Vara, vara nice. (Varanasi, India)

The Cycle of Life

Well, here I am in the holy city or Varanasi, a place where Hindus from all over the country come to die. Yesterday, we stood from a balcony and watched down below where bodies were being cremated. To the left of us in another balcony, there was a family looking on as they waited for their loved one's turn.

We were told the whole process of how things work, but I'll just give you the gist of it all. Basically, the body is wrapped up in orange and gold (gold, only if you're male) and then you're marched down to the Ganga river. The Ganga is a holy river, because they believe that the Shiva god has poured the river our from her head. This river is also where many locals or foreign Indians will bathe in the morning and pray while doing so. After paying for lots of wood to burn (you should see the piles and piles of lumber around here, not to mention all the cow shit!), the body is cremated for 3 hours. A handful of hay is taken and then lit from an eternal flame and then circled around the body 5 times, representing the 5 elements. It takes 3 hours, afterwards the family will spread the ashes into the river. Dead bodies of children under 12, pregnant women, holy men, lepors and people with small pox do not need to be cremated, because they are pure. Instead their bodies are just wrapped up and dropped into the middle of the river. Same with dead animals.

There's rumors though, that their are people of the highest caste named orgas (sp?) who will eat the human flesh that will sometimes float up from the water after the fish have eaten at the ropes.

This morning we got up early and took a boat along the river to watch the sunrise. During our little trip we saw a few men with fishing line, trying to catch some fish. Sushi anyone?

Very Nasty

I was told by my friend Gerry that "Very Nasty" is the nickname for this city. I'm pretty sure I know why, but at the same time, I'm not disgusted... go figure.

A long all the tiny streets, there are cows everywhere, just like all the other cities I've been in. Its seems that there are more here though. Due to all the cows, there's big plops or steaming shit everywhere. Watch your step, you don't wanna slip on it, you might land in one of the many piles of rubbish that's been swept up and put into a corner of the street.

The pollution here is like fog. Its quite hard to see very far because the air is so dark from all the car exhaust and the burning smoke. Not only is there the smoke from all the bodies being cremated, but from all the garbage burning. Much like the rest of India, all garbage is eventually burned. There normally not a designated spot to do it. Here, there, anywhere. You don't need a pit, just some kerosene and a match. I normally love the smell of a good burning fire, reminds me of camping, but I believe that the smell of burning plastic is up their with my list of bad smells.

Where the sun don't shine

Here's a bit of nastiness... This morning Emilie was using the toilet. The squatting kind, where there's a porcelin toilet on the ground with like a slide that empties into a hole where all your pee and shit goes. You then flush with a bucket of water.

Anyway, to make the story short, Emilie was doing her squatting business and her sunglasses were hanging from her shirt. I guess she squatted at the wrong angle and the next thing she knew, her glasses were sliding towards the dark hole. She hesitated a few seconds as she stood and saw her glasses sticking up out of the hole. Brave girl that she is, who loves her fake Gucci glases from Thailand, stuck her hand in and fetched them. Now that's nasty!

Worth the walk. (Darjeeling, India)

I arrived today from my trek. It turned out longer than what was planned. We had originally thought 3 nights, 4 days; but ended up doing an extra night. I'm glad to be back in Darjeeling, I was able to actually take a shower today. Man, did I stink, my hair hasn't been that greasy since I was 8 years old. My brother used to call me greaseball. Not to mention I'm sore from a down hill walk yesterday.

It was absolutley amazing! I can't even describe lots of it but I'll try. I guess that I'll start from day one. I know that the names won't really mean much, but its more for my reference.

Day 1: Maneybhanjyang to Tonglu

The first day was a little trying. We had to wake up and meet our guide Buku at 7am. Of course we were a little late. We then had to take a very cramped jeep to Maneybhanjyang, which took a couple of hours. Once we got there, Buku, who does not have an official guide certificate had to plea with the checkpost officers to let him take us. We trusted him, he was highly reccomended by the tourist office, its just that he just moved back to Darjeeling and didn't need a certificate when he last lived here.

While we waited, he brought us to his relative's house. I think that all Indians (or Nepalese) are all related, just like Filippinos. Everyone is your cousin or aunt or uncle. This was his "Grandma's" house, but not his real Grandma, his cousin's, sister's husbands, mother. Something like that. Anyway, we had some tea while we waited and worried about Buku not being able to join us. The old lady was a beautiful woman, who you could tell that in her younger years was stunning. Everyone in the house thought that I was Nepalese.

