Exploring Langkawi

Met a cool guy from Iran named Arash, we've been hanging out and rented a motorbike yesterday to explore the island. We were headed to a private beach and came across a secluded Four Seasons resort....so we drove in to check it out. We ended up on a golf cart type path (obviously no cars allowed) and just kept driving....no one stopped us. We ended up coming to a restaurant, drove beside a fountain thing....then right onto the private beach. There were chairs lined up perfectly along the beach, very quiet and secluded, very "upper class". So we ripped by on our noisy motorbike and waved to everyone, we almost crashed numerous times but were laughing hysterically. The resort sent out a quad to chase us down, they politely told us no motorized vehicles on the beach....they assumed we were guests so they were kind of nice. So we ended up back on the golf cart type path and kept making "wrong" turns and getting deeper and deeper into the maze of the four seasons....so they sent hotel staff on cycles to chase us down. Hahaha, they kept blocking off paths so we couldn't make anymore "wrong" turns, it was awesome.

The secluded Four Seasons beach...we are jerks.

We arrived at the boat jetty and inquired about prices of tours, it was expensive for just us two. We asked everyone we saw if they were interested in the tour so we could share the cost, a Japanese family agreed. The tour was awesome, saw a bunch of caves, cruised in a boat around salt water inlets, had a blast. Went to a bat cave, some monkeys trespassed on our boat while we were in the caves....glad I took my backpack! Saw a big water lizard, a crap load of eagles diving and feeding, super cool. Then we ended up at a fish farm thing which I thought was going to be boring, but ended up being a great experience. It was a family owned floating restaurant/fish farm. The guy who showed us around was like 24 and super passionate and knowledgable about these crazy fish. I got to feed a stingray....not gonna lie...I was kind of scared.











Anyway, going to drive back and our tire was completely flat...and we were over 5km from anykind of service station. Two guys offered to go home, get tools, take our tire off, drive it to get repaired, bring it back and put it back on...for 30RM (about $9).....we talked them down to 20RM!! Haha, they ruled, they worked on it in the dark, using a lighter to see. We started driving back to our part of the island and realized our headlight didn't work....we had to drive with no light! It was crazy, scary when we'd hit a speed bump, those suckers come out of nowhere! All good though, we made it back, awesome day.

Langkawi

Who's the cocoNUT jumping from the tree?
Arrived in Langkawi on Christmas morning, found a cheap hostel to stay in....another dorm room :) The weather is awesome on the west side of Malaysia, the beach is nice here. Spent most of yesterday hanging out on the beach reading and playing in the ocean. I debated going for a Christmas dinner, but the only ones I found were like 65RM (about $20), so I opted for a local restaurant and ate rice and curry fish.

Today I rented a motorbike and checked out the island. I climbed a cool waterfall area, then drove around the island more. Saw "I am Legend" with Will Smith, pretty good. That's it, more hanging out in Langkawi to come.


Cool tree while trekking in up a mountain in Langkawi

Chillin in KL

Met a cool guy from Holland at the hostel, his name is Oscar. We tromped around KL today checking out the sites, checked out some mosques as well.

Ran into some other tourists, a guy from Germany and a girl from Oregon. The guy said he knew someone that got ripped off $8k US in a similar type scam!!....turns into a card game. This one was more in depth though, this guy had met some people and travelled with them for a week, then they offered to have this guy stay at their home for a few days. Card game got going one night, the guy clearly said he didn't want to play for $$, they said no problem. At the end of the night they gave the guy a bill for $7k, said they would let the guy live if he bought a ring in a store for $8k, they knew there would be a limit on cash withdrawals......sketch.



Rockin a cart wheel, sweet pic :)Very nice color combos I do say. Oscar had some crazy orange Thai pants, mixed with his banana yellow t-shirt. I'm sporting a supplied purple house coat type ensemble, we clash a bit.....

Almost scammed in KL....almost....

