Arriving in Kuala Lumpur 4.00 am in the morning, I went to James' hostel and waited for him to wake up. After breakfast and relaxing a bit, a jolly boy called Sloppyhands showed up! Fresh and ready from England he was ready for some new adventures! He had dragged along a new girl, Manchester, for the crew. We decided to spend one day in Kuala Lumpur, relaxing and getting used to each other's faces again. The next day we headed for Kuching in Sarawak on Borneo. The town was quiet and nice. We spent the first two days enjoying the town. At our hostel we had Herman the German, a 69 year old guy travelling around Asia with his big belly with a dead fetus attached to it. We then started hitting the jungles. Borneo has dozens of national parks and we were ready to burn some calories. Firs off was Kubah. Sweating up to the top of a view point, the four of us sat down and enjoyed the atmosphere. Playing some Tiger Woods on Rainman's phone made it all the better. It was a good walk and Amir fell in love with every second tree he saw on the way. The day after we took a combined taxi and boat ride to get to Bako. The legendary taxi driver George Hong was our man. At the beach a wild boar waited for us and we had a nice day trekking in the jungle. Chilling in a warm waterfall was also pretty good. After crossing the jungle we found a big beach we could have for ourselves which had moon rocks around it. There we could practice some English calligraphy together and enjoy the sun. Manchester turned from white to red this day.
Feeling Kuching had given us what it had to offer, we decided to take a 15 hour bus ride to Miri, up close to Brunei. Playing nintendo, Final Fantasy 7 and Tiger Woods made the time pass. Accompanied by shitty Asian music, Celine Dion and Bon Jovi on a broken speaker system, our journey felt pretty good. A lot of stops made sure we got our food on the way, and in the late evening we arrived in Miri. We checked in to a nice hostel and had a very good sleep in proper beds. In the morning Sloppyhands slept a bit long and I asked him if he was feeling alright. Answering "yes", I told him "chop, chop. We're leaving in ten minutes". He didn't appreciate this too much. The taxi driver waited for us and took us to Niah national park. After giving us some horrible creamy cakes as lunch, he sent us off to the park. We took a one minute boat ride over a river and entered the park. After passing some interesting caterpillars and spiders, we finally entered the highlight: a massive cave. It looked like a huge hangar with some ropes from bird nest collectors hanging around. A really impressing place to walk around in. In the evening we ate good food and went to kill off a tower of tiger beer. It was enjoyable playing pool with a Canadian, that was on his Malay girl like a leech, and the local pool hero Nigel. The British tried to mess up my sleep and I retaliated with my foghorn snoring.
The last day in Miri was spent in Lambir Hills national park. Our driver Joseph took us to the park and dropped us off with some Swiss rolls and water bottles. We went uphill Penang style and ended up on the top of a small mountain just in time to get shelter from the rain. It didn't really matter though, because we were all soaked in sweat. After a nice rest and a chat about what girls dislike, we headed for the waterfall. One of my favourite things for me so far has been to swim in all the waterfalls. It's really a good way of relaxing and regaining some strength. After our fourth park in less than a week, we headed back to town for some food and computer time. Next morning Brunei awaited us!
Early morning in Miri and a new taxi driver waited. He took the four of us with him for a four hour long ride to Brunei. I got to sit in front and answer all his questions about eskimos in Norway. It was fine, but it would have been better if he didn't stroke my thigh and moan all the time. At least it gave the geezers in the back a good laugh. In Brunei we checked into a youth hostel and started exploring Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. Everybody here is super friendly and helpful and at the tourist information center is the best we've seen so far. After eating lovely Indonesian food for one dollar we went off to see the biggest floating village in the world. James went home to swim some lengths at the hostel and Sloppyhands, Machester and I took a fast boat ride over to the village. The sultan is a nice lad and is helping his people get houses. It was fascinating to see how new two story houses are built on poles out in the water. Afterwards we walked around in town and saw two very lovely mosques. The newest has domes made of pure 22 karat gold, no golden painting needed. The museums are all free and in some you have to take off your shoes. The night market was lovely. Delicious food, cheap and no nagging sellers. They also had great waffles and heart shaped cupcakes. After a 40 min walk bak to the hostel, we were ready to go to bed and leave for Sabah the next morning.
We arrived at the hostel at midnight and met an excited James. He had been speaking to a local guy and we found out that the Sultan would be parading the streets the next morning. Celebrating Mohammed's little walk. He also offered us a night sightseeing to check out the palaces. Even though we were dead tired, we accepted the offer and had a drive around the outskirts of town, looking at the biggest palace in the world and the mansions that belong to the sultan's relatives. Marrying a Bruneian princess doesn't seem like such a bad idea now. We decided to stay the next morning for the sultan and leave in the afternoon instead. The next morning I put on my nice clothes from Singapore and headed out for breakfast with Rainman and Sloppyhands. Manchester overslept so we left her at the hostel. At the restaurant it was full and we had to sshare tables with others. Amir and I sat down next to two guys from Brunei and James sat down with some others. A welsh guy thought it would be a good idea to squize in between me and one of the guys from Brunei since i wasn't sweating enough from the heat and cooking. The blokes from Brunei turned out to be really cool and one had even studied in London. We ate and chatted for a while and when we got up to leave, Shariq paid for it all. Super happy after such a good start of the day, we went to see the sultan. After some songs and speeches, he went for a stroll and we were waiting for him at the very end. I stood almost alone and the sultan smiled and waved to me. I waved back happy as a kid and can now say I've bonded a bit with the royal leader of Brunei. Maybe he has a 10^7$ job for me? We left at noon with bus and ferry to get up to Saba, Malaysia. Brunei was awesome and is definitely more than just another stamp in the passport. I recommend spending a couple of days there if you ever get the chance.