Let me talk about this first...

Every country I've gone to so far, I've been able to pass as a local. It can be useful at times, but other times can be annoying. It bugs me when people come up to me and start talking in native tongue. I never know what to say! I don't know how to say back in their language that "I don't speak your language". So generally what happens is that I'll be like, "sorry?", and they'll say something again in native tongue, and I'll be like "sorry, I don't understand", and then they'll say something again! Finally, someone I'm travelling with will say, "Oh, he's not (insert nationality), he's from Canada." Then the person will then talk in English and say "Oh! Hahaha, you look like you're from here." Then they'll stare at me for a few minutes, while I just kinda smile back and pretend to laugh along with them because I'm some kinda freak show that's come out of Canada.

Nepal

I should explain this too before I go on. Although I said I was not going to Nepal, technically I lied because my whole trek was basically on the border of India and Nepal and we went into Nepal several times. Lots of the people in and around Darjeeling are Nepalese and the main language here is Nepali. Actually Buku is Nepalese so I'm glad that I was able to experience some kind of Nepal culture. I think that out of everywhere I've been, Nepalese would be the nationality that I best fit, looks wise. Although, lots of them say Mongolian as well.

Anyway

Once we got started, it went quite sour really quick. Emilie, who thought that she was remedied of her diarhhea, turned out be still quite ill. She was not able to walk very much because she was very weak. This day was to be the steepest one and we had to go 11km. About a third of the way through, Emilie and Melissa got a ride in a jeep to Megmha, a little village point where Buku and I met up with them a couple of hours later. It was nice to actually just be able to walk freely for a while and not have to worry about whether or not the girls are caught up with us. In this time Buku and I had a chance to talk and he told me about Hinduism, arranged marriages, Indian culture and Nepalese culture. He also smoke a couple of joints along the way too. That was the first of many for him. I didn't have any along the way, I wouldn't have been able to function if I had. Once we met up with the girls we walked for another couple of hours and made it to Tonglu where we had a really COLD night.

It was a Lodge and we had a room with 4 beds. Good for body heat. We were able to get extra blankets and loaded up on them. I had too many, the next morning I actually had a small fever because I was too hot! Oops. I've also been suffering from an extremely runny nose the last few days, what a pain. The staff also brought in an old tire rim that was full of hot coals to heat up the room, it didn't really help though. We then had drinks called "Tungba", they're served in Bamboo cups and is full of these wheats or some kind of grains and then hot water is added and then it becomes this alcoholic like beverage. It heats up the body. It was good for the first little bit, but then kinda gross.

For dinner, we sat in this little kitchen that you would think if from the 1800's. It had this cement wood burning stove. It was so neat. The place was covered with culdrons and metal glasses. We sat by the fire and watched this girl roll the dough for our chapati's and then she placed them in the coals and they expanded like balloons. How cool is that. Whenever you ask for food, everything is made from scratch and they put their blood and sweat into making it for you. Then you end up paying like $1.50 for it. You do the math.

Buku

He's a really sweet guy, he's very kind and accomodating. No matter what the problem was, he always tried to help out in some way. We would be in the middle of dinner and he would always stop and get up for whatever we needed, like as if he was our server. He cut down bamboo sticks for Emilie and Melissa (by the way, this is the first time I've ever seen Bamboo growing in the forest), he would offer to carry stuff for us, or grab this, or arrange that. I guess that's what his job is (not the carrying stuff though, he's not a porter), but he was overwhelmingly helpful. He's 27 and loves nature and has really ambitious dreams to help the environment.

Day 2:Tonglu to Kali Pokhari 13km

Okay, this is getting way too long. I'm going to speed things up.

We woke up at 5:30am to Buku saying "hurry up! its fantastic!" The sunrise of course. From where we were, we were able to see the Kanchendzonga range of mountains. They actually form the shape of a sleeping buddha if you look at them a certain way. Just amazing.

November 24th was the one year death anniversary of Melissa's stepfather. We were able to have a heart to heart while watching the sun come up. Poor girl.

