Fun Fact #3: AVOIDING THE SUN AT ALL COSTS & WHITENING PRODCUTS

Stripping my tan away? No way… that’s crazy talk!!!

Women in Asia go to great lengths to keep their skin fair and to avoid the sun. Women walk down the smoking hot streets with face visors, umbrellas, oversized hats, long sleeves, long pants and even wearing socks under their flip flops… basically doing everything in their power to avoid the sun’s rays. In Asia it is the exact opposite to the West… tanned skin is considered ugly and white skin is considered beautiful. In no way am I advocating gratuitous sunbathing, obviously I am aware of the medical reproductions of such practices.

Most of the skin products in South East Asia are geared towards whitening the skin. Something in the Western countries that just would not sell well. It is almost impossible to find a facial product that don’t contain a whitening formula. Whether it be facial cleansers or moisturizers or body lotions or underarm deodorant… almost everything is whitening. Even the big names like Loreal, Estee Laudier, Lancome etc have a line of whitening products. When Andrew and I go to the store to buy products we literally have to scourer the shelves to find something that won’t strip away our hard earned tans!

In contrast to Asia we in the West try our hardest to look like we have been on vacation by tanning, using bronzing makeup, spray tan, self tanners or tanning beds. I have spoken to a few locals about this topic and they can’t understand why would want to have dark skin…something that comes so easily for them in their tropical climate. They find white skin to be exotic in contrast to us finding dark skin exotic. I think that saying “The grass is always greener on the other side” applies perfectly to this!

It's Kuta, Baby!!!

It has always been a dream of ours to vacation in Bali. Even the mention of Bali brings up images of beautiful beaches, tropical paradises and lush green vegetation. Since my stomach was feeling good, the antibiotics had done its job, instead of spending an extra day in Yogya we decided to make our way to Bali a little earlier. After a LONG 18 hr bus ride from Yogyakarta we finally arrived into the main city of Denpasar.

Upon arriving at the bus terminal we got into a taxi to take us right into the famous surf area "Kuta Beach" We were surprised to find a vibrant, hectic and bustling town filled with young surfers (mostly Aussie's) and many, many shops lining the streets. The streets were very narrow and congested with motorbikes with surfboards attached to the sides. Walking was always a challenge and you had to be very careful about not getting swiped by a motorbike. Kuta beach is not the sort of place that you go for tranquility, it is a place where you can party hard all night and surf all day... if you want to (quite the opposite of what we had imagined Bali to be like). The budget accommodations are located a few minutes walk or motorbike from the beach. Our place had a pool and included a nice breakfast... our room was a joke, it was covered in graffiti done by drunken patrons and we had many laughs reading it.

It takes time... but Kuta really grows on you!
Our initial plan of staying in Kuta for three days, turned into a one week stay. The beach was huge and the surf was great for novice surfers like Andrew. Our days were spent on the beach... Andrew surfing and I under a rented umbrella and chair. Our nights were spent exploring the energetic town, eating great food and shopping.

Not only does Kuta have many street vendors selling crafts, clothes, jewelry and burned DVD's but they also have stores selling surf wear like Billabong, Quicksilver and Rip Curl etc. The beach sellers were relentless in their sales tactics. I have never been on a beach where they were so ruthless in the way they would "swarm" you in groups, sometimes up to five people all at once. They would keep persisting you buy their goods, but after a firm "no" they would take the hint and leave for the time being. They literally would beg and plead you to purchase, I was even asked blatantly if I would give one lady my hat, towel or sarong.

After a week of full time surfing, Andrew achieved his goal of mastering the art of "catching" waves. (I think he is a natural!) Now he wants to master the art of "carving" on the waves, he was very pleased with his improvements and techniques and felt ready to move on to another town for some bigger and more challenging surf.

At first we really weren't really diggin' Kuta because of it's resemblance to an Aussie College Frat Party, but Kuta is one of those places that really grows on you. We really felt like it was a cool place to be, although it could get wild in some spots with partying etc. It still had a good vibe to it and people were pretty friendly. The "Beach Snobs" (that's us) definitely wouldn't give the beach a high rating because it's not the picturesque post card type beach but for the over all atmosphere... pretty good.

~Nicola

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Kuta Beach, Bali

Fun Fact #2: THE CROUCH

Explanation: It is when you crouch down low to the ground but without your butt touching the floor.


This position is the position of choice for most of the people of South East Asia. It is how you will find people of all ages perching on the side of the road, waiting for a bus, eating a bowl of rice, chatting with friends, selling goods in the market, using the skwatter toilets or any other place you or I would need a chair.

This position is extremely difficult for our Western bodies to adjust to, I personally have tried to use this position but without success. After years of sitting on chairs our bodies just lack the flexibility that they have. It is like their legs and hip joints are made like Gumby’s… out of rubber! I know many elderly people who can barely sit cross legged on the floor, far less do the crouch.



Try it for yourself and hold the position, I kid you not… it’s difficult!

Fun Fact #1: NAILS

Throughout our trip to South America and South East Asia I have been compiling a list of random things that I call “fun facts” they are things that I find interesting or different. Due to procrastination my list has been growing longer without any of them being posted in the blog. I’m going to start posting them periodically from now on.

What is the deal with the nails???? Why do men in South East Asia have an obsession with growing their nails long? If all their nails aren’t long, why only grow the pinky nail?

