areas of Ayutthaya (both at night and day) and I clicked away a few shots as well. It was nice to be the first people in the complex and have it to ourselves for 20 minutes before the tour buses started rolling in. Being in the presence of these ruins makes the history of the area come alive especially when there are not a hundred loud tourists clicking the cameras (not to say that I am not one of them; at least the camera clicking part sometimes). There were also a lot of birds in the complex and I caught my glimpse of a spectacular Indian Roller (a bird with flouresent blue wings) and also I believe I saw a Hoopee. Unfortunately I did not bring the binos as I had not expected this to be a birding adventure. From now on I will bring them everywhere I go in Thailand as there really are birds everywhere.


Following this complex we headed to Wat Mahathat and went inside (unlike the previous afternoon) which also was very nice. The most interesting thing in this place is the head of a Buddha statue which fell off but got entangled in the roots of a nearby fig tree. This is probably the second most photographed image of Ayutthaya and we also clicked away here. After this one we biked out of the old city and went to a newer temple complex (built during the end of the Ayutthaya kingdom reign I believe or possibly even after the city fell to the Burmese: I cannot remember). This place was Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon which certainly is in better condition as it was not destroyed during the Burmese attack. It has a beautiful courtyard with many Buddha images and a large reclining Buddha. Since it was getting later in the morning and many people had arrived from Bangkok or on other guided tours, this place was quite a bit busier than the other two. This was our last wat of Ayutthaya and they had provided an interesting window into the past but it is still hard to imagine what this city and kingdom must have been like.

In the afternoon we decided to go to an arts center that has been set up by the Queen to provide local people with training and employment in art and handicraft production. We had high expectations for this place but it ended up letting us down a little bit. The handicraft village where we expected some unique things and demonstrations of people making things turned out to be all the same products sold everywhere else in Thailand without much uniqueness in tiny air conditioned stores which was not all that interesting. There were however some neat buildings where people were being trained or working on a variety of different mediums of artwork (glass, sculpture, batik, woodworking, etc…). This was probably the best section of the center. There was also a large store where they sold many goods (again mainly stuff you can find other places) but there was also a gallery upstairs that had some interesting things.

All in all Ayutthaya was an interesting detour which is a good way to get a more concrete picture of Thai history. Unfortunately we did not make it to either of the two museums because they were closed on Monday and we ran out of time on Sunday. Perhaps we will come back here again at a later time to check them out as we have heard they are quite good. We were a bit watted out by now and were raring for some time in the woods and could hear Khao Yai NP calling so we packed up and headed onward west by train the next morning.

The City of Wats

January 16 - 20


After 3 long days on a train (actually many different trains), we finally arrived in Bangkok, our second big city in a row after quite a long time in small towns and the jungle. The first thing that struck us was that Bangkok was certainly not as clean, sterlie and modern as Singapore (not a big surprise). We also quickly noticed that Bangkok is certainly a travel hub and prime destination for the whole of SE Asia and as such it is certainly crawling with tourists. This is understandable since Thailand has done an excellent job at marketing tourism and it seems that there is something for everyone in this country. From the ancient ruins to the all encompassing Buddhist tradtions, from the beautiful scenery and national parks to the hedonistic beaches, from the smiling, friendly people to the world renowned food: it is many different types of travellers' dreams come true. We were excited about the new country and the many things that it has to offer but were a bit unsure of how the overload of tourism factor would figure in for us. But we were intrigued by the new aspects of travel that Thailand would bring (i.e. Buddhist temples and culture and being off of an island for the first time in a long time). We would also be travelling with Laura's mom during our adventures in Thailand which would certainly change the way we travelled a bit. No more squat toilets, concrete floor beds, cold showers and long treks in the jungle.


The Transformation
Our first day in Bangkok it was still just the two of us however, as Laura's mom would not arrive until midnight. We had some errands to run and wanted to pick up some books. We had heard that there were lots of cheap used books along Khao San Rd, the main backpacker hangout in Bangkok . So we decided to head that way, knowing fukll well that it probably be like a circus for us. We had a chance to gawk at all the white people wearing skimpy clothes and doing funny foreigner things that we had not seen in quite awhile. It was the first time that we had seen so many foreigner in one place in quite awhile and it was a bit of a shock to the system. Probably the most interesting thing was the number of people getting dreadlocks along the street. This is such a thriving market in this area and tons of people are running around with dreads and for the life of us we cannot understand whta the deal is. It's not like dreadlocks are fashionable for Thais. Why do people come to Thaliand and decide, you know what, I really want some dreads. It is obviously not to fit in with Thais but maybe instead it is to fit in with all the other people with dreads. I thought dreads were supposed to be a mark of rebellion to society's norms but here it seems like nothing more than a trendy fashion statement. Laura has developed the hypothesis that most people come here looking normal but upon arriving they get their hair dreaded, buy 'hippie' clothes and decide not to wash themselves anymore which then gives them the label as a dirty farang. Why does this transformation seem to happen to so many people in Thailand? We really have no freaking clue but if someone could enlighten us that would be great.