The day consisted of us trying to reach where we wanted to be by the 3rd day, so it would make us ahead schedule. It didn't happen. We ended up staying in a place called Kali Pokhari. It would have been nice to make it to our destination, but it was a little out of our reach. I was a little feverish for the first couple of hours until my advil kicked in (remember, too many blankets) and Emilie and Melissa were still a little slower than most trekkers.

On the way there, during one of our many, many breaks, we stopped in front of a temple and a Hindu priest came out, gave us a little flower each and blessed us with "dikats", you know, those red dots on your forehead. I then gave him a break from my kit kat bar! He stood there smiling and talked to me in Nepali (of course!), we then realized that he was not wanting a kit kat break, but some money. We gave him some spare change.

The evening was much the same as the first night.

Day 3: Kali Pokhari to Sandakphu 6km

This day, after a very, very steep last km, we ended up at Sandakphu. We woke up a little late and missed the sunrise. Emilie and I got up and went outside anyway, we found a frost covered field and sat on a bench where I wrote my name, drew a little mountain landscape and a "D+J" inside a heart. I kinda miss not being in Calgary for the winter. Afterwards, I went off on my own and while Buku still slept and tried to find a peak where I'd be able to see the mountains. I went up pretty high, while a dog accompanied me. We had slept in Nepal that night and when I got to the top I saw like a boundary rope and could not get to the top of where I wanted to be. I did not see any mountains, but was proud of myself for trying so hard in the early morning.

We arrived at Sandakphu at noon, after climbing a very steep last km. We did no more trekking for the day. Instead we just sat around on a rock overlooking the mountains and then watched the clouds get thicker and thicker throughout the afternoon. It got cold. We went inside and played cards instead until dinner time.

Day 4: Sandakphu to Rimbik 21km

The sunrise was worth every step we'd taken in the last 3 days. From the top of this peak, surrounded by Tibetan prayer flags, we watched the sun come out of the clouds. Its an awesome feeling to be above the clouds. The sun first hit Kanchendzonga and then a couple minutes later hit Mt. Everest way over to the west. We could only see maybe of quarter of Everest, but still it was a great feeling.

Melissa paid tribute to her Stepfather that morning and spread some of his ashes on the peak so that he would always have that view of the mountains. She still has some left and will be releasing them in the holy city of Varanasi.

Soon after, we were accompanied by some Austrians and Indian tourists. I was kind enough to lend one of them Melissa's binoculars and next thing you know, everyone wants to use them! I guess it was okay, how can I deny someone the beauty?

Unfortunatley, the rest of the day turned into a very negative one. Emilie began to get annoyed with Buku's estimatations of how much longer our destination was. It took a lot longer than expected and we were getting tired and anxious. However, the walk to Rimbik was a lot nicer than the previous days. It was on a cool walking path and we were surrounded by these old, bare trees, a river that had many waterfalls, and lots of bamboo trees.

Anyway, we got to Rimbik too late and could not make it back to Darjeeling by jeep as planned. To make a long story short, we had to stay the night and took a very crowded and bumpy bus ride home to Darjeeling the next day (today).

Daya Dan (Darjeeling, India)

Up in the sky

I'm now here in Darjeeling, you might know it for its tea. Its also where Tenzing Norgay is from. He climbed Mt. Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary. Anyway, after a very long train ride, almost catching a cold and a curvy jeep ride, I made it. I don't know the exact elevation I'm at, but I'm quite high up. The Himalayan Mountains are the backdrop for this quaint and geographically confusing town.

Hopefully in a couple of days, Melissa, Emilie and I will be going on a 3 day trek through the mountains. Emilie right now unfortunatley has gotten a case of what they call "Delhi Belly"... diarrhea. Poor girl. So hopefully we can leave in a couple of days. At the summit of the mountain where we hike to, we will be able to see Mt. Everest and Kanarchurng (sp?), which is the 3rd highest mountain in the world.

I've decided not to go to Nepal anymore, there's 3 reasons. First one is that I'm a little scared of the politcal problems going on right now. Maoist terrorists are doing periodic bombings, even in the Kathmandu valley. Its getting too cold there to do treks (I didn't realize this until recently). Thirdly, I was going to go there after Delhi, but I've decided to go south instead and see some more of India.

Kolkata

Since I didn't talk about it much my last entry, this is my short experience while in Calcutta, or the real way to spell it: Kolkata. I do plan to be there during Christmas and volunteering again for the Daya Dan House.

