Penang

The "Pearl of the Orient" is not quite as charming as the travel magazines suggested but we have managed to find some bright spots. We have seen many of the mosques and temples in historic Georgetown and took a tour of the lovely Blue Mansion, home of a Chinese businessman in the late 1800s. Today we took a bus outside the city to the Kek Lok Si Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in SE Asia. We have accomplished most of our sightseeing on foot, which has been treacherous due to the lack of sidewalks, ample traffic, and open storm drains. These 20-inch troughs on each side of most streets invite both public urination and broken bones.

Despite the range of food on offer here, Western lapses have been frequent and included tacos (accompanied by a couple of Chinese guys doing Elton John), burgers (in the pub at the Eastern & Oriental hotel), and pizza (in Chinatown). Shopping has also ramped up, as we are nearing the end of our journey and will not have to carry purchases much longer. During my consumer wanderings yesterday I was introduced to a new concept I will call "motorbegging." As I staggered along the street with sweat in my eyes (mid-90s here), a guy swoops up next to me on his motorbike and asks for 20 bucks. I might have given him something if he had offered me a freakin' ride!

Street food for dinner tonight. Back to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow for our connection to Shanghai the next day.
Melinda

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Malaysia continues to get high marks for it's beautiful landscapes, diversity of activities, great food and high number of English speakers. We arrived in Cameron Highlands on Sunday. When the Brits were in charge, they came here to get out of the heat and so have we. Beautiful place, famous for tea production. We went to the Boh Tea Factory and Museum this morning for breakfast. We were up early because the mosque next door broadcasts the 5x a day prayer sessions over the loudspeakers in town so we can't forget to whip out our mats at sunrise.
Though this is definitely a top-3 stop on our trip, yesterday's "interpretive trail walk" gets worst tour. Apparently no one had taken this tour for quite a while and the guide didn't know the trail had washed out in a landslide. He helped build that trail 12 years ago and his sentimentality for it led to some pretty poor judgement as he led us through very rugged terrain until we all ended up ankle-deep in mud. At home this would not be a problem but given that these were the only real shoes we brought on the trip, it was definitely an issue. The best part was while we were cleaning up at the hotel I noticed a leech was snacking on my ankle. We carefully peeled him off, named him Leopold and played with him for the rest of the rainy afternoon before releasing him into the dense shrubbery around the parking lot.
On to Penang tomorrow, which promises more tasty Asian fusion cuisine. Oink.
Rosemary

Kuala Lumpur and Taman Negara

We arrived KL on a late flight Wednesday and settled into a 5-star room we got for a bargain on the internet. It had so many bells and whistles that a maintenance man had to come and remove the bulbs from several lights we couldn't (and he couldn't) find switches for so we could go to sleep.

Malaysia appears to lack the hookers, hawkers, and scam artists we regularly encountered in Thailand. The place is a blend of Malay, Chinese, and Indian folks, so the Asian fusion cuisine in KL was delicious. The Malay are Muslim so most women cover their heads. Many people speak English (yay!).

KL has a reputation for great shopping. The Pavilion KL has just about every luxury brand you can think of, but what really excited us was the Gap. You see, Rosie has needed new shorts for the last month, but it is difficult to find sizing that accommodates the Western bootie. (The ladies at the markets try to lure us into their stalls with "I have big size for you." Not big enough.)

Friday we travelled from KL to Taman Negara National Park. The trip required a 4-hour bus ride followed by 3 hours on the floor of a wooden longboat. Uncomfortable for sure, but the scenery was lovely. That night we went on a 4WD tour of the jungle to see nocturnal critters. Spottings included a couple of owls, wild boar, a tailor bird, and several lemurs and a wild cat in the distance. Yesterday we walked the Canopy Walkway in the park. Cool structure but disappointing because we did not see any wildlife, which I perceived as the whole point. The most impressive thing about this stop was the probably the sounds of the crickets. Just imagine the reverse warning on a garbage truck (beep-beep-beep) at full volume... all night.

