I know a lot of people either dream of going to Thailand or the ones who have been there rave about it. We were the same prior to us visiting the country as it is far away from the US and the long journey itself makes it seem exotic and wonderful. However, once we saw Thailand and spent about a month or so in the country, really didn't care for it. Shocking, but I found the country full of tourists, yes it was discovered a long time ago, not the smiling Thais that everyone talks about, maybe because we are brown and in SE Asia fair skin goes a lot further, and horrible customer service at the tourist offices in Bangkok.
Also, the food wasn't that great, it seemed like it was catered for tourists and it was hard to find anything authentic. We had far better food in Cambodia. About the only thing that was great about Thailand and maybe worth exploring more were the beaches and the islands such as Koh Tao and Koh Pha Ngan, these I admit were amazing. My opinion, if you go to Thailand, go for the island beaches only.
Showing posts with label beaches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beaches. Show all posts
Ruins and a Beach
We weren't initially sure if we wanted to go to the town of Olympos due to its tourist hype and backpack enclaves but initially got drawn to it for its beautiful beach.
We arrived into town with not much of a plan, maybe check out the beach and the ruins and see what other things of interests lie around. We failed to realize that Olympos is really small and that no ATMs exist here. OK, so we thought the bus would stop as it usually does for breaks and that we would be able to pull out cash. The bus didn't stop and now we have no cash and no where to go......
Another annoying thing is that from where we were dropped off, Olympos would still be 12 kms away.
Now this has happened to us before and you would think we would be better prepared but nope, so now what to do? After sitting at the bus stop for a while, thought about heading to the next town as we have just enough money for another bus ride. We need to backtrack about 15 kms where there is an ATM, so I try my luck at hitchhiking and see if I can get a ride back. I try for an hour or so but no one stops, its now starting to get kind of late, we're tired and getting hungry.
OK, plan b, we sit at the roadside restaurant mulling our options, I mean we've come all this way, it would make sense to stay and not have to leave after already enduring a 6 hour bus ride. While sitting, Sabeen had asked the man from the restaurant if he knew of a way to go back and kindly enough, he had been watching us, so when the next pulled up, he talked with the driver who agreed to just take me back 15 kms so that I could get the needed cash. Thank god for the lovely Turks.
OK, so I hop on the bus, wave bye to Sabeen, end up back in town, find an ATM, and come back about 2 hours later, since I had to wait for the returning bus. Whew, by the time I get back, its dark out and find my wife sitting by herself on our bag. We go back to the restaurant and decide to wait for morning before we start the hike down to Olympos.
As we're sitting there, the man from the restaurant comes by again to give us tea, very nice and then tells us that since he's closing for the night, what are our plans? We have no place to go, so tell him, we will sleep on the bench until morning. He dismisses us, calls another worker and orders him to prepare a bed for us...
We end our long day sleeping outside, listening to frogs, watching a full moon on comfortable mattresses and blankets, warm and cozy thanking our lucky stars and the wonderful people of this country.
We arrived into town with not much of a plan, maybe check out the beach and the ruins and see what other things of interests lie around. We failed to realize that Olympos is really small and that no ATMs exist here. OK, so we thought the bus would stop as it usually does for breaks and that we would be able to pull out cash. The bus didn't stop and now we have no cash and no where to go......
Another annoying thing is that from where we were dropped off, Olympos would still be 12 kms away.
Now this has happened to us before and you would think we would be better prepared but nope, so now what to do? After sitting at the bus stop for a while, thought about heading to the next town as we have just enough money for another bus ride. We need to backtrack about 15 kms where there is an ATM, so I try my luck at hitchhiking and see if I can get a ride back. I try for an hour or so but no one stops, its now starting to get kind of late, we're tired and getting hungry.