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120130Kuching?authkey=Gv1sRgCKjH9sW9gr6wtgE
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120203Miri?authkey=Gv1sRgCIPf4ODr7fbSsQE
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120205Labuan?authkey=Gv1sRgCNur6pP4qaPSxQE
2012/02/05
2012/01/26
Singapore
At the bus station in Malacca I was the only one going to Singapore. In a big coach there were only me and the driver for five hours. Finally in Singapore, one and a half hours too late, he sent me walking in the wrong direction of where I was supposed to go. I found out, turned around and when I finally got to the spot where I was meeting Bucket, I saw the coach parked 500 meters down the street. All sweaty and stressed I met a girl that had been waiting for more than two hours outside a pharmacy. She wasn't particularly happy, but I had one week to make it better. Turns out, adding all the times she was late during that week, we were even-steven at the end of my stay. We went walking around and checking out Singapore a bit, before we took the last train out to the east side. I jumped off a couple of stations before hers to find my Indian host from couch surfing. In a really nice residential area, I entered an apartment with three Indian guys working in Singapore. Nivas, the main host, who always smiles, gave me my own keys, bed, train card, map etc. Can one ask for more?
Second day in Singapore I went shopping with Bucket for a pair of trousers and a shirt. Since all my clothes look like they've been through the jungle, literally, I needed something nicer for Chinese new years. I met her at her school and got to try to eat in the cafeteria of an Asian college. The rest of the day we spent walking around in Singapore and sitting next to the river. We had bubble teas and duck rice, which were so good I had them multiple times during my stay. I also found out that I've been eating my noodles for a couple of months without mixing them properly with the sauce. At daytime I was alone most of the days and spent the days walking around in Singapore's residential and recreational areas. The urban planning of this city is great and if there is room for a tree or a patch of grass, they've planted it. It feels to me like a modern hanging gardens of Babylon. The Singaporean government is kind of like the Norwegian one in some aspects and does not acknowledge humans of having a mind on their own. Putting up signs that tell you "urinating in the elevator is prohibited" seems kind of unnecessary to me. The buildings in this city are also well taken care of.
One Saturday we tried to get dressed in nice clothes and go down to the old railway station and take some photos. Of course it was closed with barbed wire around it, and to make it complete, it started raining. We also went clubbing one night, but I'm not used to that anymore and was sleepwalking half of the night. Nivas left in a hurry to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the new year and a new couch surfer came in. An American bloke. We went down to Chinatown and later we saw the fireworks together. In the evenings around new year, Bucket and I went to visit her family. I got to eat loads of good food and I got small red packages containing cash. Here married people give the less fortunate bachelors and bachelorettes gifts. The second last night we went to Ryan's place. I got to eat dinner with them and have some beers. I also saw for the very first time a tradition in which everyone helps mixing a noodle dish by throwing the food into the air with chop sticks. It was very nice. There's apparently always gambling involved and we played in-between. I don't know who enjoyed it the most, the women or the men, but it was hilarious. The term "Skadefryd" should also exist in other languages, because they were all laughing their asses off every time someone failed. The father of the house worked with Norwegians and had been in Norway several times. It was a great evening and I even got myself a Polaroid photo as a souvenir.
The last day in Singapore started with the arrival of Nivas. He was back from KL. Spending the afternoon beating him in chess and fixing my commie-cap for the jungle trek, I later went up to Pasir Ris and met up with Bucket for the last time. Since she had promised Gung Pao Chicken, what better way to end the travel then by doing it the last day? After saying good bye to her father and dog, we visited Ranford, another friend. I left Singapore with the night bus for KL to meet up with Sloppyhands and Rainman. I will never forget my nine days in Singapore.
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120126Singapore?authkey=Gv1sRgCITY6L6M7fa-EA
Second day in Singapore I went shopping with Bucket for a pair of trousers and a shirt. Since all my clothes look like they've been through the jungle, literally, I needed something nicer for Chinese new years. I met her at her school and got to try to eat in the cafeteria of an Asian college. The rest of the day we spent walking around in Singapore and sitting next to the river. We had bubble teas and duck rice, which were so good I had them multiple times during my stay. I also found out that I've been eating my noodles for a couple of months without mixing them properly with the sauce. At daytime I was alone most of the days and spent the days walking around in Singapore's residential and recreational areas. The urban planning of this city is great and if there is room for a tree or a patch of grass, they've planted it. It feels to me like a modern hanging gardens of Babylon. The Singaporean government is kind of like the Norwegian one in some aspects and does not acknowledge humans of having a mind on their own. Putting up signs that tell you "urinating in the elevator is prohibited" seems kind of unnecessary to me. The buildings in this city are also well taken care of.
One Saturday we tried to get dressed in nice clothes and go down to the old railway station and take some photos. Of course it was closed with barbed wire around it, and to make it complete, it started raining. We also went clubbing one night, but I'm not used to that anymore and was sleepwalking half of the night. Nivas left in a hurry to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the new year and a new couch surfer came in. An American bloke. We went down to Chinatown and later we saw the fireworks together. In the evenings around new year, Bucket and I went to visit her family. I got to eat loads of good food and I got small red packages containing cash. Here married people give the less fortunate bachelors and bachelorettes gifts. The second last night we went to Ryan's place. I got to eat dinner with them and have some beers. I also saw for the very first time a tradition in which everyone helps mixing a noodle dish by throwing the food into the air with chop sticks. It was very nice. There's apparently always gambling involved and we played in-between. I don't know who enjoyed it the most, the women or the men, but it was hilarious. The term "Skadefryd" should also exist in other languages, because they were all laughing their asses off every time someone failed. The father of the house worked with Norwegians and had been in Norway several times. It was a great evening and I even got myself a Polaroid photo as a souvenir.
