Bali summary

So I have free internet right now which makes blogging so much easier....taking advantage of it while I can....so here's another summary.

Bali - At the airport in Bangkok, we watched animal tv show which included decapitating deers, farting snakes, a cricket that eats its own legs and a really cool rolling spider. When we arrived at the Bali airport, we overheard some backpackers heading to Kuta beach so we ended up splitting a cab with them.

For the first full day, we went see the silver, batik and painting process....the paintings were super awesome...if I had money to spare, I would have totally gotten one. We then went to the monkey temple, which was covered in monkeys...the most amount of monkeys I've seen in one location. They were cute but slightly crazy. They grabbed one little girl's dress which caused her to scream like a maniac...I'm sure she's been scarred for life. One also climbed up one girl and stole her pearl earring right from her ear....it proceeded to try to eat it by trying to crack it in its mouth and on some rocks...it failed to open it but it succeeded in stealing it. As we were leaving, a monkey tried to grab my bagfrom behind but he didn't get a good grip....I turned around and he just stared at me, so I shook my finger at him in shame and he ran away.

We then saw the rice fields of Bali followed by a buffet lunch with a view of Mt. Batur. The buffet was so good...I think my favorite things were the tuna satay and banana fritters...we were both so full afterwards that we actually felt a little sick. We then went to a temple where you're able to go into a pool of water to pray. After we went to a temple where you had to go down 300+ steps (and then back up, bah)....you get to walk right next to some cool looking rice fields, walk by some sweet large statues carved in the rocks, go barefoot through an outdoor mediation area (which was actually slimy because it had just rained) and see a small but nice waterfall. Finally we went to the Elephant caves...there was an unimpressive cave temple but there were some crazy stairs outside that led you to signs that pointed you to different things...we followed the jungle signs but because it was getting dark, we didn't get very far....we did discover a super creppy looking cave and an encryptic sign about women. We ended the day with chicken satay and banana fritters topped with ice cream....super yummy.


On another day we hiked up Mt. Batur (one of the most active volcanoes). We started our journey from our hotel at 1:30am and began our hike at 3am. We had to use flashlights to get up. Apparently you can have a guy follow you up who is only there to sell you drinks along the way...we didn't do that because we aren't ballers. The first 2/3 was pretty easy but as it got steeper near the end, I started to get tired....it didn't help that the guide was moving so fast that we passed two other groups and reached the top about an hour early. We relaxed at the top where it became super cold...didn't think that as possible in Asia. We got to see an amazing sunrise (I was able to get a ton of photos). We then headed up a little further, where our guide pointed out hot steam coming out from the ground...I immediately went to it and successfully warmed myself up. Volcanoes are cool. We then checked out the huge crater and saw a holy bat cave. Our guide took us back down and were able to see everything we passed in the dark...pretty cool views. We also learned that he likes britney spears (which made lauren super happy) and that his dream is to work on a Disney cruise ship.



While on Kuta beach, we also got to see a live concert by a band called Superman is Dead, along with a juggling competition and a male modeling show (I have no idea what was being modeled...I think it was a Yamaha bike?).

Bali round 1 was fun and I have other stories I'll share later. We will have one more day in Bali before we fly back to the States, so I'll have even more Bali stories later.

Thailand - short summary

Thailand was crazy (in a good way) and like India, I have alot to share but I'll have to share the details when I have more time.


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In Southern Thailand, we only stayed in Ao Nang but we were able to explore the other islands easily.

Getting to Krabi was crazy since we took a mini van from Penang...we were essentially kidnapped (don't worry, it wasn't the scary kind...just the weird kind) by the driver  but were saved when then van broke down near Ao Nang...at which point we temporarily followed two of the other backpackers who were in the van and got out of paying for the ride....we were then rescued by a shopkeeper and her husband who took us to an awesome and cheap hotel.

The next day, we were able to take a longtail out to Rai Leh (need spell check) where we had an 8 year old Australian boy as a tour guide at one end of the island. On the other side of the island, we got to see some insane rock climbers (one of whom had no belayer). And then we hiked and sort of rock climbed to the Lagoon...which is a crazy fun hike that has no trail markings, there's just a rope for you to grab onto when there are no rocks to climb up.

The next day, we did a four island tour and were able to go snorkeling...you literally get to swim with the fishes. We also went to chicken island, which looked more like a turkey to me.

