ramblings of a creative mind
- goodbye 2008
Since the last post, I’ve:
- jungle trekked for 5 hours through the oldest rainforest
- got chased by giant wasps
- nearly eaten by leeches
- watched a cobra swim away as we jumped across a stream
- watch monitor lizards climb a tree (yes, they climb trees)
- baked on the Perhentian Beaches of Malaysia
- snorkeled with coral fish [...]
- Into the jungles of Taman Negara
After a three hour bus ride and then a three hour boat ride we arrived to a tiny village on the river. Across the river was Taman Negara National Park the world’s oldest rain forest – a mere 130 million years old.
The village was tiny. You could walk the entire village in 10 minutes and [...]
- Petronas Twin Towers
This is the first country where Islam is prevalent. From the people (costume) to their architecture.
The golden square, moon and star shapes are the most common decorative elements. This can be seen in lamp post decoration, bus station roof supports and even the famed The Petronas Twin Towers (I don’t think the logo does the [...]
- Culture + Beer
Kulua Lumpur’s National Museum displayed an impressive range of artifacts and costumes that detailed Malaysia’s history and fight for independence. The information placards were easy to read as they were displayed in both English and Bahasa. The displays were inventive in showcasing their respective topics. The Malaysian contribution to WWII was displayed with mannequins posed, [...]
- Hello Malaysia
Arrived to a beautiful Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It had remnants of Singapore’s International Airport with its efficiency and technology. Their Visitor’s Centre by the luggage claim was excellent. There were brochures to various sights all over of Malaysia (for FREE) and very knowledgeable staff willing to help.
When getting into Kuala Lumpur, take the Airport [...]
- Ragunan Zoo
Ragunan Zoo was large and had a variety of depressed animals. This was quite a modern zoo with no “cages” but meshed and fenced off sections of land. The elephants for example had a large trench between the pavement and their ‘area’. The ditch and the “Do not feed the animals” sign did not stop [...]
- Jakarta - the bus tour
After paying too much for a not so great room in Djodi Hotel, we checked out as soon as we could find another hotel. This was actually not so easy since we’re three people – one man and two women wanting to share a room is not so common in this muslim country. It was [...]
- Jakarta
Mosquitoes kept us company as we waited for Psar Turi to open. It was 5 in the morning. First train to Jakarta was at 8 in the morning. Actually it was 4 am. We’ve just lost one hour since leaving Lovina.
The station finally opened at about 6:30 am. There is a different process to buying [...]
- en route to Jakarta
We boarded a coach (like Greyhound’s Coach) to Surabaya on the island of Java. It was air-conditioned and had reclining seats. They nearly reclined 90 degrees! The road that lead out of Bali and into Java was bumpy and windy even though there were no mountains. We stopped and got off the bus at Gilimanuk [...]
- Lovina
Our bags are packed once again and off to Lovina we go. Perama Coach and Bus Tours is the large Balinese company that handles most of the tourist transportation. We gathered at their bus depot and we were joined by fellow backpackers from other parts of Bali heading in different directions.
A rickety old 20 seater [...]