Daya Dan is a home where there are 57 orphaned children. Most of them do not have mobile skills, nor do they talk very much. Some are in wheel chairs, some are blind, some are only skin and bones, autistic, cerebral palsy, etc. Each one of them is adorable. At first I didn't think that I would be able to handle doing this sort of thing. Normally I get a little freaked out, but once I got there, there was no turning back. Basically I just went with the flow.

I only did it for 3 days, but it was nice to get into a routine. I hope to do it for at least 10 more days at the end of December. My daily schedule went kinda like this:

Get up at 4:45am
Leave at 5:15 and walk to the "Mother House"
Pray with the Nuns until 6
Mass until 7 (each day there was a different priest, one from Rome, a Canadian who's been there 35 years, and an Indian from out of state).
Breakfast (bananas, bread and chai tea) until 7:30
Take a very bumpy and scary roller coaster bus ride and then a motor rickshaw to Daya Dan, arrive at 8am.

(The first day we realized that there's not very much organization to the place, especially for new volunteers. We (Melisssa and I) just had to kind of figure out what to do. Learn the ropes I guess you could say.)

Clean the beds
Make the beds
Playtime - this is my favorite part of the day. Just going around and talking to the children, exercising their legs and arms. Making them learn how to use their hands, etc. 2 days I just sat around in a circle and sang to them. I couldn't remember kids songs at first, but it all came back to me. There was an older Indian woman who was singing the first time and I wanted to hug her, she was like the stereotypical grandmother/kindergarten teacher type. The other day I was all by myself in the room.
Tea time - 15 minutes to have biscuits and tea
Feeding - this was difficult. 2 days I had this boy named Rajju. I'm not sure what his diability was, but he wasn't very co-operative. It was like basically force feeding him, the resident lady who was there showed me how to do it, but she was very forceful with him and I didn't like doing it that way. Unfortunatley, that's how a lot of the things are done around there, with a lot of discipline and force. Not only is it hard to feed them, they each have a huge plate of food. Its like a 8" pie plate filled with rice, potatos and a banana all squised together. I would hardly be able to finish it. Now think of trying to shove this all down a little boy's throat. Poor Rajju, I think that he is knowledgable of what's going on, he's not stupid, but the ladies are so strict that they finish the whole plate of food. At least they have food.

Feeding would generally go until 12 and that's when shift change comes into effect. The sad thing is that sometimes there's not enough volunteers during the day and hardly any during the afternoon. Its no wonder the ladies (their nicknames are "Mozzy's" and the volunteers are called aunties and uncles) aren't very patient with the kids, not enough time in one day I suppose.

Anyway, I dont' have much time left here. I am happy to be spending Christmas there, it will be a meaningful Christmas for me. I guess that all the volunteers go around to all the homes (there's like 6 different ones) and sing carols and put on a play of the story of Christmas. Its a nice community to be involved with, each Wednesday all the volunteers gather and have discussions. Lots of the volunteers are Japanese and Koran, don't know why that is. I asked this one Japanese man who's in my current dorm and volunteered in Calcutta for 1 year, he said that Mother Teresa is very famous in Japan.

Okay, wish me luck on my 3 day trek.

Thankful. (Calcutta, India)

When you experience the worst, you realize what's best...

Well, I have a lot to talk about right now and a lot of it is quite hard to put into words. So excuse me if I am not my normal talkative self.

My best friend's mother passed away of cancer the other day, her name was Lolit Batuyong. Not only was she a nurse and a caregiver, she was a wife and mother of three. She raised one of the greatest friends that I will ever have, Jenny Batuyong. And for that I am thankful. Jenny has been very strong for the last couple of years, tending to her family and I'm proud to be her friend. Now, more than ever.

In the last few days, I have seen things that I could never of imagined. I've been volunteering at a house that cares for orphaned and disabled/handicapped kids. Nothing I have ever experienced before.

