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Wednesday, 1 February 2012
More Lovely Borneo...
For those of you who actually read this, you will notice that I am not quite the avid blogger who keeps their blog up to date. My last update was in Thailand, probably early January as I remember I was in Chiang Mai and I was writing about Borneo. I still have Borneo to bore you with, and not to mention the Philippines, Thailand and Laos as I am currently sat on a bus at the Cambodian border waiting for the grumpy little man to get back on with everyone's passports! Caroline ever so kindly charged her laptop for me so I could sit and finish this off, only 10 hours in the sweltering heat to go :) But it beats reading the book I've had for over a month and only got to chapter 6 (Caroline started reading it 2 days ago.... and has already finished it).
My last entry was about our day trip to Kubah National Park and as we worked oh so hard, we decided Saturday was a rest day and nothing to traumatic to the body as my legs and bum were killing me! As to not completely waste the day we decided to get up and go and see some cave (don't ask me what the name of it was) but it was something productive to do instead of moping round the hostel. *My diary has just informed me it was the Wind and Fairy cave we were wanting to go and see.* We walked into town and found the right bus which would take us to Bau where we could then get another bus from to take us to the cave. The journey was beyond bumpy and lasted for well over an hour. Arriving at Bau was interesting... we were dropped off in a tiny car park with no buses and as I tried to ask people for information they just looked at me as if I were an alien so I could sense the day not going well. Caroline went to ask in the taxi rank about buses and by this point, at around 2pm (yes.. we were slow starters) the last bus back from Bau to the city was at 3.30pm which overall made no sense for us to even attempt it. As all four of us just stood there in the horrible dry heat the decision didn't even have to be discussed.. we ran for the bus that dropped us off and just made it back on. Now another hour journey all the way back. What a great day!!!
For those of you who know me well, you know, I do NOT eat seafood unless I'm at home and I can eat tuna from a tin caked in vinegar on only a sandwich with just butter. As Caroline, Becky and myself went out for lunch we stopped off at a local market and we got noodle soup which what I thought only contained meat. I could see some pork and beef and what I thought was a weird chicken/turkey looking meat. Becky and Caroline both made the comment that it tasted a little fishy but I couldn't taste it so I disregarded the comment. Caroline then said it again and as I had no more meat left apart from the chicken/turkey thing.. I knew instantly as I swallowed..... FISH. They had BOTH known that it was crab and had let me eat it. Most of these things tend to be mind over matter as when I was eating it previously I couldn't taste anything but as soon as I ate it separately.. it nearly made me sick as the taste of it was just like the smell! But, at least I can say I ate fish!
I don't usually type this out as a day by day thing but that evening is definitely one to be written about or it might be one of those things that isn't actually funny to read and you just 'had to be there' but I will do it anyway.
It was a quiet Saturday night in the hostel and everyone took some alone time to do individual things as that is when I actually did my first post on here (it took me about 2 hours) and I had the joy of listening to some girl singing horrifically from the ground floor to serenade my typing. Freaks everywhere!
Anyway to wrap this day up, I went up to the 3rd floor of our hostel and started chatting to Becky over several cups of tea whilst I feebly wrote entries in my diary (Yep, behind on that aswell) and she sat sewing her country badges onto her bag.. what a rocking night in Kuching! As the night progressed the scissors came out and Becky cut up our Angry Bird t-shirts that we had bought in the day. For those of you who have been to Malaysia you will know they are utterly obsessed with Angry Birds and if you want any sort of merchandise with the design on, you can have it. Bags, t-shirts, stationary, shoes, suitcases, fabrics... you name it, they have it! Once the customising of the t-shirts had finished, this is where the night goes a bit weird and what we now call Ninja night! Becky decided to place one of the scraps of fabric round her head like a headband, so I followed suit and then Caroline pickling up whatever scraps we had. Next it was armbands and wristbands and we were all suddenly stood there in our t-shirts with scrap fabric round our heads, arms and hands posing in any way we could. We probably made it last a good hour and luckily no one saw us as that would have been totally embarrassing! Although it's not like we don't have photographic evidence! Maybe not that funny to read but the photo's might help lighten the story!
<Our last day in Kuching before we moved up north was spent in Bako National Park. Becky took the 'day off' and stayed in bed and Caroline, Ben and myself got up at 6 and were at the bus stop for 7 for the first bus. Does the first bus ever arrive on time? NO! We had to wait a good 30minutes and when the bus finally arrived it was perfect timing for a nap as the journey was to take an hour. We arrived at the reception and paid our entrance and boat fee's to take us over to the National Park and had to walk from ankle deep water over to the beach. At the reception point, you pick which trails you decide you want to do and tell the rangers as if you don't return, they know which trails to check first. We decided to do a 3 hour round trip to T Pandan Kecil Beach first and then an hour and a half round trip to T Paku.
