Monday, January 26, 2009
hi all. we're in tonsai, where it all began. internet here costs $5 an hour so im not going to write anything till we get to bangkok on the 31st. just thought id let everyone know we're safe and sound and incommunicado until bangkok. until then, erik rosin's comments should keep everyone interested.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
we've been to two more national parks since i last wrote. today we went to lambir hills, a nice park that gave us a great four hour jungle trek leading to a hill overlooking the park. really nice, but not amazing.
yesterday, however, brought us to niah caves park, just one more unforgettable caving experience. the caves at niah stand out from those of mulu for a few reasons. the first is that niah's caves are an important acrcheological site, where a 40,000 year old human skull was found inside, serving as the first evidence of human existence in the islands of southeast asia. in addition to skulls, people have been uncovering pottery, tools, wall paintings, and all the other goodies an archeologist could hope to find. that's all well and good, but it didn't mean much to ashley and i.
what blew me away about niah caves was that, unlike most of the caves in mulu, there are no lights along the trails. that means that for fifteen minutes, ash and i hiked through a giant underground tunnel, with bats, swiftlets, and fist-sized crickets skittering about. it wasn't ashley's favorite activity, but she made it through, twice, without a complaint, so i was impressed. it was pretty scary.
but the real highlight of the caves relates to the swiftlets. about 500,000 swiftlets live inside one particular cave, building their nests into shallow pockets in the rock walls. leave it to the chinese to decide that these nests, which are made entirely from the bird's saliva, would taste good in soup. at the mouth of the cave is a small structure, the headquarters for a small staff of birds nest harvesters who freehand climb up 500 foot wooden posts and ropes to the cave ceiling to pick the nests. according to one of the nest pickers i talked to, the going rate right now is 1300 ringit for a kilo, or about $200 a pound. when i asked him what the soup tasted like, he said he had never had it, but that he heard it wasn't very good. it was absolutely incredible to watch these guys, risking their lives climbing at dizzying heights, all so someone in china could pay out the nose for a bowl of mediocre soup.
yesterday, however, brought us to niah caves park, just one more unforgettable caving experience. the caves at niah stand out from those of mulu for a few reasons. the first is that niah's caves are an important acrcheological site, where a 40,000 year old human skull was found inside, serving as the first evidence of human existence in the islands of southeast asia. in addition to skulls, people have been uncovering pottery, tools, wall paintings, and all the other goodies an archeologist could hope to find. that's all well and good, but it didn't mean much to ashley and i.
what blew me away about niah caves was that, unlike most of the caves in mulu, there are no lights along the trails. that means that for fifteen minutes, ash and i hiked through a giant underground tunnel, with bats, swiftlets, and fist-sized crickets skittering about. it wasn't ashley's favorite activity, but she made it through, twice, without a complaint, so i was impressed. it was pretty scary.
but the real highlight of the caves relates to the swiftlets. about 500,000 swiftlets live inside one particular cave, building their nests into shallow pockets in the rock walls. leave it to the chinese to decide that these nests, which are made entirely from the bird's saliva, would taste good in soup. at the mouth of the cave is a small structure, the headquarters for a small staff of birds nest harvesters who freehand climb up 500 foot wooden posts and ropes to the cave ceiling to pick the nests. according to one of the nest pickers i talked to, the going rate right now is 1300 ringit for a kilo, or about $200 a pound. when i asked him what the soup tasted like, he said he had never had it, but that he heard it wasn't very good. it was absolutely incredible to watch these guys, risking their lives climbing at dizzying heights, all so someone in china could pay out the nose for a bowl of mediocre soup.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
i was being a bit of an alarmist to say it never stops raining. eventually it did, and what kind of jackass would not expect rain in the rainy season? but for our first two days, it did not let up, and people were telling us we wouldn't be able to get into the park, which is the whole reason we came to borneo, or that if we could get into the park that it would be flooded and we wouldn't be able to do anything. those people were jerks.
four days ago we did fly into mulu national park, and it was incredible.
i think i'll have to go through this one day by day:
day 1: our small plane touched down on an airstrip in the middle of the jungle at about ten in the morning. right away we headed to the park office and organized activities for our entire four day stay in the park. after settling into our 15 bed dorm room, we grabbed lunch and set off for the first adventure, an hour hike through thick jungle to the world's longest canopy walk. it takes one hour to cover over 400 meters of suspension bridges linked between ancient trees, swaying 200 feet above the forest floor. not surprisingly, we didn't see any animals aside form mammoth stick insects but the experience of dangling above the treetops was amazing.