The Land of Tourists

Laura's mother arrived safely to Thailand and the next morning we arose to start our touring of Bangkok. We decided to start in Chinatown and what better way to start a morning than with a little tour of a temple. Bangkok certainly does have enough of them (over 400) and the day before we had gone to our first (Wat Rajanadda) which was built in the mid 19th century and after climbing up four flight of stairs offered a nice view over the city. Our wat of choice for this morning however was Wat Traimit, temple dating from the 13th century which houses a 10 foot tall, 5 1/2 ton solid gold Buddha image. This golden Buddha was actually 'rediscovered' only about 40 years ago when it fell from a crane and the plaster exterior cracked off. the plaster had most likely been used to hide the gold from invading Burmese hundreds of years ago. It is crazy to think that such a large solid gold structure was forgotten about for so long but today many people come to pay reverence or take pictures of this gleaming image.

After our visit to the wat, we started on a little walk through Chinatown. We had heard somewhere that the Chinatown in Bangkok was one of the largest (outside of China of course) and while walking around it certainly appeared that way. The streets were hectic and crowded and the market was just pandemonium. Tons of shops were selling shark fins and bird's nests and in the market there was everything imaginable and more (sea cucumbers and huge fish from the rivers, dried fruit and roots and of course the odd assortments of Chinese medicines, teapots and tea, etc...)

We continued to wander for a few hours but part of the reason for coming to Chinatown area was to check out Phahurat, which is sort of like a Little India inside Chinatown. It is a place where many textiles are sold and since Laura's mother is very interested in this we decided to head over here. Casey also wanted some Indian food so it was a win-win scenario. So we spent a few hours walking around here purusing the rows and rows of fabric stalls and Laura's mother was in heaven with the wide selection of exotic and inexpensive cloths. After quite a long morning of walking we headed to a restaurant for some good Indian eats and then back to the hotel for a nap.


Casey decided to walk around the city a bit in the evening and got some great views of the palace and surrounding temples which are lit up at night. Unfortunately all the gates are closed but you can peak over a bit here and there. There was also a nice park near the palace where they put on free cultural shows and there was a dance presentation as well as a play, Ramayana which is a Hinddu influences story but still very important in Thai Buddhist culture. It was very interesting to watch with fantastic costumes and music.

Our next day would be a day of wats. Now I have seen pictures of the Grand Palace grounds and Wat Pho and have been told a number of times to go but sometimes things that are hyped up so much do not always meet expectations. This was not one of those times as this section of Bangkok is absolutely amazing and just makes want to sit and gawk a bit. Yes it is a bit extravagant and yes there are more touriststhan probably anywhere else that I have ever been but it still does not spoil it. Luckily we got to the palace early in the morning just as the gates opened before too many tour buses had arrived and before the sun was too high in the sky. As we walked through the gates we were approached by a tour guide and we decided to take her up on her offer to show us around Wat Phra Kew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace grounds and the associated Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most revered Buddha image and the number one pilgramage destination for Thai Buddhists, were constructed over a 3 year period starting in 1762. The construction was ordered by King Rama I, the first in the line of kings of the current dynasty. He has decided to make Bangkok the new capital of Siam, moving it from Thornburi, which lies across the Chao Phraya River. Thornburi had only lasted for a short time (less than 50 years) as the capital and before this Ayutthaya (about 40 miles upriver of Bangkok) was the capital of the major kingdom in the area which had lasted for more than 400 years (but fell to the Burmese in the early 1700's). When the king ordered the construction of the Grand Palace and the other buildings in the area, he certainly went all out and the area is still a remarkable sight today.


Our tour guide was very good and also very funny. She led us through the gates and one of the first things we noticed were the gigantic guards who permanently watch over the temple and palace grounds. Even though they are big and scary looking, they do not always do a great job at keeping the vandals from taking small pieces of the temple grounds home for themselves. This seemed to be a pet peave for our guide and she continually pointed out small pieces of statues, monuments and temples that were missing as a result of greedy and disrespectful visitors. One of the most prominent sights in the grounds were three beautiful pagodas done in three different styles: Sri Lankan, Burmese and Cambodian. The Emerald Buddha resides within this compound and is actually not emerald but jade has quite a long history and has moved around the region quite a bit. The Buddha image is also not as big as one might expect (only about 3 feet tall) but is raised up on a high goldan pedastal and it has 3 special outfits for each of the three seasons of Thailand which the King himself changes in a special ceremony. The palace itself is no longer used by the King and the grounds are used only for special occasions, but the beauty of the place and the importance that it holds for the Thai people was interesting to see and learn about.


Our next stop was Wat Pho which is right next store to the Grand Palace and inside these grounds there is the huge golden reclining Buddha image that is also a famous sight in Bangkok. We again took up the services of a tour guide who also proved to be informative and a novice and later a monk at Wat Pho before his time as a tour guide. The reclining Buddha is pretty impressive and the other structures in the compound are also pretty amazing especially the many pagodas with ornate porcelain decoration. This temple is guarded by a different group of statues which were brought over in ships from China and there is even one of Marco Polo. Inside the compound also lies a school for Thai massage and of course many Buddha images (even more than other temples though as it seems that this is a collection point for them and there are rows and rows of Buddha statues wherever you look).