OK, plan b, we sit at the roadside restaurant mulling our options, I mean we've come all this way, it would make sense to stay and not have to leave after already enduring a 6 hour bus ride. While sitting, Sabeen had asked the man from the restaurant if he knew of a way to go back and kindly enough, he had been watching us, so when the next pulled up, he talked with the driver who agreed to just take me back 15 kms so that I could get the needed cash. Thank god for the lovely Turks.
OK, so I hop on the bus, wave bye to Sabeen, end up back in town, find an ATM, and come back about 2 hours later, since I had to wait for the returning bus. Whew, by the time I get back, its dark out and find my wife sitting by herself on our bag. We go back to the restaurant and decide to wait for morning before we start the hike down to Olympos.
As we're sitting there, the man from the restaurant comes by again to give us tea, very nice and then tells us that since he's closing for the night, what are our plans? We have no place to go, so tell him, we will sleep on the bench until morning. He dismisses us, calls another worker and orders him to prepare a bed for us...
We end our long day sleeping outside, listening to frogs, watching a full moon on comfortable mattresses and blankets, warm and cozy thanking our lucky stars and the wonderful people of this country.
Blue Waters
Turkey's southern coast has some beautiful beaches along the Mediterranean and we were privileged to check a few out. One of the them is in the town of Oludeniz about 10 KMs outside of town. We decided to hitch again since our luck has been pretty good, so got on the road and about 40 minutes later were picked up by two Dutch women, one of them worked in the area and the other was on holidays visiting her friend.
They were fun company and we enjoyed the long car ride chatting about traveling and life in Turkey, which Mar one of the girls has been privy to as she has been working in the country for a few years. The beach was beautiful, light blue waters all around, white pebbles, and paragliders above. The beach was dotted with cafes, so the girls decided to eat and we joined them for drinks and company.
One of our car passengers decided to go paragliding, so when she came down, we all met up, bought a few food items from a nearby store and sat down on the grass beach side for a picnic. We chatted more about life and a little about work and some politics. All the talk was getting long and it was getting hot, so the sensible thing to do was to plop back into the water, which we all did for a cool off.
Mar had promised that she would drive us back into town, which was extremely kind as it was getting late and the buses had probably all departed. We sat down for dinner and Mar shared her business plan of bringing disabled people from Holland and introducing them to paragliding. Her business partner was at the table and we talked at length about the idea of opening up ecotourism to people with disabilities.
We walked back to Mar's car, only to find that the car's batteries were dead, must've left the lights on, so with nothing but uphills all around, managed to get it to the top of the hill where she popped the gear and the car started with a lurch. We ran downhill, hopped in the car and off we went.
Our next beach destination was Kabak near the town of Faralya. Kabak is a remote beach tucked away between two cliffs and thus is isolated, quiet, and beautiful. The beach lies close to the famed Butterfly Valley, so when we reached the beach, we could see a few of these creatures flying around displaying their yellow and blue wings.
You reach Kabak after hiking down the valley for an hour or so, which has great views of the Sea and the surrounding lush green valley. We were told that in 2009, a hiker was killed after he failed to follow the trail markers and fell off the cliffs to his death. The beach was quiet except for a brown Labrador who seemed very eager to play fetch. The beach was void of any sticks, so picked up a small stone, threw it, and he went chasing and brought it back. We played for a while, even went swimming together, and when it became too hot, found a shade under a tree and zoned out.
Sabeen, the dog, and me had our fill of the sun and the water and so parted ways, the dog gave us a few barks and ran away to find others and we climbed back up the cliff to find a bus to get us back into town.
They were fun company and we enjoyed the long car ride chatting about traveling and life in Turkey, which Mar one of the girls has been privy to as she has been working in the country for a few years. The beach was beautiful, light blue waters all around, white pebbles, and paragliders above. The beach was dotted with cafes, so the girls decided to eat and we joined them for drinks and company.