No matter what country we have been to in this sub-continent it is oh so common to see men with long nails. I wondered, Is it because men here are notorious “pickers?” You can’t go a day without seeing someone use that long nail to probe into the depths of their nostril or deep into their ear canal. Or is it just plain fashion? Or is it cultural?

I recently asked a local Vietnamese guy, and the answer is confirmed and simple, it is to do what we all naturally wish we could do in public but due to social boundaries we do not…. It’s for PICKING!

Visiting some ruins and watching a little ballet in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

We took an eight hour train ride to Yogyakarta (pronounced "Jojakarta"). We booked a ticket in "Eksekutif" class and it was our best train experience to date. Although the train was old, it was very comfortable and the service was great.... it made our ride go quickly and before we knew it we had arrived in "Yogya"

Getting off the train in Yogya felt like entering back into a familiar world. Gone was the glitz and glam of Jakarta and Singapore, and back was the South East Asia we know and love. We checked into a cute guest house that had a swimming pool, it was an unexpected treat and we took full advantage of it for the four days we spent there (Andrew performed water running in the 5" deep pool).

Borobudur
On our second day in the city we had an early start to the day. We were picked up at 4:45am to drive to Borobudur for a sunrise tour of the temple. It is located outside Yogya and is a Mahayana Buddhist temple that was built around 800 AD, (even before the famous Ankor Wat in Cambodia.) Unlike other temples, there is no place to enter inside to worship so it is debated if it is a temple or a monument.

Currently only a very small percentage of Indonesia's population is Buddhist, but this monument was built in a time before Islam swept across Indonesia when Buddhism and Hinduism were the main religions of the country/ region. Presently at certain times of the year, many Buddhists make a pilgrimage to the sight to meditate and worship.

In the last few months we have been to a variety of different temples and ruins in both South America and South East Asia. Obviously some are more memorable and impressive than others, but we love visiting them all. Something that we have noticed during our visits is the quality of the restorations. Before coming on this trip, both Andrew and I were a little too optimistic in our thinking that the temples would be close to there original states. We were sadly wrong, of course to keep them from falling apart repairs must be made to preserve them. For example if a structure was made without mortar originally, the restorations always put the stones or bricks back with mortar... sometimes neatly or other times quite messy. Sometimes the carvings need to be restored so that the scenes can be clearly seen. Unfortunately we have seen some restorations that have been done so poorly and carelessly that it stands out from the original structure like a sore thumb. On one of the most extreme cases in South America, we were shocked to see that the walls were stabilized by pouring some mixture of ugly cement right on top of it. But in the case of Borobudur we thought it was preserved very well especially since it has been a target to bombings and earthquakes. When we visit temples or other ancient structures we have come to realize not to feel disappointed by renovations, but to feel happy that they have been preserved for us to safely experience them.

A night out at the... Ballet?

We went to a temple called Prambanan, which is a Hindu temple outside Yogyakarta to watch a performance of a famous Hindu epic called the "Ramayana". The stage and seating was outside and in the background was a huge Hindu temple. Since it was night time, the temple in the background was illuminated by bright lights. The dancing was done in traditional Javanese style ballet, which is not your typical "ballet". The cast consisted of close to 100 dancers and was primarily men. Even though we weren't familiar with the story, the costumes were amazing and colourful and combined with the beautiful background it made for a memorable evening.

Oh oh... the South American curse part II:

Oh how soon I forgot the feeling of the "South-American belly sickness". It had been a glorious three months without a hint of problems. I was starting to feel "invincible", like it was light years away from the hospital visit back in Bogota. Unfortunately for me... a trip away wouldn't be complete without a healthy dose of antibiotics. Being such a pro in that matter... I wasted no time in diagnosing myself and started medicine immediately. No doctor needed.... in a day I was healthy again!

~Nicola

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Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Spending a few days in another modern city: Jakarta, Indonesia

What I thought I knew about Jakarta was immediately proven wrong the instant we arrived in the downtown core.

Out of everywhere we have been in the last few months, Jakarta was the biggest surprise to me. I expected the city would be massive and populated because of the 8.9 million people residing in the city. Over half of the country’s population of 255 million live on Java the island that Jakarta is located on. What I wasn’t expecting was an ultra modern city with huge buildings, even more expensive malls catering to the elite than Singapore and many high end chain hotels. With so many massive SUV’s and expensive cars and huge mansions it seemed like we were somewhere other than a city in South East Asia. What brought us back to reality was the mandatory security checks when entering any public building in the downtown core. Everyone had to walk through a metal detector and have their bags searched. Cars were also checked by metal detector, trunks inspected and the guards used mirrors to check under the body of the car. It was crystal clear that this was a city that has experienced danger and was protecting the areas most frequented by foreigners or people with money from things like bombings, terrorist attacks and other security issues. Only a few months ago in July 2009, there was a bombing in the city at two high end hotels. The threat is very real in Jakarta, and the only place that we felt like this was in Bogota where the security was also on high.

In Jakarta (I’m embarrassed to say) we didn’t try any of the local cuisine. The city is littered with big Western chain restaurants like Mc Donald’s, Burger King, Chilli’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, Tony Roma’s to name a few. In the downtown core you don’t have to walk far until you come across one of these chains. We did have a great sushi lunch one day, which was a fraction of the price of our Sushi dinner in Singapore.