I actually really enjoyed the walks at Bako as they were alot easier than at Kubah due to the fact we had the sea breeze and that it was more open air. On our second walk back we managed to see some Proboscis and Langurs monkeys in their natural habitat so we just stood quietly and watched them for a bit. At 3pm we were all absolutely drained and got the boat back ready for the bus back to Kuching. Whilst waiting I got proposed to by a man with no teeth but surprisingly I said maybe to (he had his own boat, not quite the yacht I'm after but we all have to start somewhere). Ironically shortly after we saw a newlywed couple walk down the jetty and as I went to take a photo, she had an amazing white lace dress, she was happy to pose for me and as they left on their boat, she was still happy to semi pose and waved at everyone from afar.. she looked so happy. And so did the husband.
Our last night in Kuching was spent trying to sort out our next move and grumpy old Ben 'banned' me and Becky from talking to each other in our happy hyper mode as we were disrupting organisational time... grinch! Us hardcore girls decided to do it the real way and Ben decided to fly (only as we couldn't afford to) and we would just meet back up in Kota Kinabalu aka KK the capital in a few days as that's how long it would take us to get there. God I just hate the actual travelling part of travelling...
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Saturday, 7 January 2012
Beautiful Borneo. Kuching, Matang Wildlife Sanctuary and Kubah National Park
Hhhmmm OK, so I haven't updated this for quite some time and even now I have been sat here procrastinating for well over an hour trying not to do this. After leaving it so long blogging just feels like homework and something I just do not want to do but I have started the process so I shall finish. It is now January 7th so a whole month since I have even updated this thing and I have travelled through Borneo, the Philippines, and some of Thailand..... I think I might have sore fingers by the time I get through this but let's just do baby steps and get Borneo out the way! Where to even start?!
We left Langkawi on (let me check my diary) 23rd November at 6.30am. Myself, Caroline, Becky and Ben got a taxi to the port where we had an hour boat to catch over to the mainland at Kuala Perlis. We then luckily managed to get a VIP coach within 15 minutes and that baby took us a whole working 9 hour day to get back to Kuala Lumpur. We obviously need food at this point so McDonald's it is. (We are always allowed McD's on travel day's.. it makes us feel better.. and then horrible 5 minutes after eating). We then take 3 short metro trains.. by the way.. lugging your entire life round the busy stations of KL in rush hour is not fun especially when the damn ticket machines decide not to work and you have to que for a stupid refund!
After the 3 short metro trains we have to take another bus which takes half an hour and then we finally reach the airport! By this time... it's probably around 9pm... we check our bags in and eagerly await our flight to Kuching. Our flight was slightly delayed by around 30 minutes but amazingly.. we still arrive on time. The flight arrived at 12.30 am and tired just doesn't cut it. I felt like someone had thrown me in a bush.. dragged me backwards and then made me run round an Olympic track. We haggled a taxi to our hostel - Nomad's, and safely arrived at 1.30am. We all crawled in bed at 1.40am and it was lights out. No messing around that night!
We spent our first day in Kuching just checking out the city and getting our bearings with nothing overly exciting to report on. We took a walk down the river and just generally took in the sights.
As there was so much to do in Borneo we then had the challenge of picking what activities/National Parks we would attempt first (hard life travelling). We decided on doing the Matang Wildlife Centre where they have Orangutans and then doing Kubah National Park which wasn't far from the Wildlife Centre. Let's get some scenery on the go!
In the city we took a taxi as the public transport wasn't that overly accesible and I must say, he was the best taxi driver, ever! His name was Bong.. yes.. you read correctly, probably around 60.. looked nothing like his ID so he could have been anyone yet he had no teeth. (Oh I love a man with no teeth) He was that cute I could have hugged him. He barely spoke English but took us all the way to the Wildlife Centre for (I really can't remember how much and I didn't write it in my diary..argh) but anyway it was cheap. He kindly offered to wait for us until we had finished and then he would take us to the National Park.
Flip flop's were definately not advisable for this walk so I had to make the tough decision of getting my brand spanking new WHITE converse dirty... and it was muddy. After the first splash of mud though.. I embraced it. Slightly.
As we walked around the sanctuary we came across all kinds of wildlife including Crocodiles, some birds, Bearcats, another fluffy thing that I can't recall the name of, some Borneon Gibbon Monkeys and finally... the 2 baby Orangutans!
