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Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia

a travel blog by chrischarly

This passage will be our longest one and it will be during our time in SE Asia visiting Malaysia, The Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, proabaly in this order before flying to Australia towards the end of September. Unfortunately we've run out of time to go to Burma and Vietnam... maybe next time!
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Scary lady!..

Miri, Malaysia


A waitress in training
Today we left Brunei after our short visit and got onto a bus at 7am to go back into Malaysia this time visiting Sarawak. The journey was ok taking only 4 hours and that included crossing the border. Once there we waited ages for a local bus to take us into Miri city centre as many locals told us it would arrive, but ‘soon’ was the only time scale they could offer and not in a very friendly way either. So, we eventually gave up waiting and met our next ‘friendly’ person, a taxi driver. He was so miserable with us acting as if it was a massive favour by him taking us somewhere. He dropped us off with a bit of persuasion at a guest House called ‘The Highlands’ and after climbing what seemed to be a million stairs we were greeted by the most eccentric Asian lady we’ve ever met. In fact, eccentric may be a tad too polite and politically correct, possibly a full-on psycho would be more precise. However, we realised this once we had already checked in and paid, unfortunately.


The cutest girl giving me change
She was supposed to be a tour guide as well and this was supposed to be like a tourist information centre as well as a hostel, which was why we decided to choose this place in the first place. However, if you need to ask her a question, she pretty much mocks you and says the exact opposite of the correct answer. Very irritating! So we soon ran away to the beach with our new friend Jess for the night to watch the sunset and came back to find us no longer speaking to us, laid in silence watching the T.V. which I was secretly glad about, but trying to book a tour for tomorrow was difficult. Then, into our beds for the night, completely exhausted, to find that the mattress has no springs, like a thin cushion sinking through the thin and hard slabs. ‘The Highlands’ is definitely a top pick for travellers!

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 23, 2011 from Miri, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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A 'trip' to Niah Caves

Niah, Malaysia


At the entrance

Well the scary lady that we stayed with only got more scary and irritating today but I cannot be bothered to list all the reasons to why today as it would take too long and make for a huge blog entry, but I’m sure I’ll include some of the highlights.


Dreading the 8.2 km walk

We woke up prepared to go on our trip this morning to Niah Caves about a 1 ½ drive away. They found 40,000-year-old human remains and artefacts here that are the oldest found in SE Asia, so quite impressive! We managed to eventually book our tour through ‘scary lady’ and we were really looking forward to going although it would be a lot of trekking, 8.2km to be precise and as my knee isn’t completely healed I was a little worried. Once we got outside we were expecting to see a mini bus to take us considering it was a tour, but no a miserable taxi driver was waiting outside to greet us with a disgusted look on his face and said, ‘You’re late’ and so the drive continued in silence... Thus the tour we had booked was in fact just a taxi ride and with no tour. Anyway, we were determined to not let it dampen our day so found our own way to the caves once we arrived and the driver sat and waited for us in his car.


Us about half way to the caves


Along the side of The Great Cave

The beautiful walkway to the caves


Vines hanging down from the trees

Inside The Great Cave


Me, sweaty and exhausted, yet not even half way!


A pretty bird

An pretty plant


Just inside the entrance of a cave

The entrance to one of the caves


Climbing up a shed load of steps


A bright red centipede hiding

A very spiky plant


Lighting up the way with our head-torches

Finding some light


About to go into pitch black


Inside a cave

Looks like the cave was being held up by just 1 stick!


Me 'wowed' by the tree

Amazing roots from a tree

It was a long trek but most of it was shaded and on a slabbed platform outside the caves but inside it was quite dark and slippy as the ground was just layers upon layers of bird and bat poo. However, we did have a great yet tiring day; as it was so humid, so on the way back after getting some much-needed lunch I just passed out in the back of the car. Chris also was exhausted so decided to find himself a quick beer when we got back and I walked to our room to chill for a while. I unfortunately left the key with him, so had to ring the doorbell to get inside; something ‘scary lady’ was not happy at all with and glared at me in such a way, I’m actually surprised she didn’t punch me before telling me off as if I was 6 years old! By this time I had had enough so made a vow with Chris and Jess that we would be checking out first thing in the morning!

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 24, 2011 from Niah, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Arriving in the delightful Mukah

Bintulu, Malaysia


Chris looking deep in thought

This morning we checked out, which I was delighted about and took a taxi to the bus stand to go to Mukah which one of the locals was very excited about us going and said that it ‘has beaches like Hawaii’ and although we doubted that he had ever been to Hawaii we appreciated the gesture! So we were pretty excited especially as it didn’t seem like an area tourists generally visit. The bus journey was a little bumpy but we managed to book front seats having 2 to ourselves so it was a comfortable ride. After 7 hours we arrived and got dropped off in the outskirts of town but without a taxi insight, map and anybody who spoke decent English we were unsure of which direction to head in so finding accommodation was a challenge.


Jess chillin'

After about 40 minutes walk though we came across a little gem that was really cheap, free Wi-Fi and in a good location close to the river, although we had yet to find the beach?!