Gambling and pornography is illegal in Indonesia and drugs are punishable by death. Signs are posted through out the airport so there can be no confusion about drugs in the country. On the entry card, having pornography has to be declared upon entry. Although most of the 255 million populations is Muslim most of the country seems to practice a more laid back version of Islam. We were surprised to find not all women wearing head scarves like in Malaysia. The mosques have loud speakers outside to broadcast the Call To Prayer LOUDLY. The first call is around 5:00am in the morning. Luckily for Andrew he is a sound sleeper and to-date has not heard it at 5:00am. For everyone who isn’t as sound of a sleeper as Andrew, it is loud, sounds a little haunting and beautiful all at the same time.

A night out in Jakarta
We read in our guidebook that Jakarta has a pretty wild night life. On our first night there we decided to take a trip to the entertainment strip and go to a bar. To our surprise the street that was listed in our guide book was practically deserted. As it was a Sunday night there were only a few bars open, and a few people on the street. We went into a British Pub and ate a great dinner. We chatted with the bartender named Vivi, who was a very friendly young girl who recommended a few places for us to go. She told us that on weekends the street is literally spilling over with people, food vendors and the bars are full with people.

Vivi suggested we go to a bar called “Top Gun” which was located on the same street as the pub. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the band was pretty good and they sang all kinds of classic cheesy pop songs. Of course like most places in South East Asia… the bar had an underlying sense of seediness to it. Scattered through the bar were Dirty old Men (D.O.M’s) everywhere and double the amount of Asian women dancing or standing around or chatting. Just like Thailand and the Philippines, Indonesia has a problem with prostitution and unfortunately it is common to find many girlie bars (bar where female escorts wait for male patron’s business). That night we did a lot of people watching and laughing.

The unspeakable… Bedbugs!
Honestly, I can barely say the word before I shudder in disgust. It is a backpackers worst nightmare, and any mention of having bedbugs or being in a hostel with bedbugs can get you turned away from a place in an instant. We have been travelling for over six months now and we have been lucky enough to not cross paths with any hostel or guest houses with bedbug outbreaks. In the hot weather and questionable sanitation bedbugs can spread in a city with reasonable speed. Last year in Thailand we have the unpleasant experience of seeing bedbugs in a long haul bus ride for the first time. At that moment we realized that they look much different than what we had thought and the image of them crawling on the buses carpeted walls will never be forgotten. Recently, on our 2nd day in a guest house in Jakarta we had our first encounter with bedbugs. Andrew and I saw one sitting on top of our bed sheet, we of course freaked out!

Just like cockroaches… where there is one there are many.

Did we bring it in our bags from our last gross hostel in Singapore?
Was this guest house in Jakarta infested?

We examined our bodies for the tell tale signs of bites, but we found none. We made the decision to back up our things and find other accommodation. As mentioned before, Jakarta has many choices of high end hotels and boutique style hotels, but “economical” accommodation is limited. There is a small area which is nothing like Khao San Rd, Bangkok and that was where we were staying. We ended up finding a nice hotel, cheap by Western pricing but our most expensive hotel to-date. We enjoyed the having a few comforts like satellite t.v, hot water and a coffee maker in our room.

We enjoyed being in Jakarta, but just like I said when leaving Singapore… We look forward to getting back to the real South East Asia- sometimes dirty, cheap and full of culture... the way we love it!

~Nicola

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Jakarta, Indonesia

Exploring Singapore

We will definitely return to Singapore in the future, only not on a backpackers budget!

Oh Singapore! What a magnificent little city with so much to offer. There are a lot of things for tourists to do and a lot of ways to spent some hard earned cash. The rumors of a clean city are true, the streets are clean and people are very careful where they put their litter. In fact, there were barely any cigarette butts on the streets and no gum imprints on the floor. It was refreshing to see this kind of cleanliness after spending so much time in South East Asia. The modern sky scrapers loom over the city, and there are no shortage of shopping centres that cater to the elite. The food was a wide range of local to western restaurants. For us we filled our days doing window shopping, visiting an Asian Civilization museum and a lot of walking around the city.

• No eating or drinking on the subway! As we purchased our ticket for the super modern subway system we were surprised to learn that there is absolutely no food or drink allowed on the subway. The ticket agent pointed to the bottle of water in my hand and then to the diagram showing a fine for breaking the rule. In our observation the subway was spotless, and people followed the rules.


• Prices for goods and services were almost at-home pricing. One evening we decided to take the subway to an area called Clarke Quay where there are tons of restaurants, bars and clubs that line the canal. It was quite a trendy area, and it was packed with people. We decided to treat ourselves for a nice dinner of sushi and then for a drink at a beer bistro… it was great food, but unfortunately it cost almost the amount of one days budget. Oh well, we enjoyed ourselves and it was nice to dress up and do something that we haven’t done in a while.


• Everything was very orderly in Singapore. Even the taxi automatically dictated that amount owing.


• The main “shopping street” that we were recommended to go to was amazing/crazy. There were literally over ten huge shopping malls on one street. Most places were filled with designer labels and I wondered how there could be so many Luis Vutton stores on one street. Are there that many people who shop there???