The last day in Singapore started with the arrival of Nivas. He was back from KL. Spending the afternoon beating him in chess and fixing my commie-cap for the jungle trek, I later went up to Pasir Ris and met up with Bucket for the last time. Since she had promised Gung Pao Chicken, what better way to end the travel then by doing it the last day? After saying good bye to her father and dog, we visited Ranford, another friend. I left Singapore with the night bus for KL to meet up with Sloppyhands and Rainman. I will never forget my nine days in Singapore.
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120126Singapore?authkey=Gv1sRgCITY6L6M7fa-EA
2012/01/16
Penang - Malacca
The minivan ride from Penang to the Cameron Highlands was delightful. Very nice scenery and very good roads. Unlike alot of places else in Asia, safety seems to be important here and we had to make a stop in Ipoh to change a wheel since the driver found it necessary. Up in the highlands the temperatures were more like Norwegian spring and a very nice change from the boiling heat in Penang. Cameron highlands was a nice place, but there is not that much to do. The treks there were much smaller than expected, and we got tired of rain and "cold" weather much quicker than we would have thought. Rainman had problems with a painful neck, so I had to go on some walks in the hills on my own. However, when I got back down, I was ready to kick his ass in some super nintendo games. Nothing's like playing some good, old 16-bits games. We had a guided tour to the mossy forest and tea plantations. It was interesting and it still surprises me how friendly Malaysians are, even the ones that make money off you.
We left for Kuala lumpur a grey morning and had a pleasent ride down there. We checked in at a hostel James' had stayed at earlier. That night we almost went to the hospital due to Rainman's neck. He was in severe pain, but ate some pills and was able to survive until the morning. Leaving the cripple at a new hotel, I went of for a stroll in Malaysia's capital. There was alot of traffic but surprisingly few pedestrians. I enjoyed the buildings and walks in the park with signs that reminded me that I shouldn't try to kiss girls there. The museums in KL were also good. Other than that it's really not much to say, except a little, cute muslim girl made me one of the best waffles of my life. Big like Belgian ones, but round and crispi with soft insides like regular ones. She added peanut butter and kaya. Made my day. Also made me realise I had been missing waffles. Licence plates are also hilarious in Malaysia. Having all kinds of three characer plates give alot of nice abbreviations.
After a couple of days in KL we left for Malacca, the cultural capital of Malaysia. It's very nice with loads of history, being influenced by three European powers and all. The demographic situation is a bit different here, and there are many more Chinese. We therefor switched from the curry and naans in KL to the Chinese noodle and chicken dishes. In Malacca we found Jenga at the market and James got his ass kicked multiple times. Since his neck is better, there is no point in letting him win. Mr Sloppyhands is still in England, so somebody has to take his place. In Malacca I had yet another waffle, this time with peanut butter and chocolate. I loved it! Malaysia is a brilliant place to enjoy functioning multi cultural society with waffles. It's also not a place you to if you want to get hammered. Beer is difficult to find, expensive and nobody wants to drink it with you. After a couple of days in Malacca I left for Singapore to experience Chinese new year, while James left to Cambodia to have a chill week waiting for Sloppyhands to come and help him out of his losing streak.
Next stop Singapore!
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120115KualaLumpur?authkey=Gv1sRgCLDhv-3734v1Cg
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120117Malacca?authkey=Gv1sRgCOeuvc7ZypCUiAE
We left for Kuala lumpur a grey morning and had a pleasent ride down there. We checked in at a hostel James' had stayed at earlier. That night we almost went to the hospital due to Rainman's neck. He was in severe pain, but ate some pills and was able to survive until the morning. Leaving the cripple at a new hotel, I went of for a stroll in Malaysia's capital. There was alot of traffic but surprisingly few pedestrians. I enjoyed the buildings and walks in the park with signs that reminded me that I shouldn't try to kiss girls there. The museums in KL were also good. Other than that it's really not much to say, except a little, cute muslim girl made me one of the best waffles of my life. Big like Belgian ones, but round and crispi with soft insides like regular ones. She added peanut butter and kaya. Made my day. Also made me realise I had been missing waffles. Licence plates are also hilarious in Malaysia. Having all kinds of three characer plates give alot of nice abbreviations.
After a couple of days in KL we left for Malacca, the cultural capital of Malaysia. It's very nice with loads of history, being influenced by three European powers and all. The demographic situation is a bit different here, and there are many more Chinese. We therefor switched from the curry and naans in KL to the Chinese noodle and chicken dishes. In Malacca we found Jenga at the market and James got his ass kicked multiple times. Since his neck is better, there is no point in letting him win. Mr Sloppyhands is still in England, so somebody has to take his place. In Malacca I had yet another waffle, this time with peanut butter and chocolate. I loved it! Malaysia is a brilliant place to enjoy functioning multi cultural society with waffles. It's also not a place you to if you want to get hammered. Beer is difficult to find, expensive and nobody wants to drink it with you. After a couple of days in Malacca I left for Singapore to experience Chinese new year, while James left to Cambodia to have a chill week waiting for Sloppyhands to come and help him out of his losing streak.
Next stop Singapore!
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120115KualaLumpur?authkey=Gv1sRgCLDhv-3734v1Cg
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120117Malacca?authkey=Gv1sRgCOeuvc7ZypCUiAE
2012/01/07
Phuket - Penang
After my parents left me all alone and vulnerable in Phuket I had another messy night in Patong. After a couple of hours of sleep I went to take the boat to phi phi island. At Phi phi island I stumbled upon Mr sloppyhands and Rainman. They were booking a boat trip for the day and with them were Cara the cat from Laos and two new ones, Anna and Kris. I joined them for the ride and we all had a great day. Back on the island the guys had a little surprise waiting. At a restaurant, where guests could muay thai eachother for a bucket of booze, they had a burger challenge. The lads had been waiting for me and now was the time. Who could manage to consume an 800 gram burger, potato wedges, coleslaw and onion rings in 30 minutes? The correct answer is me:D Years of practice finally paid off. None of us felt good the next 20 hours though, but it was worth it.