I am glad to be alive.
I am grateful that everyday I wake up and have the ability to do eveyday things, such as walk and brush my teeth.
I am grateful to have a wonderful family who loves me.
I am blessed to have a boyfriend for the last 4.5 years, who loves me very much and is patient with me, while I go around the world.
I am grateful for all my friends, who without their love and support, I would not be the same.
I am thankful to have food on my plate everyday.
I am happy to be travelling and doing what my heart has told me to do.
I am thankful that Jenny understands my dreams and supports me while I am away and not in Canada where I feel I should be.
I am honored to be praying with nuns that have worked with Mother Teresa, every morning at 6am.
I am happy to have a backpack full of clothes, medicines and toiletries, for, here these things are a scarsity to many civilians.
I am glad to have met Emilie and Melissa, for, right now they are my only means of me getting my thoughts out in the open.
I am glad, that these last few days I have found God again and has welcomed me back into His house.
I am exstatic when I can make the handicapped children smile, because sometimes that is all they have.
I am grateful that I have my music with me, to comfort me when I am down. (Jenny recently got her CDs stolen and she told me "its like a part of my soul was stolen".)


Through all its ups and downs, life is good. No matter how hard times may get. I believe that there will always be sunshine. I am truly blessed.

Off to the City of Joy

Don't have much time, just wanted to say a last hello before I leave Thailand. I get on a plane in less than 12 hours for Calcutta. Wish me luck!

Tribute to Roadwarrior (Bangkok, Thailand)

Allen who? No, Allen Woo!

Hello everyone, this is just a quick thanks to my friend Allen Woo for always writing in my guestbook under the pen name "Roadwarrior". Sorry to expose your identity Al, but this is in your praise. You should all take a lesson from this man and sign my guestbook as frequently as he. It's such a nice treat to read any comments you may have, no matter how big or small. Secondly, Allen has always been one of those people who you know is very smart and witty, but he never lets it shine through due to his modesty. I've recently realized that Al is not only the above traits, but also very wise. Keep living life Al!


"What's the Capital of Thailand?" - Stiffler from "American Wedding"

Here I am in Bangkok, it took many, many hours to get here from Ko Phi Phi. I suffered from a hangover. If you remember from my last entry I told you about my boat ride all day, well who knew that hanging out in the sun all day and riding on a boat would make me intoxicated so quickly with a few beers? No one ever tells you these things, damn it.

Anyway, the night was good, up until the part when I got a little sick. I had dinner with 10 other travellers, mostly Scottish nurses and Canadians. Afterwards, I had plans to meet up with other people, mostly Irish girls and Canadians. Man, these Canadians are everywhere, how can a country with only 31 million end up all over the world? I even met 2 Calgarians, one who went to Bishop Grandin and one who lives in Bonavista! Anyway, after hanging out at this Hippies bar for a while, I checked out a Ladyboy show. Ladyboy are men dressed up like women, but most of them take hormone pills and have breasts. Anyway, it was good fun, quite entertaining, good choreography. I went back to the Hippies bar and then watched a fire twirling show and man are they talented! Next thing I know, I'm dancing on the beach around a little volcano thing. It was my last night to party with Marlene, we said our goodbyes the next day and might meet up in Cambodia. Who knows.


So, since I've been in Bangkok, I had really seen that much. Yesterday, I waited in the hostel lobby for 5.5 hrs waiting for a free room. I waited with this really talkative Aussi (Jason) and this not so talkative English guy (Tim). We all arrived on the same bus at 5:30am. I repeat... AM. That was hell.

Anyway, I met up with Melissa and Emelie in the hostel. They were waiting for my arrival. We went to a cool Wat with a reclining Buddha. I don't remember the name right now. A Wat is basically a temple. Today we went to a floating market at 7am. That was pretty neat, you go in a litte row boat and go along this river where vendors will come by in another boat and try to sell you fruits and knick-knacks. There's these cool wooden frogs that immitate the sound of the 'ribbit'. I kinda want one, but its totally unnessisary (sp?). Anyway, we ate some Ranmantan and Dragon Fruit. They taste like lychee and kiwi, respectively.

Now we're off to go check out a Thai Girl show. Basically like a go-go bar with different... stunts performed. Its not my idea to go! But I'll try to have anyway.


I'm turning into a Pirate!

I'm so sorry!!! I've been buying pirated CD's and I know that I shouldn't. I feel horrible, but they're so cheap, less than $3cdn/CD. To make up for it, when I get home in Canada, I'm going to buy other CD's by the same artists. So far I've boughten 7 of them, but 5 are like electronic compilations, so I can rationalize those ones as not ripping off artists. But yesterday I boought a Paul Simon and a Randy Crawford CD. I'm sorry Paul and Randy, please forgive me.

Gotta go. Remember... be like Al. Not only should you be smart, witty and wise, you should write in my guestbook more often. Or better yet, send me an email.

