At the time of this writing, I have only recently returned to my neat little airport hotel near Suvarnabhumi International from a short trip into central Bangkok. I am sitting at the minimalist desk of my surprisingly comfortable budget room, having just opened a can of Leo from the minibar (which by the way is vastly superior to both Singha and Chang, the other two thirds of the holy trinity of Thai beers). My objective is to attempt to capture the essence of the last month in writing, and I am having a hard time figuring out where to begin and what to include.
I posted my last update roughly 35 days ago upon leaving Japan, and I absolutely cannot comprehend that I am already at day 100 of this legitimately epic journey. The last update marked the end of any kind of preplanned itinerary, and I have been navigating Asia day by day ever since - a strategy that, for better or worse, seems destined to be employed for the next part of my travels as well.
So what have I been up to? Well, I left Kansai International Airport in Japan on November 4th headed via Malaysia for Bangkok and my flight to Australia. But I decided at the last minute that I wasn't quite done with Asia yet, and proceeded to grab my luggage at the layover in Malaysia, ditch my flight to Thailand and postpone my trip to Oz.
So there I was in Kuala Lumpur! I decided to quickly get to know the city by exploring train and monorail routes and walking down every backalley I could find. This approach provided me with a plethora of impressions and a fairly good understanding of how to navigate the Malaysian capital - but it also gave me a glimpse of the huge inequality that will always characterize the city in my mind after this visit; from little girls sifting through trash in the street in the reeking alleyways of Bukit Bintang to massive upscale malls and white collar businessmen paying Danish-level prices for Carlsberg pints at comfortable bars overlooking dancing fountains at KLCC. (Not to mention the episode where a woman who approached me in Bukit Bintang to offer a massage was brutally beat down, handcuffed and violently dragged off by civillian police right in front of me within minutes of arriving in Malaysia).
The makeup of the Malaysian population is quite unique and definitely worthy of mention, as the combination of native Malay, Indian and Chinese ethnic groups as well as the predominantly Muslim religious community creates a distinct culture, cuisine and athmosphere that is very unique. An interesting contrast that made Malaysia feel noticeably different.
After several days of exploration, pubcrawling, visiting old friends now based in KL and seeing the sights (Petronas Towers, the malls, the Batu caves, thieving monkeys etc.) the lure of trying my luck at surfing and simply being near water (KL is HOT) pursuaded me to move on and meet up with some awesome Americans I had met in Chaing Mai in Thailand about a month earlier.
So I booked a 50 dollar AirAsia flight to Denpasar, Indonesia and found myself in a (hilariously terrible) guesthouse in Kuta on Bali the next day!
Now, as anyone who's been to Bali will undoubtedly know, Kuta is the Australian spring breakers binge drinking paradise, and between the incredibly narrow, crowded, noisy streets (even by Asian standards) and the drunken, drug-infused nonstop madness of Legian Road, there's only so much time one can spend in the area before needing to leg it out of there. So after a couple of days of adjusting to Balinese culture (and climate!), taking surfing lessons and somewhat unsuccessfully attempting to keep up with magic mushroom consuming Aussie nightclubbers, the tranquility of charming Ubud north of Kuta was a welcome change of pace. I took some boxing lessons (at Indonesian pro Chris John's old gym, for the aficionados), rented a motorbike and drove through the rice fields, visited coffee plantations for a taste of the local nectar, bathed with local Hindus in cleansing waterfalls, saw the spectacular views of mount Batur and the lake and stubbornly defied torrential rainfalls on the back of my little scooter.
I then joined forces with Bostonians Sarah and Hillary for some surfing, drinks, a perilous journey through the monkey forest and eventually relocation to the island of Lombok. After a tremendously enjoyable full day of exploring small villages and massive waterfalls along the northern coast by motorbike, Sarah and I took on the challenge of scaling the crater rim of Mount Rinjani, the second tallest active vulcano in Indonesia, while Hillary had to settle for a healthy dose of island paradise as treatment for her injured ankle.
The massive trek up the imposing vulcano easily proved to be one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences of my trip thus far - in spite of me being wholly unprepared for an impressively taxing descent and for the frigid temperatures during the night at the top that neither our pitiful tent nor any amount of Johnnie Walker could do anything to stave off. Absolutely spectacular views, great campfire food and awesome trekking buddies made our ascent unforgettable!
As we returned to Senggigi on the west coast, exhausted but in good spirits, we were prepared for some days of relaxation. And oohh how the Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok (where no motorized vehicles exist and the view in every direction resembles a scene from a hybrid between Lost and The Lord of the Rings) delivered. A couple of days of partying, gorging on amazing food, snorkeling, diving, bicycling, sleeeping, lounging at amazing Le Petit Guesthouse and just enjoying the sun, the spectacular views and the silence later we were rejuvenated enough to move on.