The next day was new years eve and we spent the day on the beach, relaxing and swimming in the beautiful, warm water. The three girls then came and picked us up after they had gotten themself a bucket each. We went down to the beach for a nice new years eve beach party. With nice music, fireworks and half naked people with body painting, I had my very first warm new years eve celebration. Cara kissed some very handsome guys, but was unfortunaetly not able to remember this the next morning. 2012 started with rain. This didn't bother us much since we spent most of it in bed. We had a last, nice dinner with the girls and then we said good bye. The next day the three amigos went to Hat Yai in the south of Thailand. Unfortunately, bad news had arrived from England and Amir had to go back home. The next morning he left for Kuala Lumpur, leaving the trip to Penang to Rainman and myself. No tears were shed, but a piece of our hearts left that day. At noon the same day James and I boarded the love bus. A minivan filled with gay Malaysians. It took us 10 mins to find out that one was playing for the different team, but after a bus ride of 4 hours we realized that they all were. T-shirts like "Boy boy" in sparkling letters, hand gesters and lisping made Rainman understand he was in heaven.
Penang was a new world to me! Multi cultural life without white people. Chinese, Malayians and Indians living together with some other minorities buzzing around. Colonial architecture mixed with Chinese temples and Mosques. Walking around was a lot of fun and dragon lizards seem to crawl under stilt houses or be coming out of the sewers. The food was great and dirt cheap. It's very practical that everybody speaks English there too. Rainman and I checked into a place called Hotel Noble. The rooms resemble those you see from military hospitals during the war, but we had what we needed. That included all our neighbours beeing old hippies and junkies. They were all friendly however. Even the one old guy that has female breasts and wears a dress. We spent the days going around the town, up penang hill and the national park on the tip of the island. In the national park we saw giant lizards, monkeys, birds and several eagles. After trekking through the jungle 3 hours, we ended up at an awesome lighthouse and we sat up at the top and enjoyed a nice view over the ocean. It was very nice to see the eagles fly together around us. We were supposed to stay a night or two, but ended up being in Penang five nights. I can highly recommend going to this town and enjoy the Malaysian hospitality. The sixth day we left with a minivan for the cameron Highlands.
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111231PhuketPhiPhiIsland?authkey=Gv1sRgCPTquZiz3sqUNQ
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/BurgerChallenge?authkey=Gv1sRgCM6diMzbh4iKcA
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120106Penang?authkey=Gv1sRgCJOZpcaRycrDLw
The next day was new years eve and we spent the day on the beach, relaxing and swimming in the beautiful, warm water. The three girls then came and picked us up after they had gotten themself a bucket each. We went down to the beach for a nice new years eve beach party. With nice music, fireworks and half naked people with body painting, I had my very first warm new years eve celebration. Cara kissed some very handsome guys, but was unfortunaetly not able to remember this the next morning. 2012 started with rain. This didn't bother us much since we spent most of it in bed. We had a last, nice dinner with the girls and then we said good bye. The next day the three amigos went to Hat Yai in the south of Thailand. Unfortunately, bad news had arrived from England and Amir had to go back home. The next morning he left for Kuala Lumpur, leaving the trip to Penang to Rainman and myself. No tears were shed, but a piece of our hearts left that day. At noon the same day James and I boarded the love bus. A minivan filled with gay Malaysians. It took us 10 mins to find out that one was playing for the different team, but after a bus ride of 4 hours we realized that they all were. T-shirts like "Boy boy" in sparkling letters, hand gesters and lisping made Rainman understand he was in heaven.
Penang was a new world to me! Multi cultural life without white people. Chinese, Malayians and Indians living together with some other minorities buzzing around. Colonial architecture mixed with Chinese temples and Mosques. Walking around was a lot of fun and dragon lizards seem to crawl under stilt houses or be coming out of the sewers. The food was great and dirt cheap. It's very practical that everybody speaks English there too. Rainman and I checked into a place called Hotel Noble. The rooms resemble those you see from military hospitals during the war, but we had what we needed. That included all our neighbours beeing old hippies and junkies. They were all friendly however. Even the one old guy that has female breasts and wears a dress. We spent the days going around the town, up penang hill and the national park on the tip of the island. In the national park we saw giant lizards, monkeys, birds and several eagles. After trekking through the jungle 3 hours, we ended up at an awesome lighthouse and we sat up at the top and enjoyed a nice view over the ocean. It was very nice to see the eagles fly together around us. We were supposed to stay a night or two, but ended up being in Penang five nights. I can highly recommend going to this town and enjoy the Malaysian hospitality. The sixth day we left with a minivan for the cameron Highlands.
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111231PhuketPhiPhiIsland?authkey=Gv1sRgCPTquZiz3sqUNQ
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/BurgerChallenge?authkey=Gv1sRgCM6diMzbh4iKcA
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20120106Penang?authkey=Gv1sRgCJOZpcaRycrDLw
2011/12/31
Bangkok-Phuket
Arriving in Bangkok again was as pleasent as always. The visa line is my favourite part. At Khao san road I met up with mr sloppyhands, Speedy Gonzales and Rainman once again. It was a special day this day. Mr Sloppyhands turned 30 and we were all going out to celebrate. We started out with a humble meal and a crew of seven, the thre mentioned in addition to the swiss and a new british couple. We enjoyed a couple of buckets of vodka redbull and went to the nightclub. Loads of fun the whole night and Anne die gruppenführerin joined us for a very last time before she hit it back to cold europe. Amir partied like a trooper and we were all happy with the result of the night. The next day we had our little "Hangover 2" with the cameras, cleverly deleting some images before they could be shared.