After this we were a bit 'watted out' but decided to go for one more since we were in the area. Next on the list was Wat Arun or Temple of the Dawn which lies across the river from the palace and Wat Pho. Wat Arun has the tallest prang or tower in Bangkok at a height of 82 meters which makes it an impressive sight in the day or lit up at night. This tower is actually intracately decorated with tons of Chinese porcelain that was used as weight for the ballasts of ships in the past. Even though we were at the wat limit for the day it was still a very interesting one and the porcelain decoration was really quite amazing.

The next day we met up with Casey's old friend, Rob, who has been teaching English in Thailand for about two years now. It was interesting to get his perspective on Thailand as an outsider who has lived here for quite a while. We had time to catch up and also compare our experiences living in SE Asia which were similar in many ways and different in others. Rob seems to enjoy living in Thailand a lot and it seems like it has done him well. We visited the Teak Mansion in the afternoon where there were some interesting textile and handicraft exhibits. The mansion was built by Rama V and was obviously very influenced by Western design which we were not exactly expecting.

In the evening we headed to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner as it was Laura's birthday the follwing day. We had not had a decent Italian meal in quite awhile so we decided to see if Bangkok would fulfill her wishes and it ended up working splendidly. It really was a good meal and was followed up by some good ice cream at Swenson's (which are everywhere in Bangkok). This was one of our first Western meals in quite awhile and luckily we had done a good job at choosing a good place.

Chugga-Chugga-Chugga-Chugga Choo, CHOO!!

January 10 - 14

The "Jungle" Train
Our plan after Singapore was a 3 day train ride through Penninsular Malaysia and Southern Thailand to reach Bangkok. Laura had heard that there is a route that starts in Singapore and goes through the "jungles" of western Pen. Malaysia and we were both excited to ride the rails and be stunned by the spectacular scenery.

It had been raining in Penninsular Malaysia for quite a few days before we were set to leave. The morning of our departure we phoned the train station to make sure that the schedule was correct. We were stunned by the information we were given. All trains heading out of Singapore were cancelled due to vast flooding in Malaysia. Since we were going to be meeting Laura's mother in 3 days, this news was a little disheartening, especially because of the situation it caused the locals. Many people lost their homes and their lives in these floods. We thought/hoped it would be ok to stay with Per for a few more days and decided to fly the same day Laura's mother arrived. We left a note because the phones were acting up and went out sight seeing for the day.

At around 5pm, Per gets a hold of us and explains that we are unable to stay at his place because a friend of his will be visiting and needs the room. Shoot! We really don't want to stay in Singapore if we have to pay for an overpriced budget hotel room but we can't take the train! Frantically, we search for a cab to bring us back to Per's apartment. Once inside a cab, the friendly cabbie begins chit-chatting with us and so we tell him our failed plans. But we're mis-informed, he told us. The trains are up and running, he just heard it on the radio. Hoorah! We call the railway station to confirm and rush over to Per's to pack and hurry back to the station just in time to catch the train.

Originally, we had planned to take the day train, in order to take in Malaysia. We were unable to do this, but it was probably for the better as all we would have seen was the horrible damage done by the floods. We arrived at Gemas late in the evening and had to wake the hotel owner up to give us our room.

The next day, was supposed to be THE scenery day. We awoke bright and early to catch the slow 3rd class train, which is really the only option for daytime travel along the line. We excitedly jumped aboard to find the perfect window seats for our viewing pleasure. When the train pulled out our eyes were glued to the window in anticipation for the incredible scenes to come. Three or four hours later we were beginning to wonder if the passengers who had dubbed this line the "jungle" line had ever really seen a jungle. We passed many trees, but most of them composed massive rubber plantations. We saw palm oil plantations, but no jungle!

Nearing the end of daylight and just when the lulling of the train was putting us both to sleep, up from the land rose tall limestone mountains harboring majestic cliffs. We were in awe. At two different stops we watched monkeys playing in the trees behind the train station. It was well worth the monotonous rubber trees and barren fields.

We disembarked at the small town of Dabong. Not far from Dabong is a very large waterfall gushing down the bare limestone rock. It is so large and placed so high on the mountains that it can be seen from the train and from the road in the middle of town. It was a peaceful little village, far from the usual tourist path. We stayed in the only guesthouse in town.

The next morning we got up excessively early to catch the train. We hadn't anticipated this, but we chose to embark on this journey right in the middle of a massive timetable restructuring. When we arrived at the little train station there were a few people sleeping on the benches but otherwise no activity to suggest that a train would be stopping anytime soon. Not even the ticket booth was open. After about an hour, an employee showed up and although we had some miscommunication problems it was finally discovered that there were some issues in the implementation of the new schedule and the first few train would not be arriving. We waited about 3 hours for the first train. This train was nicer and we ended up in a freezing compartment. The scenery was nice but nothing like what we witnessed the day before, all a bit anticlimatic.

After the train, we rode a bus to the border and then hopped across the bridge to Sungai Kolok, Thailand. There we were interrogated by the immigration who finally stamped our 60 day visa and sent us on our way.

Suddenly finding oneself in a new country is always a bit nerve racking at first - especially when the new country speaks an entirely new language and write using a completely different script (ie Thailand). Jumping across the border, we landed in an entirely new world...or so we thought at first. Everything was written in the Thai script and therefore we assumed that everyone would be speaking Thai. But we should have realized from the name of the town, which is Bahasa Melayu, that this would not be the case. Almost everyone we ran into was muslim and after attempting some Bahasa it was clear that they understood. It was your typical mix-match border town!

