Fin. Home.

I walked out of the central train station in Dalian, China and found myself a cab. I couldn't feel much wind, and although there was an obvious nip in the air, it seemed like a fairly mild day... bordering on spring, even. I'll get to how wrong I was shortly. I found myself a cab toward the airport where I'd get out and start trekking with the locals on the hour-long bus back to Daheishi (a.k.a. the Boondocks of Dalian). I couldn't find myself a seat on the bus so I was left to stand on weary legs with 20kg of gear on my back. I could've put it down, but the watery muddiness of the floor made me think twice. I just wanted to get home.

The last entry found me miserable and tired in Nha Trang. After arriving and getting a bit of sleep, I spent the day just wandering around town, eating some food (including the mystery Pho I was looking for) and seeing what the city had to offer. It didn't take long for me to figure out the offerings: beach (riddled with garbage by 5pm), happy hour cocktails and more Italian food joints than I've seen my entire time in Asia. I don't have the slightest clue why there was such a frequency of Italian food places, but here they were. Offering "Italian Food and Vietnamese Specialties". Who specializes in two of the most random food styles? A LOT of Asian restaurants. I often steer clear of these places... I often look for a locale to focus on one strength... when you offer "Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian and Western Cuisine", I'll probably avoid your restaurant. It just seems like you're asking to be served rubbish. Although I found some absolutely awesome Indian food and great seafood in this day of eating, I didn't accomplish much. There was some internetting, some reading, and some aimless wandering. 

The next day, I was awoken by my travelling buddy Sian. After I left her with Jason, Sam and Dave in HoChiMinh, they all decided to catch the night bus the following night to meet me in Nha Trang to see the beach. Thus, my hotel's phone began to ring around 6am telling me that I had a visitor in the lobby. Even though I had made it to bed at a reasonable hour the previous night, I was still a bit reluctant to actually commit to starting my day. I didn't think she'd mind hanging in the lobby for a few hours. But being the well-mannered youth that I am, I rolled out of bed and began my day.

The next two days weren't particularly eventful either. I wasn't thrilled with Nha Trang's sites, so there was a lot of wandering around and a lot of attempts to make excuses to sit and eat or have coffee or enjoy the patio. I did spend about 3 hours on the beach that morning, which was good. The waters of the South China Sea are nice and warm and as salty as you can imagine. The waves were pounding the shore pretty hard, so it was pretty fun to just paddle around and ride the waves here and there. Otherwise, I just spent my enjoying the scenery (in all ways), reading my book (finished East of Eden by John Steinbeck during my last night in Vietnam), and getting the most random sunburn of my life. Chest, arms, legs, face, ears and back all covered by sunscreen and fully protected. What wasn't? Two strips of flesh running along my flanks, about 2 inches wide and about 8 inches long each. Bright red. Lobster-ish, if you will. And itchy. Surprised, though? Not even a bit. 

Another day of declining weather forced me to keep moving north, knowing that my vacation was quickly ending. I knew I had to move on and the rest of the crew were returning to do some diving in a few days so we headed further north for another 11 hours on ANOTHER awful night bus to Hoi An, my last stop before Hanoi and then China. After the awful experience of the night bus to Nha Trang, we invested in the sleeping bus (providing tiny little sleeping berths) so as to improve our trip. That didn't exactly pan out.

While waiting for the bus at the ticket office, Jason and Sam decided to run off to the dive shop to see if they could get some more diving info from an elusive shop owner while Dave, Sian and I just hung out and checked emails. Out of nowhere, I had a man screaming in my ears, "HOI AN!!! HOI AN!!!" We were the only people in a tiny shop, and there wasn't really any loud street noise. The reason for yelling? I don't have the slightest clue. But we quickly realized the bus was early and we were two people short. Sam and Jason were still MIA, but we still had their gear. We looked around and down the street but couldn't see them coming. We got their packs on the bus and tried to stall, but no luck. So, Dave hopped off and went to track down the other two and had a plan to meet up with the bus at another pick-up point. Sian and I just sat nervously. It was pretty comedic but probably inspired a few more of my brown follicles to default to the gray end of the spectrum.