The second day in Bangkok, Nattinatt, a friend of my thai friend Pan from Hong Kong, took me on a private night tour in Bangkok. The third day in Bangkok, the Twits ( Roald Dahl, Herr og fru Dust) arrived. They saw where I lived with Mr Sloppyhands in Khao san road, and they couldn't leave this Indian guest house soon enough. I had booked two nights at a sweet place in Sukhumvit. This was the first part of my two week Xmas holidays with my parents. Trying to show them how my life has been, we were to only stay at hostels. The first day together we checked out the major sightseeings in Bangkok and went on a boat trip in the evening. The next day would be the best we had. Pan showed up the next morning with his car and took us out the bridge on the river Kwai. We got to Kanchanaburi and took the train on the railway of death. We also got to stop at some national parks, museums and a huge temple. We ate loads of good food and had a very nice time. My parents were thrilled and I jumped up a couple of places on the will ranking.
Off to Phuket we went and settled into a hostel close to the beach. We had nice daytips out to the islands around Phuket. In the afternoon we went to the massage studios actually getting massages and not massaaaaages. In the evenings my parents went to bed and I spent time with some of the guys at the hostel. At Patong beach there is always something going on. There is no lack of connect four competition either. The first night in Phuket I spent with a Swede, a German and a Singaporean we can call Bucket. We had a good time dancing among the hookers in one of Patong's discos. The next day Bucket was leaving so lucky her got to spend the day on the beach with me and my parents, killing time until her flight. She made us laugh couple of times, one of which with the comment: "We love Sumatra! They protect us from all natural disasters".
We spent Christmas eve in a swedish restaurant where they were showing the very same disney cartoons we have at home. Eating a good steak at Christmas wasn't a bad idea at all. Relaxing on the beaches all the day and working as a helper for the elderly was good holidays from my holidays. Holding my parents hands while they were jumping in the strong waves at Kata beach, making sure they found the way back home in the evenings, these were my everyday tasks. They went shopping in the streets and I was listening to my pimsleur "learn thai". We had a nice two weeks together and then they left back for cold Norway. I left for phi phi island on the other side, meating up with the crew once again!
The second day in Bangkok, Nattinatt, a friend of my thai friend Pan from Hong Kong, took me on a private night tour in Bangkok. The third day in Bangkok, the Twits ( Roald Dahl, Herr og fru Dust) arrived. They saw where I lived with Mr Sloppyhands in Khao san road, and they couldn't leave this Indian guest house soon enough. I had booked two nights at a sweet place in Sukhumvit. This was the first part of my two week Xmas holidays with my parents. Trying to show them how my life has been, we were to only stay at hostels. The first day together we checked out the major sightseeings in Bangkok and went on a boat trip in the evening. The next day would be the best we had. Pan showed up the next morning with his car and took us out the bridge on the river Kwai. We got to Kanchanaburi and took the train on the railway of death. We also got to stop at some national parks, museums and a huge temple. We ate loads of good food and had a very nice time. My parents were thrilled and I jumped up a couple of places on the will ranking.
Off to Phuket we went and settled into a hostel close to the beach. We had nice daytips out to the islands around Phuket. In the afternoon we went to the massage studios actually getting massages and not massaaaaages. In the evenings my parents went to bed and I spent time with some of the guys at the hostel. At Patong beach there is always something going on. There is no lack of connect four competition either. The first night in Phuket I spent with a Swede, a German and a Singaporean we can call Bucket. We had a good time dancing among the hookers in one of Patong's discos. The next day Bucket was leaving so lucky her got to spend the day on the beach with me and my parents, killing time until her flight. She made us laugh couple of times, one of which with the comment: "We love Sumatra! They protect us from all natural disasters".
We spent Christmas eve in a swedish restaurant where they were showing the very same disney cartoons we have at home. Eating a good steak at Christmas wasn't a bad idea at all. Relaxing on the beaches all the day and working as a helper for the elderly was good holidays from my holidays. Holding my parents hands while they were jumping in the strong waves at Kata beach, making sure they found the way back home in the evenings, these were my everyday tasks. They went shopping in the streets and I was listening to my pimsleur "learn thai". We had a nice two weeks together and then they left back for cold Norway. I left for phi phi island on the other side, meating up with the crew once again!
My tracks have now been updated but the file is so big, it needs to be downloaded and opened in google earth.
2011/12/18
Luang Prabang - Vientiane
Luang Prabang has truly the strangest night life I've encountered so far. Of course we had to go to a country that was officially communistic to find someone with stranger/stricter alcohol laws than Norway. At eleven o'clock the bars in town close and everybody has to take a tuktuk to a night club ten minutes away. James tried to fake an irish-foot-lock to stay ten minutes longer. The club is cool, but for some reason there are barrel tables everywhere, also on the dance floor. This last another hour and then everybody gets thrown out. Where to go? You guessed right, the bowling alley. This is no night bowling, disco bowling or bowling where you get porn on your screen when you get a strike. It's just a regular bowling alley that sells booze and is full of drunken, white monkeys. We went there three times... We also went to a fare in the middle of nowhere. It was out of a horror movie where we were the only guests. We got to shoot with some soft guns and drie bumper cars.
Our group slowly started to split up. Anne was the first to leave for the south. Then Amir headed off to Hanoi. Chris left two days later for the south of Thailand after having missed his first flight due to sleeping. Darlene takes no responisbility. Marie and Lotte also departed. And then One-arm left us. Left were Darlene, James and I. I went bicycling by myself a couple of days and had a tremendous time going through the villages in the outskirts. The people were cheering me like it was tour de France. At one point I stopped outside a school beause all the kids came running to the fence screaming "Sabadee". I replied and they were ecstatic. Laughing and running around me while I took some photos, the kids seemed to have fun seeing a white guy. I remembered I had some Norwegian stickers in my bag and I started handing them out. The kids stumbled over eachother to get them and used them as tattoos in the face. I took a picture of them after my little embassador job and continued my journey to the waterfalls. On my way back I stopped at a random family that seemed to run some kind of local restaurant. At least I ended up eating noodle soup and sticky rice in the living room with the man of the house while the kids were watching the TV. Best soup I've had and it cost me 10 000 kip, rice included. Darlene, James and I went on a last bike trip together and ended up at family's place, eating their fruits and rice. Such parasites we are.
