wild photos

I have encountered some beautiful and strange wildlife over the past two weeks in Borneo. Here are some shots...


lizard time

Mulu was filled with colourful butterflies and moths.

Carnivorous pitcher plant

Can you spot the mating stick bugs?

Borneo!

OK, so I have been horrible at updating my blog over the last month. BUT, I hope my excuse is valid--I've been having too much fun in Malaysia! Over the past 5 weeks Zach and I have spent 12 days on an idyllic white sand beach in the Perhentian islands of peninsula Malaysia's east coast. The snorkeling was incredible! We swam with sting rays, sea turtles, rainbow fish and reef sharks to list but a few of the marine life in the coral reefs in the area. Did I mention the water was crystal clear? At times it was so warm I felt like I was in a bath-- but I wouldn't dare complain. This place was incredible.

From the islands we voyaged via bus to Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Like most SE Asian cities KL was hot and sticky, but it has plenty to offer the wandering tourist. The twin towers really are that impressive, and our timing to the city allowed us to attend an evening of the Kuala Lumpur World Marching Band Competition. Nerdy? Yes. The competition was held in Merdeka Stadium where Malaysian's independence was announced half a decade ago. It brought me back to my days as in the Mustang Band at Western! The bands were incredible. From KL we flew to Malaysian Borneo into Miri, Sarawak state. From here we caught a twin otter plane into Gunung Mulu National Park, AMAZING!

Zach has posted pictures and written on the islands, KL, and Mulu here, so I will save my precious internet time to load some new images for your viewing pleasure. After Mulu, Zach and I made our way to Kuching. We spent two days in Bako National Park where we spotted plenty of wildlife. Flying lemurs, Langors, Probosics monkeys, and the naughty Macaques. The trip to Bako involved an hour-long bus ride on the loudest city bus I've ever been on. Trust me, there were a few bolts loose on this one! The bus dropped off at a jetty where we caught a speed boat into the park.
These primates are cool! This is a langor ( also know as a silver-leaf monkey) taking a break from a mid-day snack. Just after I took this picture a shirtless and sweaty Slovenian man threw a piece of bread at this little guy and scared him off. The Langor wasn't interested in this eastern european charity. We were not impressed either! Unfortunately, the downside of Bako is the presence of ignorant tourists treating the park as a feeding zoo.

A male Proboscis hanging out by park HQ.

View from the jetty.

Evening Sunset.

Underwater Adventure

In transit in Bangkok we spent a morning in the Paragon Underwater World, a very asian ( and by that I mean somewhat kitschy-- yes that is a disco ball in the aquarium above) but very cool aquarium. I believe it is the largest in SE Asia...It was alot of fun and had alot of sealife, including the very nasty Moray Eels. This picture is for you Dallas! I wouldn't want to be in a tank with these guys....

Sharks Ahoy!

To Laos and Back in 14 days

Looking across the river from Huay Xai, Laos into Chiang Khong, Thailand

Chilling with the monks and their pet monkey

GIBBON EXPERIENCE

In the time since my last posting Zach and I have made our way through Laos and down to Malaysia, where I am currently sitting in an internet cafe to escape the heat and gear up for an overnight bus to the east coast where the beautiful islands of the Pehrentians await me! At the end of June we made our way across the Thai-Laos border at Chiang-Khong/ Huay Xai that is divided by the Mekong river. From there we headed on a three day adventure in the jungles of the Bokeo Nature Reserve with the Gibbon Experience. Zach has posted a detailed write-up about the experience, and I will hold back from repeating too much, but needless to say it was unlike anything I have ever done in my life! The journey consists of a 2 hour ride in the back of a pick up truck across a river and through mud roads to a remote village in the hills where the trekking begins.

River crossing

We trekked for roughly 4-5 hours a day, making our way to the various super-high and long ziplines that carried us across vast valleys over the jungle canopy. These eventually led to our accomodation: open concept rustic wooden treehouses high up in the trees. Before we set off from the village on the first day there was a few minutes to chat with the group that had just returned. One girl was enthusiastic to show me her pictures, several which captured the invasion of treehouse #5 by a huge neon green venemous snake slithering his way in on the zipline. Great. Consequently my 3 days were foreshadowed by the fear I would be swallowed alive at night by a lethal jungle snake. Luckily, I had company while I couldn't sleep at night- Zach is afraid of heights and was less than enthusiastic about spending the night in a 200feet tall treehouse. But no snakes, and Zach braved the heights for all three days.

A jungle-view at dusk

Bathroom break anyone?

DOWN THE MEKONG

After the Gibbon Experience we did what every tourist does from Huay Xai to get to Luang Prabang and took a 2 day slow-boat ride down the Mekong. The scenery was beautiful and the wooden benches brutal. Couple that with a group of annoying gap-year brits on the boat getting macked by even more annoying guys from California and you have yourself some entertainment. Luang Prabang is an interesting place to explore. You can go to a high-end wine bar on the main street of this UNESCO World Heritage Site, or take a tuk-tuk 20km outside of town to a jungle waterfall cascading emerald green water into multi-tiered swimming pools. Gorgeous!

Spot Zach!