One day for dinner we decided to stroll around Little India (where we were staying) and find something good to eat. We stumbled across this little Indian restaurant which was full of men eating inside. We decided since it was so busy we would give it a try. We find we usually have the best luck with food at those places that look a little dodgy, but are filled with locals. The waiter suggested some food for us and we were delighted that it turned out amazing. Andrew was in his “element” shoveling goopy rice with all kinds of sauces into his mouth with his bare hands. (Indian eating style) We tried mutton, liver and chicken and all kinds of toppings to go with it, all served on a big palm leaf. Andrew says it was his best Indian meal yet on the trip. Best thing was, it was cheap!

Our Hostel: “The best movie hostel” (that was the name of it)
YUCK! GROSS! This was nasty! After arriving at our originally planned hostel, only to catch the vibe of “seediness” we decided to scope out another place to stay. We wandered down the street and found a hostel with really nice staff working there. We hesitantly booked into a 12 person dorm, but were reassured that it was not full and there would only be 2 other people in it that night. We decided to take it as it was getting dark and the only private room in the hostel was well over $50 CAD. Andrew and I have only stayed in one other dorm room and it was in Lima, Peru. I’m not keen on the idea of sleeping in a room with other people, and if it can be avoided… we do. Our 12 person dorm was small and claustrophobic like what I imagine a room on a submarine would feel like. The dorm consisted of 4 bunk beds that were 3 beds high and occasionally we did see some creepy crawly cockroaches run across the floor. The shared bathrooms were among the worst I’ve seen and let’s just say… shoes stayed on at all times! Anyways, we did manage to keep our accommodation costs low, so in that respect we were happy.

We stayed in Singapore for four days, what we saw we really liked. We hope to return in the future to visit it again.

Java? Bali?
We weren’t sure whether to leave Singapore and fly straight to Bali or to fly to Jakarta which is on the island of Java. In the end we decided to spend a few days on Java and visit Jakarta and a few other cities on the way to Bali. We were conflicted because recently there had been some “unrest” in Jakarta and there had been an earthquake not too long ago. In the end we figured that we would take the opportunity to visit some more temples, ruins and see some more sights before relaxing on the sunny beaches of Bali. We are looking forward to heading back to a less modern city and back to the real South East Asia- sometimes dirty, cheap and full of culture... the way welove it!

~Nicola

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Singapore, Singapore

Taking in the sights and hanging out with friends in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is one of those cities that we would consider “livable” and was not intimidating to navigate around. The downtown core is modern and has a considerable amount of tall new buildings. We didn’t stay long in Kuala Lumpur, but from what we saw, we found it to be a place that is easy to travel and the locals were very friendly and helpful. Just like Penang we enjoyed the mix of different cuisines like Chinese, Malay and Indian. The thing that we found really refreshing was the lack of pushy vendors, sellers or touts. There weren’t people on the street asking if you needed a motor taxi, or drivers yelling if you need a taxi or a tour guide. In that way Kuala Lumpur seemed like a city outside South East Asia.

We arrived in the city not sure if we would enjoy being there because we heard a mix of reviews from other travelers, but we have learned throughout our time away that advice from others should be taken with a grain of salt.

Did we enjoy Kuala Lumpur? Absolutely!

We are the type of rare travelers that actually enjoying being in cities. Kuala Lumpur isn’t a city with a ton of excitement like Bangkok, or it didn’t have glitz like Singapore, but we spent our time sightseeing, eating and hanging out.

Meeting up with “The Brits”
On our second night in the city, we met up with our British friends Phil and Danielle (whom we had met before the Perhentian islands). We had a good night out in the city eating from street stalls and enjoying a few drinks together and some great conversation.

The Petronas Towers
A visit to Kuala Lumpur wouldn't be complete without going up and walking across the skybridge of the formerly tallest buildings in the world. We were waiting in line for our tickets at about 7:00am and were one of the first to go up the tower for the day. It offered some great views of the city.

Visiting a couple Mosques and a Hindu cave temple
Neither I nor Andrew has ever been to a Mosque before so we were looking forward to seeing one for the first time. The first of two we visited was the oldest Mosque in Kuala Lumpur. Non-Muslims are allowed to come into the premises, but are unable to enter any of the prayer halls. It is mandatory that every part of your body be covered except face, hands and feet. Therefore we were both given robes (they resembled the robes you wear on graduation day) and I got to choose a colourful scarf to wrap over my head. A volunteer of the mosque kindly wrapped it around me and when I looked into the mirror it felt quite strange. With the scarf covering everything except my face, I felt very…. Anonymous. Malaysia is officially an Islamic nation and most women, of any age, wear a head scarf and clothing that covers most of their extremities although it is rare for the women of Malaysia to cover their face.

Mosques are decorated simply and modestly. This particular one was all white marble that created a calm feeling. Since we come from “The West” Andrew and I know very little about Islam and we have never met anyone who could tell us about the religion. Presently a lot of Muslims are misunderstood and treated unfairly and maybe it’s because we know very little about their culture other then what we see in the media. We had the pleasure of chatting with a volunteer at the Mosque about some of their traditions and their basic practice and beliefs. We picked up some brochures about Islam and have since read them. I am glad we did because it answered some things that we didn’t know about their religion and way of life.