following the canopy tour we made our way to two of the park's myriad caves for which the park is best known. the first cave, known as lang's cave, is an impressive home to stalagtites, stalagmites, helectites (that's right, helectites) that rivalled amazing cave in halong bay. and then we went to deer cave...
deer cave makes amazing cave look like a shoe-box diarama. amazing cave was nice, but deer cave... deer cave is just out of control. it's the mother of superlatives; the largest cave passage in the world, it's home to, are you ready for this? 3.5 million bats!!! now before you get started thinking about what the floor looks like in a cave filled with three and a half million bats, cause i'll get to that too, picture a cave a mile long and five hundred feet high. at both ends of the mile long passage are giant, GIANT openings that let in just enough light so that when you peer upward, mouth closed (very important), you can see that the gargantuan black, sqeaking patches on the ceiling are actually moving. when someone reminds you to look down, you shine your flashlight onto a neverending pile of guano, teeming with cockroaches. i realize this last sentence might make the trip seem unappealing, but believe me, it is one of the most incredible, jaw-dropping sights i have ever seen. and ashley agrees, so there you go.
two hours before the sun set, we exited the cave to a clearing in the woods not far from the opening to watch an unparralelled spectacle of nature that i honestly, couldn't believe. coming out in groups of tens of thousands, the bats leave the cave where they gather over the cave's mouth, swarming in a massive donut shape before, all at once, they rise above the canopy and tear out over our heads in a perfect black ribbon, out for the night's hunt. this ribbon is then picked apart by a small group of hawks that wait above the cave. we watched this for about an hour, seeing at least fifteen groups of bats, before we walked back to the lodge and turned in.
day 2: along with three others, we started our day in a long boat, heading upriver towards wind and clearwater caves. i was afraid that deer cave had spoiled me for caves for the rest of my life, so when the boat pulled up, i braced myself for disappointment. turns out, wind cave is also unbelieveable. in terms of size, it can't compare, but it is filled with the most unlikely, dr. seussian rock formation you can possibly imagine. rather than trying to describe them, i will include some photos, and move onto clearwater cave, possibly my favorite of the bunch. you take a long stairway down into the belly of clearwater cave, a monster of a cave in its own right, until you reach a huge underwater river, speckled with light from an enormous vertical shaft overhead. i felt like i was in goonies.
after the caves, we carried on up the river to a trailhead where we started a two and a half hour hike to camp 5, the base camp for the pinnacles trail. we arrived at camp in the early afternoon, to a group of rustic riverside buildings nestled between sheer limestone cliffs and jungle. we slept that night and the next in a wall-less lodge, cooking and eating our meals with hundreds of bats zipping by within inches of your face. solely in managing this feat, ashley is a new person. she can eat a meal with bats. is anyone else impressed?
day 3: up at six to start the pinnacles trail, an entirely uphill climb of 2200 meters that averages a 45 degree incline, until it reaches the top, when the incline increases to 70 degrees. for the last 200 meters of ascent, you have to use fixed ropes and 15 ladders bolted into the rock, stepping over sheer drops, razor-like limestone edges, and pitch black chasms. sound dramatic? well, it was. at times it was terrifying, with even a few moments where we asked ourselves "what in the hell are we doing?" the payoff is at the summit, when you reach a vista overlooking an unusual bunch of 30 and 40 meter limestone spearheads, shooting out of the ground below you, towering over the trees. we ate lunch up there, and patted ourselves on the back, all nervous to repeat the ladders, but this time backwards. in the end, it was the section with the ladders that ended up being our favorite part. the pinnacles themselves were incredible, but the trek was unlike anything i've done, and definitely reinforced our desire to feel burly. we made it back to camp that afternoon, just before a torrential rainstorm that swelled the river up to twice its normal speed and volume, making a perfect soundtrack for a long nights sleep.
day 4: woke up very stiff and sore, and hopped along the trail that brought us in, to catch a boat back to the main lodge. we made a quick stop at a local village along the river before collapsing into puddles at the lodge. we had made plans to do another cave tour, but had to cancel after an ingrown toenail had caused my toe to swell into a purple monstrosity that forced me to think briefly about life with nine toes. instead we took a leisurely evening stroll through the jungle, where we saw a parade of monkeys jumping through the trees, and marvelled at how funny it is when life finds you in a jungle in borneo.