Just like the movies (Thailand)

Ko Lanta

So here I am in Thailand. I first spent 3 days on an island called Ko Lanta, it was quite an ordeal to get there. Buses, ferries, Mini-vans, taxis lots of waiting, one vendor who was selling tickets to get to Ko Lanta on our first ferry that we never trusted, but really should have, one bloody motorcycle accident, one meal and 10 hours later we arrived. However, right before we got there, while 9 of us cramped in the back of this mini-van, we witnessed this 12 Thai family/friends stuck in the back of a truck. They were having the most fun that was possible back there, they weren't pissed off or tired, they were making the best of it, sharing food, playing silly games, caring for this little toddler, etc. That made the whole day worth the trip.

Not to mention the fact that Ko Lanta is beautiful with hardly any tourists. We stayed in this bungalow guesthouse. Nicest place I've stayed so far and there was no cockroaches! (one gecko, but they're harmless and cute). For the 3 nights we were there we just basically relaxed on the beach, read, listened to music, beach volleyball, jogged, played cards, ate good food and had one very relaxing and soothing Thai massage. On Saturday the 8th, it was a full moon. In Ko Phang Ngan, its a huge, huge, huge party. On our island, there was a tiny little party at this bar called "Flotation". Wasn't very exciting, some fire twirling and at 11pm we all sent candles and incense into the ocean after making a wish. Tradition!

Finding Nemo

I'm now here on Ko Phi Phi, another island, but this one is crazy busy with tourists everywhere and its not even full high season yet! Its so small though that there's no cars on the islands, just tiny little streets/sidewalks. Everyone come here it seems, I've run into some people I hung out with in the Cameron Highlands and we hung out yesterday. Its pretty cool to walk down a street in a foreign country and find friends on the street to chat with.

Anyway, today I went on this boat trip that goes to the little islands around the area. It was 6 hours long. One of the coolest things I did was snorkelling, it was my first time and its actually quite simple to do. I saw the neatest things down there. There was chances of seeing some sharks (non-threatening) but no luck today. However, we saw tonnes of fish that are like the ones in Finding Nemo. I've never seen the movie, but that's what everyone tells me. Actually, as we speak, the movie is being played at a local bar.

Lots of the bars have movie schedules of like brand new movies. They're free to watch, well I guess you have to get a drink or something. They were playing "The Beach" yesterday.

The Beach

Another one of the little islands we went to today was "Myamma" (sp?) beach. This is where the movie was filmed from. It was pretty cool to see it, it totally looks like how it did in the movie, with clear, clear water. Unfortunatley, we're not the only ones that went there, of course there was tonnes of other tourists there swimming and roaming around, taking pictures. Trying to find that ideal place, like in the movie, is not that easy to do. Although, I haven't really tried, don't think I will, not now anyway.

Sports

Well, as you all probably know, I'm not really into sports. I can deal with that, its never really bothered me. However, it kinda gets annoying when most of these bars are playing football (soccer to us North Americans) and you can really escape it. I don't understand though, why all these foreigners leave their country to try and grasp another's culture and then end up in a bar with all foreigners and watch football. I guess its something I'll never really understand. Well, I guess if it was a bar that was having a Stevie Wonder concert or something, I wouldn't miss it for the world.

After the football though, there was live Thai Boxing. That was pretty cool to see real people boxing. A lot of people were saying that it looks pretty fake, or set up and its just for exhibition. It might be true, but you could like hear all the thumps and smacks. After the match has been won, the 2 boxers come around and shake everyone's hand. I'm assuming they're wanting money for it. It was free to watch afterall, but no one really gave anything. I actually lost 20baht (that's like $0.65 cdn) because Marlene and I placed a bet between the 2 of us, just to make it more exciting.

Anyway, I gotta run. Believe it or not, I've got a choice of things to do right now with different groups of people. Like I said, I know people here left and right. Don't I feel special... hehe.

Oooooh.... aaaaaaah... (Malaysia)

Ahhhh... Langkawi!

Wow, I'm now in Langkawi, an island on the Northwest Corner of Malaysia, just below Thailand. It's so lovely out here. I came by ferry yesterday with Marlene and we ran into this Englishman Dominic who'd we'd met previously in Melaka. We rode along the Indian Ocean, its such a neat feeling to be riding on the ocean for 2 hours.