The second Mosque we visited was the largest in the country. Again, we were permitted to enter into the premises (unless a prayer was going on), but now allowed to go into the prayer hall. Andrew and I both were given robes to wear, and the females put on the hood to cover their hair. This mosque had its prayer hall roped off and we were still able to see inside. It was also very modest and plain, with some Arabic inscriptions on the walls. I must’ve look like a really “curious/inquisitive” person because a very lovely volunteer scoped me out through the crowd and approached and asked if I had any questions about Islam. We chatted for a while, and again we picked up some more pamphlets that explain Islam to the laymen.

On our last day in Kuala Lumpur we took the public bus to see the Batu Caves, which is a large Hindu temple located in a cave with a massive golden statue in front. To enter the cave we climbed 272 stairs to the top with monkeys all along the sides. They all sat there and stared at us, waiting for the perfect opportunity to run up and grab anything discarded or in our hands. They were cute, but very mischievous and quick. On our way down from the temple, I carried a tissue in my hand, and in an instant a monkey snuck up from behind me and grabbed it out of my hand. Of course I screamed aloud, and when I looked back the sneaky little bugger was trying to eat my tissue.

After this we wished our wild British friends bon voyage and they were off to the exclusive country of Brunei (which they told us later is an alcohol free country). We spent the rest of our last day in KL relaxing and awaiting our bus to Singapore in the morning.

~Nicola

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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The Perhentian Islands

A beautiful beach, an island spilling with wildlife, sharks, sea turtles, sun and sand just to name a few highlights of our time on the islands.

At the early departure of 5:00 am we set off by mini bus to The Perhentian Islands. Even though it was really early, Andrew and I were super psyched to be going there. We had heard a lot of really great things about the islands, and because of that we had it pegged for another great tropical paradise!

The Perhentian Islands are a group of islands off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The two main places where people stay are "Kecil" which is the small island and "Besar" which is the big island. We decided to start off on Kecil which is known for it's backpacker vibe rather than expensive resort-like hotels. Also our guide book said that the night life was better on Kecil, and recommending staying on Long Beach. This is an Islamic country so just like the mainland, there aren't a lot of places that sell alcohol. Andrew was prepared and bought some booze in advance.

We took a 1/2 boat ride to the island, it was on a fast speed boat. We sped through the water at terrifying speed, it was as if we were riding a rocket. A couple times I was close to flying over the edge as we crashed over a big wave.

Finally we arrived on Kecil, Long Beach... First Impression?!?!? Not good!

We found the beach to be dirty and ravaged. In the blazing hot sun, we ran around the beach checking out all the accommodations. After looking at most places we were still not impressed. The huts were old, and were among the worst that I have seen during our entire trip. We were tired, sweaty and were functioning on a bag of chips which was our only meal of the day. I have to say our mood was pretty "grim" and we felt quite let down.

Where was the paradise that we had heard so much of???

After careful discussion we decided to take a gamble and decided to cross the island by foot to check out lodging on the other side. We didn't know if it would be better, but we didn't want to settle until we found something we were happy with. In our exhaustion we threw on our heavy packs, got our things and began to slowly trek through the jungle on a tiny winding dirt path. We heard that it was a 10 min trek we had also heard that it was a 30min trek. It was midday, and hot hot hot! Finally after about 15 mins we made it threw the jungle and arrived at Coral Bay. Our first impression were great... the bay was small and quaint and had only a few places for accommodations but all were on the beach. So the jungle trek... well worth it!

Shari-La & Coral Bay
We met a British couple (Hi Danielle and Phil) on the mini bus and took the boat with them. It was myself and Phil who checked out the sub-par accommodations on Long Beach. About 15mins after arriving on Coral Bay, they showed up too. So we all joined forces... and started our search for our usual criteria of cheap, good, clean accommodation. Phil (who has the highest energy level we have ever seen) and Andrew walked up and down the beach looking for a place to stay. We finally settled on a hotel called Shari-La.

Our Snorkel Adventure
We bought snorkel gear in the Philippines, so we were prepared. What we weren't prepared for was the variety of species that we saw. We booked a 1/2 day snorkel trip, which consisted of going to three location. The water was a shade that I've never seen before. It was the brightest turquoise and from the boat in spots you could see the bottom with no problems. Luckily for us... weather and visibility was great that day.

• The Light House: This was our first location. There were beautiful bright coral and tons of colourful fish.
• Turtle Point: Our guide saw a turtle surface for air so immediately we all jumped off the boat the followed it. The creature was magnificent, it was graceful and huge. We watched it sit and lazily munch on plants on the bottom of the ocean until finally it surfaced again for another breath. We all swam along with it up to the surface, the entire time the turtle swam it didn't seem to mind us being right behind it. I was surprised at how fast it could swim, and also the huge size of it. We spent a while at turtle point, and all together we spotted four turtles. Our guide Matt, had a underwater camera so we all took turns taking photos of each other. Some people (me not one of them, Andrew was one of them) even were able to swim to the bottom to get a photo with the turtle.
• Shark Point: This was the part of our excursion that I was feeling a bit hesitant about it. Firstly I've only snorkeled a few times in my life, and secondly... I don't want to be eaten by a shark! The location had even better coral than the previous locations, they were colourful and massive. When the first person of the group yelled "Shark!" I think everyone did a little gasp, than swam towards where she was pointing. Sure enough, there was a shark circling around under neath us. These sharks weren't anything close in size to "Jaws", they were quite small but regardless... they were sharks. We spotted a few and as the water was clear, we could see them from a distance.