We must have spent about half an hour just watching them play as they were so child like it was hilarious. One was slightly more dosile than the other and just kept falling everywhere and then the other would try to fight with it. There was also an extremely large Orangutan in a seprate cage which if I am honest, did not look happy in life at all. It sat it in the corner of it's cage and just didn't want to interact at all let alone look at anyone. Again, I just wanted to give it a cuddle and make it all better. :(
We carried on walking arond and came across the Sunbears which we couldn't actually see that well so there isn't actually really any point of me mentioning these as I have nothing to mention as I don't really know what they even look like, apart from that they are black.
Once we were satisfied we had seen what we wanted from the Orangutan's we came back outside and Bong was still there waiting for us, bless him... and he drive us all the way to Kubah National Park which probably took around half an hour. Thank god we left when we did though as the heavens completely opened and I was the only muppett without any waterproofs! He also made sure we had stuff to eat for the trek in the park so took us to the nearest shop where we stocked up on the trusty..... crisp sandwiches. We had all become rather accustomed to these over the past few days when travelling as A - they are easy to carry B - cheap and C - freakishly tasty when you get the right flavour crisps!
At the National Park we decided our route and went for the waterfall route as it was only 3 hours.. yes.. only! I asked the lady at the park if she had any spre waterproofs or any for sale and she said no... so she kindly offered me her own umbrella from her car.. again... bless... everyone is just so darn nice! This umbrella was actually perfect for me as it was one of those big ones so it was more like a walking stick aswell :) This came in handy for the decent up!!!
To even get to to the trail we had to make our way up a 1000m uphill 'stroll'. As Caroline and Ben seemed to power on, me and Becky were not finding the strenous journey too easy. My walking stick made a little difference so therefore Becky wanted a stick. She found a massive tree branch and decided to use that but after 3/4 minutes decided it was too heavy and gave up so 2 tree branches that she wanted to use for wings also lasted about a minute! However... luck was on our side and the park rangers drove past so we hopped in and cheated about 200m of the way just to make up time to catch up to Caroline and Ben! God send.
The walk to the waterfall itself was 'interesting'. Up steps, down steps, around steps.. but when I say steps... I mean rickety pieces of wood covered in slippy as hell moss about to fall apart! It was hard work! Poor Becky aswell just did not appreciate the fact that sweat was dripping from her chin... who thought sweat could even start to drip from your chin? Infact, we all had sweat just dripping from everywhere!
After an hour of what I would call 'hardcore' trekking.. we reach the waterfall and .... what a let down. You couldn't even go in it.. only paddle and it wasn't overly safe to go and climb near it for a decent photo. The one thing that did interest me though was my sad little quest to take a picture of a massive ant.. now I know ants aren't generally or at all interesting.. but this bad boy was huge so I wanted a photo.. only.... on my mission.. I slipped.. fell... arse first into a puddle. Ow. The only thing I was was worried about was my camera as everything had flung out of it. I didn't care about myself... just my camera.. and luckily both of us were OK. After everyone has realised I was OK.. it was appropriate for them to start laughing at the fact I had a wet arse and fell over trying to take a picture of an ant!!!
After talking the generic waterfall shots we sit down, have a second dose of crisp sandwiches and biscuits as a desert and make the journey back. The journey back was a bit more delightful and really didn't take much time at all even though sweat was still dripping from every single orafice and Becky didn't half want us to know it :) Becky loves sweat! At one point, we had to shout at Ben due to the fact that he was leaving us 3 behind and storming off. Now I know we all wanted to get back but rule number 1 on a group expedition... don't leave any men behind! And after 3 girls screaming the same thing, he should now know this for the future!
Back at the top we had a half an hour wait for Bong so the lady at the office called him and he came within 10 minutes! I have just found out from Caroline the price we actually paid him and I feel so bad. He drove us round all day, waited for hours and we paid him 120 RM. Thinking back now, this was only £24, so £6 each.. and that was even with a tip. He seemed so happy when we gave him the money so I guess he also had a nice day! Thank you Bong!
Nothing really exciting happened in the hostel in Kuching, we just had to make our own fun as it was so quiet so we did the standard.... shower.... internet.. night market for food, film and bed. ROCK ON!
