Back in Canada

After a mind-numbing 26 hour plane trip, which included two stop-overs, I arrived back in Toronto to some glorious summer weather.  The hottest days of the year in Toronto were a welcome relief from the constant 35 degree humidity in SE Asia! 

As always, returning from a long trip is a mixed experience.  On the one hand, I have some regrets about leaving SE Asia, as there wais so much more to see.  On the other hand, it is nice to enjoy the familiarity of home after 4 months of constant change. 

As if to reinforce the experience of returning home, I crossed the west coast of Canada at the precise moment when the sunrise was scattered into a spectrum of colour by the atmosphere, ranging from pink clouds below to deep blue sky above (apologies for the angle - it's my feeble effort to be artistic).

Overall, though, I really enjoyed the experience and am looking forward to another trip this upcoming winter!

Indonesia

Although Indonesia is predominantly Islamic (it is the largest Islamic nation in the world, with 90% of the 225M population being Muslim), I was struck by the diversity of historical and culture influences.  In the west, we tend to hear only the negative incidents of religious and cultural conflict.  But on visiting, it is clear that Indonesia is a remarkable achievement, given that its borders are relatively recent and rather arbitrarily encompass a wide range of people.  As this map shows, there are many distinct indigenous cultures through the approximately 17,000 islands of the achipeligo.

Added to this indigenous diversity is the influence of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity over hundreds of years as well as the impact of trade and colonialism given Indonesia's important location vis-a-vis historical trade routes.  I spent 4 weeks in Indonesia, but it's a country that a person could spend months or even years exploring.

I arrived in on the island of Bali, which is the most recognized tourist destination in the country.  To be honest, at first I was concerned about how “touristy” it would be. Plus, with Indonesia’s recent history of earthquakes, tsunamis and bombings (notably the 2002 and 2005 bombings the Kuta area of Bali), I had some general apprehension about visiting.  Happily, that apprehension was completely misguided. Bali was simply outstanding. Kuta, famous for its surf culture and its nightlife, was lot’s of fun ... although as the epicentre of tourism, one had to tolerate excessive hassling from hawkers and travel agents. Nevertheless, I spent about 8 days in Kuta, learning to surf and exploring the nightlife with some friends I had met along the way.  Here's a shot of Kuta beach, which was perpetually crowded with scantily clad Europeans (its one of the few places in this conservative country where skimpy bikinis are tolerated) as well as Indonesian families.

Here's my friend Pete, heading out of the famous cave entrance to the Ulu Watu breaks in southern Bali.  I was definitely not skilled enough to attempt these world class waves, but Pete and the other expert surfers were fascinating to watch.

After Kuta, I rented a scooter and drove around the eastern half of the island of Bali, visiting smalls towns and exploring the agricultural and artisanal culture.  Unlike the rest of Indonesia, Bali has a strong Hindu flavour, which is reflected in the architecture.  Here's a typical road in rural Bali.

Ubud is a great little town near the centre of Bali, notable for its chic restaurants, boutique hotels, innumerable massage spas and artisan culture.  Here are some shots of the interesting arts and crafts available for sale on the road into Ubud.  With an incredible range of works made from diverse materials such as wood, stone, glass, and textiles, this area is a home decorator's paradise!

 

As well, the town is surrounded by scenic rice paddies which give the fashionable atmosphere a pastoral flair.  Indeed, although rice paddies are everywhere in Indonesia, I was continually engaged by their fascinating geometry and colour.  Here a few of the many pictures I took of rice fields!

Indonesia is also one of the most volcanically active countries in the world and, as such, the landscape is dominated by stark volcanic cones, such as Gunung Agung in Bali and Gunung Bromo in Java.  Unfortunately, due to local tourist guide "mafias" who made it hard and expensive to access the trails as well as the ever-present dangers of volcanic activity, I did less trekking on and around the volcanos than I'd hoped.

In Cianjur, I visited a traditional rural village, which was based primarily on subsistence rice farming as well as the production of palm sugar (done in a very similar fashion to maple syrup, where the palm tree sap is collected and boiled down as shown below on a traditional wood fire).

I ended my trip in Jakarta, which was considerably more modern than I expected.  Although the city is not beautiful by any stretch of the imagination (the pollution was appalling), at night it did have a certain appeal.

Malaysia Part II - Borneo

Kuching

Kuching was wonderful little city on the Western edge of Malaysian Borneo.  It is the home of the Sarawack regional government (Sarawack is one of the two provinces in Malaysian Borneo), as evidenced by the massive and architecturally unique legislative building that was recently built on the opposite side of the river from the main town.

  Baku National Park

With at least four distinct tropical forest ecosystems, the various hiking trails at Baku National Park were a great introduction to the famous flora and fauna of Borneo, including the a carnivorous pitcher plant, which draws insects into the pitcher, drowns them and then digests their remains for nutrition.  I also managed to see a wild probiscus monkey, although it didn't cooperate with my attempts to photograph it, so the shot is a bit unflattering.

The sandstone geology in the park was also responsible for some very colourful, unusual and occasionally ominous shoreline structures.

Sunsets over the South China Sea from the park were spectacularly colourful.   

Iban Longhouse

The Iban are one of the indigenous people of Borneo, infamous for their past history as head-hunters.  Many of the Iban communities continue to live in the traditional longhouses, which are basic row-houses connected by a large communal hall.

In Kuching, I met a fellow traveller (Jan from Holland) who described in detail his great experience at a traditional Iban longhouse, including hunting for wild boar with a spear.  Much as he had done, rather than joining a formal longhouse tour, I just took a series of boats up the Batuh Redang (the main river), showed up at the door of Utik, and asked if I could stay for a couple days.  Jan had warned they didn’t speak much English, so the conversation revolved around the few English words they knew (often asking me to buy alcohol and food from the local canteen) and the even fewer Malay words I knew. That said, her male housemate Maggie (their exact relationship wasn‘t clear), conveyed much enthusiasm about boar-hunting and fishing the next day as we drank a couple bottles of Arrak (a potent local rice alcohol).

Early the next morning I paid for 7 gallons of gasoline, which seemed to be about 3 times more than we needed, but justified in my mind for the primal experience I was about to undertake. We grabbed some spears and a fishing net and hopped in the boat. Unfortunately, after about 100 meters, the boat motor quit. The next five or so hours were spent watching Maggie disassemble the motor and fix the problem. Consequently, the hunting and fishing trip was off, and was replaced with a much shorter cruise along the river. So, while it wasn't exactly the experience I expected, it was a good opportunity to learn about the indigenous people of Borneo.  And I did get to eat some wild boar; below is a shot of Maggie chopping up a boar head.  While somewhat unappetizing to watch, it was actually quite good.

The livelihood of the longhouse community revolves around logging, hunting, fishing and various community projects. Here the women are undertaking the backbreaking labour of feeling for and lifting large stones off the river bed for use in a riverbank stabilization project. I helped for a couple of hours one afternoon and can validate how hard it was (although my bend-at-the-waist technique was definitely not as ergonomic as their crouch-in-the-river technique…but it was drier). I was sufficiently shamed when they went off the next day to do this for 5 hours in the scorching heat of the day, while I lazed in a hammock.

Niah Caves National Park

Niah Caves National Park is, as it’s names suggests, the location of some massive limestone caves. Deer Cave, a massive cavern, is also the location of the discovery of the oldest human skull found in SE Asia. At 40,000 years old, the skull suggests that homo sapiens lived in SE Asia much earlier than believed.

These caves are also notable for the swiftlet nest harvesting that takes place within, to feed the huge demand for birdnest soup. Harvesting has taken place here for about 200 years and the means to collect the nests, which are often located 60-80 meters off the cave floor, doesn’t seem to have changed much. Although hard to see from the photo, the harvesters climb rickety bamboo poles to collect the nests. (the pole in the photo is about 40 meters high)  Not surprisingly, injuries and fatalities are part of the job.

Mulu National Park

Mulu Park is also famous for its caves, including one that is touted to be the largest (by volume) in the world.  One of the huge caverns is also home to about 2 million bats, which stream out of the cave at dusk to fly upwards of 40 km to feed and then return home before dawn.  The caves also have some fantastic stalagmites and stalactites, including these interesting pillars.

Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu is the largest city in Malaysian Borneo and a haven for seafood lovers.  I'm not normally a huge seafood fan, but even I thoroughly enjoyed the seafood experience here. The Chinese seafood restaurants had more than 40 live species in aquariums that you could choose from, including stone fish, which are actually quite poisonous if you happen to step on them in the ocean ... although they're apparently fine to eat (I didn't try)!  The Filipino BBQ seafood market was simply outstanding, with BBQ tuna, snapper, prawns, and crabs among the offerings, all enjoyed in a rustic open air setting heavy with the smell of fish and charcoal bbqs. 

Mt. Kinabalu

Mt. Kinabalu is one of the tallest mountains in SE Asia, and by far the tallest within hundreds of miles.  As such, the two-day trek to the peak it is one of the premier tourist activities in Malaysia.  On the first day, you hike about three quarters of the way up the mountain to stay at an overpriced hut for the evening (the company who runs the huts has been given exclusive rights to accomodation in the national park and makes full use of this power).  The next morning you get up at 2 am, eat a quick breakfast, and hike the remainder of the way to catch the sunrise at the summit.  It was an amazing experience seeing the sunrise from 4100 meters, notably because you can see in every direction for hundreds of miles.  Looking in the opposite direction from the sunrise, you can see the distinct, massive and remarkably symmetrical shadow of the mountain - one of the coolest things I've seen. 

Sipadan Diving

My last destination in Borneo was Sipadan Island, a world famous diving destination.  I stayed at a unique diving resort - an oil rig that had been relocated and retrofitted as a diving resort.  From tiny colourful nudibranches (shell-less sea snails) to sea turtles and black-tipped reef sharks, the sealife certainly lives up to the area's reputation.  (I can't take credit for the underwater photos - they were taken by others).

Malaysia - Part I - The Peninsula

To be perfectly honest, Malaysia wasn’t high on the list of places I intended to visit in SE Asia. I simply didn’t know much about it. With it’s relatively peaceful history, it hasn’t been in the news as much as it’s neighbors Indonesia and the Philippines. Nor is it as widely known as a tourist destination like its neighbor to the north, Thailand. But I’m certainly glad I came. Jungle covered mountains, jutting sandstone and limestone cliffs, turquois water washing up on bright beaches - it’s quite the tropical paradise. It’s also an vibrant mix of Indigenous, Malay, Indian and Chinese cultures, with Little Indias and Chinatowns to be found in most cities.

Malaysia is a very easy place to travel in. Basic english is spoken widely, there’s an extensive network of comfortable buses, and a highly competitive airline industry which results in extremely cheap flights around Malaysia.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A picture from the balcony of the cabin I was staying at in the Perhentian islands, in the North-East corner of peninsular Malaysia. Very picturesque. I managed to get in a little diving here, which was nice since I hadn’t been diving for almost 15 years. I plan on doing a lot more diving as SE Asia is rich with world-class diving destinations.


 

The other much more rudimentary cabin I stayed in for the first two nights, complete with a squawking lizard under the floorboards who found his best vocal range sometime between midnight and 4 am!

The famous Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, taken from the KL Tower. I found KL to be a city with a surprising amount of green space, which made the characteristic big-city pollution somewhat less oppressive. However, as with many of the big cities I’ve visited so far on this trip, shopping seems to be the central preoccupation of the downtown core.

KL also has the world’s largest covered, walk-through aviary, where I bought myself some feathered friendship…at least until the treats ran out.

The Cameron Highlands is the site of a group of visually-striking tea plantations, originating from the British colonial period. At an elevation higher than 1300 meters, it was a welcome relief from the heat in Kuala Lumpur. One of the highlights for me was the mossy forest. Reminiscent of a Lord of the Rings scene, the trees are gnarled and covered in thick layers of moss, with orchids and carnivorous pitcher plants hanging from the branches and trunks. At 1600 meters at the tops of the mountains surrounding the Highlands, it is effectively a cloud forest, with the moss collecting and storing moisture from the clouds.

After assurances from the guide that scorpions do not attack unless provoked, I got up close with one. Of course, this guide also took great pleasure in secretly placing various large insects on other unsuspecting tourists, as seen below with a leaf-mimic insect, so I probably should have been a bit more suspicious of his integrity. 

Malaysia is notable for it's extremely diverse flora and fauna, resulting from the fact that as sea levels changed over millions of years, Malaysia was at times connected and at times separate from surrounding land masses, allowing for an extraordinary evolutionary mixing of various endemic and alien insects, plants, reptiles, mammals and birds.  My next post will be from Malaysian Borneo, famous for it's natural wonders, so hopefully I'll capture some of this amazing diversity in its natural habitat.