Crazy story, crazy. So I'm in KL, got here in the afternoon, travelled most of the day. Looking for a camera for hours, getting low prices etc. Finally bought one, came outside and a guy started talking to me. He was about my age, maybe a few years older. He was with a girl, who was his "niece", maybe about 20. Asked where I was from, when he found out Canada he said his niece was trying to apply for a work visa to be a nurse there. She said her mom was for her moving, but her grandma was against it. He asked if he could buy me a coffee and ask about Canada, sure....why not? After a while we were getting to know each other, he asked if I would come to his place and have dinner, to meet his family and tell this girls grandma about Canada. Instantly I felt a weird gut feeling to decline, but then I reasoned it thinking that all the times I've agreed to go to someones home here in Asia it's turned out to be an amazing experience! So off we went, in a cab.

Got to the home, instantly the dad of the girl started talking to me. I talked to him for a while, found out he worked on a cruise ship in Asia as a card dealer, blackjack. When I was done eating he wanted to show me some card stuff in the kitchen, where we went and another woman followed....not sure how she was related. So he starts telling me on how we can form a team and scam the ship. I was obviously not interested but entertaining him and seeing his little tricks. Then he starts telling me about a guy from Brunei, can't remember his name but it was something like Mr. Mustafa. He told me how with his help Mr. Mustafa made $30kUS one night and was supposed to pay him 5%, $1500. Mr. Mustafa only paid him $400 and said that was good money. Then he said that Mr. Mustafa wants to take him out to dinner, but he would decline because Mr. Mustafa shorted him. Then it all happened so fast. The "dad" pulled out 2-$100 US bills and placed them in front of me, then said something like if someone came in to pretend the $$ is mine cuz he didn't want them to think they were his. All of a sudden the "dad's" wife came into the kitchen saying that his guest was here....all of a sudden a big dude wearing gold rings, chains, and watch came in. The dad said hello to Mr. Mustafa and Mr. Mustafa asked if he was ready to go for dinner. The dad declined as he'd previoulsy mentioned he would do in such a circumstance. Then somehow Mr. Mustafa sat down across from me to play cards and the dad was the dealer, I think the dad mentioned this briefly Right before Mr. M got there saying he wanted me help to scam Mr. M.

Everything inside of me knew I was in the middle of a rehearsed scam....how could I be so naive??? I instantly got up and said I needed to go and made me way to the door despite their avid protests. I came out of the kitchen and everyone knew I was not happy, they gave me a ride to a train station. I look back on it and see how the whole thing was set up from the beginning.....

I should have recognized my gut feeling from the getgo and not relied on previous experience and my rationalizing. I'm lucky the scam went only as far as this team trying to trick me out of my $$.....in reality I was alone in this team's home where the scam could've turned physical. I think this scam goes further as well, the "uncle", the guy from the beginning kept asking me to come out with him and experience KL nightlife, which I declined. I'm sure knockout pills are administered at this stage.

When I arrived back at my hostel I started telling the owner about my night, he said he should've warned me but forgot....that scam has been going on in this area for llloooonnngggg time, he thought they'd been shut down by now, and that they have been known to use knockout pills. Foolish, foolish, foolish. Ya live, ya learn.



I had an awesome time surfing in Cherating, such an amazing place. One morning the waves were so amazing it looked like a surf movie!! I'm sleeping in the airport on Christmas eve, catching a plane to Langkawi early Christmas morning.