A few minutes later during one of the pickups, the stragglers found their way to the back of the bus and we were on the way north. On first look, it seemed like it was going to be a luxurious ride in comfort. However, it took about 5 minutes for us to debunk such a silly notion. The chair frames were steel. There was only about 3mm of padding. The seats were vinyl. It was sweaty. And if you're over the height of about 5'4", there wasn't enough room to stretch out. I was uncomfortable. Dave, who's about 6'2" must've been in agony. We tried to read, but because of our location at the back of the bus (again), the potholes and bumps made us nearly hit the roof. I was lying on my side at one point and we hit a bump so hard that I actually flew out of my seat, and crashed into the metal back support of the chair hard enough to leave a bruise on my shoulder... THAT I STILL HAVE! And it's a WEEK LATER!

So, the trip was another 11 hours of hell.

Hoi An was actually really great... really good food, great coffee, cute town, art shops everywhere and a pint of "Bia Hoi" for 4000 Dong (the Vietnamese currency). How much is 4000D worth, you ask? About 20 cents. Awesome. I found a beautiful painting in a shop downtown that I brought back to China with me, along with some really awesome Vietnamese coffee and the small coffee strainers they use all over the country. I even went for a run in Hoi An for about 40 minutes, passing rice fields and water buffalo and stilt houses. It was beautiful. One other random fact for Vietnam is that there are many more budget hotels in a lot of places rather than hostels/guesthouses, and they're often less than $20 a night. Great.

After 2 days in Hoi An, I took the bus to Hue so I could fly to Hanoi, abandoning my travel companions as they continued on for a few more months each. Sad to be leaving, but I was exhausted and knew that I could use some normalcy at this point. It was cool, too, to get to know Jason... he and I had maybe had one conversation of any sort in our lives, and were able to hang out for about a week and get to know each other a bit. 

I had asked to get dropped off at the airport junction on the highway before Hue, since the city was about 30kms from the airport and I didn't want to pay for the taxi from the city. I kept looking at my watch and knew the approximate distance between city and airport. Well, that km marker passed by. As did 4 more. Finally, the guy for the bus company came back and asked me a question. I don't speak Vietnamese. But I asked, "Airport?" Blank look as a response. He repeated his question. I repeated mine. Finally, I looked up a word in my travel guide, and pointed. Very quickly, he dashed up to the front of the bus and got the driver to stop. I was ushered off, pointed in the direction of the airport, and my bag was handed to me just before they drove off. I was told that it was 1km up the road. So, I started walking.

The weather was starting to turn rainy, so I looked out for a cab. Seeing none, I stopped at a store to ask. A woman told me that I'd have to wait 30 minutes for a taxi. And I also found out that the airport wasn't 1km away. It was 6kms away. With 20kg of gear, this wasn't a thrilling prospect. So I asked if there were any other options. She didn't understand. So, I just said I'd walk. She was aghast. She had her adorable baby daughter with her, so I started kinda making faces at her and smiling at her. I asked her again if any other people could drive me to the airport. Again, she didn't really know what I asked. She was, however, excited that I was friendly with her daughter. So she actually thrust the baby into my arms and said, "Have fun in China!". I couldn't help but laugh. Holding her baby while the rest of the family was laughing at me (we had an audience of 5 or 6 people at this point), one of the guys decided that he could take me on his motorbike for $2USD. So, I said I'd do it for 30,000Dong. We agreed. So, after returning the baby (I don't think I could import a Vietnamese child to China without some sort of taxes), I paid the guy the equivalent of $1.60, hopped on the back of his moped and off we went on the highway. At 70km/h. With no helmet. With a 40lbs of backpack pulling me backwards. It was a riot.

I got off at the airport and was grinning ear to ear. The airport security were laughing at me and my "driver" shook my hand about 4 times, the whole time with a smile. I was at my destination safely and was on to my last two stops.

I got to Hanoi and only had one full day before Beijing and then home. I spent it just walking around and seeing as much of the city as possible. I was able to check out the Temple of Literature, the HoChiMinh Mausoleum (from outside the walls, since it was closed at the time), eat some awesome food at KOTO Restaurant and at a really delicious Thai food place, and saw a bit of the lake before just heading back to my hostel to charge my IPod, camera battery and finish my book. I got to Beijing the next afternoon and spent the following day walking all over the absolutely MASSIVE area of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square before packing up and hopping on the night train back to Dalian.