Today we travelled all day by bus to Cameron Highlands, which smells of the tea leaves that grow here and has cooler temperatures.
Melinda

Phuket, part 2

You would never know the tsunami hit this place, except for the new evacuation route signage. Mickey Ds, BK, and Subway sure seem to like their chances and the locals say the wave made the whole world want to come here. We can't argue given the crowds, and the Chinese New Year doesn't help. We have enjoyed some good off shore adventures though. Brushed up our scuba skills on Monday with 3 10meter dives at Raja Noi and Raja Yai. Usual reef fish but the trip-maker was a 4.5meter Manta ray! We tried to get out of here sooner, but due to the flight restrictions on scuba divers and a lot of sold out flights, we're still here. We did move farther down the island to the less crazy Kata Beach (only a handful of Starbucks here), where we are hanging out til our flight to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, later tonight.
Rosemary

Phuket

Phuket greeted us with extreme heat, which I feel a little guilty admitting considering the conditions at home. (Congrats to Philly for smashing the record for seasonal snowfall.) We nearly roasted on a late-afternoon visit to Surin beach, but the water was a nice temperature for 3 Floridians. We had some of the best food of the trip at Tatonka, an outdoor fusion restaurant a few km from the hotel. Yesterday we joined an all-day sea kayak adventure involving lots of caves and lagoons where we watched mudskippers (what an odd little critter!), macaques, birds, bats, and huge lizards. We enjoyed a fabulous lunch and dinner on the boat, and after sunset, made offerings to the Goddess of Water. These were craft projects made from banana leaves, flowers, incense, and candles, that our guides helped us to create and float on the water. The caves at night are a little spooky but good places to see bioluminesc-ing sea life. Today we hired a long-tailed boat for some snorkeling 30minutes off shore. Decent reef with the usual suspects. Dhaval leaves us tomorrow (sniff), and Rosemary and I will take a lodging demotion to some little hole in Patong (sniff). Monday is the day it becomes painfully obvious how much of our PADI training we have forgotten.
Melinda

Chiang Mai

On Saturday, Melinda's friend Dhaval fom Philly joined us in Bangkok. We stayed in Silom this time and found the city more to our liking. We hit the Palace, Chatuchak Market and the Jim Thompson house, which was lovely. Sunday we headed north to Chiang Mai and have been impressed by the food and fancy cocktails.
Yesterday we hit the Patara Elephant Farm for our much anticipated "Elephant Owner for a Day" outing. We started out with a lesson on how elephants have contributed to Thailand's history and the mission of the farm, which is to increase their population in the wild. After signing our lives away and donning our "mahout" outfits, we were each assigned our own elephant and trainer. Mine, Nui, which means "Chubby," was 10 years old and pregnant, a former circus elephant. Melinda's was Maeboitong, a gentle giant at 35. Dhaval's was also a circus alum, an 11-yr-old named Ploy, which means "precious gem". We fed our elephants a huge basket of bananas and bamboo for breakfast. Then we learned how to check the elephant's health via examinations of skin, sweat, and...yes, poop. Next it was bathtime. We started by sweeping the big pieces off with a handful of brush. We learned how to tell him to sit down so we could get to his head and back. Then we went to the river to douse them with water and scrub them down with bathtub brushes. After their baths, the circus girls led the others in spraying water all over us for the ultimate photo opp. Then we mounted up for a ride to a waterfall for a lovely picnic lunch. After lunch the fun really started when Ploy ran Dhaval into the woods and started madly twirling around, scratching her up in the dense brush. Ploy did not listen to the trainer, but he managed to get Dhaval down. At one point he got his head stuck in between Ploy and a tree, and his clothes were all torn up by the time the beast calmed down. We quickly decided we were happy just being bunny and cat owners and were taken back to the hotel and given a large discount. In retrospect, we are grateful it didn't end worse and we got good pictures. However, I think we are forced to make a new entry on our "stupidest things I've ever done" lists.
Thai cooking school tonight then on to the Phuket tomorrow.
Rosemary

Kanchanaburi

Upon our arrival to Kanchanaburi the evening of Red Vest Day, we learned that the boutique raft hotel we booked (and pre-paid for) was 60 km outside of town. It would take an hour to get there, cost 30 bucks one-way, and take us away from anything we wanted to do during our visit there. The decision was made to sleep in a 12-dollar hut in town while paying for a 70-dollar room elsewhere. I think our days of pre-paying for hotels are over. We also learned that wandering around at 11PM trying to make a decision on lodging and tripping over a curb with a 33-pound pack on is also to be avoided. I can now add a skinned knee to the list of typical childhood ailments I have become reacquainted with on this trip (ear infection, poison ivy, random puke-athon... Bring it on, pink eye!)

Kanchanaburi is notable for 2 things:
1) Bridge over the River Kwai. The bridge looks a lot like any railroad bridge. In fact, the locals had no idea what I was talking about when I drew a picture of a bridge and asked which way it was. However, the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre is the curent favorite for our coveted Best Museum award. We also visited the War Cemetery, where many Allied POWs who worked on the bridge are buried.
2) "Sex-pats." For those new to the term, these are skeevy white dudes who fly half-way around the world to get a date. They are everywhere. Example below.

