Kuala Lumpur - Wow! Its Actually a Real City

In my experience, Malaysia gets a bad rep for being a crappy, paticularly when compared with its south neighbor, Singapore. We found this quite unfounded. Malaysia is pretty dang nice! Kuala Lumpur is a big, very modern city with great trains, cheap, delicious food, and a minimal amount of trash and road craziness (at least compared to Bali which is a total dump. Beautiful, but a dump).

Two days to explore KL, as everyone calls it, was great for us. Don't miss the following:

1. The Petronus Towers and business district in both day and night. The towers are pretty dang spectacular. Go inside and see the nuevo art deco decor! If you want to go up to the viewing platform, tickets are given out in the basement for free every morning starting at 8:30, BUT GO EARLY. We got there a few minutes after 8:30 and didn't get tickets :(.

2. Times Square mall area. The US doesn't have huge malls; Asia RULES that world. This was the largest mall I have ever been in, and it isn't even ranked as large! Rollercoasters, hair salons, food, clothes, a million stores, and the place was packed with people. Austin and I could not beleive it. BTW we look like trash here and it is quite apparent. Poo.

3. The park/lake area in the NW of town. They have parks, strolls, zoos, and more. Near the Mosque, there is a killer daytime market with delicious and incredibly cheap food. Our favorites were the kabob sandwiches, curry pastries, eggrolls, and veggie tempura. (also the coconut weirdness pictured here.)

4. The National Mosque and surrounding area. Tourists can visit the mosque and all the historical buildings, but some cost. We were chosen by a darling muslim lady to be part of an exclusive tour. She was thrilled to talk to Americans to help prove to the USA  that Islam is good and the people are mostly wonderful, as it is with most religions, people, etc. She was very excited to see we were educated and asked good questions. Poor lady thought she found some golden investigators. Sweet.

5. Batu Caves!

Tips:

-Most people eat out at every meal, so again, look for kitchen-y looking places where all the locals go. There are rarely menus, making things tricky, but it is cheap and delicious. Be warned: curry is always hotter than they say it is and will probably revisit you in the night. And the next morning. And perhaps the next.

-Don't waste your money on Mango lassi's here. They are nothing compared to what is ahead :)

-Buses are not so reliable and are more expensive than trains for local areas. Be ready to wait a good long while sometimes...

-However, take big buses to larger towns, such as Melaka, Jerantut, etc. They are cheap and ubber comfortable. I cannot stay awake on them!

Airports are Evil - Memoirs of a Very Long Day

Like the scrimpers we are, we decided our hotel was close enough to the airport to walk! It was, but walking anywhere in Bali involves no sidewalks, lots of mud, more time than you think, and a few near deaths. Having learned this already, we left hours early, and we are so glad we did!

After arriving and going through security, we saw another line forming entitled 'exit tax.' What nonsense was this! When we got to the front of the queue, a darling Balinese girl asked for 300,000 r, about $30, for the airport tax. Austin threw a little fit which I totally joined.

"What?! We already paid a ton to get in. What would happen if we refused? Would you export us? Great!" The little girl (she was probably like 30) just did not get why this was weird. When I handed her my credit card, she smiled again, " sorry we don't have a machine." Whaaa??

When I asked why they didn't take cards, she smiled again, "we don't have a card machine!"

O brother!!

So we went back downstairs to the ATM's, then remembering the Thai money, I asked if we could use that instead. Affirmative!

Back through security with a linger line.

The southern beaches of bali

Rent a scooter and check these babies out! They are in south west Bali.

Uku watu beach

Panang panang

There are a million Aussies and Russians here, but it seems we are the sole Americans, and the locals cannot distinguish accents. The only thing that differs to them is what the tourist asks for. Most common Russian question in Bali? " where are the bars?" Ha.

(Photos to come)

Bali for Future Travelers - Itinerary, Tips, and FYI

10 Day Bali Itinerary

Knowing what I know now, I think the following itinerary would be perfect for a 10 day vacation in Bali. It gives a great balance of tourist hits, culture, beaches, etc.

Day 1 & 2 - South Bali

Main hits -
Ulu watu temple and beach
Padang Padang beach
Kuta Beach
Eat a Roti-O, preferably at the Diskovery Mall. O. Heaven.

Tanah Lot Temple

Tips -
Rent a scooter! For 40,000 to 60,000, there is no better way to travel in Bali and isn't as scary as it first seems. Budget in cop bribe money. Though. Those punks are on the lookout for cash-- aka white skin.

Depending on the time of year, the beaches can be FILLED with trash, particularly Kuta in January. Bukit's beaches are a bit more protected, and Nusa Duas are cleaned by the resorts.