Good bye Kecil, Hello Besar
We stayed on Kecil, the small island for three days. We had great weather and enjoyed nightly a good seafood BBQ but we had a feeling that there was something much better and beautiful out there. So we said good bye to Danielle and Phil and hopped on a boat to the "Big island"

Immediately upon arrival we were glad to be there. We, the "Beach Snobs" let out a deep sigh in satifaction and looked around to find the beach to be amazing and the scenery spectacular, it was what we had imagined The Perhentians to be like. We chose a place called Abdul's from our friend Nicole's recommendation. The bungalows were located right on the beach, and was at the end of the beach. We were disappointed to find out the Abdul's was closing in a few days for monsoon season. But regardless, we decided to stay and enjoy the remaining days that it was open. Although the beauty of the island was breathtaking... the prices were not! Our guide book was right, mostly vacationers and families come to Besar and consequently the prices are "vacationer" prices not "backpacker" prices. Before committing to Adbul's we took stroll down the beach to check out the other places and all were great quality. Of course Andrew, the whiz at negotiation talked us into a better price at Abdul's on a beach front bungalow but still it was our most expensive accommodation to date.

Abdul's was great, the staff was friendly and helpful. Abdul generously let us stay an extra night after the resort was officially closed. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there, and met a great retired couple from Buffalo, New York in America (Hi Linda & Chris) that stayed in the bungalow next door to us. Our days there were filled with exploring around our beach, relaxing, swimming and chatting to our neighbours on our porch.

On our second day on Besar, our British "mates" Danielle and Phil arrived. They also checked into Abdul's and we enjoyed a great day fishing and relaxing. The beach after ours was assessable by climbing a set of stairs up and down until you reached the next beach. If Adbul's beach was beautiful the next two beaches were PARADISE. There were no hotels and no one was there. Phil, had brought his own collapsible fishing rod with him. He caught live bait and then tried (and almost succeeded) to catch sharks. It was such an amazing ecosystem, while standing on the beach it was possible to see sharks and tons of fish swimming. During one of our walks back to our beach, we saw a pack of black monkeys in the trees eating food. It was a treat to see them in the wild.

After four great days on the Big Island it was time to leave and get on the boat for another bumpy ride back to the mainland.

~Nicola

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Pulau Perhentian Besar & Kecil, Malaysia

Snorkeling in the Perhentians

Eating our way through Pulau Penang!!

First stop… Penang, Malaysia

The first moments in a new country is always exciting. It’s great to absorb and take everything in for the first time. Our first stop in Malaysia was in Penang. It’s an island off Peninsular Malaysia and it is known for its culinary delights. We arrived in Penang not knowing what to expect, and we were pleasantly surprised to find a quaint little city. This is the only country in South East Asia that we have been to that has such a mix of cultures. The people of Malaysia consist of Malay, Chinese and Indian people. It is an Islamic nation therefore the majority population is Muslim, but there are also many Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. You can be walking down the street and see women with head scarves, saris, western clothes or the clothes that Orthodox Muslim’s wear (I’m not sure what the correct name is). On every street there were temples, mosques or churches. We found it very refreshing to see such a mix of cultures all living together. We loved listening to the enchanting sounds of the Call to Prayer from the Mosques. We have never heard this before, and we were surprised at how eerie yet beautiful is sounded all at the same time. Generally the people in Malaysia speak English really well, so communicating was not a problem. We also found the people to be extremely friendly and helpful.


Not all accommodation can be a magical beach hut on the beach, or a great room in a hotel. Our room in the guest house had no windows and was literally a box. Our sleeps were as if we were knocked out, the lack of lighting allowed us to deep sleep for many hours and we always woke with a sense of confusion about whether it was night or day. The walls were make- shift and voices could be heard coming from all sides (including the floor). Other than the room, our guest house offered great and friendly advice and had an agency that offered good prices for buses.


Eating our way through Penang:
Our first night for dinner we literally ate our way down the street. Our first stop was at a vendor that sold different types of meats and seafood on skewers. We watched how the locals were eating and figured out that you choose a skewer put it in a communal tub of boiling water and wait for it to cook. When it was done cooking, you could dip into different sauces and eat it right there standing up. We enjoyed a few skewers (fish balls, pork balls, beef liver) as an appetizer then continued on our way down the street.


Our next stop was at a stall with a local noodle dish; the next stop was noodle soup, then we sampled some dim sum and finally we washed it all down with fresh fruit juices. On a side note: Fresh fruit juices made on the street are a constant staple throughout Asia, its healthy and yummy. Why don’t we have these at home??? I think we should have juice stalls on the street too. Forget these $7 smoothies from big fancy chain stores, make them the old fashion way and keep it simple and cheap!


Thanksgiving in Penang:
Forget the gobble-gobble… we ate a feast in India town. Andrew and I haven’t eaten Indian food since our trip to India last year. We were happy to find this area of town and were surprised at how it transformed us back to our trip last year. We felt like we were back walking the streets of India. The people were crowded in the streets, and there were loud music and colours everywhere. We found a restaurant and enjoyed an assortment of Indian food. The food was great and we enjoyed the meal, in fact we enjoyed it so much we returned there the following two nights for another “Thanksgiving dinner!”


