Been there, Don Det

It has been a couple of busy days on the Mekong islands in Laos.

This archipelago is known as the 4000 islands and it is so green and lush, surrounded by one of the biggest river in the world.

We stayed mainly in Don Det, the first day we rented bikes (less than £1 for the whole day) and biked through the island. It is bigger than I thought it would be, but roads were flat thank Goodness! 

We biked to Don Khon, an island that is connected with a bridge, where you can see another waterfalls (it was really nice but I am planning to avoid waterfalls for a while after this one... Laos just seems to be one long waterfall!), a small beach and a rescued gibbon called Miss Hoi.

The colours of these paddy fields!

The small roads we biked on the island

We made it back to the village - well, the bar, just in time for sunset. Tired and very hot but give me this and a couple of Beer Lao any day! 

The second day we decided to step it up a notch and booked a kayaking tour. Neither of us had ever been kayaking before and we went as a large group. The local guides were good, but my steering skills were very poor and the river was going fast. We hit some grade 2 rapids (not sure if that is high or not) but the thing that really got us were the bushes and branches on the river. We got a big smug in the first half as everyone else capsized but we did not, just to capsized as soon as we set off again. Lost one paddle, but both ourselves and the paddle got rescued and could carry on. We got stuck on some rocks again on the way down, got a few scrapes and were generally tired and sore... I did enjoy it though and kept asking Ben if we can go kayaking in the UK :-) the trip also involved walking to yet another waterfall (also known as walking over tiny bridges and through some Mekong mud) and a boat ride to see the endangered Mekong dolphins. Not overly impressed by the waterfalls but we saw a couple of dolphins and it was nice to know the locals are doing their best to look after these fresh water dolphins seeing there's only less than 100 of them apparently!

After that trip, we went for one last Lao Laap (minced meat with garlic, shallots, coriander and lots of fresh Asian spices) and one last local brew. That was our last stop in Laos, a bit sad to be leaving the land of baguettes (they used to be a French colony) but excited to move on. We crossed the land border to Cambodia (which involved sitting 4hr in a cramped mini van with someone who forgot his deodorant!) and arrived to Siem Reap, the home of the mighty Angkor Wat.

Coffee and waterfalls

We are in the Champasak province, in the south of the Lao PDR.
We took a small tour today, going around the Boulevan Plateau - an area famous for its waterfalls and coffee plantations.

It was a successful day: the coffee was so nice that we bought some to bring home with us (if it fits in the backpack, that is) - however, I could not help but notice that it was made with Italian coffee machines!
The waterfalls were also very nice, we stopped at 3 of them - one of which was a beautiful background for our lunch.

We also stopped at a couple of villages but that bit I did not really like: I personally would not like someone walking around my area taking pictures of my house and the kids in these villages are so used to this that they come to you with their hands open. We asked if we could have a tour without the village visit but it was not possible, so we stood on the side of the road being as respectful as possible but still feeling very awkward.

We also witnessed a very ordinary day in Laos: two trucks rolled over (we got there after it had happened), the whole road was close. Two policemen showed up but the main gig was a massive digger that basically flattered a side area next to the trucks so the cars (and tractors, motorbikes and everything on wheels in Laos) could keep on flowing. Hope the drivers are okay!

The tour took the whole day, some people cover it in motorbikes over a few days but we are running out of days so that was the best way to do it.

One more night in sleepy Pakse, a town on the Mekong river. One more beef noodle soup tomorrow for breakfast (am trying to blend it with the locals!) and off to a place called 4000islands tomorrow.

The gentle giants: whale sharks

The village of Tan-awan, in the south of Cebu island, Philippines is home to the biggest fish in the ocean: the whale shark.

Since late 2011, the locals have been attracting the whale sharks feeding them in the morning - lucky enough they only eat plankton! and many tourists have been visiting this village putting it on the travelling map.

You only get 30mins in the water, you are not allowed to touch the sharks or swim closer than 4mts... Which is pretty hard when they are as big as 12mts themselves and swimming around! 

Here are the pictures the local guy took of me at the command "ma'am, go down!" ... Hence the weird poses. 

The pattern on the skin of the whale shark is different for every animal: it's their finger print

 

Electric clams!

We are currently in Moalboal, a small village on the west side of Cebu Island. The beach is a hot spot for diving and we decided to dedicate a few days to this.