One of our car passengers decided to go paragliding, so when she came down, we all met up, bought a few food items from a nearby store and sat down on the grass beach side for a picnic. We chatted more about life and a little about work and some politics. All the talk was getting long and it was getting hot, so the sensible thing to do was to plop back into the water, which we all did for a cool off.
Mar had promised that she would drive us back into town, which was extremely kind as it was getting late and the buses had probably all departed. We sat down for dinner and Mar shared her business plan of bringing disabled people from Holland and introducing them to paragliding. Her business partner was at the table and we talked at length about the idea of opening up ecotourism to people with disabilities.
We walked back to Mar's car, only to find that the car's batteries were dead, must've left the lights on, so with nothing but uphills all around, managed to get it to the top of the hill where she popped the gear and the car started with a lurch. We ran downhill, hopped in the car and off we went.
Our next beach destination was Kabak near the town of Faralya. Kabak is a remote beach tucked away between two cliffs and thus is isolated, quiet, and beautiful. The beach lies close to the famed Butterfly Valley, so when we reached the beach, we could see a few of these creatures flying around displaying their yellow and blue wings.
You reach Kabak after hiking down the valley for an hour or so, which has great views of the Sea and the surrounding lush green valley. We were told that in 2009, a hiker was killed after he failed to follow the trail markers and fell off the cliffs to his death. The beach was quiet except for a brown Labrador who seemed very eager to play fetch. The beach was void of any sticks, so picked up a small stone, threw it, and he went chasing and brought it back. We played for a while, even went swimming together, and when it became too hot, found a shade under a tree and zoned out.
Sabeen, the dog, and me had our fill of the sun and the water and so parted ways, the dog gave us a few barks and ran away to find others and we climbed back up the cliff to find a bus to get us back into town.
More of the Mediterranean Coast
Our arrival into Fethiye was typical. Got into the town around the afternoon and except this time were asked at the bus station if we had a place to stay by one of the men working there. We asked for a place with a kitchen and surprisingly were offered a ride to the hotel.
Sabeen is the negotiator and both of us have been trying to stick to paying the local price, which we think is cheap enough but don't know for sure. Anyway, we go back and forth with the price, the man doesn't agree, we walk out, look for other pensions, only to return because the others are far away and I don't feel like lugging the pack around. We did find a place offering us a mattress in the dining area but would have to scram around 7 AM before breakfast started. Didn't take it......
Our place is pretty decent, the room is large, definitely has a nice kitchen, and is nearby to the harbor, about a 10 minute walk.
There are some Lycian tombs in town like the ones in Petra cut into the rock face and while walking to one, ran into Michael from Poland and decided to spend time together. He was also looking for a place to stay, so suggested the place with the mattress, since he's on even a tighter budget and has been camping along the way.
Fethiye is a big town with a pretty harbor and lots of sailboats. We'll spend a few days here and have a look around.
Sabeen is the negotiator and both of us have been trying to stick to paying the local price, which we think is cheap enough but don't know for sure. Anyway, we go back and forth with the price, the man doesn't agree, we walk out, look for other pensions, only to return because the others are far away and I don't feel like lugging the pack around. We did find a place offering us a mattress in the dining area but would have to scram around 7 AM before breakfast started. Didn't take it......
Our place is pretty decent, the room is large, definitely has a nice kitchen, and is nearby to the harbor, about a 10 minute walk.
There are some Lycian tombs in town like the ones in Petra cut into the rock face and while walking to one, ran into Michael from Poland and decided to spend time together. He was also looking for a place to stay, so suggested the place with the mattress, since he's on even a tighter budget and has been camping along the way.
Fethiye is a big town with a pretty harbor and lots of sailboats. We'll spend a few days here and have a look around.
Moving South towards the Mediterranean
The town of Bergama boasts some fine Roman ruins as they have left their legacy throughout Turkey. At our hotel in the morning as we were heading out to get some cheap breakfast, ran into Imdad, an Australian Turkish guy, complete with the accent to go with it. We chatted for a while and when he found out of our Pakistani origin elected me to cook some masala chicken and opted to buy the supplies for us. I happily agreed as Sabeen and I hadn't had much of a chance to practice our culinary skills outside of cooking pasta at a few random hotels.