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Back in Cherating

Went to the museum in Terengganu, took a free tour bus thing there. It claimed to be the largest museum in south Asia. I wasn't very impressed, it was actually pretty lame....AND they wouldn't let me bring my camera in....AND there was a different price for foreigners. Anyway, when leaving the museum I was informed there were no buses, so I walked for about 2km to the nearest bus stop and waited....and waited...and waited. Waited for about 1.5hrs when I asked a guy and all I could understand was "no bus", not sure the reason for it. SO, I remembered there was another tour bus that should arrive at the museum shortly, so I ran back the 2km....the tour bus refused to stop for me. I asked a guy at the museum to call me a cab, he said "no cab"...hahahaha, I asked him if had any suggestions on how to get home, he said "jelan-jelan"....walking. So, I started walking....and it started POURING rain! I decided to make the best of it and have fun. I got crazy blisters from my sandals so I just took em off and walked barefoot, people thought I was "gela", crazy :) The cool part about it was that I ended up in China town, an area I had given up on seeing because of the bus situation. I had an awesome meal of rice, chicken, apricots, green onions, cooked in a clay pot. I had a drink made out of dragon fruit and coconut, it was amazing! The crappy part was that my camera got destroyed cuz it got wet, I was a bit distraught. All this time I've been nickel and diming my way through these countries just to save a few ringgits here and there.....then I go and make a $400 mistake, brutal. So no pics for a while. I'm back in Cherating for about 6 nights, I worked out a good deal for a surf board rental and a cheap room. I like it here, the surfing is good and the town is super cool. After this I will make my way back to KL (where I'll probably buy another camera), then fly to Langkawi. Peace. Out. Word.

East coast Malaysia....closed!

Freddy and I left Cherating I think two days ago, he went south, I went north. My plan was to go to a town called Marang and take a boat to a nearby island called Kappus. My bus driver forgot to drop me off at Marang, so I went to Terengganu and took another bus back to Marang. As soon as I got off the bus a guy on a motorbike offered to give me a ride to a hostel, no charge. He also told me that Kappus island was closed due to monsoon season....and the Perhentian islands were closed as well!! My plan for Malaysia was destroyed instantly....I had no idea what to do. Got to the hostel and met an East Indian man named John who has been living in Surrey for 20yrs, him and his wife spend the winters in Malaysia. He's the first Canadian I've met in Asia, a retired engineer who has traveled the entire world! He was unbelievably helpful and super nice, his wife even made me noodles and eggs :) He told me about some options and things I could do, awesome....I needed that, I now have a new plan.

In the afternoon I took a bus to Terengganu (no easy task, it was Friday, the day when Muslims pray....and it's a very religious state...everything is closed!), then a bus to Kuala Berang. I really didn't know what I was doing but I heard that Pengkalan Gowi was cool, so I asked around on how to get there. No buses, in fact, the cabs even said the road was closed due to all the rain! So I took a cab to Sekayu as I didn't want to just turn around. Got to Sakayu, only one chalet place was open (again, Friday....) but it was stupid expensive (50 Ringgit/night, about $15...over budget...hahaha) and the guy said there was no water as the high water from the river damaged the line or something. Whatever, I stayed...didn't want to turn around. Also, there was no food there so the manager guy offered to drive me to a whole in the wall goreng place (kinda sketchy) but I had to wait in his car for a bit while he prayed in the mosque first. Arranged with the cab to pick me up in 24hrs. Checked out the waterfall, it was a pretty cool place, everyone left at night and I was the only one renting a unit....I was alone in the wilderness...no one for miles! Hung out on the porch with a crazy cool frog, he watched me read for hours, I watched him gulp down moths.

Next day (today) I swam in the river for a bit and read some more. Tried to hike a bit in the bush but didn't get to far....leeches started clinging to me, I thought leeches were only in water. During the rain season they're in the trees and bushes, the manager guy told me last month a guy from NZ got so many that the manager had to take them all off the guy when he was naked, the guy cried a bit. Caught the cab back to Kuala Berang, then a bus back to Terengganu. I'm staying in a dorm room (multiple people stay in one room) for the first time, 8 ringgit/night, the price is right. I'm going to check out the museum tomorrow, then probably head back to Cherating for a bit and surf again, the only good place to be during the monsoon season.