Sights of Penang:
We went to a Buddhist sanctuary called Bodhi Heart Centre. It was a beautiful place just outside the main city. We went to hear a Dhamma talk, and were surprised to find the other people attending were all part of a senior’s/ retiree group. After listening to a monk talk, the group insisted that we must stay for lunch. It was pot luck of Malaysian food, everyone was very nice and they kept giving us more and more food. Again, we were fortunate enough to meet great people who have gone above and beyond to extend kindness to us. We took a brief tour of the sanctuary stayed to chat a bit then left to head back to our guesthouse.
When we arrive in a city we usually like to take Trishaws (a bicycle rickshaw) to see the city and to get acquainted to where we are. Unlike the madness of riding through Vietnam, this one was relatively calm. I can’t image how hard it must be to ride up and down the city pushing two people, the entire time talking and giving us an excellent tour. We took an hour ride around the city, through China town, India town and other sights.


The Penang transit was easy to navigate and figure out. The buses were extremely modern and the routes were extensive. We took a bus to a funicular which took us up a hill called Penang Hill. It had spectacular views of the city. We spent the afternoon exploring the area, then took the Funicular back down and went to the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia.
After four days in Penang, with a full belly we decided to move on tour next destination.

~Nicola

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Pulau Penang, Malaysia

On the road: From Thailand to Malaysia...

Big decision: Land Crossing vs Flying to Malaysia

Leaving our comfy beach paradise in Ko Pha Ngan was sad, since we had been there for ten days we were really comfortable in our surroundings. We had met some great people there, but like always it became time to say goodbye. We debated for a long time about whether to cross into Malaysia by land or by airplane. The land crossing through the South of Thailand goes through areas that have had unrest in the past. The South is a Muslim area and on occasion there have been bombings, violence and terrorist activity. On the other hand, the other option was to fly North back to Bangkok and then take a separate flight into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We consulted the Government of Canada travel website which advised NO travel through the area, but after speaking to other travelers and to Thai’s we decided to do the crossing by land. There are two ways to cross in the South, one is through the east side of the country which is not recommended for foreigners and the other route was through the west, which is recommended, by the people we spoke with, and safe at the moment.

Our travel day was a long one that lasted 24hrs.

• We left our hotel on Bottle Beach at 3:30pm and took the hour long dirt road by 4x4 to the ferry dock.


• Took a 3 hour ferry @ 5pm to the mainland.


• Bused 1 hr to the train station.


• Waited at the train station for 4 1/2 hours, train was delayed by 1 hr. It finally came around 1:30am. There were a few trains that came before ours and by the time our train came we were the only “Farang” Westerners on the tracks. I was a little nervous, and started to wonder why no one else was crossing into Malaysia this way.


• Boarded our 2nd class sleeper train: Both of us had top bunks, which had curtains to block the light. It was our first sleeper experience it was quite comfortable although our big packs had to sit at the edge of our beds. In the morning we were woken up at the early hour of 7:00am and ordered breakfast. The top bunks were folded away, and we lost our comfy sleeping area and had to sit on bench seating.


• We arrived at the border got off the train with our luggage and went through immigration. Only to discover we had overstayed our Thai visa by a few hours, therefore needing to pay a fee.


• Train left 1hr later and we continued on the railway until our final destination in Butterworth. Total train ride: 12 hours.


• From Butterworth we walked to the ferry to take us to our final destination of Penang. Luckily the ferry was only a few minutes.


• Upon arrival we took a taxi to our guest house in the city around 3:30pm, which was 24 hours since leaving Bottle Beach.

It was a LONG travel and a test of patience for us both!

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On the Road...

Finding a slice of paradise in Ko Pha Ngan

We, the self proclaimed “Beach Snobs” find paradise again on a small and isolated beach call Hat Kuad on the island of Ko Pha Ngan.

After leaving Nai Plao by taxi we drove to the ferry to take us to Ko Pha Ngan, which is an island near Ko Samui. (Ko means island in Thai) We chose Ko Pha Ngan over Ko Samui because we wanted something relaxing without all the mega resorts and glitz on the beach. Ko Pha Ngan is a small island that is famously known for its wild full moon parties that have been happening since the 80’s. But there are still areas on the island that have amazing beaches that are far away from the full moon party area. Andrew and I decided to go to an area far away from there called Hat Kuad or Bottle Beach.

More Bottle Beach, yes please!
Bottle Beach is located on the Northern part of Ko Pha Ngan. Weather permitting it is only accessible by boat from an area called Chalok Lam or by very bumpy dirt road which can only been done by 4x4. After getting off the ferry we drove to Chalok Lam to get a long tail boat to Bottle Beach. Unfortunately for us the last boat was gone and there wouldn’t be another one until the morning. We spent the night in a fishing village, in a very rustic beach front bungalow. This is the first time that we have every stayed in a bungalow that had a bathroom without a roof. It was quite a strange experience to be showering etc, essentially outside under the stars and trees. The village was quite charming, with cute restaurants and some little shops.

The following day we took the early morning long tail boat and headed off to Bottle Beach which went through some choppy water. We got off the boat to find ourselves on a picture perfect small beach located in a bay with white soft sand and clear emerald water. Along the beach there were only four small hotel complexes and one little store. In the distance on either length of the beach were green hills, which made the view spectacular. Following the recommendation from a Westerner that has lived in the area for ten years, we checked in to a place called Bottle Beach III. We chose a two storey bungalow right on the beach with two big patios, a big comfy bed and a lot of windows. Almost immediately our plans for staying only a few nights turned into a plan to stay for double.