Darlene and I left James in LP and headed for Vang Vieng. The toyota hiace that picked us up was already full, so we sat on the floor and sides inside. It was tight. Luckily it only lasted to the bus station. There we got into another slightly less crowded bus and headed down the curvy roads to VV. It felt like eternity, but we finally got there and checked in at an ok guest house. I liked the owner, Darlene didnt. He was sexist hehe... Vang Vieng is probably the strangest place we've seen. A mixture of nice limestone hills, much like Yangshuo in China, mekong river, shady bars and cafes playing reruns of Friends the entire day. In the river you can go tubing, that is sitting in a tube from the wheel of a tractor, and follow the current of the river. There are multiple bars down the river and they fish you out of the water and give you shots. It was all fun, but too much of Sisqo's shakedown for me. Felt kind of out of place. Lotte was with us again with a young Aussie. We had a nice day together.
Darlene and I went bicycling and hiking around the town. We checked out some interesting caves. Outside one of them we found a cool jew that went in with us. We walked around inside and it was really cool but slightly claustrofobic. Safely outside we went all three on Nir's scooter. It was fun and painful on the dirt roads back to town. The suspension on the bike got some exercise that day. He dropped us off just out of town and we walked the last part. My stomach has been fighting me the last day and during this little walk I had an emergency. Luckily there was a kind of beer garden/guest house there and I ran into it. Turned out it was a maze, but right before touching cloth turned into filling up cloth, I found a toilet and punished it. Meanwhile the owner of the place sent Darlene a small comment, question her IQ since she didn't walk on the boards into the guest house. The sement under it was "wet", but I didn't see anything either since it was quite dark. Darlene, having been fed nice truths about men from me and sexist approaches from our own guest house owner, got the little extra she needed from this guy and she exploded! Full of wrath and fury she ran in wanted to put him in his place! Telling people passing by that his place was shitty and they shouldn't eat there! Leaving the place with an insult that would make a pirate shiver: "I hope your food is bad and you get diarrhea!". While waiting for me outside, still steaming, she admitted to me she wished she'd done a better job insulting him. Leaving the whole place while screaming "An apology would be in order!", I felt more like running than walking. But it made the evening complete and I was laughing and Darlene was not :D
After alot of fun in VV it was time to leave. We went down to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Darlene left immideately with the train and I spent my last kip in the capital on food and spent the evening online fixing a place to stay in Bangkok. When I got back to my guest house I was pleased to see that I still got connection to the cafe's internet. Lying down on my bed, I had a hunch something was wrong and checked under the pillow. My bed was full of ants. I went down and the guy seemed pissed off and bothered and was complaining to himself all the time while changing sheets, like that would solve the problem. The ants were still there and I slept with the lights on and stayed in the other side of the bed. In the morning I tried to get a refund and the guy went mental. Standing there with this crazy guy, acting like a monkey with rabies, I got slightly scared in the end and gave him the key and left. A bad case of ADHD there. Since I left the place 7 in the morning I had alot of time and walked to the airport. Next up: Bangkok again.
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111130ChiangMaiLastPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCPvhnJfSvJHcsAE
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111204ChiangKongLuangPrabangBirthdayAndParty?authkey=Gv1sRgCMmOy7PjyezQxAE
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111205SlowboatAndLuangPrabang?authkey=Gv1sRgCPjdpt2jmvDzSQ
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111212LuangPrabangPartyKamera?authkey=Gv1sRgCKe6wf_FlYK85gE
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111209LuangPrabang?authkey=Gv1sRgCN-snOWYiO7cew
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111214LuangPrabangVientiane?authkey=Gv1sRgCPfns-XWz5PuSQ
Our group slowly started to split up. Anne was the first to leave for the south. Then Amir headed off to Hanoi. Chris left two days later for the south of Thailand after having missed his first flight due to sleeping. Darlene takes no responisbility. Marie and Lotte also departed. And then One-arm left us. Left were Darlene, James and I. I went bicycling by myself a couple of days and had a tremendous time going through the villages in the outskirts. The people were cheering me like it was tour de France. At one point I stopped outside a school beause all the kids came running to the fence screaming "Sabadee". I replied and they were ecstatic. Laughing and running around me while I took some photos, the kids seemed to have fun seeing a white guy. I remembered I had some Norwegian stickers in my bag and I started handing them out. The kids stumbled over eachother to get them and used them as tattoos in the face. I took a picture of them after my little embassador job and continued my journey to the waterfalls. On my way back I stopped at a random family that seemed to run some kind of local restaurant. At least I ended up eating noodle soup and sticky rice in the living room with the man of the house while the kids were watching the TV. Best soup I've had and it cost me 10 000 kip, rice included. Darlene, James and I went on a last bike trip together and ended up at family's place, eating their fruits and rice. Such parasites we are.
Darlene and I left James in LP and headed for Vang Vieng. The toyota hiace that picked us up was already full, so we sat on the floor and sides inside. It was tight. Luckily it only lasted to the bus station. There we got into another slightly less crowded bus and headed down the curvy roads to VV. It felt like eternity, but we finally got there and checked in at an ok guest house. I liked the owner, Darlene didnt. He was sexist hehe... Vang Vieng is probably the strangest place we've seen. A mixture of nice limestone hills, much like Yangshuo in China, mekong river, shady bars and cafes playing reruns of Friends the entire day. In the river you can go tubing, that is sitting in a tube from the wheel of a tractor, and follow the current of the river. There are multiple bars down the river and they fish you out of the water and give you shots. It was all fun, but too much of Sisqo's shakedown for me. Felt kind of out of place. Lotte was with us again with a young Aussie. We had a nice day together.