We had a little scare when someone tried to get us to take the horribly long bus ride to Bangkok by telling us that the trains weren't running because a bomb exploded somewhere. Good thing we decided to check things out for ourselves cuz that turned out to be a load of crap. It took us an EXTREMELY long time deciding what class ticket we should get for the train. Laura had her hopes set on a sleeper car. She had visions of her sleeping in peace on an actual bed. But, we hadn't anticipated the costs of the sleepers and Casey was feeling that double the price might not be worth it, though he doesn't understand the rough sleepless nights spent in a small semi-reclining chair on crowded overnight transportation because he sleeps soundly through anything. In the end, we decided on the second class fan with reclining seats. This was actually not a bad option. We took the later train and thus didn't see much except the low rice paddies of Southern Thailand. It had been a while since we'd seen so much rice and it reminded us both of so many of our travels in the Philippines.

Welcome to the Concrete Jungle

When I read about the city-state of Singapore my mouth began to water. It seemed to contain everything I'd been missing for the past 3 years: concerts, museums, good food and a functioning infrastructure. I expected to be wined, dined and cultured and I was willing to splurge a little in order to do so.

When we arrived, we called up Per, an expat Swede working in Singapore whom we had briefly met in Danum Valley and who so graciously offered his spare room. Thankfully the room was still available and so we set up house in a nice centrally located modern apartment. Per's generosity will not be forgotten as it allowed us to venture around the expensive city without completely blowing our budget. Naturally, we had expected spending more than in Malaysia, but we hadn't anticipated the degree.

Walking around the city here are some things we noticed:

1. Cleanliness: guess people really don't vandalize when the punishment is caning.

2. Efficiency: What happens when the general public learns to queue up.

3. White People: Everywhere! But not all retired men, which was SO refreshing. (pardon the politically in-correctness).

4. Fast-paced Lifestyle: Everyone's in much too much of a hurry. Running to catch the train that arrives in 10 minutes will not make it arrive any quicker.

5. Anonymity: Eyes avert when trying to make friendly how-you-do eye contact to strangers on the street. Since there are so many white people and everyone's so busy, no one cares about the people around them.

6. Fashion, Fashion, Fashion: Dressed to the nines to eat at hawker stalls, honestly, why put up the effort?

7. Upgrading: The city seems to be in a constant state of construction, or "upgrading" as they like to call it. The Singapore motto (in my eyes): If it's not bright, shiny, trendy ad new then get rid of it!

8. Shopping, Shopping: Singapore's motto #2: "Shop til you drop" or "Always keep within eyesight of a mall".

9. Fresh Air: People comply with auto emissions regulations when the punishment is caning.

10. Diversity: Malay, Chinese, Indian and English are all widely spoken and all written on signboards and money.

Reality Check
For the most part, our transition back into modern city life went smoothly, though there were a few hitches along the way:

Eating Western Style
Our host invited us out to dinner with some of his expat friends and their friends. We went to one of the most upscale restaurants I've been in for a very long time. Like many upscale restaurants, the table was set Western Style.

Looking at the place settings I began to think "Ok, a knife, I remember that. How can I avoid using it? Don't order meat, right." Eggplant and veggie kabobs for me, thanks. Then the meal arrives and it's accompanied by...dun, dun, dun...RICE (high pitched scream!). It's a high end Persian restaurant so this isn't Asian rice and the grains are as separate as grains of sand. Everyone pics up their knives and forks and they dig in. Everyone except me. How can they expect me to eat rice with a fork, grain by grain? I assume my usual spoon and fork stance and hope no one realizes how uncouth I am. I'm relieved with KC follows suit after much fork frustration. I realize there's no going back to the knife method. Can I get away with this forever?

To reinforce this thought: We were eating at a delicious local Indian eatery where the meals are served on banana leaves and you're expected to eat with your hands. After finishing our meal a few of the locals some up to compliment KC on his hand to mouth technique. If it works, why dirty the silver?

Keeping Clean
It really should not take 1/2 hour for 2 college graduates to figure out how to operate a washing machine. In our defence, it was covered in funny pictures instead of instructions.

Pushing Buttons
Likewise, it shouldn't take 20 minutes for 2 college grads to operate a TV and DVD player properly...but it did. That's what happens when you're out of practice and the newest models look nothing like the 3 year old editions we had when we were at home.

The Garden City
There is so much to do in Singapore just the thought of trying to plan a day out makes one's head spin. We were here for 5 mights and still didn't get to see all we wanted to. However, we were pleased with what we did see:

Caged Animals: The reputation for the Singapore Zoo is incredible. It's sister zoo, the Night Safari is all the rage among tourists. In light of all of this, we decided to put aside our mixed feelings regarding zoos and spend the day among the animals, especially after discussing the zoos with a tourism officer who mentioned that the idea is to keep cages at a minimum and use psychological barriers to keep the animals int heir places. Apparently, psychological barriers include electrified wires. Actually, these were minimal though it did seem to me that the psychology was geared towards disguising the barriers to make the patrons of the zoo believe the animals weren't caged.