We spent our days relaxing on the beach and eating great food, in the evenings our hotel played a different movie every night on a big screen and after the movie we enjoyed sitting on our patio listening to the waves and chatting. I must mention that we got the best sleeps in our little bungalow and the beautiful beach had no touts or venders. At night we would leave the windows open so that we could hear the waves all night. Not every day was sunny, but regardless we enjoyed the beach and the ocean. The temperature was perfect, even when it was sunny the wind kept things comfortable. We thoroughly enjoyed the cooler evenings, and for the first time in ages we felt a bit chilly at night. Another thing that I must mention is the lack of creepy crawly bugs! We rarely saw any geckos and I didn’t see any of the giant cockroaches that are commonly seen in Asia and the best part of all there were no RATS!

Like always, we became friends with the people from the restaurant and one night we were invited to a birthday party. That night we ate bbq, drank beer and sang songs to a guitar. It was another great night and we felt really fortunate to be staying in another paradise.

Since we extended our stay on the island, the full moon fell on our fifth day. We figured we should go and experience the event as it is such a famous thing to do. During the day of the party, our hotel filled up with people and you could sense the excitement even though we were far away from the party. At 9:30pm we all squished into a 4x4 sawngthaew (which is a pick up truck with two bench seats) We took an hour long journey to the party. The roads were horrendous, and they weren’t kidding when they said it was an unfinished road. Mostly it was a dirt path, with steep inclines and declines and giant holes. Thankfully our driver was experienced and we arrived to the party in one piece. Unfortunately the only option for the party was to leave the hotel at 9:30pm and to leave the full moon party at 6:30am. At this stage of my life, an all night party leaves something to be desired.

Full Mooning Andrew and Nicola Style:
The full moon party is located on the beach of Hat Rin, it was like a complete different world from Bottle Beach. It was everything you would expect of an area ravaged by tourists that flock to the island in search of the fool moon event. There were thousands of people on the beach, and each restaurant was pumping out ear busting trance music. Farang (Westerns) with glow in the dark body paint danced their asses off on the beach, and along the water there were countless Farang passed out everywhere. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The “sleep” areas which were actually first aid areas, were spilling with people by the end of the night. It was a fun time, we did a little dancing and a lot of people watching. For an event with that many people, it was relatively calm. There was a police presence that kept everyone in check. A long time ago, the full moon party was know for drugs but now because of the crack down it seemed to be quite clean. In Thailand doing any drugs is a big punishable offense, and it is know with travelers that messing with the mostly corrupt police would be a huge mistake.

At 2:00am Andrew and I decided to go and get a foot massage near by, it was very relaxing and it helped to pass an hour by. At 6:30am we made the long bumpy journey back home.

Big Bird:
On our first day on Bottle Beach a large looming figure swooped over our heads and landed on a volleyball net. We looked up and to our surprised we saw the biggest bird that we have ever seen in our lives. It’s hard to explain how it looks other than to say part parrot, part tucan and part vulture. It had a huge bright yellow beak with black and white feathers. The bird liked to swoop at unsuspecting people and knock them over and occasionally steal articles of clothing. It was something that we got use to seeing every so often. It seemed a little unpredictable and I always was on watch for it, fearing that it may swoop down and knock me over. One day the bird landed next to a sunbather and tried to take her shirt, Andrew offered assistance and tried to shoo it away by kicking sand on it. Hehe, of course the bird didn’t budge an inch. Suddenly out of the water ran an Israeli guy who started to swat and grab its beak. We watched in disbelief as he played with it like a dog while the bird hopped side to side playing and biting his arm. He was like the “Bird Whisperer!” After the bird flew away, he just left and went back into the water where he came from.

We could never get a straight answer from any of the Thai’s about the bird. We learned that a few months ago two giant birds appeared to the beach. There were once two, but shortly after making an appearance one left to go to the other side of the island. The rumour is that it was once a pet, and the person couldn’t afford it and let it free, another rumour is someone bought them for the island. Who, knows?! The only thing for certain, is the bird is giant wild animal that seems to be very comfortable with humans. It’s an amazing looking creature, and as soon as I can I will try to look it up on the internet to see what it is.

Saying Goodbye to Bottle Beach:
Life on Ko Pha Ngan was so easy going, the atmosphere was really relaxing and timed seemed to flow smoothly. After navitaging through cities for the last few months, it was a nice change of pace to slow down and escape reality. In fact we were so out of reality during our stay that when the day came to check out we discovered we had spent an extra day on the beach. I’m not sure where the extra day went, but all together we stayed for ten. Consequently our tourist visa for Thailand was to expire on Oct 9th, but unknowingly by the time we reached the Malaysian border we had overextended our visa by one day (actually only seven hours). Therefore we had to pay a $30 fine at the border.

I don’t know what it is about being on a beautiful beach in Thailand that makes you loose track of time. Last year while on Ko Chang island in Thailand we did the same thing, except instead of being one day extra we left the island one day early. We didn’t realize until we turned up at Bangkok airport one day earlier that our scheduled flight.

~Nicola

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Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand