Kuala Lumpur

The train ride from Johor Baru was uneventful and less scenic than I had hoped. It was nice to be able to get up and move about - especially because the air conditioning was freezing cold! I had been toying with the idea of taking the train to the north east to Khota Baru and then back again just for the scenery (they call it the jungle line) but apparently it's been shut down indefinitely due to flood damage. 

I must admit I've yet to fall in love with Malaysia. I'm sure it's not fair and I'm trying to reserve judgement until I can get out of these big dirty, stinky, barely functioning cities. I've been hesitating to make this blog entry because I don't have a whole lot of positive of late. But I guess ya gotta take the good with the bad, and looking back I'd like to remember these days with a degree of realism (it should be no surprise I'm not enjoying the big cities...). So, to those of you who are living vicariously through me... stop now if you only want vicarious beautiful beaches and rainbows. You've been warned!

I've had a policy all along of not booking more than 3 nights initially in any hostel in case it sucks. That backfired in Singapore and I was faced with having to move rooms every day, or switch hostels. Switching actually worked out for the best (the Happy Snail was such a great hostel :) but it left me thinking maybe it was a silly way to go about it since the vast majority of the places have been just fine. So, I went ahead and booked a full week in KL... sigh... I'm in a private room with a fan, no window, roughly the size of a prison cell. There was supposed to be central air but they really don't turn it on much so it's brutal hot most of the time. Leaving the hostel feels like I'm entering a war zone. To the right the sidewalks are all torn up like they replaced some piping or something underneath them several months ago and never finished the job - you have to pick your way through the rubble and jump over the open sewers. To the left and across the street, the sidewalk has been closed off completely by a boarded up empty lot so there's no option but to put your life on the line and walk in the street. The upside is there's a terrific Indian food place 3 blocks away where a large tasty meal can be had for about 2 bucks. That is until I got to chatting with a woman from South Africa (another middle aged woman traveling alone.. a rare find!). She told me to be sure to sit towards the front because the cock roaches kind of have the run of the place towards the back and can get aggressive about climbing on you! LOL!

I've booked a flight to Bali leaving Sept 29, returning to KL October 27th. The one thing I wanted to get done in KL was to get my visa for Thailand. I found it hard to get clear information, but had read online that they would issue a 60 day visa (extendable to 90 days for a few bucks once there) that would be good for 6 months with the 60 days starting when you cross the boarder. It took 4 hours in a hot little room with a couple of hundred other visa hopefuls to find out that it would only be good for 90 days. So, I'll have to wait until returning from Bali to get that taken care of. She did tell me I could do it in Penang, let's hope she's right. Thailand has the most obscure, nonsensical, crazy visa system I've ever heard of. It's like they really don't want tourists - or at least not backpackers arriving by land wanting to stay for a bit (a boarder visa if arriving by land is for only 14 days - by air they give you 30).

I've been out wandering the city most every day - only one day so far worth reporting. The Batu Caves are large caves on the outskirts of KL that have been turned into a Hindu shrine. It was a little bit commercialized but not too much - it's a functioning, active temple. There are a ton of steps to get to the top (272 according to wikipedia) and monkeys all along the way. People take new born babies to the top to be blessed. I saw one, it was wrapped in a bright yellow cloth, tied to sugar cane stalks and suspended between two panting,  sweaty guys.

And a baby for Beth! Sorry I didn't get it's cute little face  :(

What a difference a boarder makes

Crossed over into Johor Bahru, Malaysia and off the beaten tourist path. I was honestly surprised to be the only backpacker and probably the only english speaker, on the bus. The process was pretty simple and efficient. The confusion started on arrival in JB. I came out of Singapore with very little money and was thinking since I was arriving at a transportation hub, there would be an ATM close by. My experience with money changers hasn't been all that favorable so far, it's much better to just get cash from an ATM. After wandering around in a massive shopping mall for an hour or so, I finally found a bank with a row of ATMs. After waiting in line, the ATM rejected my card and I was starting to worry. Luckily the bank across the street had one that accepted my transaction. Then it was a matter of negotiating the mall maze back to JB Sentral so I could purchase a train ticket to Kuala Lumpur. The train is super cheap (about $8 US for an 8 hour journey) - I hope it's a reasonably fun experience.

With my first two goals achieved, it was time to make my way to the hostel. They had sent me directions that involved taking a completely different way out of Singapore and would have made the trek to the hostel pretty straightforward, but I wanted to get my train ticket bought and as near as I could tell, the only way was to show up at the ticket counter at JB Sentral. So after stumbling around for awhile, I found my way downstairs to a noisy, busy area where buses were coming and going. After studying the system map for some time I realized it was hopeless and was toying with the idea of getting a taxi. I'd read some nightmare tales about taxi ripoffs in JB and was reluctant to go there just yet. So I started walking and saying "Nusa Bestari?" - a shopping mall next to the hostel - if I could get close, google maps would take me there (best thing since the invention of the internet!). After boarding 2 wrong buses, I got on one that claimed that was where he was going and started praying and following along on google maps. Some 30 mins later I jumped off pretty close to the hostel and was hit by overwhelming joy as I walked through the door.  I'm booked in for 3 nights and wishing it was just 2. There isn't much to see or do here as far as I can tell and no one speaks enough english to be able to ask and understand the answer. It will give me some time to make plans and get rested up after many exhausting days in Singapore so is probably a good thing.

I asked both at the departure desk from Singapore and the entry desk into Malaysia if I would be able to re-enter the respective country and they both indicated it wouldn't be a problem. I had thought this to be the case but couldn't find it definitively on line and wanted to confirm. This clears the way for a round trip sojourn to Bali from Kuala Lumpur!  

Singapore!

I really didn't know what to expect from Singapore beyond it being a very large city (which it is...). I've found it to be quite extraordinary and endlessly interesting. I went to the Asian Civilization museum yesterday and took a short tour that included a quick overview of the history of the area. Singapore has long been a trade hub and a melting pot for the whole region. Monsoonal winds coming south from China to the east and India to the west cross and thus terminate at Singapore. Trade ships would follow the wind down, leave their cargo and then wait for 6 months until they could get back home. Their crews established second homes here often with second families as well. It split from Malaysia in 1965 after a period under English rule from the mid 1800s. I was just a few days too late for their 50th anniversary celebration.  They have been a busy 50 years. Singapore is a well designed, modern city on par with what I imagine Dubai to be like. They have the best public transportation system I've ever seen.

I spent one of my first days here at the Gardens by the Bay area. It's perhaps the most iconic area in Singapore. The architecture is incredible. I came away thinking that some really brilliant and brave people planned and executed the development there.

There are several of these large "trees" covered with plants and lights. They have 2 free light shows every night where the tree lights are timed with a musical program. There's also a laser light show a short walk away at the harbor where images are projected onto a fountain of water accompanied by music. The hotel in the background is unbelievably impressive. You can kind of make out the palm trees on the roof and get some idea of how massive the building is.  

Evidence of the wealth of the city is everywhere. At the base of this hotel is a huge shopping mall full of large stores with just a few hand bags or a couple of racks of clothing in them. With this being a small island country, real estate is very expensive as you can imagine. The contrast is that it's a just a short train ride to Chinatown where an entire walmart's worth of goods is packed into a space the size of an American bathroom. Great food in Chinatown as well for 3-5 Singaporean dollars ($2-3 USD).

Other stuff I've done here:

A day at the botanic gardens - it's big enough that my feet gave out before the places to see did. They have a beautiful orchid garden area with many rare species.

Haw Par Villa - an elaborate sculpture garden built by the founders of Tiger Balm. There are many intricate scenes depicting Chinese legend and tales as well as other larger sculptures - all quite colorful and interesting.

Little India - a much touted shopping/eating area that I found less compelling than Chinatown

Buddha Tooth Relic temple - a relatively new temple in Chinatown - very elaborate and ornate. They have a pretty nice museum of Buddhist artifacts upstairs and a floor detailing the life of the Buddha.

Pulau Ubin - an island off the coast to the north east that has been set aside as a nature reserve. Much of the stone that was used in the early days of the city came from quarries on this island - the quarries are now lakes. A few people live on the island and support the tourist trade with food, drinks and bicycle rentals.

I think it was a mistake not passing through Bali on my way here - I might try get a round trip plane ticket and head there for a couple of weeks but will need to do a bit of research into re-entry visas and figure out the best way to go about it. I had a bit of trouble at the airport in Darwin - the airlines required proof of onward travel before they would let me on the plane. An explanation of my travel as a lifestyle and a desire to travel over land by train (tickets only obtainable at the train station) through Malaysia did nothing to dissuade her. She informed me I had an hour before check in for my flight closed to figure it out. So, cursing and grumbling, I moved off and found a website that books bus tickets out of Singapore. I took a stab at how long I might want to stay here and just booked the cheapest bus I could find ($15 US) to Kuala Lumpur. That ticket is good tomorrow but I've had some time to research the bus company and have decided it's not worth $15 to subject myself to the types of horror tales that are being told online. Long story short, I'm paid up at this hostel through Sunday night and will likely move onto Malaysia on Monday but I will take some time tomorrow or Sunday to do a little research into Bali options before locking in the plan. 

Litchfield National Park

I've been on the go and have fallen a bit behind in my posts so will attempt to get caught up. I've added some pictures and video to the last post (Kakadu) as well.

The highlights for Edith Falls (northern Nitmiluk) and Litchfield Natl park were the swimming holes at the base of a series of waterfalls. The days were so oppressively hot, hiking was out of the question after about 9 in the morning and a nice swim was a welcome relief. I hadn't realized that sitting under a waterfall was on my bucket list but now it's been crossed off!

Edith Falls

  The termite mounds at Litchfield were interesting. I had thought the mounds were just a rubbish heap reflecting how deep into the earth they had built their homes. I couldn't get over how inefficient it seemed to keep going higher instead of spreading the dirt out! lol show's what I know... turns out the mounds themselves are their homes. They build up so that they don't get flooded out in the rainy season. There are termites in Litchfield that build their mounds in long thin blades along a north/south axis. It's the only place in the world where they are known to exist. They've experimented with artificially changing north using magnets and determined the termites detect magnetic north. The thinking is that it helps them regulate temperature better.

I pulled into the campground at Wangi Falls mid afternoon, changed into swim gear, made a sandwich and headed for the falls. I took 3 steps from the van and this bird:

 swooped down and took a half slice of bread off the ham sandwich I was carrying! I never saw him coming it was incredible.

Beth had requested a picture of a kangaroo with a baby in pouch. I really doubted that I could make it happen. But there were a bunch of wallabies eating outside of a visitor center I went into and a couple of them had babies. So Beth - this one's for you!