The river branching out to the sea
In the evening, we took a little walk a found a nice restaurant with friendly staff overlooking the river, which served really cheap beer- 3 for £2, so Chris, was in his element and there we stayed for the night.

Boats on the river outside a tasty seafood restaurant

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 25, 2011 from Bintulu, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Finally finding the beaches like Hawaii???

Mukah, Malaysia


The very over-rated beach :(
Today we woke up determined to find the beach. So, we asked the manager where we were staying for directions, and decided to just walk until we found it and he also said that we would love it and it is one of the nicest beaches. We packed light, as we knew it would be quite a walk and planned to find a nice little restaurant to camp out in once we got there. After about a 45-minute walk in the baking sun and leaving civilisation completely we found it! It was nothing like we imagined it to be. We heard many reports that it was gorgeous and had loads of palm trees we could sit under, but as soon as we got there, it seemed that all of these had been sadly chopped down. So the sand was pretty much covered in logs to climb over and there wasn’t anywhere we could see to stop for a quick drink, which sucked, as we brought no water. We decided to walk for a while to see if we would come across one, but no, nothing at all there so we found a different route to walk back along the road praying we would come across a shop soon. No, was the answer.


A refreshing drink/ice-cream treat after a stupidly long walk!

So after about 2 hours of walking we made it back into town and downed as much fluid as our bodies could take and although we were wearing sun cream we were burned and a little dizzy from the heat. Also, just to prove how hot it was, when we got back we jumped straight into the shower and my bikini bottoms elastic had melted and stuck to my skin! Later, after it had cooled down a bit, Jess and I took a walk around town for an hour or two leaving Chris back at the hotel as he wasn’t feeling great to check out flights before going back to the riverside restaurant for some tasty seafood in the evening.

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 26, 2011 from Mukah, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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A 11 1/2 bus journey to Kuching

Sibu, Malaysia


Us at the back of the bus
We left Mukah first thing this morning and got on a 7:30am bus to Kuching in preparation for our flight to Indonesia in a few days time. It sure was a long journey with us arriving at 7pm but at least it got all the travelling out of the way. When we arrived at the bus station there were only 2 seats available and they were right at the back, but as this was the only bus going directly to Kuching we decided to just get on, ignoring all of our previous experiences travelling right at the back of old bad suspension buses. It was a ‘luxury V.I.P. bus’ though so only had 3 seats across so we had tons of leg room and the chairs were huge so it wasn’t too bad.


A view of the bus
But as soon as we got going, every bump ensured we left our seats so it was not very comfortable, but we could see the funny side as I almost landed in Chris’ lap a few times and he in mine! When we arrived in Sibu, which was about 4 hours into the trip, we had a 20-minute break and as this was a main stop, many passengers got off, so Chris went and used his charm to get our seats changed to 4 seats up the bus, so just behind the middle. We were both so grateful! However, as soon as we set of, we realised that the air-con unit was leaking just above my head, so just like Chinese water torture apparently. So I continuously was dripped on with ice-cold water for the rest of the journey, and as all the seats had once again been sold, I had no choice but to put up with it.


Chris relaxing
Once in Kuching we tried to get a taxi into town, but they refused to give us a decent price so we went and found a local bus stop to take us, although no one told us there were no buses running in the evening! After about 30 minutes waiting during a thunderstorm, a mini bus pulled off dropping some passengers off so we climbed in, not knowing that he had finished his rounds for the night and was only a private bus, but he kindly took us to town anyway. Then we had a short walk, somehow managed to strike lucky, and find our hostel and we were absolutely drenched through! It was a really nice place though and we had booked 2 dorm beds and when he checked us in, there were only bizarrely 3 beds per dorm room, and it was just the two of us, much much cheaper than getting a double room but just the same! Bargain!

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 27, 2011 from Sibu, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Junk, junk, junk

Kuching, Malaysia


Sarawak Parliament Building



Not sure what this is

Where we are staying
Today we decided to go exploring around Kuching and planned what we would do for the next few days here. So we went walking around enjoying the city marvelling how they could have huge streets with shops next to each other selling identical junk! Right at the waterfront there must be almost 50 souvenir shops and on the back street there must be the same amount of jewellers! How these people stay in business we’ll never know especially as there were never any customers! Must be a SE Asia thing…

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 28, 2011 from Kuching, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Sarawak Cultural Village

Kuching, Malaysia


Men picking up huge wooden things with their teeth!

Chris looking out a window in a traditional Malay house

Today we woke up early and caught a shuttle bus to Sarawak Cultural Village in Damai. We had heard great things about it and as they were celebrating their Harvest Festival this weekend we thought it would be a great time to visit.


Chris walking along a mission of a bridge

Climbing up very thin steps made out of a tree trunk

It wasn’t however how we expected it to be.


A mask

A statue

I had heard wrong and thought it was a real longHouse village from years ago, but really it is so touristy and they had built replica longHouses from the different tribes.


A typical bedroom

Inside a longhouse

It was a great chance though to see what a real long House looked like even if it had never been lived in.


A long house

A Long house


Some figurines

An iron-man competition


Inside a longhouse

Me looking at gongs


An old-style bed

Ladies making cakes

But there was very little to do and it was very pricy to Enter at £12pp and for Malaysian standards that is high.