And here I am. School starts tomorrow. There are more stories to share (particularly about getting ripped off), but I'll write about those in coming days. For now, food calls. But with me, doesn't it always? 

Oh... and GO CANADA! I watched the men's game yesterday with about 20 other teachers from the high school, and I'm watching the men's curling as we speak. The Gold Medal Hockey game starts at 4:30am here, but I'll be up with coffee in hand watching. Good luck, boys!

T

Chuc Mung Nam Moi... hello, cat.

My journal from KL:

The smell of durian punctuates and pollutes the air while competing with the more familiar scents of stir fried chilis and fried rice. Everything is in competition in central Kuala Lumpur, from the beauty of the local orchids to the exotic tastes of tom yam soup and nasi goreng and fish head curry. Touts compete for your money and massage parlours compete for your flesh (representing the more seedy side of Asia's tourist industry). It's exotic and familiar and disarming and overwhelming and comforting all at the same time. The new, modern ways compete with traditional perspectives as the older generations attempt to navigate within the parameters of modernity. Sometimes this is successful. Other times, it can be a miserable failure. But this seems to be the reality of a whole collection of nations who are on the doorstep of transition from old to new. This is Asia.

 

Today:
I've started writing this post a couple of times. However, fatigue has set in a bit, and the weather has shifty to the rubbish end of the spectrum. It's still warm, humid and rain-free, but the wind has picked up and some clouds linger above my new location and beg for the go-ahead to pour down on the coastal beach-town of Nha Trang. I was also on a bus throughout the night last night as I travelled from HoChiMinh City (aka Saigon) to the southeast coastal town of Nha Trang.

 

After the unfortunate circumstances of KL (which were heavily balanced with some fantastic experiences), I arrived in HoChiMinh City a little weary from having had little sleep the previously stressful days. So, I spent the first day just catching up on some much-needed rest and planning out my last 10 days of vacation. I fly up to Beijing on the 23rd, so time was becoming precious and extremely limited.

 

The Chinese New Year celebration wasn't particularly exciting, as I wasn't able to meet up with any of my intended folk for the festivities. A cousin of mine from Canada happened to be arriving that night, but because of timing and delays at the airport, he didn't arrive in time and we didn't touch base. I also met some other travellers that morning and was planning to meet up with them, but because of the jammed phone lines and a lack of messages, I didn't track them down either. Still, I checked out the fireworks and fought the craziness that was the celebration in this city of 6 million, then headed to bed.

 

The next few days were a little more full, as I met up with my cousin and his friends as well as with my English friend Sian who arrived the other day. We checked out some museums and ate tonnes of food while sampling the local sodas and taking in a bit of the Saigon nightlife. We also took a tour our to the CuChi Tunnels where the Vietnamese forces resisted both the French forces (during occupation) and the American forces (during the Vietnam war). It was pretty amazing and Jackie, our tour guide, was excellent. These hideouts were used over a 26 year period until Vietnam finally gained independence. We crawled through the fox-hole-like tunnels and I even took a turn firing a real AK-47 with live ammunition at the sport range set up on site. Surprisingly I'm an okay shot after not firing a rifle for close to 10 years. Sorry to dismay/disappoint all my non-Alberta friends... I grew up around firearms and the Picture Butte Fish & Game... you can't slough off your childhood conditioning entirely! The AK was pretty fun.

 

After Saigon, I hopped on an overnight bus outta town (the Chinese New Year made everything insanely busy) up to Nha Trang, where I am now. The bus ride was, in a word, brutal. It started off alright, as I was sitting with a really adorable and friendly Vietnamese family (3 adults and 3 kids and me shared 5 seats at the back of the bus). The kids were really well-behaved and the father was content to sit in the aisle so as not to crush me into the window. Their little son, about 4 years old, was my little sidekick. He sat beside me at the start of the ride, and as he started to doze, he used me as: a pillow, a footrest, a place to drape his legs, and an arm-holder. The whole time I just laughed. His parents were worried that I would be annoyed but I was fine with it, and as I just quietly smiled, I think I won over the family (and some of the nearby passengers).

 

They only came on the first hour of the trip, though, so I soon had plenty of extra room to move. Oh, if only it would last.