Despite all of this, we were amazed at how close many of the animals are allowed to get and at the number of species which weren't caged at all (mostly monkeys and birds). I was impressed by the zoo's conservation efforts - they support a number of projects mainly throughout SE Asia. Equally impressive is the zeal with which they denounce the exotic pet trade as well as the use of animals as "traditional" medicine. This is especially important in Singapore and Malaysia where many of the specimens for these medicines originate and where at least 1/3 of the population is of Chinese decent, who are most of the middlemen and consumers of these products. Tiger bones are one such popular medicine and in the white tiger exhibit there was a TV only in Chinese about stopping the illegal tiger trade.

I also applaud the zoo for their use of alternative medicines to treat their vet patients - herbs are used to treat irregularity and a number of the animals receive acupuncture to relieve various maladies.

Although we enjoyed the zoo, The Night Safari, on the other hand, we weren't so impressed with. The premise of this park is to see large nocturnal animals in action. Each exhibit is lit with soft lighting that 's supposed to resemble the moon, though i doubt it changes with the phases. Because of it's popularity, this park is more expensive than the zoo. Ti makes no real attempt to educate the public on the animals or conservation. most of the animals on display can also be found at the zoo where they are seen in action during normal daylight hours. For example: the giraffe is shown at both where they can be seen doing giraffe-y things because they only need 1/2hr-4hrs of sleep/day. The highlight of the nocturnal park was the flying squirrel exhibit which is a large aviary where the squirrels fly overhead at close range. The greatest problem I had with the park was with the treatment of the animals by the public Everywhere we looked, there were signs saying not to use flash photography but you know people, if they want a pic of the jaguar feeding they will ignore what they're told. But the flashes are particularly disturbing at night when they blind their subjects.

As I watched people disturbing the animals I was reminded of an episode of the Twilight Zone where a human is abducted by aliens then placed in a facade house where doors don't open and appliances don't function. At the end of the episode the abductee discovers to his horror that there are aliens ogling at him because he is the newest edition to their zoo. If you were a caged specimen, how would you like blinding flashes and annoying finger taps on your window panes?

Civilized Learning
We spend a day wandering around 2 wonderful museums. The Singapore Art Museum has a grand collections of mostly contemporary Singaporean and SE Asian Art work. In some galleries there are even explanations by the artists. Definitely worth a visit and refreshing to see such good artwork coming from a region which is not known for encouraging artistic creativity. The Asian Civilizations Museum is a HUGE museum with extremely detailed information on about 5 different regions of Asia. In three hours we barely finished half of the large gallery on SE Asia. There we learned about everything from the arrival of Buddhism to the origins of rice cultivation. By far one of the best museums I've EVER been to!

Little India
This district is extremely popular with local and foreign tourists as evident by the large number of cute tourist shops selling Indian imports. Because of this, many of the Indian restaurants are pricey, but we discovered a way to get the best food at the best price - flout the foreign filled joints and eat where the local community flocks. We stuffed our faces with delectable Indian breads and veggie dishes all served on a banana leaf and eaten with the right hand. After serving the bread, the waiter comes around with 3 buckets, each filled with its own richly spiced dipping sauce. They ladle a healthy portion onto the banana leaf where the sauces are soaked up by the bread. Anytime you wish, you may ask for more of these dips which you lap up with chunks of bread until you're stuffed to the gills. This experience solidified one thought in both our minds: we MUST make it to India.

Chinatown
Similar concept to Little India at the location of the historical Chinese village, though almost anywhere in Singapore could be considered Chinatown as most of the stores rout Chinese names and wares and by far the most popular hawker stands sell Chinese noodle dishes. What makes Chinatown unique are the many historic building that somehow survived the mass upgrading of Singapore. Most of these are reminiscent of the English colonialist influence. Of course we walked through apothecary stores selling everything the Singapore Zoo was preaching against - there were velvet coated antlers (can't get those by waiting for the deer to shed it's antlers), dried sea cucumbers, shark fins and seahorses plus dried swift spit which is used to make the famous bird's nest soup.

While in Chinatown we stopped off at a small tea cafe called the Tea Chapter. here they serve Chinese tea in the traditional style and if you are an inexperienced tea drinker they plain the difference between the teas as well as teach you how to make a proper cup. We learned the 3 most important factors for making a delicious brew are: the amount of tea leaves used, the temperature of the water (never boiling) and the duration of infusion. We also learned how to appreciate the fragrance of our tea before we appreciate its taste. T he Chinese are so fond of the aroma they've created a special cup specifically designed to concentrate the tea vapor so the drinker may sniff the aroma before transferring the tea into the drinking cup. It was a pleasant and relaxing respite from the bustling city and we sipped tea until our bladders were full.

A Brief and Incomplete History of Singapore
The island of Singapore is located across a small channel at the Southern tip of the Peninsular Malaysia and lays just north of the Indonesian island of Sumatera. At one time it was thick with jungle and was home to many magnificent creatures including the Malay tiger.

The name Singpura is said to have been given to the island be the first king because upon docking at its shores he saw a large animal, resembling a lion, run into the thick brush. Now this of course was impossible to see since lions are only in Africa but the name, meaning "Lion City" stuck.