I have literally just remembered the most important thing about Kuching... on the Thursday, our first full day, a massive group of Australians came into the hostel who were on a trip called 'World Challenge'. We got talking to one of the leader's as he was English and he was giving us tips about Borneo etc as he had been there many times before. We bump into him just after we had eaten and spent around an hour talking to him...... more than enough. He was the weirdest fellow you could ever wish to meet. To say he was Mr Macho is the biggest understatment of the Millennium. When we asked him what he did, he was so shady and secretive it made us ask more. If I remember correctly, I think he said he used to do mountaineering, be in some sort of rescue service, MI5 or whatever it is as MI6 doesn't actually exist? He was also in the Army, fought in a few wars, had gone to Africa and had his leg chopped with a machete but he didn't know it. He has a gated house somewhere in the UK, location not to be disclosed. He has 10 cars, most of which are Porche's, a few 4x4 run arounds just to get him by. He loves is £900 titanium knife sets, he doesn't watch tv, he has no friends, yet when you ask him where he is from, he will simply say EARTH. Do I need to say anymore on the subject of Mark?
We left Langkawi on (let me check my diary) 23rd November at 6.30am. Myself, Caroline, Becky and Ben got a taxi to the port where we had an hour boat to catch over to the mainland at Kuala Perlis. We then luckily managed to get a VIP coach within 15 minutes and that baby took us a whole working 9 hour day to get back to Kuala Lumpur. We obviously need food at this point so McDonald's it is. (We are always allowed McD's on travel day's.. it makes us feel better.. and then horrible 5 minutes after eating). We then take 3 short metro trains.. by the way.. lugging your entire life round the busy stations of KL in rush hour is not fun especially when the damn ticket machines decide not to work and you have to que for a stupid refund!
After the 3 short metro trains we have to take another bus which takes half an hour and then we finally reach the airport! By this time... it's probably around 9pm... we check our bags in and eagerly await our flight to Kuching. Our flight was slightly delayed by around 30 minutes but amazingly.. we still arrive on time. The flight arrived at 12.30 am and tired just doesn't cut it. I felt like someone had thrown me in a bush.. dragged me backwards and then made me run round an Olympic track. We haggled a taxi to our hostel - Nomad's, and safely arrived at 1.30am. We all crawled in bed at 1.40am and it was lights out. No messing around that night!
We spent our first day in Kuching just checking out the city and getting our bearings with nothing overly exciting to report on. We took a walk down the river and just generally took in the sights.
As there was so much to do in Borneo we then had the challenge of picking what activities/National Parks we would attempt first (hard life travelling). We decided on doing the Matang Wildlife Centre where they have Orangutans and then doing Kubah National Park which wasn't far from the Wildlife Centre. Let's get some scenery on the go!
In the city we took a taxi as the public transport wasn't that overly accesible and I must say, he was the best taxi driver, ever! His name was Bong.. yes.. you read correctly, probably around 60.. looked nothing like his ID so he could have been anyone yet he had no teeth. (Oh I love a man with no teeth) He was that cute I could have hugged him. He barely spoke English but took us all the way to the Wildlife Centre for (I really can't remember how much and I didn't write it in my diary..argh) but anyway it was cheap. He kindly offered to wait for us until we had finished and then he would take us to the National Park.
Flip flop's were definately not advisable for this walk so I had to make the tough decision of getting my brand spanking new WHITE converse dirty... and it was muddy. After the first splash of mud though.. I embraced it. Slightly.
As we walked around the sanctuary we came across all kinds of wildlife including Crocodiles, some birds, Bearcats, another fluffy thing that I can't recall the name of, some Borneon Gibbon Monkeys and finally... the 2 baby Orangutans!
We must have spent about half an hour just watching them play as they were so child like it was hilarious. One was slightly more dosile than the other and just kept falling everywhere and then the other would try to fight with it. There was also an extremely large Orangutan in a seprate cage which if I am honest, did not look happy in life at all. It sat it in the corner of it's cage and just didn't want to interact at all let alone look at anyone. Again, I just wanted to give it a cuddle and make it all better. :(
We carried on walking arond and came across the Sunbears which we couldn't actually see that well so there isn't actually really any point of me mentioning these as I have nothing to mention as I don't really know what they even look like, apart from that they are black.
Once we were satisfied we had seen what we wanted from the Orangutan's we came back outside and Bong was still there waiting for us, bless him... and he drive us all the way to Kubah National Park which probably took around half an hour. Thank god we left when we did though as the heavens completely opened and I was the only muppett without any waterproofs! He also made sure we had stuff to eat for the trek in the park so took us to the nearest shop where we stocked up on the trusty..... crisp sandwiches. We had all become rather accustomed to these over the past few days when travelling as A - they are easy to carry B - cheap and C - freakishly tasty when you get the right flavour crisps!