Another day, we went to James Bond island which was surprisingly small followed by kayaking through some cool caves and mangroves. We were than taking to a floating Muslim village for lunch where I had the BEST pineapple of my entire life. There was also a transvestite with a super adorable monkey singing and dancing down one of the alley ways in the village...she was pretty good.

Southern Thailand is pretty awesome.



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In Northern Thailand, we mostly spent our time in Bangkok but we also went to Korat and Ayutthaya.

In Bangkok, we stayed in the happening area near Khaoson road. We met several backpackers (hung out with a German girl named Kiki who is also civil engineer), did alot of shopping (you can get fake IDs and fake degrees here..we saw one for UC Berkeley) and saw Wat Po (after Lauren almost got us kidnapped ha). we also checked out a street bar that offered free beer if you could solve math problems (ie:179*183) within 3 seconds....apparently the bartender is a high school teacher during the day and he actually taught us some math tricks....who knew we'd learn math tricks in Bangkok.

We then went to Korat to visit Lauren's cousin (Jason) and his baby. His wife's family owns a cafe shop there that has an amazing Thai omelette. Jason took us to the national park, where we went hiking. We went on two trails through the forest while it rained (the trees kept us covered for the most part so it was pretty nice)...on the way to the 2nd trail, we had the car window slightly down at which moment a monkey attacked the car and tried to get in. We rolled up the windows in time but the monkey stood there in the middle of the road watching us as we moved the window up and down (to try and get a better picture of him), waiting for his chance to strike. The trails were cool but at the end of them we realized leeches were trying to burrow their way into our shoes....at one point I moved the tongue of my shoe and EXACTLY like in the movie "Alien," one popped out and then quickly scurred away....needless to say, I was slightly freaked out. And apparently picking them off does NOT work...they just swing around and attach themselves to your hand....I think leeches have moved up on the creepiness scale for me. We saw some other interesting animals there and even signs for crocodile warnings. The national park is quite an adventure.

After Korat, we went to Ayutthaya by the crazy local train...people go up and down the aisles every 5 seconds selling foods, toys, drinks and even hammocks. In Ayutthaya, we bicycled around the city and saw alot of cool ruins. People were riding elephants everwhere. Some very cool structures. Riding a bike was actually really fun.

Then we went to Bangkok for one last day and then caught our flight to Bali. Bye Thailand!

Malaysia Quickie

So in Malaysia we went to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang for about 1 week....

Kuala Lumpur: I was still sick but I pushed through. OMG I found  Krispie Kreme Donuts by our hotel and was so happy. Other than that my meals were pretty lame in KL because of my stomach. We went to see the towers at 8am one morning but apparently the tickets sell out at 6am (!)...so we did go up but I think I was satisfied seeing it from the outside....after that fail we somehow wound up in a chocolate boutique that's only for people on tours...we got to sample some chocolate :D....we shopped in chinatown and at the main market (the main one is better...although if you're looking for the bootleg stuff, chinatown is the way to go)...we rode the monorail around which was nifty.

Ipoh was on our list because of their caves. Ipoh is really pretty...giant rocks and mountains everywhere...I'm not sure how high up we were (i don't think very high actually) but we were literally driving past clouds...really cool views. This was the first place we actually stayed with a couchsurfer whose family had a baller house. He was awesome and helped us get around. The actually day we went to the caves turned out to be a huge adventure just getting to the caves...there was a taxi driver who tried to scam us and ended up dropping us off somewhere, next was the bus ride that dropped us off 2km past where we wanted to be, there was the 2km walk back to the entrance and then finally the additional 2km walk to the cave itself (all in the blistering sun)...what a busy morning. In that last 2km we were all alone wandering down the road hearing random rustling in the nearby trees and bushes...saw a monkey dart across the road from the distance...not sure what else was there haha. Rewarded ourselves with ice cream and then checked out the caves which were pretty cool. There's a really cool part in the cave where you feel wind coming at you from all directions. Our journey back wasn't as dramatic as we hitched a ride for the first 2km and waited at one the closer bus stops. Once we were back in town, we checked out some temples that were carved in the mountains...love the idea of building into the rock (they had similar temples in India). The food was great in Ipoh...Ipoh is known for its white coffee...which I hated (because I hate all coffee) but Lauren really liked it so I'm guessing coffee lovers would like it. Went to some local markets with two different couch surfers and got to try some really interesting foods...including deep fried ice cream....yum.