During the prime of European colonization of SE Asia (or the East Indies and Indochina as much of it was referred to) Singapore was ruled by the British. To encourage growth of the British trading companies, the government encouraged immigration from their nearby colony of India as well as from China. A large number of both ethnic groups came to Singapore where most engaged in blue color jobs such as porters, coolies and rickshaws drivers. Today, like much of Malaysia and the Philippines, many of the shops are owned by the Chinese. I noticed that most of the laborers (ie construction workers) are of Indian decent. One can easily find newspapers and magazines in these 2 languages alongside Malays and English language products. The government even writes in all four on signboards and money.

Singapura was originally grouped under Malaysia when it was randomly formed 50 years ago but this made many Singaporeans unhappy and the island was eventually kicked out of the state of Malay. The now free Singaporean government rules with an iron fist and it's ever presence has lead itself to the nickname of the Nanny state (Big Mama is always watching). Many tourists we've met actually applaud this government as a viable means toward development and low crime rates. Someone even mentioned how their home country should adopt the punishment system in order to deter would-be criminals in order to make their country a safer place for women walking solo at night. Though I'm not sure how the crackdown would fly among those who value their freedom form state induced physical violence and death.

Nice People Abound (Kuching)

January 1 and 5 - 8
Our New Year's Eve was spent on a bus from Brunei to Kuching. Not really a way to bring it in with a bang but neither of us have many memorable New Years experiences anyways. So, we arrived early New Year's Day in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak (the western province of Malaysian Borneo). While trying to find a place to stay we met a Canadian traveler, Marty. He was an experienced backpacker who traveled 3 months every year when he took time off from work as high end remodeling contractor. He has traveled throughout Latin America and SE Asia for the past 15 years. He became our companion for a few sights in Kuching and our next destination at Bako. Marty was a great source of information for our further travels and also a welcomed 3rd wheel for a few days after spending so much time only the two of us.

Bringing in the New Year
A few days earlier, Marty had met a nice Indonesian architect, Herman, who was living in Kuching and when we arrived Herman was planning to take Marty to the nearby Sarawak Cultural Village and was kind enough to ask if we wanted to join. We decided to tag along for the free ride and extra company. The cultural village is a park where the houses, crafts and traditional lifestyles of the many ethnic groups of Sarawak are displayed. It is sort of a living museum where people belonging to all of the different ethnic groups including Malay, Chinese, Orang Ulu, Penan, Iban and others are employed to teach the visitors a bit about their traditions and culture. It appears that Sarawak as a province has made it a point to foster the arts, crafts and culture of the indigenous people much more than we saw in Sabah or Indonesia. While the park was touristy, it did provide some good background information about the people of the region and did not seem to be exploitative of the people. There was also a well done and enjoyable cultural show which displayed some of the dances of the different groups of people showcased in the village.

After walking around the park for the afternoon, we were treated to dinner by Herman and he provided us with some interesting conversation and ideas. He was raised in Europe by a Indonesian diplomat family and moved back to Indonesia in his twenties. He lived in Jakarta for a number of years but became frustrated with the Indonesian officials who were not interested in a sustainable vision of peace for the future of the country. Herman told us of his dreams of a peaceful world and the work that he has been trying to do in Indonesia and now Malaysia to promote peace through architecture. He moved to Malaysia about 10 years ago and now works for the Kuching government where he feels that some of his ideas are more accepted as compared with Indonesia. It was very interesting hearing his viewpoints and especially his background from both the West and the East. I think that he is doing a good thing and doing his best to promote his dreams of peace in his corner of the world. It was also refreshing hearing some of our thoughts regarding the East being vocalized by an Easterner.

Upon returning from Bako (see previous entry), we met up with some other American expats who are living in Ecuador. They own a fruit farm and run an internet seed selling business and were on a seed gathering expedition in Borneo. They had gone out to the market to find new species of tropical fruit for the their farm. They returned with many varieties of durian, rambutan, lansats (lanzones) and other assorted fruit that we had never seen before and whose names now escape me. They asked for help eating the fruit since they only wanted the seeds for transport and we happily obliged. It was a nice fruit tasting adventure and our snack was topped of by a nice Indian dinner at a local restaurant.


An Interesting History
Sarawak like the rest of Borneo was at one time inhabited and ruled by many different indigenous people, many of which were infamous head hunters. The largest native group in Sarawak is the Iban who live downriver and are known for their extensive longhouses and Pua Kumba textiles. The Orang Ulu (literally 'upriver people') include many groups such as the Kenyah and Kayan (the same tribes as in Long Jelet in Indonesia) and are known for their intricate beadwork costumes and sape music. There are also the Penan who are short nomadic people famous for the poison blow darts that they use for hunting. Unlike the Amazonians, the poison for these darts is made from the sap of a tree. We were told that it won't hurt you to touch it unless it gets under your skin (through a scratch or the like). The Melaniau who live near the coast are known for sago processing and dolls (somewhat like voodoo) used for healing purposes.