At the National Park we decided our route and went for the waterfall route as it was only 3 hours.. yes.. only! I asked the lady at the park if she had any spre waterproofs or any for sale and she said no... so she kindly offered me her own umbrella from her car.. again... bless... everyone is just so darn nice! This umbrella was actually perfect for me as it was one of those big ones so it was more like a walking stick aswell :) This came in handy for the decent up!!!
To even get to to the trail we had to make our way up a 1000m uphill 'stroll'. As Caroline and Ben seemed to power on, me and Becky were not finding the strenous journey too easy. My walking stick made a little difference so therefore Becky wanted a stick. She found a massive tree branch and decided to use that but after 3/4 minutes decided it was too heavy and gave up so 2 tree branches that she wanted to use for wings also lasted about a minute! However... luck was on our side and the park rangers drove past so we hopped in and cheated about 200m of the way just to make up time to catch up to Caroline and Ben! God send.
The walk to the waterfall itself was 'interesting'. Up steps, down steps, around steps.. but when I say steps... I mean rickety pieces of wood covered in slippy as hell moss about to fall apart! It was hard work! Poor Becky aswell just did not appreciate the fact that sweat was dripping from her chin... who thought sweat could even start to drip from your chin? Infact, we all had sweat just dripping from everywhere!
After an hour of what I would call 'hardcore' trekking.. we reach the waterfall and .... what a let down. You couldn't even go in it.. only paddle and it wasn't overly safe to go and climb near it for a decent photo. The one thing that did interest me though was my sad little quest to take a picture of a massive ant.. now I know ants aren't generally or at all interesting.. but this bad boy was huge so I wanted a photo.. only.... on my mission.. I slipped.. fell... arse first into a puddle. Ow. The only thing I was was worried about was my camera as everything had flung out of it. I didn't care about myself... just my camera.. and luckily both of us were OK. After everyone has realised I was OK.. it was appropriate for them to start laughing at the fact I had a wet arse and fell over trying to take a picture of an ant!!!
After talking the generic waterfall shots we sit down, have a second dose of crisp sandwiches and biscuits as a desert and make the journey back. The journey back was a bit more delightful and really didn't take much time at all even though sweat was still dripping from every single orafice and Becky didn't half want us to know it :) Becky loves sweat! At one point, we had to shout at Ben due to the fact that he was leaving us 3 behind and storming off. Now I know we all wanted to get back but rule number 1 on a group expedition... don't leave any men behind! And after 3 girls screaming the same thing, he should now know this for the future!
Back at the top we had a half an hour wait for Bong so the lady at the office called him and he came within 10 minutes! I have just found out from Caroline the price we actually paid him and I feel so bad. He drove us round all day, waited for hours and we paid him 120 RM. Thinking back now, this was only £24, so £6 each.. and that was even with a tip. He seemed so happy when we gave him the money so I guess he also had a nice day! Thank you Bong!
Nothing really exciting happened in the hostel in Kuching, we just had to make our own fun as it was so quiet so we did the standard.... shower.... internet.. night market for food, film and bed. ROCK ON!
I have literally just remembered the most important thing about Kuching... on the Thursday, our first full day, a massive group of Australians came into the hostel who were on a trip called 'World Challenge'. We got talking to one of the leader's as he was English and he was giving us tips about Borneo etc as he had been there many times before. We bump into him just after we had eaten and spent around an hour talking to him...... more than enough. He was the weirdest fellow you could ever wish to meet. To say he was Mr Macho is the biggest understatment of the Millennium. When we asked him what he did, he was so shady and secretive it made us ask more. If I remember correctly, I think he said he used to do mountaineering, be in some sort of rescue service, MI5 or whatever it is as MI6 doesn't actually exist? He was also in the Army, fought in a few wars, had gone to Africa and had his leg chopped with a machete but he didn't know it. He has a gated house somewhere in the UK, location not to be disclosed. He has 10 cars, most of which are Porche's, a few 4x4 run arounds just to get him by. He loves is £900 titanium knife sets, he doesn't watch tv, he has no friends, yet when you ask him where he is from, he will simply say EARTH. Do I need to say anymore on the subject of Mark?
Langkawi Photo's
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| Caroline in A&E after nasty Mr Jellyfish |
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| A dead Jellyfish we found which I abused with the worst shoes on the planet...crocs!!! |
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Langkawi - The Island of the Naughty Sea!
Trying to book accommodation online in Langkawi seemed to be troublesome so we arrived with nowhere to sleep, something we had not left this late before. Whilst in Melaka we were recommended to stay at a hostel called Gecko in the area of Pantai Chenang. We asked the taxi driver to take us straight there and then the trouble (by me) began.