Darlene and I went bicycling and hiking around the town. We checked out some interesting caves. Outside one of them we found a cool jew that went in with us. We walked around inside and it was really cool but slightly claustrofobic. Safely outside we went all three on Nir's scooter. It was fun and painful on the dirt roads back to town. The suspension on the bike got some exercise that day. He dropped us off just out of town and we walked the last part. My stomach has been fighting me the last day and during this little walk I had an emergency. Luckily there was a kind of beer garden/guest house there and I ran into it. Turned out it was a maze, but right before touching cloth turned into filling up cloth, I found a toilet and punished it. Meanwhile the owner of the place sent Darlene a small comment, question her IQ since she didn't walk on the boards into the guest house. The sement under it was "wet", but I didn't see anything either since it was quite dark. Darlene, having been fed nice truths about men from me and sexist approaches from our own guest house owner, got the little extra she needed from this guy and she exploded! Full of wrath and fury she ran in wanted to put him in his place! Telling people passing by that his place was shitty and they shouldn't eat there! Leaving the place with an insult that would make a pirate shiver: "I hope your food is bad and you get diarrhea!". While waiting for me outside, still steaming, she admitted to me she wished she'd done a better job insulting him. Leaving the whole place while screaming "An apology would be in order!", I felt more like running than walking. But it made the evening complete and I was laughing and Darlene was not :D
After alot of fun in VV it was time to leave. We went down to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Darlene left immideately with the train and I spent my last kip in the capital on food and spent the evening online fixing a place to stay in Bangkok. When I got back to my guest house I was pleased to see that I still got connection to the cafe's internet. Lying down on my bed, I had a hunch something was wrong and checked under the pillow. My bed was full of ants. I went down and the guy seemed pissed off and bothered and was complaining to himself all the time while changing sheets, like that would solve the problem. The ants were still there and I slept with the lights on and stayed in the other side of the bed. In the morning I tried to get a refund and the guy went mental. Standing there with this crazy guy, acting like a monkey with rabies, I got slightly scared in the end and gave him the key and left. A bad case of ADHD there. Since I left the place 7 in the morning I had alot of time and walked to the airport. Next up: Bangkok again.
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111130ChiangMaiLastPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCPvhnJfSvJHcsAE
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111204ChiangKongLuangPrabangBirthdayAndParty?authkey=Gv1sRgCMmOy7PjyezQxAE
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111205SlowboatAndLuangPrabang?authkey=Gv1sRgCPjdpt2jmvDzSQ
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111212LuangPrabangPartyKamera?authkey=Gv1sRgCKe6wf_FlYK85gE
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111209LuangPrabang?authkey=Gv1sRgCN-snOWYiO7cew
https://picasaweb.google.com/111895625193387647956/20111214LuangPrabangVientiane?authkey=Gv1sRgCPfns-XWz5PuSQ
2011/12/09
Chiang Mai - Luang Prabang
Chiang Mai is by far one of the best place I've been to. Time just seems to disappear in this place. Eating, drinking, massages, going to the night bazaar, spicy night club, boxing matches, there are endless things to do and the weather is great every day. I got some of my christmas presents together and went to a store and asked if they could wrap it for me. After 15 minutes of gesticulating, we finally understood eachother and the old woman started wrapping every pile of presents I had. Of course she did this after a young guy had found precisely the right boxes to put my stuff in so the gifts would be nice and prism shaped. After keeping these two people busy for an hour or more, they charged me 210 baht, roughly 5 euros, paper and ribbons included. Happy as fat guy at McDonald's, with free bigmac coupons, I left the store and thought I had at least gotten 50% of my gifts taken care of. The next evening, our last in Chiang Mai, I took my nice pink bike to the night bazaar to get the last stuff for my family. Close to closing time I had gotten all the last gifts I needed and tried my luck again by asking a woman at the last stand if she knew where I could get it wrapped. Expecting laughter, I wasn't high with hopes, but she brought me to a small post office at the corner. I tried to explain that paper wasn't enough, I would like to have help wrapping the gifts. The woman wistled two girls over from the pizza place across the street and they were up for the job. I was sitting there chatting while these cute girls were wrapping presents, with millimeter precision. Everything was closing around us, it was 12 o' clock, and they were still smiling and were even the first to congratulate me with my 27th birthday. I kept these girls busy an hour or so as well, but in the end I had a full set of perfectly wrapped presents and two new friends in Chiang Mai. What a wicked place! :)
November the 30th I went to the post office early in the morning. I shipped the Xmas presents to Norway and then headed back to the hostel. The team slowly gathered together. Mr Sloppyhands (Amir, the notorious loser of Jenga), Rainman (James, No explanation needed), Christopher Alexander and alwaysOnTimeDarlene. A minivan picked us up and we headed up to Chiang Khong, a border town to Laos. On the way I beat Chris countless times in chess, no wait, I counted, 5-0 was the score. In Chiang Kong we checked into a very basic, but nice and clean guesthouse. We had dinner included in the reservation and then we went out to take a beer. After all, I was 3^3 years old. We found this brilliant pub that was run by an old Belgian bloke. He was so nice and made sure that we had all that we needed. On the bus ride up and in the guest house we had already made some new excellent friends. One-armed Reg, alien-infested Marie, the Argentinians led by Juan, blonde swiss Michele, bday beer Carleigh, Hawaiian, but not so native Bryson and many more. In the bar we had loads of fun, but we lost Amir. He was gone for a good hour or so and we couldn't find him. Luckily he showed up again. Soon after the power went out, or so I thought. Out comes a woman with a birthday cake with loads of sparkling candles and everybody is singing happy birthday. I got a bottle of something which I haven't tried yet. It was a great day.