Chris and I waiting for the dances to start

Another Mr. Joel staying at a longhouse...

There was an iron-man competition going on which was weird in such a setting with loud music blaring all day, so it didn’t make the whole experience life-like.


Dancing

A traditional cultural dance


Impressive!

A man balancing on a stick

But what we did see were a few cultural dances which were impressive from different tribes around Sarawak.


Ladies in traditional clothing

Shooting blow-darts

However as we were sitting right at the front we noticed they were all the same dancers dressed up differently for each dance, which was also a great disappointment considering it was advertised to be tribes that were dancing.


Ladies dressed up as they would in tribes years ago

There's something not right about this picture??

Nevertheless we did have a good day and did manage to see the funny side and were pretty tired once we got back.

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 29, 2011 from Kuching, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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A nice stroll around Kuching

Kuching, Malaysia


A statue outside a Chinese temple

Today we went for another walk around Kuching and wandered around some of the museums before finding a few back streets to take a walk aimlessly down. It was a pretty easy-going day!


A tasty Lebonese Restaurant

Oh and finally the scab fell off my knee, now a month later I'm left with a big hole in the middle and a rank scar!


My knee a month later, with a hole and scars all round... yuck!!

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 30, 2011 from Kuching, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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Last full day in Malaysia!

Kuching, Malaysia


Me eating tradional Malay food... Chris was soooooo proud!

As it was our last day in Kuching, and well our last full-day in Malaysia we decided to go out and try some of the local foods that Sarawak is famous for. Chris had a ‘Sarawak Laksa’ and I had ‘Tomato Keow Taow’ which is fried noodles cooked in a tomato sauce with other bits in which were tasty but I have no idea what they were.


????

We then went back and did last minute preparation for tomorrow, as we still haven’t worked out what we should do once in Jakarta.


Staff

And now that it is the evening we are going to have a few drinks to toast Malaysia!


The lounge in Wojia Lodge

Probably not the best plan before a day of flying, but we'll deal with that tomorrow! :)


Our German friends, David and Tanya

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 31, 2011 from Kuching, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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A long, long day

Changi Airport, Singapore


Queing up
Well today was certainly a long day! We woke up bright and early after a rubbish sleep due to our neighbour watching loud films on his laptop until 2am! It took ages to work out where the noise was coming from, as we didn’t know there was anyone staying there! So I went walking around the whole hotel checking that no T.Vs were left on and getting the manager to check. We just couldn’t work it out, as there were thick concrete walls into the other room next to us, which we thought were the only other people staying on our floor. Very irritating! In the end, I worked out that part of the wall was just thick cardboard basically, so hammered on there for ages, but it didn’t help until I banged on his door continuously until he shut up! I then found out that it was a staff member who was being so noisy, so I was even more wound up! So after 3 hours sleep, I wasn’t really prepared for the day ahead.


The pilot of our plane reading his newspaper
We took a taxi to the airport as there were no buses running that early and the flight left for Johor Bharu at 9:30am. Easy. We then took a bus to the main bus stand before getting on another through into Singapore airport. Then, from there we had to just and wait for our flight. As we were 4 hours early we couldn’t drop our bags off which was a pain but as there is very little to do in the budget terminal, it wasn’t a big deal. There were huge storms in Singapore as soon as we arrived so we were praying our flight wouldn’t be cancelled, which luckily it wasn’t, just delayed by 30mins.


Chris very excited about going on a plane in Singapore
When we got onto the plane, we somehow managed to get the extra legroom seats, which was great as we didn’t even pay for them, or even ask. Maybe the lady took pity on us at the counter. Once we arrived in Jakarta is was manically busy, but there was a great bus system operating just outside the airport so caught a bus really easily into Jln Jaksa, which is the main backpackers street, right next to the train station. The bus took about an hour and just looking out the window we were amazed at just how busy as well as huge Jakarta is! Phenomenal is the only word to describe this place! Java is apparently the most populated island in the world for its size, amazingly beating India, which we didn’t think possible, so as soon as we arrived we tried to plan our escape route, by walking to the train station and trying to get any train out of there as quick as possible, not caring about the destination.


Our mosquito-ridden room
This however wasn’t possible as we just missed the last train as it was already 9pm. We then tried to book tickets to leave for Yogyakarta in the morning but they were unfortunately fully booked! So it seemed that we would be stuck here. So we then went on a mammoth walk (well so it felt) to Jln Jaksa not realising just how far it is and tried to find decent accommodation. After over an hour of searching in complete shit holes (and there is no other way to describe the places here) with having people constantly coming up to us trying to sell us things and places to stay when all we wanted was to be left alone, we eventually found somewhere with friendly people and gave up and stayed there.



This photo doesn't really capture the filth
Chris swears that it was by far the worst place we’ve yet to stay in and absolutely hated it, and maybe he was right but I think some places in India were worse though, but then again I may have been a tad bit optimistic. We then didn’t want to face the people, the hassle, and the streets there so although we were hungry we stayed in too scared to leave again.



permalink written by  chrischarly on June 1, 2011 from Changi Airport, Singapore
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
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