All the travellers I've met in the last couple weeks in Malaysia have all said that the west coast islands aren't that nice and not even worth going to. Most of them skip out on Langkawi and head straight up to Thailand. Well, I obviously haven't been to Thailand yet (arrive tomorrow morning), but Langkawi is so gorgeous I think that all those travellers are missing out. They must all have the Lonely Planet or something (I met someone yesterday who called it her 'bible'.

You'd be amazed at how little tourists there here actually, most of them are just people on a short vacation. Lots of resort type hotels here. Anyway, yesterday on the beach which spanned about 1.5km there were literally about 30 people. In the water, even less, like 7-9. Today, on another beach on the northern tip of the island, there was like 10 people spanning about 2km. I'd like to see that little amount of people on a beach in Thailand, doubtful! I think that fact alone, makes Langkawi superior to Thai beaches.

Okay, I'll admit the sand wasn't perfect, like there were a few shells to walk on, and in the water there was some pebbles along the bottom, but so what. The water was clean and clear, a nice color. You can't go wrong, I'm glad I didn't skip this place.


Oooouch! My aching bones!

So yesterday, while on the beach, I saw a few people jogging on the sand, along the shore line. I haven't been jogging since about early September or so and I was totally motivated by the others. No problem, I decided to give it a go... with no shoes. Not the best idea. Like I said there's pebbles and seashells on the sand. It was a nice run though, I actually wasn't even struggling at all, it must be all the hiking from the Cameron Highlands that got me back into shape, not to mention I walk around every city for hours at a time. However afterwards, my feet were pretty soar and my calves were aching! I did stretch before and after, but I think that its the fact of no shoes that did me in. It was so 'Baywatch' like to do it with no shoes though!

Not only are my calves and shoes soar, my skin is starting hurt. Today and yesterday I bathed in the sun and was able to read my book. (African Safari Papers by Sedlack... good book!) I put some sun screen on, but I don't think it was 100% full proof. My skin's a little tight right now and kinda hot. I'm sure I'll be fine though. You should see how dark my arms are, I look like a regular Malaysian!

My ass is a little soar too, but that's another story....

Yeeeeee-ha.... riding again!

Marlene and I rented a motorbike today for only RM20, which converts to like $6.50 Cdn for 24hours. Pretty inpressive price. Too bad the breaks didn't work so well, and the second we were about to leave the lot, the merchant yelled "wait, wait!" so he could run over and pump a little air into the front tire. He also gave us a 90 second riding lesson, good thing Marlene rode a scooter for 4 years when she was younger.

Anyway, Langkawi is pretty big, can't just walk from on end of the island to the other. (Just a quick note that there's about 80 tiny little islands all around Langkawi). So anyway, we took turns today riding from one place to another. I'd say I'm a pretty good driver for it being my first time, not to mention that Malay's drive on the left side of the road. There's hardly any traffic, the roads are really straight and there's like 5 traffic lights on the whole island.

Seven Wells

Since we were able to explore the island we found this cool place, Seven Falls. Basically you walk up something like 550 steps and at the top there's this small waterfall where you can go swimming in. Pretty cool stuff, there's even a part where the rocks form like a slide to go down. I went down twice!

12 Monkeys

Okay, there wasn't really twelve of them, but its a better title. Marlene was wondering a little on her own, while I was getting ready to jump into the Seven Falls water, but then I heard her scream. I looked up and she was about to get attacked by a few monkeys. She was ready to use her camera to swing at them as she slowly backed away. It was actually quite funny, after the fact, but I don't know what I would've done it they actually attacked. Would I save her from the monkey? You or I will never know, but I'd like to think yes, being the gentleman that I am.

Ewwwww.... critters.

So, if I'm man enough to fight a monkey, then I should have no problems living with cochroaches. Yeah, that's right, cockroaches. In our room last night, we discovered about 3 or 4 different cockroaches hanging off the wall. I tried not to freak out, but Marlene is there jumping and stuff, of course I'm gonna freak out with her. I slept with my feet facing the wall as opposed to my head, the way it normally should be, because I know that the cockroaches are found on the wall. It took me like 10 minutes to get the guts to go into the washroom and brush my teeth. One scream later and a lot of courage, I had some clean teeth.