 

Within 20 minutes, I was plastered against the window as a slightly chubby British guy plopped down beside me and proceeded to provide me with a general sense of discomfort for the next 9 hours of misery.

 

We then got dropped off on the side of the road at 5am and were forced to hang out at the beach while the hotels slowly opened their doors. It took me 15 hotels to find one that wasn't full. 15!!! And then it was only available for one night. So after checking in and sleeping for a couple hours and showering, I had to seek out another for tomorrow night. It only took 10 tries this time. It's my own fault for choosing to come here during the holiday and not planning ahead, but it's hard to do when you don't have a set schedule.

 

Regardless, here I am. Being by the ocean again is fantastic, but the beach is pretty polluted and overrun with rubbish. There's lots of tours available for the surrounding islands, but the prices are super high. So I've decided that other than checking into some kayaking tomorrow, I'm just gonna take a couple days to hang out, read and relax before heading north again. I start work again on the 25th, so I'm going to be a busy dude after that. Now's the time to just relax. After a bit of dinner, I'm hopefully going to pass out and start tomorrow fresh... my cousin and his friends are coming in the morning on the bus, as is Sian, so I'll definitely have some people to hang with for the next couple days.

 

For now, food calls. I think some mystery Pho is in order. When in Rome...

 

T

Alas, Cambodia was not to be

Well, it's one more day into the trip. I'm at an internet cafe waiting. I should be in Siem Reap right now, but instead, I'm starving and I'm sitting in an internet cafe in KL, sorting out my life in the way of a travel visa for Vietnam so I can fly in the morning.

After a bit of a late night with Steve, we got fed and packed up this morning and I headed to the airport. When I got to KL's Central Train/Bus station, I intended to catch the 9am bus to the airport. So, I went up to the window and asked for just such a ticket, paid, and waited near the buses.

And I waited. And I waited.

Finally, at about 9:02, I still hadn't gotten on a bus. Asking one of the busline employees, I inquired where our 9am bus was. He said, "None today. Just 9:30." I looked down at my ticket and sure enough, the woman from the ticket window gave me a ticket for the 9:30 bus without telling me there was no 9am bus.

Panicked, I waited the painstaking 29 minutes for the actual bus to leave. It's a 45-50 minute drive out and I knew I was cutting it close. I arrived, ran to the Malaysia Air check in counters and waited. I only had 30 minutes to depart, and the line was moving like molasses. I finally asked about 4 people if I could scoot to the front of the line... and only then did they tell me that the checkin cutoff is 45 minutes, and I couldn't board the plane. No way, no how. And since I bought a cheap ticket online, there was no refunds, exchanges, or understanding. I was hooped.

I tried to get another flight to Siem Reap but the next one didn't leave until tomorrow. Then I asked about Phnom Penh with the same response. Finally, I just decided that I'd catch a cheap flight to Vietnam instead and save Cambodia for next year, since I'm flying back to China through Hanoi. I paid for the ticket, went directly to check in and handed them my bag.

"Where is your visa for Vietnam, sir?" I was asked. My response: blank stare. I had forgotten all about the visa for Vietnam that you CAN'T get at the border. "I don't have one," I responded. Turns out that you can't even leave to Vietnam without a magic piece of paper. SO... I had to cancel the newest flight, truck myself back into KL and I'm now, finally, set with my Vietnam visa for the morning, I have a new flight, and I'm officially going to miss out on Angkor Wat this time. And I'm about $220 more broke because of  the escapade.

I guess there has to be some rain in my sunny days. And what an expensive lesson to learn at a brutal time. However, I'm alive, I'm still adventuring, and Vietnam is going to be great, especially since I'm meeting up with some fellow travellers and possibly even my cousin from Canada. For now, though, food calls. I ate at 7am and it's 3:30pm. I might be dead. Gotta jet. Lots of love from the land of 30 degree heat and 99% humidity.

T

Trips south, more jungle, and too much time in airports

I just arrived back in Kuala Lumpur after a super brief trip to the Cameron Highlands in Central Malaysia.

 

I left Chiang Mai riding a tide of really good experiences. I met up with some Dalian friends and met a new friend (a fellow Canuck teaching in Chiang Mai) in the process... I think I might even move to Thailand! Maybe that's a bit of a leap, but the thought crossed my mind while there. I had an awesome time in Thailand and kept eating all the food I could get my hands on. I made it to the yoga session I hoped for, but because my Lonely Planet didn't have any current information, I was foiled in my attempt to do the overnight meditation session at one of the local temples/monasteries.