Starting early in the last millennium, island of Borneo was influenced by Chinese, Arabic and later European traders. Eventually Malays immigrated to Borneo and at one point Kuching and the rest of Sarawak was under the control of the Brunei sultan. In the 1800's, when the Sultan of Brunei appointed an unpopular governor, the people of Kuching revolted. In order to quell the revolt a British trader, James Brooke, came to the aid of the sultan and was appointed as the Rajah (king) of Sarawak. The Rajah soon became powerful and started claiming more territory for Sarawak from Brunei and increasing European influence in the area. A well organized governmental system was established and Kuching became an important international trading center. Chinese immigrants were lured to the area by Brooke and helped to establish many of the businesses which continue to prosper today. Today the Chinese influence in Sarawak is quite strong and their population is the highest of any ethnic group in the area (about 30%). Two more white Rajahs followed James Brooke, continuing the British influence in the area. Sarawak was later turned over to England as a colony and in the 1950's it joined Sabah and Malaya to form the country of Malaysia. Sarawak and Sabah are quite different from neighboring peninsular Malaysia in a number of areas however. Probably most evident is the difference in population dynamics with Malays holding a minority (only about 25% in Sarawak for instance) and large Chinese and indigenous populations which continues to shape the lifestyle and going-ons of the region.



An Interesting City
Kuching (or cat city) is a nice, clean and ethnically diverse city of about 500,000 with a good, free museum system, a nice riverfront and many natural attractions in the surrounding area. As to why it is called cat city we are not exactly sure but they do have a cat museum with everything about cats you could ever want to know and more (we did not have time to visit unfortunately). We tried to make the most of our short stay and found the city to be a great place. We visited a textile and an art museum that were both well done and each contained many products from the different ethnic groups of the region. The ethnology museum had an extensive collection of carvings, handicrafts and other artifacts from indigenous tribes. We also visited the weekend market, which spread over several blocks and got some great deals on delicious fruit.

Our final day in Kuching was spent with an American biologist and wildlife photographer who has been living in Kuching for the past 11 years, Chi'en, and his girlfriend Madeline, a Kulua Lampur resident who works with women's issues. We met Chi'en and Madeline in the beginning of our trip in Sulawesi and looked them up in Kuching. They took us out for some rock climbing and another friend of theirs, Kate, a British marine biologist, took us caving at Fairy Cave about an hour outside of Kuching. Casey had never been climbing before and Laura only a few times but Chi'en urged us to try and was very patient in showing us how. We both had a bit of a go and while it took us quite a while to get up, Laura made it to the top of one route and Casey most of the way. It was fun and although we were both sore afterwards and had cut up hands, maybe it is something we will try again back in the States. Perhaps we need to work a bit more in the gym first though. After the climb Kate took us through an adventurous cave where we got wet and muddy. She brought her dog along which made for an interesting experience as we had to hoist it over a few walls using a rope but the cave was gorgeous and a nice way to end our adventurous afternoon. One of the most exciting parts of the cave was the "birth canal" where we had to squeeze through a small opening sideways with our hands over our heads like we were being reborn. In the evening we were treated to a great seafood dinner with Chi'en, Madeline and Kate which was nice to talk with some people who were living and working in Borneo. By the end of our time in Kuching and our last night in Borneo we both agreed that the area had been a great place to spend the first week of the New Year and that Borneo had been an amazing island and everything that we could have hoped for and more.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Jan 2 - Jan 5

So we decided to travel during the rainy season. We did not really do that on purpose. It just worked out that way. We were a bit worried about this before setting off but for the most part there had been few issues to date. In Sulawesi it had been dry and even in Borneo there had been relatively little rain and what rain there was only minimally interfered with our travel. It had actually worked out for the best in Borneo since just a few months earlier (October) during the dry season there had been some of the worst fires in years (as a result of slash and burn farming) covering the region in nasty smoke and haze. Well when we hit Sarawak (the western province of Malaysian Borneo), our luck with the rain wore out. They saw that when it rains it pours, and our trip to Bako National Park about an hour outside the capital city of Kuching was filled with wetness to say the least.

Bako National Park is one of the oldest national parks in Sarawak and also one the most well known. It is on a rocky headland and seven different ecosystems are found with the relatively small park. Bako is also known as a great place to spot birds and other wildlife including the endemic and endangered proboscis monkey. It was the only park that we visited in Malaysia but we were highly impressed by the great trails, the breath-taking scenery and the abundant and highly visible wildlife. Even with the rainy weather, it was certainly a highlight for me.

The only way to enter the park is by boat from the nearby town. On the day we arrived the waves were a bit big and we rode in a very small speedboat. The first part of the ride along the river was fine but as we neared the sea, the waves got larger and our driver angled the boat to be parallel to them (something that seemed a bit counter intuitive to me and the best way to roll the boat). He accelerated and decelerated as necessary and expertly handled the boat in the rough seas. It was quite exhilarating as we pitched and rolled over the little monsters of the sea and although a few times it looked as if we might flip, we came out unscathed and surprisingly dry.

Other than the rough seas, the weather when we arrived at the park was gorgeous. We got there around noon and figured that there were would not be much wildlife out in the heat of the day so we decided to take a nap. Sadly when we awoke it was gray and rainy outside (this nasty weather would be the same for the remainder of our stay). But we decided to try our luck anyway and started on a little stroll and eventually the weather did clear up a bit. We caught our first glimpse of some proboscis monkeys only about 50 meters from our hostel and we watched for awhile as they played in the treetops. We continued on the boardwalk trail and we were awed by the wet lowland forest which was unlike any that we had seen before. Palms and pandans dominated the vegetation with other taller trees forming the canopy. It was strikingly beautiful with many sandstone outcrops dotting the trail. We continued walking until dark and met up with some more proboscis and also two troops of silver leaf monkeys who took little notice of our presence. We hiked up a small hill and the vegetation changed to more typical lowland rainforest type. We were greeted at the top of the hill with a spectacular view of the rainforest, mangroves and ocean spread out below us in the late afternoon.