Cherating

Cherating

Marang

Sekayu

View from my porch

Frog who kept me company

Swimming in the river


Oh yeah, one more thing I forgot to write about from our time in Cherating: One morning we were eating breakfast when we saw gang of wild monkeys across the road checking out the garbage can. The garbage men came and started throwing sticks at the monkeys....the monkeys were pissed off! They were screaming and shaking the trees, it was awesome! Then the monkeys made there way to our side of the street, one even came up the restaurant all stealth like, jumped on a table and tried to steal a bunch of bananas! The owner yelled and chased the monkey, the monkey got scared and dropped the bananas. I wish I had it on video, it was priceless!

Bye Bye Freddy

The time has come for Freddy and I to part ways. Tomorrow morning we'll have a morning surf session, then walk along the long dirt road to the main road.....I'll wait on one side of the road and he'll wait on the other. He's heading back to KL and flying back to Vancouver, I'm heading North, not sure yet where I'm going.....crazy because I'm going to need to figure it out soon. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here in Cherating, such a cool place.....my body needs a rest from all the surfing (mainly crashing) though.

Cherating

On Friday morning we took a bus from KL(after an amazing buffet breakfast, everything from eggs to french toast to corn flakes to coconut rice with curry chicken....the man was amazed at how much food we could eat) to Kuantan on the east coast. Then took a public bus for a few hours to a little town called Cherating. We had no idea what to expect when we arrived, but we couldn't be more pleased!!

Surfing is not big in Malaysia, and there are only a few spots you can surf and for only a few months a year during the monsoon season which we are right in the middle of. We found a room with two beds for only 25 RM (Malaysian Ringgit) night, works out to be about $7.50.....for both of us!! Mind you it's pretty basic and kind of gross, but I've gotten used to it and it honestly doesn't seem that bad. Rented surf boards at the only surf shop in Malaysia and have had an awesome time. I think this place is a vacation area for Malay people, but it's pretty dead right now because of all the rain, I think it's perfect!

Malaysia

On Wednesday night Freddy and I took a bus from Ponianak to Kuching, Malaysia. We arrived at the Malaysian border at 5am and had to walk through the border. Indo departure said I stayed a day too long (31days), but I had a police report (long story, in Sintang the popo showed up at the house we were staying at and wanted to see our passports....Freddy didn't have his on him so they weren't going to let us leave on the bus in the morning, but luckily Freddy called a friend in Ponianak who took his passport to the cops there, then they called the Sintang police. Then we got in trouble for not registering with the police, apparently we were supposed to register with the police in every city we stayed in Indo....and to register costs a fee everytime...love that gov't) saying my departure date was Dec 6. Indo departure said it doesn't matter about that document, that it was wrong, and that I had to pay 200,000 Rp. I told them that even if that document was wrong that technically I had until 2pm that day to reach 30days....did no good. I told them that 200,000Rp was way too much for 1 day overdue, so they told me that if I wanted them to help me that was the price, otherwise I'd have to wait for who knows how long in a different room and might have the same result.....they knew my bus would leave me and I had no other choice. So, I tried to bargain! haha, offered 50,000Rp, they said no, 200,000Rp was the price. So I offered 100,000Rp and they could take it or leave it, they took it :) Crazy corrupt Indo gov't.

Crossed the border and immediately you could tell you were in a different country. The roads were better, buildings starting emerging, more jungle forest...just nicer. I'd compare it to crossing the border from San Diego to Tijuana, but maybe not quite as drastic. Malaysia is sweet, the food is amazing! We almost missed our plane to Kuala Lumpur as we didn't know the time went ahead an hour, even though we didn't travel east or west...just north, crazy.

KL is a cool city, feels like a combo of Singapore and Hong Kong. Today we just checked out a bit of the city, walked around, went to a movie (Golden Compass, actually really good), ate lots of food. Tomorrow we're off to Kuantan, then north about an hour looking for surf during the monsoon season here. It's rained most of the time here in KL, probably more rain to come.

two towers in KL

food in KL


Indo Pics:

best way to shower during the rain season in Indo

Soccer at the YWAM base in Pontianak

random pic taken from bus between Sintang and Pontianak

Family we stayed with in Sintang - the grandma makes these mats out of drinking straws!! Amazing.