Penang is where I finally started feeling better. This was the only place where we stayed in a dorm style hostel. There we met a Canadian girl and we toured around Penang. Penang is pretty cool and I would love to have spent more time there. We went to the Snake Temple which had poisonous vipers lying around...vipers are very strange looking. We also took the Penang tram which is an extremely steep ride up a mountain with some amazing views. We saw alot of monkeys at the top climbing the cables and a pretty cool looking Hindu temple. They had more snakes at the top that you could hold and get a picture with...we didn't do it but we watched other people do it while they were freaking out...that was quite amusing.  

Quick update - India/Singapore/ all in one

Mt. Abu was awesome....Lauren was super popular there...everyone wanted her photo. We had a cool trek near Lake Nakki and saw the amazing Dilwara Temple.

Mumbai was so freakin humid....so horrible after Mt Abu....but the food was so delicious..so happy to have meat again....Chicken Lazeez is amazing. We rode the local trains which was exciting...got to ride the sweet ladies car. I think we might have eaten brain (ahhh!!!?!)

Goa was unbelievable. Never been a beach person but Goa completely changed me. I think Lauren and I are officially hippies now. We forded an ocean, carrying our things above our heads while trekking to another beach. Also there was an insane storm one night. I have so many stories for Goa.

I was sick for Singapore (it was something I ate in India sometime) so I did alot of sleeping in our first air-conditioned room...which was so awesome. Singapore really comes alive at night though, so I didn't miss much during the day. We saw a really cool helix bridge, a fun street performer (who solved a rubix cube in 18 seconds) and Lauren had her ice cream.

India (super short) Summary Part 1

Because my internet use is limited here, I'm going to be super duper brief...I'll go into more details with crazy stories once I'm back.

So we reached New Delhi without any problems and my relatives (my only relatives in India) were able to find us easily at the airport. We spent 3 days in Delhi and they showed us around every where and they fed us sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much food. The 2nd day they hooked us up with a tour bus that took us to all the main sites. I really liked the Lotus temple, Qutub Minar and Humayan's tomb. I'm so grateful to my family for taking care of us both.

The last night in Delhi, we met up with Lauren's friend to watch the Pakistan-India cricket game. We ended up having to watch it in a fancy mall because everyplace was super packed. But it was still a great atmosphere. I ended up go back home because I was a little tired but Lauren went off with her friend. Unfortunately Lauren's friend got me a lemonade at the mall (which I forgot would have tap water) so I ended up becoming very sick...I'm still still trying to recover now.

We headed to Agra in the morning and saw the Taj Mahal (I was still pretty sick). I went to the Taj when I was very little but it was just a structure to me then...this time I was able to fully appreciate it....definitely recommend the Taj Mahal....I have more stories about my day in Agra :)

So next was Jaipur...I'm currently on the 3rd day in Jaipur. Jaipur is such a great city. It puts Delhi to shame. So far we walked through the crazy markets (where people love to stare at Lauren), saw Hawal Mahal, went on a sketchy adventure, saw Jaipur Fort/Palace (amazing...also made an amazing friend there who hooked us up with her driver), and saw Amer Palace. Last night was the final world cup cricket mach which we got to see in an country club. It was so packed with people and everyone was so excited that even I was getting really into the game. You may have hear, India won...which means dancing on the streets, fireworks and just insanity (awesome insanity). Still sick, but totally loving Jaipur.

Hopefully I'll be able to fill you guys in again soon!

Hong Kong in Summary

So I finished with Hong Kong and am now in India. I don't like spending alot of time on the computer when I'm abroad so my updates aren't very frequent...but I'll give you a few highlights from Hong Kong in this post and I'll get more detailed once I'm back in the states.

Hong Kong was amazing. I think I wasn't expecting much as it is a very developed place but I can so see myself actually living there. It's basically like New York but cleaner, a ton more blocks of things to do, extremely friendly people, and amazing food. The transportation system there is even amazing.Everything is so efficient and easy. Hong Kong is definitely an easy place to travel even if you can only speak English.

We stayed in the Chung King Mansions, which is an insane 16 story building that's just filled with hostels. We ended up with a really nice (and cheap) place at the Kyoto Guesthouse...there is much more to the hostel story that I'll get into later....but I highly recommend Kyoto Guesthouse.

The second day we got wander around the markets and eventually we met up with Edwin (a guy who was in our engineering program at Stanford). He took us to a great place for dinner...there were no English words at all inside haha. He then took us to the Ladies market where we were able to get amazing discounts thanks to his mad HK local skills. I got 50% off a bag!