We found Gecko and there were barely any rooms left. There were no dorms, only double's/privates and at the cost of 50RM, now in my head I was either thinking 50GBP or 25 GBP each for the double. 50RM for a double room is actually only 10GBP - so 5GBP each. In my head I was like, wooaahhh that's expensive when in real terms, it was a bargain. I stormed off and everyone seemed to follow thinking what planet I was on and to not say anything to me as I had my 'grump face' on. I wish they had attacked grump face. To try and redeem myself, Ben and I went off to try and find ourselves some accommodation. This shouldn't have seemed too difficult as there were around 10 other hostels on the same stretch of dirt track.
Ben managed to find himself and Michael a dorm room down the road and I, found us girls a lovely little placed called the 'Amani'. We had to climb a spiral staircase for 2 floors, deal with the fact we had no sink, and just deal with the fact in general, the place was disgusting. However, it was only 15RM, 3GBP a night so who can really moan at that? We can! We decided we couldn't bare another night in the Amani so we tried our luck at Gecko and we were just told to go back in the morning.
We spent our first afternoon on the beach and it didn't take long for the 'beach games' to start. Jumping shots, silly poses, who can handstand/cartwheel best on the beach. This was our first time really in Malaysia on the beach and the water was so warm and clear, it was definately, one of those moments!
In the morning we re packed and raced to Gecko and Ben and Michael had already got themselves in, and luckily, we managed to get a private room (with a mattress cat bed for me) for only 8GBP for 3 nights. I think I had redeemed myself at this point as everyone got cheaper accommodation in the end!
Sunday 20th, was a very bad day! I am going to describe in quite some detail.
It was actually quite the miracle to start with, we were all up, fed, dressed, showered and all on the beach by 12. In hindsight, nothing can come good from being up and ready so early.. and now you will know why.
We hadn't been on the beach that long and we had been in the sea several times due to the heat and the fact the water was so nice and refreshing.
Caroline, Becky and Ben went into the water and I stayed on the beach trying to get my pasty skin to turn a little darker other than the shade of pale. They came back out, and I decided to go back in. 2 minutes later, they all re joined me as it was still too hot.
We were all having a nice chat in the sea discussing what we were going to do the next day, hire a car or hire mopeds, and bang.......... jellyfish gate started. Caroline suddenly yelled 'jellyfish' and I just thought she meant she had seen one, but this was repeated several times and as she tried to scramble from the water, we all knew she had been stung. I was furthest away from Caroline, then Ben and Becky and we couldn't get out of the water quick enough.
As I tried to escape the waist high sea, I saw something white, huge and jellyfish esque coming towards me and obviously, in this instance, you try and think the best way to escape. For me, it was either attempt to run out of the sea which proved to be difficult as I tried it for about 4 seconds.. front crawl.. or breast stoke. So obviously, the best way to escape the sea from a jellyfish, is to do breast stoke. NOT.
Caroline gets out of the sea and it is clear from then she is in great pain. Becky suggests we rub wet sand all over her to try and ease the sting but this doesn't work. Ben runs off to try and get some help and leads us to a little hut where a man just simply pours vinegar all over her.
At this stage, we can now start to clearly see the severity of the stings. Caroline's wrist, stomach, and legs had been badly affected and the stings were coming up as massive blisters. (Now at this point I actually wanted to take photo's just to show her what they looked like but obviously thought this was majorly inappropriate at this stage).
As I was holding her hands as she squeezed, I squeezed back, and the man was still dousing her with vinegar but with no affect. It was so difficult to see someone in such pain and to not be able to do anything about it.
Now, we all remember that episode of Friends which is probably the most educational episode.. the one where Chandler pee'd on Monica. I think for everyone who has seen this, will remember that golden shower tip. The ammonia in urine subsides the itch of the stings. This was our next course of action.
Obviously, me and Becky don't exactly have the correct tools for being able to openly wee on someone as much as a boy, so we turn to Ben. His first response is 'I don't need to go'.... Me and Becky find the nearest empty water bottle, hide round a corner (where I think was very much on show) and wee in a bottle. Poor Becky for having to hold it after me. We run back over to Caroline so we can pour our lovely wee on her and the first thing Ben say's is 'you must be dehydrated', yeh, thanks Ben. Becky pours the wee on Caroline and it seems to do something (cringe) and we race her over top the front of the beach, onto the road to wait for the ambulance. Caroline is still in a massive amount of pain but there really isn't much we can do. The waiters from the restaurant suggest we squeeze fresh limes on her, so what's what we do. We request more and they bring over a full plate. So by this point, she stinks (she won't mind me saying this) of wee, limes and vinegar.. not a good combo!