four days ago we did fly into mulu national park, and it was incredible.
i think i'll have to go through this one day by day:
day 1: our small plane touched down on an airstrip in the middle of the jungle at about ten in the morning. right away we headed to the park office and organized activities for our entire four day stay in the park. after settling into our 15 bed dorm room, we grabbed lunch and set off for the first adventure, an hour hike through thick jungle to the world's longest canopy walk. it takes one hour to cover over 400 meters of suspension bridges linked between ancient trees, swaying 200 feet above the forest floor. not surprisingly, we didn't see any animals aside form mammoth stick insects but the experience of dangling above the treetops was amazing.
following the canopy tour we made our way to two of the park's myriad caves for which the park is best known. the first cave, known as lang's cave, is an impressive home to stalagtites, stalagmites, helectites (that's right, helectites) that rivalled amazing cave in halong bay. and then we went to deer cave...
deer cave makes amazing cave look like a shoe-box diarama. amazing cave was nice, but deer cave... deer cave is just out of control. it's the mother of superlatives; the largest cave passage in the world, it's home to, are you ready for this? 3.5 million bats!!! now before you get started thinking about what the floor looks like in a cave filled with three and a half million bats, cause i'll get to that too, picture a cave a mile long and five hundred feet high. at both ends of the mile long passage are giant, GIANT openings that let in just enough light so that when you peer upward, mouth closed (very important), you can see that the gargantuan black, sqeaking patches on the ceiling are actually moving. when someone reminds you to look down, you shine your flashlight onto a neverending pile of guano, teeming with cockroaches. i realize this last sentence might make the trip seem unappealing, but believe me, it is one of the most incredible, jaw-dropping sights i have ever seen. and ashley agrees, so there you go.
two hours before the sun set, we exited the cave to a clearing in the woods not far from the opening to watch an unparralelled spectacle of nature that i honestly, couldn't believe. coming out in groups of tens of thousands, the bats leave the cave where they gather over the cave's mouth, swarming in a massive donut shape before, all at once, they rise above the canopy and tear out over our heads in a perfect black ribbon, out for the night's hunt. this ribbon is then picked apart by a small group of hawks that wait above the cave. we watched this for about an hour, seeing at least fifteen groups of bats, before we walked back to the lodge and turned in.
day 2: along with three others, we started our day in a long boat, heading upriver towards wind and clearwater caves. i was afraid that deer cave had spoiled me for caves for the rest of my life, so when the boat pulled up, i braced myself for disappointment. turns out, wind cave is also unbelieveable. in terms of size, it can't compare, but it is filled with the most unlikely, dr. seussian rock formation you can possibly imagine. rather than trying to describe them, i will include some photos, and move onto clearwater cave, possibly my favorite of the bunch. you take a long stairway down into the belly of clearwater cave, a monster of a cave in its own right, until you reach a huge underwater river, speckled with light from an enormous vertical shaft overhead. i felt like i was in goonies.
after the caves, we carried on up the river to a trailhead where we started a two and a half hour hike to camp 5, the base camp for the pinnacles trail. we arrived at camp in the early afternoon, to a group of rustic riverside buildings nestled between sheer limestone cliffs and jungle. we slept that night and the next in a wall-less lodge, cooking and eating our meals with hundreds of bats zipping by within inches of your face. solely in managing this feat, ashley is a new person. she can eat a meal with bats. is anyone else impressed?
day 3: up at six to start the pinnacles trail, an entirely uphill climb of 2200 meters that averages a 45 degree incline, until it reaches the top, when the incline increases to 70 degrees. for the last 200 meters of ascent, you have to use fixed ropes and 15 ladders bolted into the rock, stepping over sheer drops, razor-like limestone edges, and pitch black chasms. sound dramatic? well, it was. at times it was terrifying, with even a few moments where we asked ourselves "what in the hell are we doing?" the payoff is at the summit, when you reach a vista overlooking an unusual bunch of 30 and 40 meter limestone spearheads, shooting out of the ground below you, towering over the trees. we ate lunch up there, and patted ourselves on the back, all nervous to repeat the ladders, but this time backwards. in the end, it was the section with the ladders that ended up being our favorite part. the pinnacles themselves were incredible, but the trek was unlike anything i've done, and definitely reinforced our desire to feel burly. we made it back to camp that afternoon, just before a torrential rainstorm that swelled the river up to twice its normal speed and volume, making a perfect soundtrack for a long nights sleep.