Imdad was nice enough to even chat with the hotel owner and convinced him to drop the price for us even further. We both grabbed a cheap and filling breakfast of olives, cheese, tomatoes, butter, honey, and Turkish tea. Walking past the Red Basilica, spotted some carpets being sold and went in to chat with the owner, who of course offered us tea and told us of his 180 year old building and family business going back generations.
Both of us love conversing with locals and it breaks the monotony of walking around.
It was a hot day, so had originally planned to walk the 6 KMs to the Roman acropolis but ditched the idea and instead walked into a pastry shop and got some free samples of halva.
My masala chicken turned out pretty good as Imdad back at the hotel had already bought the chicken and the rice and were just missing a few key ingredients. I ducked my head out the window and before long the entire hotel staff was running around to get me what I needed. We found two guys from Germany and brought them over as well to share in the food.
Imdad was nice enough to even chat with the hotel owner and convinced him to drop the price for us even further. We both grabbed a cheap and filling breakfast of olives, cheese, tomatoes, butter, honey, and Turkish tea. Walking past the Red Basilica, spotted some carpets being sold and went in to chat with the owner, who of course offered us tea and told us of his 180 year old building and family business going back generations.
Both of us love conversing with locals and it breaks the monotony of walking around.
It was a hot day, so had originally planned to walk the 6 KMs to the Roman acropolis but ditched the idea and instead walked into a pastry shop and got some free samples of halva.
My masala chicken turned out pretty good as Imdad back at the hotel had already bought the chicken and the rice and were just missing a few key ingredients. I ducked my head out the window and before long the entire hotel staff was running around to get me what I needed. We found two guys from Germany and brought them over as well to share in the food.
Beautiful Thailand Beaches
As soon as we returned to Thailand from the visa run got an evening bus to Chumpon and ate dinner at the market before departing. We caught a swangthaw to the closed bus station but found out that we could hail a passing bus, so after waiting 5 minutes got on the way and arrived in Chumpon two hours later. At the guest house, the owner was awfully pushy about selling us a boat ticket, being tired ignored her and went to bed only to learn the next day that she was being helpful as the ferry to our destination only leaves once a day. Chumpon is a quiet town, so after spending a night booked ourselves a ride on a slow cargo boat to Koh Tao on a night departure. The boat ride took about 6 hours, which we slept in the comforts of our shared cabin, which luckily we arrived early enough to secure couple of beds.
Koh Phangan was beautiful with blue green waters, mountains, and jungle surroundings. Our time was mostly spent on Haad Grud, Haad Salad, Haad Yao, and a short trip to Bottle Beach. We came back to Koh Tao and finished up our time before flying out from Bangkok to Nepal by taking a snorkeling trip, the highlight of which was swimming with Black Tip Reef Sharks. The stops on the way included Shark Bay, Aowleuk, Hin Wong Bay, Mango Bay, and Nang Yuan.
Koh Phangan was beautiful with blue green waters, mountains, and jungle surroundings. Our time was mostly spent on Haad Grud, Haad Salad, Haad Yao, and a short trip to Bottle Beach. We came back to Koh Tao and finished up our time before flying out from Bangkok to Nepal by taking a snorkeling trip, the highlight of which was swimming with Black Tip Reef Sharks. The stops on the way included Shark Bay, Aowleuk, Hin Wong Bay, Mango Bay, and Nang Yuan.
Lazing Away
One always hears about the beaches in Thailand but not the beautiful ones in Cambodia, at least for us anyway. We went to Sihanounkville in the southern part of the country to check out the crystal clear warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand. We definitely found the waters to be exactly that but along with that there a lot of tourists in town as it happens with a lot of developed touristy towns. There are plenty of Western food restaurants, music, and bars. Wanting to take a break from the madness, while idling on the white sand beach were approached by a man selling boat rides to the nearby islands. We had been looking for such offers but when ones comes to you with the best price in town it was hard to resist such an offer.