Getting to Laos by a slow boat, we first had to get some visas in order and then we headed down to the mekong river. Seeing that the slowboat was half full, alot of us thought it would never have enough space for us all. An aussie and a couple of others tried to start a mass demonstration to get an extra boat, but somehow the captain managed to set up more seats all the time. Half way in this funny battle, where people were screaming at eachother, my group entered the boat to make sure at least we had good enough seats. In the end the most stubborn were the last to enter and had to stand haha. The scenery down the river was amazing and we spent the time playing chess and connect four. After a good six hours ride or so we ended up in Pakbeng. A dirty little stopover town, which is basically one road full of guest houses, one bar and loads of husstlers and thieves. Felt like a wild west place, but we had a good time there and nobody I knew lost anything. At the bar we met the swiss and the Argentinian army and had some beers with them. The next day another eight hours were spent on the boat. I crushed most opposition in connect four, although some stabbed back a little. Sloppyhands, facehugger-victim, blondie, speedy-gonzales and chris were some of the ones feeling my cff ( connect four fury).
In Luang Prabang Anne die Gruppenführerin waited for us at the pier and we went to find ourselves a guest house. For breakfast I had some entertainment I've never had before. Two dogs were stuck ass to ass. Somehow they'd managed to end up in this position during intercourse and they walked around like this for fifteen minutes or so before they separeted. It was quite funny to watch. Luang Prabang is a much like Chiang Mai in the sense of being an easy place to relax and let time pass. We were lucky and arrived the week a film festival was held. We watched a documentary about a football team from Laos going to the gothic cup. The film had some stings towards the states for spicying up the country with cluster mines, and at the end of the film, the football team entered the stage and got an applause. Then they invited the American ambassador up to the stage and James got his wide angle lense ready. She was so fat she stood next to the whole team when she was up there. The day after our group went on a kajak and biking trip with a stop at a beautiful waterfall. We had a good time and the new members of the group made it all the more fun. The kajaking part was easy and everybody managed, even the french girls. Did I say everybody? Of course Rainman James managed to capsize.
More to come from Laos later! I got shitty connection so pictures will be added later.
November the 30th I went to the post office early in the morning. I shipped the Xmas presents to Norway and then headed back to the hostel. The team slowly gathered together. Mr Sloppyhands (Amir, the notorious loser of Jenga), Rainman (James, No explanation needed), Christopher Alexander and alwaysOnTimeDarlene. A minivan picked us up and we headed up to Chiang Khong, a border town to Laos. On the way I beat Chris countless times in chess, no wait, I counted, 5-0 was the score. In Chiang Kong we checked into a very basic, but nice and clean guesthouse. We had dinner included in the reservation and then we went out to take a beer. After all, I was 3^3 years old. We found this brilliant pub that was run by an old Belgian bloke. He was so nice and made sure that we had all that we needed. On the bus ride up and in the guest house we had already made some new excellent friends. One-armed Reg, alien-infested Marie, the Argentinians led by Juan, blonde swiss Michele, bday beer Carleigh, Hawaiian, but not so native Bryson and many more. In the bar we had loads of fun, but we lost Amir. He was gone for a good hour or so and we couldn't find him. Luckily he showed up again. Soon after the power went out, or so I thought. Out comes a woman with a birthday cake with loads of sparkling candles and everybody is singing happy birthday. I got a bottle of something which I haven't tried yet. It was a great day.
Getting to Laos by a slow boat, we first had to get some visas in order and then we headed down to the mekong river. Seeing that the slowboat was half full, alot of us thought it would never have enough space for us all. An aussie and a couple of others tried to start a mass demonstration to get an extra boat, but somehow the captain managed to set up more seats all the time. Half way in this funny battle, where people were screaming at eachother, my group entered the boat to make sure at least we had good enough seats. In the end the most stubborn were the last to enter and had to stand haha. The scenery down the river was amazing and we spent the time playing chess and connect four. After a good six hours ride or so we ended up in Pakbeng. A dirty little stopover town, which is basically one road full of guest houses, one bar and loads of husstlers and thieves. Felt like a wild west place, but we had a good time there and nobody I knew lost anything. At the bar we met the swiss and the Argentinian army and had some beers with them. The next day another eight hours were spent on the boat. I crushed most opposition in connect four, although some stabbed back a little. Sloppyhands, facehugger-victim, blondie, speedy-gonzales and chris were some of the ones feeling my cff ( connect four fury).
In Luang Prabang Anne die Gruppenführerin waited for us at the pier and we went to find ourselves a guest house. For breakfast I had some entertainment I've never had before. Two dogs were stuck ass to ass. Somehow they'd managed to end up in this position during intercourse and they walked around like this for fifteen minutes or so before they separeted. It was quite funny to watch. Luang Prabang is a much like Chiang Mai in the sense of being an easy place to relax and let time pass. We were lucky and arrived the week a film festival was held. We watched a documentary about a football team from Laos going to the gothic cup. The film had some stings towards the states for spicying up the country with cluster mines, and at the end of the film, the football team entered the stage and got an applause. Then they invited the American ambassador up to the stage and James got his wide angle lense ready. She was so fat she stood next to the whole team when she was up there. The day after our group went on a kajak and biking trip with a stop at a beautiful waterfall. We had a good time and the new members of the group made it all the more fun. The kajaking part was easy and everybody managed, even the french girls. Did I say everybody? Of course Rainman James managed to capsize.
More to come from Laos later! I got shitty connection so pictures will be added later.
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