day 4: woke up very stiff and sore, and hopped along the trail that brought us in, to catch a boat back to the main lodge. we made a quick stop at a local village along the river before collapsing into puddles at the lodge. we had made plans to do another cave tour, but had to cancel after an ingrown toenail had caused my toe to swell into a purple monstrosity that forced me to think briefly about life with nine toes. instead we took a leisurely evening stroll through the jungle, where we saw a parade of monkeys jumping through the trees, and marvelled at how funny it is when life finds you in a jungle in borneo.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
there's just not a whole lot to tell, this time around. we're in jogyakarta, which is supposed to be cooler than it is, but isn't. it's not bad, especially when compared to solo, but there were unusual circumstances in solo, which i'll get to in a minute.
the main activity, i guess, in jogya (as travel hipsters call it) is to visit the sultan's palace, and god bless him for trying, but it didn't do it for us. we lasted about ten minutes before we left. then there are batik markets everywhere, batik being the art of dyeing textiles into intricate blah blah blah i feel like i'm on a 4th grade field trip get me out of this batik market.
the water palace is nice. the water palace was built about 300 years ago by the sultan of the day as a decadent pleasure dome for him and his harem. underground tunnels connect steamrooms, pools, baths and so on, all destroyed many times over by java's frequent earthquakes, but rebuilt for tourists. sarcasm aside, a small city within the city exists around the water palace of narrow alleys, and labyrinthian passages that is actually beautiful. if this section were all of jogya, i would love jogya, but it is not. the rest of the city is a loud, hectic swarm of people, most of whom are trying to get you to go to the batik market.
to escape the madness we took off yesterday for solo, described by lonely planet as a place you might want to go. this turned out to be untrue, at least in our experience. we met a guy on the train who offered to show us to the area where our hotel was. five hours later, despite as many polite hints as we could imagine, he was still latched on to us. it was a complete social hijacking. eventually i had to tell him we were going to sleep just to get him to leave, even though it was only 4 in the afternoon. by the time he left we were so fed up with our time in solo that we checked out and came back here.
and now, we're about to hop on an overnight train to jakarta, where we'll spend a day before flying to borneo. we are both very excited for borneo, because we think it sounds burly to tell people you've been to borneo. i hope you'll agree.
the main activity, i guess, in jogya (as travel hipsters call it) is to visit the sultan's palace, and god bless him for trying, but it didn't do it for us. we lasted about ten minutes before we left. then there are batik markets everywhere, batik being the art of dyeing textiles into intricate blah blah blah i feel like i'm on a 4th grade field trip get me out of this batik market.
the water palace is nice. the water palace was built about 300 years ago by the sultan of the day as a decadent pleasure dome for him and his harem. underground tunnels connect steamrooms, pools, baths and so on, all destroyed many times over by java's frequent earthquakes, but rebuilt for tourists. sarcasm aside, a small city within the city exists around the water palace of narrow alleys, and labyrinthian passages that is actually beautiful. if this section were all of jogya, i would love jogya, but it is not. the rest of the city is a loud, hectic swarm of people, most of whom are trying to get you to go to the batik market.
to escape the madness we took off yesterday for solo, described by lonely planet as a place you might want to go. this turned out to be untrue, at least in our experience. we met a guy on the train who offered to show us to the area where our hotel was. five hours later, despite as many polite hints as we could imagine, he was still latched on to us. it was a complete social hijacking. eventually i had to tell him we were going to sleep just to get him to leave, even though it was only 4 in the afternoon. by the time he left we were so fed up with our time in solo that we checked out and came back here.
and now, we're about to hop on an overnight train to jakarta, where we'll spend a day before flying to borneo. we are both very excited for borneo, because we think it sounds burly to tell people you've been to borneo. i hope you'll agree.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
the things we miss (people not included):
1. cheese, especially cheddar
2. wine
3. dependable mexican food. maybe its my own fault for ordering "facos" form a place that serves "mixicon"
4. dependable pizza. "the american: mozzarella, tuna, corn." really?
5. showers. i guess we've kind of gotten used to cold water coming out of a showerhead right next to the toilet, but it won't be missed.
6. clean sheets
7. brushing our teeth with tap water
2. wine
3. dependable mexican food. maybe its my own fault for ordering "facos" form a place that serves "mixicon"
4. dependable pizza. "the american: mozzarella, tuna, corn." really?