The first night we saw a golden sun sinking itself into the water along with locals playing with fire lit batons on the beach. On the way to Koh Ruh (Bamboo Island), we spotted several white dolphins playing in the waters nearby, which even for the locals came as a surprise as sadly not a lot of wild life is seen in these parts. Before disembarking at our destination, we did some snorkeling but unfortunately the reef was not in great shape and many of the colorful fish were missing along with a lot of other marine life. Arriving later at Bamboo Island, lunch was prepared consisting of baked Barracuda and cold bottled Cokes. We hiked through a small jungle trail and arrived at a nicer beach on the other side of the island complete with thatched roof huts and hammocks to laze away the day. We opted for a basic room with mosquito netting and were surrounded by a cat, a dog family of four, some chickens, ducks, and one crazy goat aptly named Rambo. When trapped on an island, the only thing to do is swim, eat, nap, and swim some more. We fell asleep to the soothing sounds of the waves lit by nothing more than a beautiful moon as the generator would shut off at 10 PM, turning off the few lights.
We had initially planned to stay one night but intoxicated by the inviting surroundings, ended up spending three. We would have stayed longer but having no ATM on the island, we ran out of cash and had to make a run for the mainland. Luckily, we had kept the number of the boat operator who had dropped us off and a quick phone call under the coconut tree (the only place on the island that received cell phone reception) found our ride back. Coming back to mainland, got our bus ticket to our next destination and headed off to Battambang.
The first night we saw a golden sun sinking itself into the water along with locals playing with fire lit batons on the beach. On the way to Koh Ruh (Bamboo Island), we spotted several white dolphins playing in the waters nearby, which even for the locals came as a surprise as sadly not a lot of wild life is seen in these parts. Before disembarking at our destination, we did some snorkeling but unfortunately the reef was not in great shape and many of the colorful fish were missing along with a lot of other marine life. Arriving later at Bamboo Island, lunch was prepared consisting of baked Barracuda and cold bottled Cokes. We hiked through a small jungle trail and arrived at a nicer beach on the other side of the island complete with thatched roof huts and hammocks to laze away the day. We opted for a basic room with mosquito netting and were surrounded by a cat, a dog family of four, some chickens, ducks, and one crazy goat aptly named Rambo. When trapped on an island, the only thing to do is swim, eat, nap, and swim some more. We fell asleep to the soothing sounds of the waves lit by nothing more than a beautiful moon as the generator would shut off at 10 PM, turning off the few lights.
We had initially planned to stay one night but intoxicated by the inviting surroundings, ended up spending three. We would have stayed longer but having no ATM on the island, we ran out of cash and had to make a run for the mainland. Luckily, we had kept the number of the boat operator who had dropped us off and a quick phone call under the coconut tree (the only place on the island that received cell phone reception) found our ride back. Coming back to mainland, got our bus ticket to our next destination and headed off to Battambang.
Tam Biet (Goodbye) Vietnam
Going along the coast, our stops included Hoi An and Nha Trang off the coast of the South China Sea. The town of Hoi An is heavily influenced by French architecture with many buildings lying along the Thu Bon River, many in their crumbling state. The city was used in the 17th century by Japanese, Chinese, and European merchants and so the city's character is reflected by their influences. You will see temples, pagodas, and mustard colored French maisons. There isn't much to do in Hoi An but that is exactly the charm walking around watching the men make silk lanterns and the many myriad of artisans going about their business from carving wood works to painting to doing hand made embroidery. The place in the evening has a soft quality as the same lanterns are hung on bridges and rivers and provide various colors of light along the walking boulevards.