A short sojourn to Seminyak, a visit to Potato Head infinity pool, some spectacular gluten free cuisine (traveling with a wheat-intolerant companion makes ordering non-lethal food in Asia a challenge!) and a full night's sleep under a mosquito net on the floor of the outdoor Denpasar Airport prepared us for our early morning flight back into Kuala Lumpur. Checked in at the Reggae Guesthouse, walks through Bukit Bintang, Little India, Chinatown and KLCC, shopping malls, the cinema, the Pacquiao fight at Phillippino dominated Havana bar as well as - a recurring theme - great food were highlights of the first couple of days back in the Malaysian capital. After a visit to the impressive National Mosque (combined with an hourlong Islamic recruitment speach from the resident preacher, complete with handout brochures on Holy Jihad and monogamy), we met up with Huu, Roe, Steph and Julie for another pubcrawl before leaving by bus to Malacca the next day.
After biking around the city, 'enjoying' the sobering smell of the myriad durian bakeries and exploring the rich history of this trade port and its Portuguese, Dutch, British, Arab, Chinese and Indian influences, uncle Steve hooked us up with local acquaintance Tan. Tan generously showed us around and invited us to join him for a Japanese feast of epic proportions with his friends to complete our visit.
Next up was Singapore, by way of the most luxurious busride I have ever experienced - undoubtedly the most expensive as well, considering the fact that the busdriver took the liberty of robbing 100$ from my backpack while we went through immigration.
I have been to a lot of cities with impressive skylines, from New York to Dubai, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur to name a few, but Singaporean architecture still absolutely blew me away. Between the science fiction-like Marina Bay Sands, the futuristic Helix bridge, the elevated gardens and the countless luxury hotels, arenas and office skyscrapers, the city truly is something to behold - especially so at night. And not surprisingly, it is particularly impressive from the top of the unreal Skypark hovering above the marina.
Having explored the city by foot and metro, splurged on a day in Universal Studios and stretched our backpacker budgets to their limits spending Singapore dollars for a couple of days, we took a turbulent flight into Krabi. A couple of days in sleepy resort town Ao Nang, a (negative!) malaria checkup and some days of being sick, sea kayaking along impressive coastal cliffs and caves to Railay beach, massages, chilling out and, naturally, awesome food characterized the first days of our return to Thailand.
From Krabi Town we took the ferry to infamous Koh Phi Phi, which, admittedly, is undeniably breathtaking regardless of all the hype. Homemade Sangsom buckets, beer pong, a free for all boxing ring where drunk people can volunteer (or be peer pressured) to beat each other up for 3 rounds without mouthguards made the first day on Phi Phi Don a very memorable experience (a both fascinatingly brilliant and outragously stupid concept by the way). Fantastic scenery, massages on the beach, hookahs, fire shows, a longtail boat to Phi Phi Leh, the famous Maya ('Dicaprio') Beach and snorkeling with a billion frenzied fish highlighted the remainder of our time on the island.
Our onward flight dates rapidly approaching, we made our way to Patong in Phuket where we took a short Muay Thai boxing lesson and attempted to get as much of an impression of what Phuket has to offer as our very limited time there would allow. On December 6th, an overnight VIP bus took us the 12 hours back up to Bangkok, where we managed to start the day with a couple of hours at massive Chatuchak market. Still much deprived of sleep following the arduous journey from the south, I saw Sarah off to the airport for her flight back to Boston in the evening, marking the end of an extraordinary couple of weeks taking on Asia as a team. This was yesterday, and I am still adjusting to the thought of being back to backpacking on my own (having been able to tag team the decision making and planning process for a while has been a pleasant change - and arriving in Sydney with no game plan is likely to require a lot of quick decisions!).
I have done a poor job of keeping everyone in the loop for the last couple of weeks (to be fair, Asian internet connections make this somewhat of an ordeal), and to compensate I have attempted to be as thorough as possible in recounting my exploits this time around. However, reading through the above I quickly realize that I will never come close to capturing even a fraction of the events, experiences and impressions that travelling in this way has to offer - but it's a start!
(Before uploading this, my curiosity managed to get me caught up in the Bangkok Protests that ultimately led the current prime minister of Thailand to call for an election following accusations of corruption - a very interesting experience for my last day in the country!)
Next on my agenda is Sydney - I arrive on December 10 without accommodation or an immediate itinerary other than the intention to move on to Melbourne before Christmas. The next couple of weeks will be intriguing indeed - wish me luck! :D
Pictures, Malaysia: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152311657767262.1073741847.649632261&type=1&l=68315e88c3
Pictures, Indonesia: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152311666917262.1073741848.649632261&type=1&l=0f53da4c3f
Pictures, Gili Islands: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152311689857262.1073741849.649632261&type=1&l=79869ef9e3
Pictures, Malaysia revisited: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152311693722262.1073741850.649632261&type=1&l=397d636f5d
Pictures, Singapore: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152311701622262.1073741851.649632261&type=1&l=46efb48729
Pictures, Southern Thailand: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152311706827262.1073741852.649632261&type=1&l=84b6f089bc
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