Restaurant on a boat in Sintang

Sintang

Freddy and I took a night bus on Thursday to Sintang, about 10hrs. Freddy knows a family out there and has stayed with them before, super nice people. The dad is a general in the army, mom is a teacher, daughter goes to high school. The parents didn't speak a word of English, so I communicated the best I could...Freddy speaks pretty good Indonesian.

First day we went to the house of the dad's extended family where they were preparing for a wedding in a few days. We went on an expedition to cut down some bamboo trees (for cooking vegetables or something?) and to see Mt. Klum (not sure on the spelling). 5 of us sat in the back of the truck, but the road got so bumpy it was easier on the body just to stand and hold on to a railing. Mt. Klum looks exactly like the Chief in Squamish, kind of cool. On the way back it started POURING rain (rain season here)....we couldn't have been any wetter in the back of the truck. We had a blast though! Stood up holding and screaming from time to time....the rain actually hurt. People would see us from the side of the road and as usual would yell "hey mister!!" and wave frantically. As usual we'd wave back...and I'd yell "hey mister, kodak, kodak!!" hahaha, love it. Man, that was fun. When we got back to the house we were sopping wet.



Now, from what I've seen in Indonesia the women are very reserved, dress very moderately etc. At this house there seemed to be more women than men, and they were all in the back cooking, telling jokes, being loud, Grandmas, Aunties, Moms, etc. When we got back to the house we didn't have our shirts on (keep them dry) and the ladies starting hooting and hollaring, it was hilarious! The family gave us dry clothes, coffee, and hot food. I've noticed Indonesian people to be very inviting and welcoming, very generous. I gashed my finger (surprise surprise) pretty good on some bamboo and it wouldn't stop bleeding. I've never seen this before but they covered it in coffee grounds and wrapped it up. It actually worked, hasn't got infected and is starting to heal up.



Next day Ungoon (the daughter) wanted Freddy and I to see her school, I had no idea what I was in for. We got there and the whole class was waiting for us, they started cheering and wanted us to sit in two desks at the front facing the class. We introduced ourselves (most of them understood a bit of English) and told them where we were from and what we were doing in Indonesia. They had a ton of energy and asked a bunch of questions, we asked questions too. The whole thing took about an hour, actually was a lot of fun.



After that Ungoon's aunt and uncle took us out (by Indo standards I think they were rich) for lunch to a boat that was a restaurant - awesome food. Then we went swimming in a pool for a few hours, then off to a bakery for some goodies! They pretty much spoiled us. The family we stayed with was unbelievably nice, only one thing I found weird: I would graciously say thank you in Indonesian language, and the mom would correct me - "terimah kasih MAMA" (thank you mama)...kind of weird.

We took a day bus back to Pontianak so we could see the country side of Borneo Indo, really beautiful. We couldn't get a big bus so we settled for a little bus. Everyone smokes on the bus, including the driver who holds the wheel with his knee while lighting his cigarette. The worst part about it was there was no bathroom on the bus....and I have a bladder the size of a little girl....AND I drank hot chocolate, coffee, and water before getting on the bus. I had to ask the driver to stop, had to pee right beside the bus. 45 minutes later I had to ask him to stop again, ahahaha, everyone on the bus was laughing at me :)

Freddy and I bought a bus ticket to Kuching Malaysia (11hrs), then we're flying to Kuala Lumpur. To fly right from Pontianak is expensive, especially because on top of the airport departure tax there is a special astronomical tax specifically for foreigners.

I've had an awesome time in Indonesia. I'm glad I got to experience such genuine culture in Borneo Indo, experiences most tourists don't get. I've found Indonesian people to be unbelievably hospitable and welcoming.