There is actually a pretty decent beach in the area, so what better way to get out there then rent a bike and peddle ourselves out there. Not knowing the roads that well, we opted to get one bike with Sabeen on a makeshift seat on the back, while I peddled. We got the hang of it after a few shaky starts and were off peddling down the road. Earlier, when we were trying to store our bike an unofficial looking guy supposedly security told us to move along and park our bike across the street. We ignored him and walked a few hundred feet down the road and locked up our bike. The beach was long and wide but the waves were pretty choppy and large, so we went in but took caution and stayed somewhat close to the shore. Upon coming back from the beach our bike was nowhere to be found, so we did the sensible thing with Sabeen marching down to the same unofficial looking guy and asking him for our bike. He was busy playing cards with his family and pretended he didn't know. We didn't relent and kept asking him, he would point and go back to his card playing. We were determined that we would have our way or he would have a very difficult and annoying time playing his cards with us repeatedly asking him for our bike. Finally a man took mercy and walked us to the beach where our bike was thrown on the sand. With no damage done, we were off again back to town.
The stop in the next beach town of Nha Trang could be described in one word "rainy". The wet season was in full swing in the south, so while we got a chance to sit on the sand, most of the time it was pouring non stop. The next stop was Ho Chi Minh City and also our exit place to Cambodia. Ho Chi Minh was hot and humid and contains several sites related to the Vietnam War, such as the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. The former was the place where North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates in 1975 and which officially ended the war. The latter contains some amazing and graphic photos from the horrors of war with many evidence documented by American, English, and Japanese photographers who among many were sadly killed while covering the war. After spending a few days in this adrenaline charged city maybe blamed on the strong Vietnamese coffee, we exited for Cambodia.
There is actually a pretty decent beach in the area, so what better way to get out there then rent a bike and peddle ourselves out there. Not knowing the roads that well, we opted to get one bike with Sabeen on a makeshift seat on the back, while I peddled. We got the hang of it after a few shaky starts and were off peddling down the road. Earlier, when we were trying to store our bike an unofficial looking guy supposedly security told us to move along and park our bike across the street. We ignored him and walked a few hundred feet down the road and locked up our bike. The beach was long and wide but the waves were pretty choppy and large, so we went in but took caution and stayed somewhat close to the shore. Upon coming back from the beach our bike was nowhere to be found, so we did the sensible thing with Sabeen marching down to the same unofficial looking guy and asking him for our bike. He was busy playing cards with his family and pretended he didn't know. We didn't relent and kept asking him, he would point and go back to his card playing. We were determined that we would have our way or he would have a very difficult and annoying time playing his cards with us repeatedly asking him for our bike. Finally a man took mercy and walked us to the beach where our bike was thrown on the sand. With no damage done, we were off again back to town.
The stop in the next beach town of Nha Trang could be described in one word "rainy". The wet season was in full swing in the south, so while we got a chance to sit on the sand, most of the time it was pouring non stop. The next stop was Ho Chi Minh City and also our exit place to Cambodia. Ho Chi Minh was hot and humid and contains several sites related to the Vietnam War, such as the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. The former was the place where North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates in 1975 and which officially ended the war. The latter contains some amazing and graphic photos from the horrors of war with many evidence documented by American, English, and Japanese photographers who among many were sadly killed while covering the war. After spending a few days in this adrenaline charged city maybe blamed on the strong Vietnamese coffee, we exited for Cambodia.
Musical Chairs and then some Komodos
In our last post, we had mentioned our sleeping arrangement on the boat and so would like to explain that portion in detail here. Our boat pulled onto Komodo Island to drop off the French couple that we had met. Sabeen and I now alone with just the crew passed off the time pleasantly enough watching the sky and observing the stars. Earlier, we had noticed some buggy creatures walking around the boat but didn't give it much thought until the time had come for us to bed down and sleep for the night.