As the ambulance arrives, even the paramedic pulls the face of 'wow', this looks bad. They don't even help a weak Caroline into the ambulance, we have to do it.
They continue to douse her in vinegar and inappropriate as ever, as they go to put the cannula into her hand for the drip, I go.. Oooh that looks like it hurts! As is she isn't in enough pain already.
We arrive at the hospital and 3 hours later, a saline drip and 3 injections, we are able to leave!
To make light of the situation I 'plank' the opposite hospital bed and find joy in the spare wheelchair whilst waiting for a taxi doing some rather cool spinneys!
The rest of our time in Langkawi was spent being rather scared of the sea and for good reason!
We later find out that Pantai Chenang has the highest jellyfish rate on the whole of Langkawi and the fact that it was high season! Nowhere on the beach or guide books does it tell you this. Also, to make a matters just that little bit more, not funny.. we google jellyfish in the area and discover that some of them are actually a form of Box jellyfish... the ones that kill!
Our last day with Michael (day after jellyfish gate) we hire a car and see the entire island which was lovely. We visit Seven Wells waterfall which was right at the top of around 300 steps.... and nearly killed us all... Black Sands Beach and Durian Perangin Waterfall. The weather wasn't exactly spectacular so we didn't go into any of the waterfalls other than for a quick paddle but if it had been a really sunny day, those waterfalls would have been amazing to dip into!
The last day in Langkawi was spent in fear. As the weather was so bloody hot and the heat was near enough unbearable, me and Becky had a little paddle in the sea and were that scared we got terrified by.... a chocolate wrapper. We only went ankle deep and sat down just so we could see anything coming at us! The sea is not to be trusted!
Overall, our time in Langkawi had been an experience, it's not often you get to visit A&E on a Sunday afternoon but it's something I definately do not want to be doing again.. as I am sure Caroline feels the same.
(pictures to be added soon..... damn slow wi-fi.. and next stop.. Borneo and the 20 hour travel day.. bet you can't wait to read that!).
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Penang
After the painful evening in Ipoh, we take the 5 hour coach up to Butterworth so we can get the ferry over to Penang.
Whilst in KL, I had heard everyone raving about Penang so I was expecting a more or less 'party beach town' and quite looking forward to going to a) get a tan and b) get drunk! (only the latter happened).
A very nice Chinese lady started talking to us on the coach and she was literally going to the same street, 'Love Lane' which is where our accommodation was, and she showed us the way as soon as we got off the ferry.. again, saving us around 30 minutes of asking people and getting the trusty map out.
We had booked into Reggae Mansion (the same company as our hostel in KL) and we aimed straight for it. Ben led the way and we tried to check in but there was no booking for us? We asked and Ben got his emails up as he had paid the deposit. Then, a very helpful young man told us the hostel we were in, wasn't the Reggae Mansion, but another one, and the one we wanted, was simply next door. Ben lost major captain points for this. (Just to fill you in, if you do something wrong on the trip, you lose your captain staus and go down in the ranks. Ben managed to fully downgrade himself on this occasion to the bottom rank, Community Support.
Now one person I must mention from Reggae Mansion, is Smart Casual Man. Smart Casual, is a man who works there but just can't seem to decide what he wants to wear. Most guys would wear a shirt with trousers, or a t shirt with casual shorts. Not this dude! He would wear a shirt, waistcoat, beach shorts, trainers and on some occasions, a Michael Jackson esque glove! Ahh we love Smart Casual!!! He also had very few teeth and we could never understand what he was saying but we just nodded and smiled! Oh bless him.
Finally sat in the correct hostel, we all de-Ipoh ourselves with lovely showers, a decent meal and for me, a nice little nap! As soon as I wake up Caroline and Ben are on the ball and lookimg at flights for our next stop, Borneo. Within 30 or so minutes, flights booked and that was that.
Our first full day in Penang and all we could think about was the beach. We hopped on the 101 and low and behold, it was only an hour and a half away!!! Good thing that bus had AC! Not impressed.
During the bus journey a girl started talking to Caroline... and she literally has not left our side since. Becky is from Essex and on a round the world trip for a year. She comes to the beach with us that day, then says she is off to Langkawi the same day we are and we obviously invite her along (always more the merrier) then she comes back to our hostel for a bit and then all of a sudden... after knowing us for approxiamelty 6 hours, she had booked her flight to Borneo with us! We like to call this day, 'the day Becky picked us up on the bus' or 'the day we found Becky'.