Back in Bangkok today after our first train ride of the trip (3rd class, baby). Dhaval joins us tomorrow!
Melinda

Khao Yai National Park (Thailand)

After flying from Hanoi to Bangkok, we set out by hot, crowded bus to Pak Chong, the town base for Khao Yai National Park. We settled into the EcoValley Lodge, which had a pool, great Thai food, and a couple of friendly Jack Russell terriers. Our bungalow there came with a resident gecko, who hid behide picture frames and whose cackle we first mistook for bird or monkey. We took a bike trip to the nearby "Magic Cave," which we declared best cave and have officially sworn off visiting additional caves. The following day we took a 12-hour tour of the park. Despite being 9 hours too long and including a 2.5-hour death march through the muggy jungle, there were some good animal sightings. Samba deer, barking deer (we barked at them but they wouldn't bark back), water monitors (like a cross between gator and lizard), great hornbill (awesome!), pig-tailed macaques, white-handed gibbons, and finally, a lone male elephant. Highlights were 1) befriending Lauren and David from California (Americans are few and far between over here); 2) the elephant, who blew his horn and did some stomping when our driver got too close; 3) the sweet, sticky-rice concoction they gave us at lunch; 4) adult activities between macaques. My travelling companion forbade me to post video of the last item but I can tell you it was hilarious to all nationalities and the footage is available for rental. Pics have been added to Halong Bay and Saigon posts.
Melinda

My Lucky Day

Wednesday started with a routine 3 hour bus ride back to Bangkok, where we planned to catch another bus to Kanchanaburi, home of the Bridge over the River Kwai, about 2 hours west of the city. The plan came together, but with a little more drama than we'd hoped. Once at the terminal in Bangkok we bought tickets to Kanchanaburi, boarded the bus and settled in. As we rolled out of the station, the stewardess tried to sell Melinda a ticket, which was fishy because we had tickets. She didn't speak English, but shooing people off a bus can be achieved in any language. Grateful we had not made it farther to the wrong destination, we grabbed our stuff and bailed off. That's when the real fun started. We headed back to the station to find the correct bus and then it hit me: In my haste to comply with the shooing, I left Superman's vest under the seat--I'd stashed it there to cool off for a minute. Now you know the red vest has strong sentimental value... However, it also carries my money, credit cards, passport and camera (including all the pictures I've taken so far and evidence that Melinda even went on this trip.) I freaked at the high probability that my identity, money, memories (and dignity) were headed down the Mekong, never to return. Instead of unleashing a murderous rage, M was very level-headed, and over the course of the next hour we talked to anyone who would listen about our plight, combing through the station staff for those who spoke any English. I would write info on my hand hoping what couldn't audibly be understood could be read. An official-looking dude in a glass box got on the case and called around on his walkie talkie but could not do much without Wrong Bus's number. Meanwhile, M was gesticulating wildly with a roving secuirty guard whose give-a-damn was a lot better than his English. With information from him and a stewardess on the next Wrong Bus to leave the terminal, M figured out we had boarded at slot 11, not slot 10. Slot 11's bus was #996 and Superman's vest was on it's way to buy street meat at the floating market. They radioed some more. A Thai passenger who spoke pretty good English then noticed our panicked faces and stopped by to see if he could help. He was able to talk Thai with the stewardess and security guard and finally said to me, "They found it. You ride this bus and stay with this stewardess". M shoved some baht in my pocket and away I went. M stayed at the station to check any buses that came back to slot 11. I rode about 1.5 hours then the bus stopped. A stewardess bearing a red vest got on. I threw my arms around her, which I'm sure she did not appreciate given my level of body odor at this point. I then checked the contents. Nothing was touched, it was all there. We all had a good laugh and I made them each take a thousand-baht note. After all, I couldn't keep this lucky day all for myself. About five minutes after I was reunited with my vest, the bus stopped abruptly and the stewardesses jumped off and started yelling to a bus across a traffic circle. It stopped and they pushed me toward it saying "to Bangkok". I ran over and jumped on and after another 1.5 hours, I was back in Bangkok and found M sitting in the same chair I left her in. We celebrated with the folks who'd helped us, forced a few baht on them, and pounded a few donuts. We found the right bus and got to Kanchanaburi about 8:30pm.
Rosemary