 

My next flight out of Chiang Mai (after a terribly late night and an awesome free ride to the airport by my new friend KG) led me to Kuala Lumpur where I met the Seaths, and then it was off to Borneo for a trip up Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak between the Himalayas and New Guinea. The hike was amazing, and 5 days after the fact my calves are still aching. We spent a night in Kota Kinabalu before heading north through the Sabah jungle to the base of the mountain. We spent one night chilling out before starting our ascent up to 4095 meters (or over 12,000 feet). We did part one of the climb (6kms up to 11000ft) before stopping for the day/night. Our trek to the summit began at 3am that night (technically the next morning) where we'd reach the summit for sunrise.

 

At our departure, it was probably about 20 degrees and very comfortable. We wore headlamps and made our way slowly up to the bare granite rockface that began after the first km (we had nearly 3 clicks total from our accomodation to the top of the mountain). We then used moonlight and a large, white rope to the top of the mountain where the temperature dipped to about 6 degrees and the wind howled in our ears. Each step became more taxing as the air thinned and the legs tired. I neglected to bring mitts and froze my hands on the way up (which happens when constantly touching cold rock, I found out). About 100m below the summit, I realized that I was plenty early for sunrise, so I hiked another 50m and found a warm little spot out of the wind on some shrubbery that kept my heiney off the rock. I kinda ploughed ahead of the Seaths, as I was feeling strong and just wanted to get to the top.

 

As the light started to show in the morning sky, the Seaths found me and we found the top of the mountain around 6am. The scenery was breathtaking and the outline of the mountain cast a shadow clear across the Borneo jungle. After some freezing-cold picture taking and drinking in the awesomeness of the scenery, we hiked down slowly, trashing our legs with every large step. After stopping at our accomodation for food and again for food at the base of the mountain, we went back to our hostel, packed up and got on the bus north to the Borneo jungle.

 

The Seaths and I spent a couple nights in Sipolok so we could check out some rainforest and hang out with some orangutans at a orangutan rehabilitation centre. We finished the night with some awesome food and turned in, as I had to fly back to KL the next morning after the taxi ride to the airport.

 

So I'm now back in KL. Steve Peters (my best buddy from high school) met me here on his way to Adelaide for a med school rotation. We spent the first night catching up and checking out the sights of Chinatown (the backpackers ghetto) before spending the next day exploring KL and checking out the sights. Later that day, we met up with Steve's friend Ahmad or as we got to know him, Bowlat (a nickname from his father for being a pudgy kid) and actually stayed the night in Shah Alam outside of Kuala Lumpur with his family. I've had little contact with the Muslim faith and culture, but I got a fantastic introduction to both through Bowlat and his wonderful family. We spent the day driving around to his grandfather's village outside of Shah Alam, where his grandfather was a pioneer in farming, beginning the first rubber plantation in the area before converting to palm oil, which is farmed widely across Malaysia. His grandfather is now 86 and still very healthy. I got to meet his uncles and aunts as well, who treated us to coffee and tea and snacks at every spot. Bowlat's father is actually the Minister of Transportation for Malaysia and his mother is a lecturer at a massive university in Shah Alam. We also saw a few mosques and met a Muslim woman volunteering for the mosque in Putrajaya where she led Steve and I through a little Q&A session about the faith, ranging from prayer rituals, worship, to polygamy and the tradition of the hijab. After this, we spent the night eating traditional Malay food and hanging with Bowlat's friends at various eating locales around town. Such an awesome time.

 

Yesterday we made a quick bus trip up to the Cameron Highlands to do some hiking and see a bit more of the countryside in Tanau Rata, which we did. We spent this morning hiking through the central Malay jungle and roaming through tea plantations. The pictures are absolutely stellar. After getting in a bit of trouble for our late checkout from the guesthouse, we got back to KL, found another GH and are on the way for food and to meet another of Steve's friends in about an hour.

 

I'm off to Cambodia tomorrow to see Siem Reap, then to Vietnam for the remainder of my trip. It's time for food, so off I run. From near the equator in the sweaty part of the world, lots of love.

 

T