By the river in Luang Prabang

We signed onto a one-day mountain bike tour as a way of exploring the surrounding hillside. This was one of my worst ideas yet, and I take full responsibility b/c Zach had been feeling unwell and I thought a little fresh air might help him feel better. Wrong! Turns out the medium-level mountain bike translated into an almost nonstop daylong off road bike ride up steep hills and down muddy trails, capped off with a 15km long climb up a winding road to get back to town. This was not fun- in fact I hated every moment of it. The best part was the end when I got to go back to our hotel and nurse my bruised bottom and sore body by going to bed. We were joined on the bike-riding by a middle-aged couple from New Zealand who totally whooped our buts in the hills. They were an incredibly dynamic couple that go on vacation around the world to run in marathons and long-distance runs in places like the Inca trail. Us youngins' couldn't keep up...

Taking a break from biking for lunch in a local village

After 5 days in Luang Prabang we continued our journey southwards towards the town of Vang Vieng, infamous on the SE Asia backpack route for tubing down the river in an innertube and the slew of bars that play episodes of Friends and Family Guy on repeat. The tubing was fun, but the bars and restaurants in town were overflowing with drunken gap-year brits half-naked from the river ( the gap-year brits are everywhere, but especially in Vang Vieng). After a full day of tubing Zach in the company of Kate and Rob ( the type of brits that redeem the gappers) we made the executive decision that it was time to fast-forward into Malaysia and onto the beach. Over a period of 24hours we made an epic journey back to Bangkok and booked a cheap flight on AirAsia for Penang.....in a few hours we will be on our way to relaxing in the sun!

Pai-radise

A view of Pai-radise

Our smart bungalow!

A happy fish in the water

This morning we boarded a mini-bus heading north-west of Chiang Mai for the sleepy mountain valley town of Pai. Fellow travellers had told us how relaxed and beautiful this little slice of heaven was, but I had to see it with my own eyes to believe it. Pai is a town whose city-planning fits comfortably within four main streets. It sits in a valley surrounded by jungle-topped mountains and etched by snaking rivers and streams. Modest bamboo bungalows dot the riverside and hillside where backpackers converge to kick-back and soak in the beauty of the surrounding scenery.

Zach and I settled ourselved into a little place called "Pairadise", which has proven to live up to its name. For 500baht/night ( $15cdn) we have our own private cottage-style bungalow complete with a hammock on our front-veranda. It overlooks the man-made swimming lake where on occasion a fish jumps out to say hello. We are here for 2 nights before making our way to the Laos/Thailand border where an adventure with the Gibbon Experience awaits us. Here is a more detailed description of what we will be doing. Now if only the weather can hold!

The Communist Blockade

So there has been a change in plans for the future stages of out trip. Over the past few months the Chinese government has grown increasingly paranoid about visitors coming to their country and as a result has essentially stopped issuing traveller's visas. We had 1 month planned to visit China, but with little hope of being issued a visa our plans have changed to spend that time in Singapore and Malaysia instead. With the recent wave of earthquakes and natural disasters that have tragically devasted the south in combination with fears of hippy-type travellers causing a raucous in demonstrations at the olympics, visas are being granted to only a select few. We would need travel documentation for our entire month, including receipts for accommodation. Even Olympic ticket holders are not guaranteed visas! Check out the media coverage on this issue here at the International Herald Tribune.

From Bangkok To Chiang Mai

Cooking class in Chiang Mai

Ernest the elephant after our trek

I want this baby monkey!

Aruna in our bamboo lodging

Hot springs

Last Saturday Zach and I were joined in Bangkok by our very good friend from Ottawa, Aruna, who is in transit to India for 2 months travel. We spent Sunday afternoon touring the Royal Palace before catching a night train to Chiang Mai in the north. We had a celebration on the train in honour of Aruna's arrival. We hadn't seen her for over 6 months! In Chiang Mai we set off for an adventurous two day trek into the jungle of one of Thailand's national parks called Ob Luang. The trek took us to waterfalls, hot springs, local villages, elephants, and bamboo rafting. After only 10 minutes hiking in the national park the group encountered its first taste of Thai wildlife- a vibrant green snake, as the locals call it, or a venemous viper as we know it. I nearly died of fright ( for those of you who know my phobia of snakes this doesn't come as a surprise!). But I carried on for the remainding 5 hours of the hike. I'm glad I did, or I might have missed meeting one of the cutest little monkeys I have ever seen. The first village we stopped in for a water break had a resident 2 month old baby monkey who had been rescued after his mom was killed in a dog fight. This little guy was enough to break even the toughest of hearts and was incredibly human like. We were allowed to hold him, which has been one of the highlights of my trip so far. I didn't want to let him go!! But the trek continued, and we had more adventure ahead of us. Our lodging for the night was a bamboo house on stilts in another village in the park. We were so exhausted after our trek, alot of which was uphill or walking precariously down muddy paths in the rain, that we zonked out almost immediately after supper. The next morning we awoke to elephants drinking water from the river that were suited up to take us for a 1.5 hour trek. Zach volunteered to ride on top of our elephant's head bareback for the trip- a decision he soon vocally regretted. Aruna bravely traded places with him and proved that she is the true elephant whisperer. Ernest, our elephant, was a little grumpy, but he brought us to our next destination in one piece and with lots of laughs. The day ended with a 2 hour trip down the river on a bamboo raft crafted together by our guides. It was a welcome break from the hiking we did the day before. So much fun!

Our last day with Aruna was spent learning the secrets behind some of Thailands tastiest dishes in a day-long cooking class. We began our morning with a trip to the local market before continuing to the open air kitchen where we made curries, soups, salads and deserts. I can't wait to put my new skill-sets to the test in Ottawa!