The crew put down couple of mattresses for us on the deck, when we noticed a huge cockroach sauntering around as if he owned the boat near our beds. I had also noticed smaller ones coming out from cracks and below the deck as evening progressed. We both knew that trying to lie down and sleep in such conditions would be impossible and so decided to improvise our sleeping arrangement.
My wife had the brilliant idea of taking the deck chairs to design a makeshift bed. We had about 5 chairs to work with, so after a few different designs and tweaks, it was decided that since I was taller I would have 3 chairs to lie down on and Sabeen would rest her feet on my third chair. We put the pillow under us to provide some cushion and pulled the ikat blanket on top of us to try and spend the 6 hours before daybreak. I actually managed to sleep, while Sabeen on the other hand did not. Regardless, we woke up at 5 AM or so to prepare our hike on Komodo Island at 7 AM.
As we disembarked the boat and met up with the ranger to begin our 2 hour hike when we got in line with a Swedish family who was doing a longer hike and decided to follow them on (we got lucky, only paid for a 1 hour hike). As soon as we had started that we noticed a Komodo sluggishly walking the trail, which we followed for a few feet before he was pushed off by the ranger to clear the path for the remaining hikers. This was the biggest Komodo we had seen so far. Komodo Island is bigger than Rinca and has a population of about 1,200 resident dragons. According to the rangers, it is difficult to spot dragons on Komodo Island, due to its size at approximately 32 Sq KM, so we considered ourselves lucky to have seen one at the start of our trek. We continued hiking through the island and spotted a flying lizard, monkeys, cuckatoos, and heard sounds of many exotic tropical birds overhead. Komodo Island also has a resident deer population and the dragons actively hunt these. By the conculsion of our hike, we spotted another dragon but it quickly disappeared in the bushes. As we made it back to the ranger station, there were baby dragons along with about 3 or 4 adult dragons lounging around....This was a bad location as it was right near the bathroom.
We got back on the boat to head to Pink Beach to snorkle. The boat sailed for about an hour, which we passed by eating lunch. We pulled up to the stop, pulled on our masks and dived in. The reef was spectacular, with 6 foot and wider coral fans including Brain coral, sponges, Sea Cucumbers, and a rainbow of tropical fish including some huge Jacks and blue green Parrot Fish. There were sea urchins below our feet and colorful sea anemones with fish playing inside its protective cover from preys. While we enjoyed the beautiful colorful underwater garden, little did we know of the impending storm blowing our way.
After an hour or so, we left our watery world, got back on the boat to find another snorkeling spot called Angel Island when some serious weather moved in. The skies closed in, the water turned a dull grey, the wind picked up, and the crew battoned down the hatches to prepare for a wet ride back home instead. The rain started and came down in sheets, we couldn't make out any of the outlying islands and instead contended ourselves with freshly served Pineapple. We got back safely but cold and wet and made a beeline for our hotels before closing out the day with some hot Bakso (meatball soup).
The crew put down couple of mattresses for us on the deck, when we noticed a huge cockroach sauntering around as if he owned the boat near our beds. I had also noticed smaller ones coming out from cracks and below the deck as evening progressed. We both knew that trying to lie down and sleep in such conditions would be impossible and so decided to improvise our sleeping arrangement.
My wife had the brilliant idea of taking the deck chairs to design a makeshift bed. We had about 5 chairs to work with, so after a few different designs and tweaks, it was decided that since I was taller I would have 3 chairs to lie down on and Sabeen would rest her feet on my third chair. We put the pillow under us to provide some cushion and pulled the ikat blanket on top of us to try and spend the 6 hours before daybreak. I actually managed to sleep, while Sabeen on the other hand did not. Regardless, we woke up at 5 AM or so to prepare our hike on Komodo Island at 7 AM.