The third day we went to the peak in central which was pretty good. We then walked down through a small botanical garden and ended up in the at a place that offered free tea lessons. I absolutely loved the tea lessons, it was one of my favorite experiences there. For dinner we went to a place recommended by Lonely Planet but it was kind of crappy...but then again I'm very picky with food.

The fourth day was my favorite day. We met with Mahalia friend's friend who gave us the best food tour ever. I can still taste the sushi now...it was that good. She's so amazing. I can't wait to go into more details about this day later.

The fifth day was a relaxing day and we ended up going to some sweet temples and ended the day with the sound and light show, which was pretty good.

The sixth day was Lantau island where we got to see Big Buddha and a fishing village. We had a small picnic at the top of Big Buddha...no big deal haha.

And the seventh day was heading off to the airport to go to Delhi....going to miss you Hong Kong!

Booking Trains for India

So something we’ve learned in our trip planning is that trains in India should be booked well in advance. And when I say in advance, I mean at least 3 weeks if you want to get your 1^st choice train.

Alternatively, there is apparently something called the tourist quota. You arrive at a main train station, with foreign currency, and should be able to get a ticket. They only set aside a few though (2 to 12) so you aren’t guaranteed to get one, especially in the popular season. You might have to wait a day or so to get an actual seat, which isn’t a big deal if your schedule is flexible.

So we decided to book our tickets in advance to make it easier on ourselves and save the tourist quota tickets for an emergency or plan change.

Full proof plan and fully prepared….

As many know, life really likes to make things “interesting” for me….

I knew that trains booked fast so I planned to book them at the beginning of March. Of course, this was when the Indian train system decided to update their online reservation system. No big deal I thought, if I can’t reserve it, no one can. 

But once the official IRCTC site started working, I learned that the only form of payment an international person can use is an American Express credit card. I read on some forums that this is a recent change to the system. So I borrowed an American Express card and tried to purchase the tickets. I tried several times because each time it said that the booking didn’t go through because of “communication failure.” I later found out that the IRCTC charged me for those “failed bookings.” They actually charge you for failed transactions! Who does that?! 

They claim on their site that failed transactions are immediately refunded but it’s actually tricky to deal with from the US. 

I had to give up on trying to book through IRCTC and tried to book through Cleartrip but Cleartrip was having their own problems. Apparently the updates to the IRCTC site caused problems for all the other train booking sites. So we kept trying Cleartrip for the next two days but the site was still down and all I could do was sit and watch my 1^st choice trains disappear.

Luckily, my mom has friends in India and I was able to get one of them to purchase our tickets for us. He’s the best person ever.  It’s a good thing we didn’t wait for Cleartrip to start working again because they ended up being down for two weeks. 

So anyone planning to travel around India by train, plan accordingly or go make friends with an Indian and get some connections.

Some sites for anyone wanting to travel by train:

1) For information about train classes, booking, etc:

      http://www.seat61.com/India.htm (very useful, also has train and bus information for many other countries)….there are actually many sites out there with train information, this is just one of them.

2) For only train schedules:

     www.erail.in

3) For booking trains and train schedules (I do NOT vouch for either site but apparently many people have had a good experiences with both sites): 

     www.irctc.co.in (the official site, but does not accept international credit cards)

     www.cleartrip.com/trains/

Vaccinations 3

I wasn’t planning on making a 3^rd vaccination post, but I thought I’d do one after receiving the 2^nd JE injection.

So I had no side effects after I received the 1^st shot. Unfortunately, the  2^nd one gave me a pretty severe headache for the rest of the day. I felt slightly out of it. Now I didn’t look at the side effects beforehand because sometimes I have hypochondriatic tendencies. But it turns out a headache is in fact a mild side effect which occurs in about 1 out of every 5 people….this actually made me feel pretty special. 

I didn’t go into many details about the JE vaccination because everyone should be checking with the CDC and with their travel clinic about whether or not they need it. But one thing to know is that JE is contracted in the presence of rice paddies AND pigs and is transmitted through mosquito bites.

The mosquito is such an insane little creature. So tiny, so susceptible to being crushed between a person’s hands but yet so deadly….and even in some rare cases they help bring back dinosaurs.

 

And an interesting fact is that the vaccination is grown in mice brains, which is like mad-scientist crazy.