I think I'm okay now, you just have to get to know them, be friendly with them. They won't hurt or bite you, they just want to be roomates... yeah, that's it. In fact, just about 45 minutes ago, I had a shower with one! I didn't even freak, honest. I just quietly chanted to myself, 'please go away, please go away, please go away'. You can't really do much while you're standing there naked! But I watched it and saw how it moves, and they actually pretty neat little critters. Nevertheless, I left the lights on when I left the room, hopefully they won't be there when I get back.

I almost ran over a pretty big lizard today, but I swerved just in time. Then a few minutes down the road, there was a dead one splattered on the pavement. Poor fella.

I saw a rat a couple days ago too, but this was in Penang. First time seeing a rat. I'll have to get used to these aswell for when I get to India.


Ummmm.... a few tidbits.

I drank a Crysanthimum drink today. Inside it were all the flowers, but they look like dandelions. It was way too sweet, I tried to add some water to it, but still gross. I fed it to a tree.

I bought the drink from this big outdoor Ramadahn market. Ramadahn is a month long fast for Muslims, from 6am-7pm. We got there around 6pm and it was swamped with starving people, buying food to eat right at the strike of 7pm.

Speaking of the Islam religion, right now I'm at this internet cafe with no shoes on.

If you haven't read my "Everything happens for a reason" story, do so before reading this paragraph (should be the next one). Anyway, right after I wrote that entry, literally 2 mintues later, I bumped into Melissa and Emilie at the cafe that located at the base of my hostel! They're the 2 Canadians coming to India with me. Later that night, they bumped into a friend of a friend they know from Montreal. He then told us he knows of a travel agent in Bangkok who might be able to help us out with our plane tickets. I swear, this is no coincidence.

Does everything happen for a reason? (Malaysia)

Okay, i tried this last night, but the stupid computer blanked out and lost it. here it is again, with a few variations. Also, just so you know the shift key on this keyboard doesn't work very well.

Do you believe that everything happens for a reason, there's no such thing as a coincidence? it's a pretty big question to swallow and could take a lifetime to answer. during the last little while, i'm starting to believe that everything does happen for a specific reason, whether it be good or bad.

- met Marlene in Singapore
- met Allan and louisa just outside of our hostel in melaka, they later told us about Daniel's lodge in the Cameron highlands
- first night in the highlands we were hanging out at a pub where i left early due to crappy and loud music. its way too hard to sit around and talk to foreigners who you can hardly hear, let alone understand their accent.
- had a really great night as a result, went back to Daniel's lodge and sang around in a big group while a guy named Gill played his guitar
- while all this was happening, marlene was still at the pub and was meeting new people
- next morning, marlene introduced me to Timm, this German guy who turned out to be a really cool and funny guy.
- next day, i met Allen, this Scottish guy that was also at that pub that night, but i never met because i left, but was introduced by marlene.
- a couple days later, i met these 2 Canadian girls (Melissa & Emilie) in my dorm room and we talked about my going to India and how they had met another Canadian who's been there and was telling her experiences of it
- later that night, sitting around the camp fire at Daniel's, the 2 girls were there and also the other Canadian lady (Lorilee) who'd been to India.
- after talking a while, the 2 girls decided that they'd join me in India for a while. I've been hoping to find travel companions for India!
- next day, i left for Penang, 3 minutes after i walk into my hostel, lorilee walks in!

So, do you belive that everything happens for a reason? I really want to know, just put it in my guestbook with a few comments.

Can't... get... stuck! (Malaysia)

I'm here still in the Cameron Highlands. I was planning on leaving this morning but was cohearsed to stay by some of the other backpackers in my hostel. I don't really have any complaints about staying at this place, but there's so much more to see and only... 11 months and 12 days left to do it! I'm actually sad to leave this place, first place actually, that I don't really want to leave. Its been a fun 4 days, out of these 4 I've done 3 day hikes.

Today was supposed to be a simple, relaxing hike, but turned out to be one of the hardest ones so far. I guess its just being tired from drinking and hiking from the day before. I actually slipped in some mud today, twice! No biggie.

Last night was Halloween and there's was a 'party' that turned out to be nothing. I was really excited for it, I guess I've had worse Halloweens. Anyway, don't want to spend my last night sitting in front of the internet... gotta go. Probably write again from Pulau Panang. An island on the east coast of Malaysia, everyone I've talked to says its kinda boring, but I'll have to see for myself.