This is a very busy part of Bali, and there are vendors and tourist everywhere. It makes it fun, but a little crazy. Keep an eye out for people offering you to check out a new hotel. Take them up on it! If you are the right age, etc., you can get free dinner, free trips, free vacations, etc., out of it. Just make sure the guys tell you ALL the details. They will do anything to get money.

Day 3, 4, 5 - Ubud (2 hour drive)

Main hits - 

Monkey Temple Sanctuary

Gunung Kawi

Massage!
Balinese dance

Yoga or art class
Sukawati market and wood shops
Mango lassi

Tips -

Day 6, 7, 8 - Amed and Tulamben (3+ hour drive)

Main hits - 

Scuba dive Liberty shipwreck
Snorkel Japanese fishing boat wreck in Aas

Get lost on back roads

Snorkel in Jumeleck
Eat sea food on the beach front

Watch the sunrise (something you can't help with the jet lag)
Ride a fishing boat

Tips -

Amed is made up of 4ish coastal fishing and tourism villages. These towns are located on the far east side of Bali. They have super narrow roads, a million guest houses and restaurants (lots of competition), amazing snorkeling and scuba diving, astounding views, misty mountains, and lush jungles and rice paddies. It is the most beautiful area I have ever seen in my entire life.

Day 9 & 10 - Lovina (3+ hours from Tulamben)

Hits -
Hot springs
Dolphins
Clean beach swimming

Tips -
We actually didn't make it up here but we wanted to 

Scuba diving liberty

Yesterday be drove 3 hours across probably from ubud to amed. For 8 bucks, we rented a car, a suzuki katana, and I thought we were going to die about every 2 seconds. Yikes! Austin was super sweaty after the drive, and it had nothing to do with the weather.

We arrived in Amed, a beautiful, sleepy beach town. We keep going from one extreme to another, and this hotel is rockin! For 11 a night, we get a private bungalow, free breakfast, beach views, and jungle terrain. Totes romantic 

After shopping around yesterday for some cheap scuba diving, we set out on our diving adventure this morning: the shipwreck of USS Liberty! It was torpedoed by a Japanese sub during WWII and sunk near the coast. Then, in 1962, Mt. agung blew, moving the island farther out to sea, meters from the wreck. Wicked!

For $55 total, Austin and I dove the wreck with a guide. We literally walked down the pebble beach to the wreck.  Despite waves and silt, it was spectacular! I have never seen so many species of corral: cones, fans, brains, twirly ones, all colors, all sizes. Imagine finding memo reef style, but on a massive military ship. The bow rose up through the sea, and the largest eel I have ever seen ever ever lived within a gaping hole.

The ship was quite intact, everything encrusted with sea life and coral.

Lots of fish species, but mostly smaller ones that were super colorful.

We were at the bottom for about half an hour, but I could have Lil mermaided it up for days!

Ubud- the Center of Arts!

We decided to couchsurf in Ubud. We stayed with an adorable family from the neighboring village. He picked us up from Kuta (like 40 km and over two hours. bah!), we took him to lunch where the locals eat (my stomach hated me for days), then he took us on a whirlwind tour of Ubud! On the way, we bribed a police officer--par for the course.

We started out at the Monkey Forest, a monkey sanctuary and temple complex down in the riverbottoms of the Bali hills. GORGEOUS!

We got a massage- $4 a piece for one hour. It was my first massage every! I only lasted about 10 minutes before I had to break the silence and chat the rest of the time, but boy did it feel great. It was pretty funny stripping butt naked with people peeping in through the curtains...Our darling masseurs kept commenting on how handsome Austin was--and that he looked 30--as well as how beautiful our white (and red.) skin was. Baha. People keep telling him that.

That night was a little warm and a little rough. Our sweet hosts. Really, we are so blessed in the states. SOOOOO blessed.

These really don't do anything justice.

Kuta Adventures

We just needed a treat real bad. This one is for our friend Ty Bearnson. Check!

 

Seafood anyone? I feel like I have a broad palate for an American, but these Asians really put it to the test. O boy they eat everything no matter how old, smelly, squishy, or alive!

Wow. What a romantic beach Kuta offers. The views, the sand, the heaps of trash. Seriously, this was the cleanest area! Apparently January is not the time to enjoy Kuta's wonders. Sick. But at least we got our beach chair for cheap!

Toilet options

So many options, but what to do?!

 

Through the South of Bali

 

We rented a scooter and tootled around the southern chunk of Bali. There are temples absolutely everywhere: every community/neighborhood has at least three! This one is a larger complex that was quite abandoned. Of course we found it while being lost--getting lost yields the best treasures!

This is what Austin looks like to the locals. hehe

This cliffside temple is Ulu Watu-- a highly sacred Balinese temple on the southwest side of the island. It is to worship the sea god and to protect the island. A bizillion monkeys life in this area and steal your sunglasses, waterbottles, and any bananas.