5. showers. i guess we've kind of gotten used to cold water coming out of a showerhead right next to the toilet, but it won't be missed.
6. clean sheets
7. brushing our teeth with tap water
well, it's official. we have less than one month left on this trip. how depressing is that? not that we're not excited to make it home, but my god... how can you leave this behind? we're back in ubud, that sparkling lovable jewel of bali, our favorite city in all of southeast asia, a place where yesterday we discussed moving to (the idea was later dismissed as ridiculous), the most beautiful place on god's green earth.
we decided to come back after a botched trip to lombok, where our intention was to climb the rinjani volcano, only to find out upon arrival that the volcano would be closed the following day for three months of trail conservation. after some hasty research on other sights and activities in lombok, and a hellish night in possibly our worst hotel yet (read: giant cockroach in bathroom, heavy metal bar next door blaring live renditions of guns n' roses all night, and a plague of mosquitos endlessly dive-bombing our bed), we flew the coup and returned to shangri la. and here we are.
we thought we'd check out a different side of town for accomodation this time around, and after minimal searching found a cute place with a garden and balcony, plus an occasional glitch here and there. for example, upon opening our door to show the room we saw a manic pigeon flying about, shitting on the dresser before a delightful and ancient woman cavalierly grabbed it and saw it out the door. no bugs, though, so what tyhe hell? we'll take it! the guesthouse also has an inhouse ladyboy, cooking our breakfast, doing our laundry, and renting us motorbikes. all for eight dollars! (motorbike and laundry not included)
Two days ago, at the suggestion of a local american expat, we decided to drive over to the four seasons to check out how the other half lives, but their security was quite astute, and turned us away at the gates. we'll just have to wait for bangkok. later that night we saw another balinese dance performance, this one called the legong dance, performed in the court of the royal palace. not as good as the kecak dance, it was still very good, and by far better than a shadow puppet play. as we speak, ashley is taking a private lesson in balinese dance.
this morning we got up early and went white water rafting on the telaga waja river. the rapids weren't quite as big as on our rafting experience in thailand, with the exception of one 12 foot drop, though this trip was longer, and oh my... the scenery? how many waterfalls can this island possibly have? its getting absurd.
bottom line: we like it here.
tonight we have the always unfortunate task of booking flights, trains and buses to our next few destinations, wherever they may be. we'd like to go to borneo, but its turning into an expensive debacle, so who knows. wish me luck.
we decided to come back after a botched trip to lombok, where our intention was to climb the rinjani volcano, only to find out upon arrival that the volcano would be closed the following day for three months of trail conservation. after some hasty research on other sights and activities in lombok, and a hellish night in possibly our worst hotel yet (read: giant cockroach in bathroom, heavy metal bar next door blaring live renditions of guns n' roses all night, and a plague of mosquitos endlessly dive-bombing our bed), we flew the coup and returned to shangri la. and here we are.
we thought we'd check out a different side of town for accomodation this time around, and after minimal searching found a cute place with a garden and balcony, plus an occasional glitch here and there. for example, upon opening our door to show the room we saw a manic pigeon flying about, shitting on the dresser before a delightful and ancient woman cavalierly grabbed it and saw it out the door. no bugs, though, so what tyhe hell? we'll take it! the guesthouse also has an inhouse ladyboy, cooking our breakfast, doing our laundry, and renting us motorbikes. all for eight dollars! (motorbike and laundry not included)
Two days ago, at the suggestion of a local american expat, we decided to drive over to the four seasons to check out how the other half lives, but their security was quite astute, and turned us away at the gates. we'll just have to wait for bangkok. later that night we saw another balinese dance performance, this one called the legong dance, performed in the court of the royal palace. not as good as the kecak dance, it was still very good, and by far better than a shadow puppet play. as we speak, ashley is taking a private lesson in balinese dance.
this morning we got up early and went white water rafting on the telaga waja river. the rapids weren't quite as big as on our rafting experience in thailand, with the exception of one 12 foot drop, though this trip was longer, and oh my... the scenery? how many waterfalls can this island possibly have? its getting absurd.
bottom line: we like it here.
tonight we have the always unfortunate task of booking flights, trains and buses to our next few destinations, wherever they may be. we'd like to go to borneo, but its turning into an expensive debacle, so who knows. wish me luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)