As we disembarked the boat and met up with the ranger to begin our 2 hour hike when we got in line with a Swedish family who was doing a longer hike and decided to follow them on (we got lucky, only paid for a 1 hour hike). As soon as we had started that we noticed a Komodo sluggishly walking the trail, which we followed for a few feet before he was pushed off by the ranger to clear the path for the remaining hikers. This was the biggest Komodo we had seen so far. Komodo Island is bigger than Rinca and has a population of about 1,200 resident dragons. According to the rangers, it is difficult to spot dragons on Komodo Island, due to its size at approximately 32 Sq KM, so we considered ourselves lucky to have seen one at the start of our trek. We continued hiking through the island and spotted a flying lizard, monkeys, cuckatoos, and heard sounds of many exotic tropical birds overhead. Komodo Island also has a resident deer population and the dragons actively hunt these. By the conculsion of our hike, we spotted another dragon but it quickly disappeared in the bushes. As we made it back to the ranger station, there were baby dragons along with about 3 or 4 adult dragons lounging around....This was a bad location as it was right near the bathroom.
We got back on the boat to head to Pink Beach to snorkle. The boat sailed for about an hour, which we passed by eating lunch. We pulled up to the stop, pulled on our masks and dived in. The reef was spectacular, with 6 foot and wider coral fans including Brain coral, sponges, Sea Cucumbers, and a rainbow of tropical fish including some huge Jacks and blue green Parrot Fish. There were sea urchins below our feet and colorful sea anemones with fish playing inside its protective cover from preys. While we enjoyed the beautiful colorful underwater garden, little did we know of the impending storm blowing our way.
After an hour or so, we left our watery world, got back on the boat to find another snorkeling spot called Angel Island when some serious weather moved in. The skies closed in, the water turned a dull grey, the wind picked up, and the crew battoned down the hatches to prepare for a wet ride back home instead. The rain started and came down in sheets, we couldn't make out any of the outlying islands and instead contended ourselves with freshly served Pineapple. We got back safely but cold and wet and made a beeline for our hotels before closing out the day with some hot Bakso (meatball soup).
Komodo Found
In the evening, we checked out some travel agents for pricing to Komodo and Rinca, the two islands where the lizards roam free. We bargained with a few and learned that having more people on a cruise reduces the price and thus decided that the next day we would try and find some people or check back with the agents to see if they had a full boat that we could board for a discounted price. The cruises are all inclusive and include lunch, dinner, snorkeling, and "sleeping" accomodations to be explained later.....
Walking back to our boat, please note, there is no ranger escort and you are left on your own to mind the beasts and perhaps make a run for your life should they come looking.
24 hours to Flores
Our plan is to keep going east to the island of Flores with stops to Rinca and Komodo to see the famed dragons roaming free in the wild. The travel time to Flores by bus all together is about 24 hours and both of us have mentally prepared ourselves for the arduous journey through rough but beautiful and rugged land. The only way to see the dragons is by chartering a boat from either Lombok or Flores. We looked at the distance and pricing from Lombok for a 4 day cruise on the sea but instead opted to go on ahead to Flores. Our journey to Flores involved a 15 hour bus journey through the island of Sumbawa and then a 8 hour ferry ride to finally arrive at the harbor in Flores. The public ferry doesn't offer a lot of comfort but its cheap, reliable, and slow but gets you there safely.
Upon arriving at Sumbawa late at night, our bus yet again encountered some mechanical issue and we were stranded outside while our bus sat on the ferry. We waited for an hour after the obligatory smoke breaks were completed by the crew and then miraculously departed. We tried to sleep through the night as the bus rolled on through the tight and twisting turning road. I would often wake up and find a bewitching moon lighting up a Jurassic Park like landscape full of craggy twisted peaks and find my snoring companions or a crying baby trying to snooze close to her mother.
Arrivng at the ferry crossing, we made the journey watching Indonesian version of MTV and some comedy shows, all of course in Bahasa Indonesia. The time was passed writing in our diaries, taking a few pictures, walking out on deck, making faces and playing with the little kids on board.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)