We drove here early ish in the day, only to find that we didn't have enough money for the entrance fees (40,000 R or about $3) BAH!!! We were told it cost half that much. Boo. We were a 7 km scooter ride from an ATM and a 14 km scooter ride to our hotel. We were super sun burnt and not pleased, so we turned around and battled the crazy roads to find an ATM. Of course, the first 3 we found didn't work, and then our cards wouldn't work on the last one. Finally on the 6th (?) try, we got it to work! Looking back, i wish we had taken out more money; we despise paying those ATM fees.

Waking up to watus and the worst 'hotel' ever

We landed in Denpasar, Bali, at midnight. Then it took an entire hour to get an ATM to work! I called all my cards, but for some reason it wasn't recognizing the banks or something. ATM after ATM failed. Time after time. We were getting really frustrated. It was so late and how are we supposed to get to our guest house? Finally, it worked! prayers of thanks. We went to find a taxi driver and the rates were quadruple what we were told they should be. " it is the morning rate!" Was the response. O boy. The temperature was 82 degrees Fahrenheit when we landed, but it really has been quite pleasant. They were get goes all over the guest house chasing each other. Austin was amazed! They are bigger than the geckos in Hawaii. Our room had a fan and hot water, 2 things we now have learned are not in every hotel... I woke up at 6 a.m. To the most amazing view The Sun rising behind watus, balinese temples.

Breakfast was included, as well as a drunken serinade from 3 barely clothed smoking Russians! When we finally got our act together and figured out what we wanted to do, we rented a scooter for 5 bucks! The roads are nuts. Scooters and cars all weaving all over the place. Did I mention that everyone drives on the left side of the road? That is, except for us :-) there is definitely someone watching out for us above.

We decided to find a cheaper guest house, and looked one up on TripAdvisor, only to find that we could not find it! Hours went by, and we got super frustrated. All of this to save $2.00?! We never really found one, and ended up going to another guest housel, which ended up being just as expensive. Overcome by our jet lagged stupor, we booked it. Worst decision ever.

Check out this beauty. No sheet, no blankets, no closing bathroom door, no toilet paper, no tolls, no soap, super noisy, next to the smoking area, next to the reception desk, next to the owners TV, in a crappy area, dirty floors, newspaper lined dresser, hole in the ceiling , and some lovely crown molding. We were so tired. I just wanted to sit down and cry. I don't think I have ever been as tired in my whole life.

 

(Looking back, this wasn't all this bad. It was just a bad moment for us. It was pretty crappy though, and yes, that is a massive hole in the ceiling.)

I was feeling a bit dramatic at this time. Like maybe we had made a big mistake traveling here for 4 months, that our trip is going to be awful, that this horror would never end, that I wasn't fun and adventurous anymore, that bali sucked. We feel much better now. But that first day was pretty pretty rough :-)

The best layover ever! The Philippines

After a 14 hour plane ride to Guam, then another four ride to the Philippines, all through the night. We were ready to get off of the plane. But we made it! More than we expected for Philippine Airlines :-)

the airplane had set us up with a hotel a wash up and a ride to and from the hotel. We expected a airport cube or something awful, but instead we were transported to the luxurious Century Park Hotel! 

We spent the day running around, visiting the intramuras historic Spanish fort wall and visiting their national pride park. We walked the whole way, being accosted by homeless people and taxi drivers every step the way. Everyone rides around in a funny Chrome buses. I have no idea how it works.

Our favorite part was on the fort wall, there was a massive bonsai garden - hundreds of miniature trees. they were amazing. It was so lush and beautiful! We were a little confused what time it was, and went back to the hotel for a nap, which ended up being more like a coma and we almost missed our ride to the airport. Yikes!

It ends up that people do not take torn cash in exchange for another currency, so we thought we were out of luck when we could only convert 8 US dollars for the Philippine currency. And we only spent five of that! Good day. Good day.

Itinerary

• Bali: Jan 14–23
• 
  
• Malaysia/Singapore: Jan 24–Feb 8
• 
  
• Thailand: Feb 9–Feb 25
• 
  
• Laos: Feb 26–March 6
• 
  
• Cambodia: March 7–16
• 
  
• Vietnam: March 17–April 6
• 
  
• China: April 7–May 5

Give or take.

Asia Weightloss?

The Pre-Trip Stats

According to the majority of travel blogs, the majority of SE Asia adventurers lose an average of 20 lbs--regardless of their starting weight. Yikes! Well, we decided to weigh ourselves before just to see if the myth proved true. Here are the stats:

 

He's jazzed about this backpacking myth. As we say "I'm one Cambodian parasite away from my ideal body weight!" He hopes to be eating for two soon: he and his tape worm. Additionally, he plans to not shave or cut his hair. Be ready for a wild man!