Our next day proved to be wet. We planned a long hike but around 10 in the morning our walk was interrupted by a downpour that lasted pretty much for the rest of the day. Before the rain we did make it to an interesting arid grassland area dominated by small trees, shrubs and grasses as well as many rocky outcrops. In this region, there were also many pitcher plants and orchids which we spent an hour or so searching for. There are 6 species of pitcher plants in the park and I think we found them all ranging from small ones on the ground which look like jugs to much larger vases (as big as your hand) found attached to viny structures. After awhile it really started to pour though and even though we tried to wait it out for a bit, the rain showed no signs of stopping and so we headed back to the hostel for a bit of rest.

The next two days the rain continued but it let up at times and we decided to make the best of our time so we strapped on our boots and slogged through the flooded forests. We made our way through the grasslands in search of more pitcher plants and were privileged to walk through gorgeous palm forests. We trekked to spectacular rocky headlands overlooking the ocean and through streams to an overflowing waterfall tinted brown by tannins from the palms. We saw many more silver leafs scamper along the beach and watched families of proboscis monkeys scarf down mangrove leaves only feet from us. Overall this park is a gem and a place that we found to be incredibly unique.

The Peaceful Sultanate

Piece of History
The small Sultanate of Negara Brunei Darrasalem (translation: Brunei country of Peace) or Brunei as it's most commonly referred to is located in Northern Borneo where it's sandwiched between two sides of the Malayan state of Sarawak. This tiny broken country is all that remains of a once great sultanate which used to claim territory from the Southern Philippines to Southern Borneo. The Kingdom was so powerful it was once capable of seizing Manila from the Spanish. Unfortunately for it, one of the sultans was not as adept at ruling the land as his forefathers and during his time he either gave away or lost much of the land until it was whittled down to its current size. Fortunately, in the early 1900s oil was found in the country and since 1932 it has been exporting oil. The slews of black gold have helped to make the Sultan one of the richest people in the world and provides its citizens with some of the best social programs and standard of living of any SE Asia country. Thanks to the oil, and the Halal way of life, much of the forests and wildlife remains intact making Brunei home to one of the largest populations of the Proboscis Monkey of Borneo.

We arrived in the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), where most of the tourist attractions are stationed. We had decided to spend our time in Brunei observing the history and Islam culture, something we hadn't done elsewhere on our trip. We were also confined to BSB largely because of the oil. Because the state owns half of all of the oil companies, they have made sure that all of Brunei's citizens are gas guzzlers by making it relatively cheap and easy to buy a car. As a result public transportation is extremely lacking. This was ok, as there were many mosques and museums for us to see in the capital.

The most impressive mosque was built by the king basically for him. I have never been in a building more humbling. It had huge vaulted ceilings and almost everything was made of marble. Vast chandeliers hung everywhere and the spires were each decorated with elaborate mosaic tiles.

May Peace Be With You
The most interesting thing about this place is how "peaceful" it is, and this is exactly what everyone mentions at the beginning of a conversation. As all good Muslim countries should do, this one also prohibits the sale of alcohol. All of the shops (except for the Coffee Bean) shut down by 10pm. People are so trusting of eachother that they willingly pick up hitchhiking foreigners. They are so polite that drivers actually STOP for pedestrians, even when they're jay walking!

Fine Dining
The most eventful night we had while in BSB was going out for a traditional Brunei dish ambuyat. The people of Brunei have historically been estuarine peoples and the sea and rivers have been more of a focus than the land and agriculture. Remanents of the past is still evident in the vast stilted villages where many of the Bruneians still live suspended over the river. As a result of their lifestyle, rice was not a staple and instead the people relied on sago, which is ground up and boiled to provide the center of the ambuyat. We hadn't heard much about the dish, except that it was pure Brunei and Lora was eager to try it. After much searching, we came across a restaurant where this dish could be ordered.

Boy were we suprised when the meal came out! The centerpiece of this odd meal was a large bowl filled with a pearly jelly like mass that KC thought most closely resembled snot. To eat with, we were only furnished with a pair of chopstick with which we tried to attack the gack-y mess. It came with a extremely pungent durian dip that had a very "strong" flavor not all that pleasing to durian neophytes. It was one of the interesting meals, if not the most pleasant, of the entire trip.

Walking on Water
As mentioned previously, a large percentage of BSB's population lives above the water in huge stilted water villages. Each of the houses are connected to eachother by wooden boardwalks upkept for free by the government. The houses have running water and electricity. The taxies are all small speedboats which jet along the river from the capital to the villages. There are even stilted mosques and schools. My main question when rambling up and down the boarwalks was "what about sewage disposal?" I'd look into the situation before jumping into the murky waters. The disappointing thing about the villages was the lack of activity going on outside. People were not chatting on the front stoop or gathering at the local mini-store. Perhaps for safety reasons, none of the children were running around the planks. This is very out of character for a SE Asian neighborhood. It made Brunei seem almost dead.