To celebrate our new found friend and travel companion, we go out for a nice curry which almost blew my head off. Walking back to the Raggae, we bump into Michael.. Michael is someone we briefly knew from KL and after dinner, he came by for some ahem, many drinks and then we pretty much didn't get rid of him either for a few days! :) Beer, vodka and gin seemed to flow rather well when Michael was around (and then blaming us youngen's for keeping him out late).
Now, I'm going to be quite complementary here.. Michael suggested that we all go out and try some street food (which I have no idea why we hadn't done that yet) and it was incredible. We sat on the side of the road, I had my Starfruit juice in a bag that cost 30p and then my pork noodle soup was a shocker at 50p! So, thank you for that. Also, Michael proved to be quite the interesting American. He is a travel blogger/writer (www.goseewrite.com) and has been to over 60 countries and more or less travels only by land.
More £1 drinks started to arrive and later on Shithead starts (a card game) and the competitiveness is rife! The banter gets serious and no one wants to lose.. apart from Ben who just can't help it, and the fact that he is still learning whether a 7 is higher than a 4! :)
Overall our time in Penang wasn't what I expcted but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Apart from the beach issue, but I can get over that. We find Becky, Michael (who then decides to come to Langkawi with us). Find out about amazing street food, share ridiculously drunken stories, and learn that card games really are serious fun and not to be taken lightly! Oh, and finally see the famous 'Old Trafford Burger' van!
Next stop, Langkawi Island.. and jeez.. have I got a story for you then!
Whilst in KL, I had heard everyone raving about Penang so I was expecting a more or less 'party beach town' and quite looking forward to going to a) get a tan and b) get drunk! (only the latter happened).
A very nice Chinese lady started talking to us on the coach and she was literally going to the same street, 'Love Lane' which is where our accommodation was, and she showed us the way as soon as we got off the ferry.. again, saving us around 30 minutes of asking people and getting the trusty map out.
We had booked into Reggae Mansion (the same company as our hostel in KL) and we aimed straight for it. Ben led the way and we tried to check in but there was no booking for us? We asked and Ben got his emails up as he had paid the deposit. Then, a very helpful young man told us the hostel we were in, wasn't the Reggae Mansion, but another one, and the one we wanted, was simply next door. Ben lost major captain points for this. (Just to fill you in, if you do something wrong on the trip, you lose your captain staus and go down in the ranks. Ben managed to fully downgrade himself on this occasion to the bottom rank, Community Support.
Now one person I must mention from Reggae Mansion, is Smart Casual Man. Smart Casual, is a man who works there but just can't seem to decide what he wants to wear. Most guys would wear a shirt with trousers, or a t shirt with casual shorts. Not this dude! He would wear a shirt, waistcoat, beach shorts, trainers and on some occasions, a Michael Jackson esque glove! Ahh we love Smart Casual!!! He also had very few teeth and we could never understand what he was saying but we just nodded and smiled! Oh bless him.
Finally sat in the correct hostel, we all de-Ipoh ourselves with lovely showers, a decent meal and for me, a nice little nap! As soon as I wake up Caroline and Ben are on the ball and lookimg at flights for our next stop, Borneo. Within 30 or so minutes, flights booked and that was that.
Our first full day in Penang and all we could think about was the beach. We hopped on the 101 and low and behold, it was only an hour and a half away!!! Good thing that bus had AC! Not impressed.
During the bus journey a girl started talking to Caroline... and she literally has not left our side since. Becky is from Essex and on a round the world trip for a year. She comes to the beach with us that day, then says she is off to Langkawi the same day we are and we obviously invite her along (always more the merrier) then she comes back to our hostel for a bit and then all of a sudden... after knowing us for approxiamelty 6 hours, she had booked her flight to Borneo with us! We like to call this day, 'the day Becky picked us up on the bus' or 'the day we found Becky'.
To celebrate our new found friend and travel companion, we go out for a nice curry which almost blew my head off. Walking back to the Raggae, we bump into Michael.. Michael is someone we briefly knew from KL and after dinner, he came by for some ahem, many drinks and then we pretty much didn't get rid of him either for a few days! :) Beer, vodka and gin seemed to flow rather well when Michael was around (and then blaming us youngen's for keeping him out late).
 |
| Me, Michael, Becky, Caroline and Ben (taking a break from some intense card playing) |
 |
| Beach on Penang |
More £1 drinks started to arrive and later on Shithead starts (a card game) and the competitiveness is rife! The banter gets serious and no one wants to lose.. apart from Ben who just can't help it, and the fact that he is still learning whether a 7 is higher than a 4! :)
 |
| Smart Casual Man! |
Next stop, Langkawi Island.. and jeez.. have I got a story for you then!
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