Went for two dives yesterday and two dives today, which means we are very hungry and very tired when we are done!

We have seen some pretty cool stuff so far: some turtles (one swimming right above us!), some colourful corals - blue and red, some pretty purple fish and one ugly grey frogfish that looked particularly grumpy.

On our last dive today we went about 19mt deep and our divemaster stopped in front of a cave. The cave was very dark and only small enough for 2divers so we took turn going in - while the other one was hanging around on the reef boulder looking at pretty fish!

The divemaster pointed at some red clams: when the flashlight shone on the clams you can see some kind of "electric current" going through the clam itself! It was weird and wonderful!

We have another dive tomorrow so looking forward to seeing some more underwater life!

Dive sites in Moalboal

Our gear ready

Pescador Island in the background

Island hopping and dolphins ahoy!

Amazing day in Panglao island, Philippines.

Early start at 6am to get out on the water on time to see the dolphins: I have seen dolphins before, but this was incredible! There were big families swimming all around, big spinner dolphins jumping out of the water and swimming very fast! (they like it around here as there's a lot of tuna in the water - clever!)

The second stop was Balicasan Island... An amazing spot of beach where we could relax, have a mango juice (or a coffee since it was only 9am!) and a bit of snorkelling.

The local guide took us to "turtle point" and before you know it we spotted 6/7 turtles - or it might have been the same one getting around ahah. There was just 4 of us swimming in the water, the visibility was so clear and it was so amazing to see the turtles coming up to get some air, diving back down again and having their own cleaner fish. Wish I had an underwater camera cause the view was unforgettable!

Happy on the boat!

Balicasag Island

The beach on Balicasag

The last and third stop was at Virgin island, now known as "la isola di Francesco" in honour of St Padre Pio di Pietralcina. The Philippines is mainly a Catholic country so the whole island was dotted with statues and signs of devotion. The most spectacular sight however was the beach... I don't think I have even seen a place with water this beautiful!

Virgin Island

The other beach on Virgin Island

Posted via Blogaway

Bohol island and its small primate

Island number 2 in the Philippines: after spending a couple of days in Cebu, we are currently on Bohol, another island of the Visayas.

We are staying in a nice little place by the river and we have been busy on the island today.

The riverview

We got a crazy local bus (there is no such thing as a bus too full in Asia... People will get on and make space where you did not think there was any!) to a place called the Chocolate Hills. It has some got some nice views and, even if we got completely drenched on the way to the top - still monsooning around here, the hills do look like chocolate!

The second stop of today was at the Tarsier Conservation Centre.

These little guys are carnivorous primates, weighing up to 160gr for the males. They only measure up to 160 mm (6.30 in) in height and they cannot move their eyes. Their skull however can rotate 180°. They are nocturnal animals and this species only lives in the Philippines.
They are considered endangered so we were lucky to see them in their natural habitat, the conservation area.

Moving onto the smaller but close island of Panglao tomorrow, looking forward to exploring more of the Philippines...

Posted via Blogaway

Relaxing on Pulau Tioman

Another island off the west coast of Malaysia is Pulau Tioman, it is a lot bigger than the Perhentians and very different. We had to take a night bus and a 2hr ferry to get there (if a 4am drop off in front of a Chinese temple is to be considered a night bus). Tioman is like a "Pocket Coffee", the Italian chocolate with real coffee inside, one of my favourites...  it has got hot sticky jungle on the inside and lush beaches on the outside.

We stayed in a village called ABC (it is really called Air Batang, but I like ABC!)... walked around for a bit and got ourselves a little hut 1min walk from the beach - and that is pretty much it! You could hear the sea at night and the jungle during the day, something I have never experienced before.

The weather was not the best as it is coming into monsoon season, so the beach and the sea were not as good either. We just spend a few days not doing much: reading on the balcony, observing the monkeys that were coming from the jungle to look for food (or to explore my bag when I left the door of the room open!), playing cards with other travellers, eating nasi goreng (fried rice), drinking kopi ais (cold coffee) and having a few beers on the beach... Very relaxing.

Now onto the last few days to be spent in Melaka and back to KL, before our Thai adventures start.

Gotta love a beach swing!

View from the beach

Flowers and teas

The central part of Malaysia includes the area called the Cameron Highlands. The wet and cool weather (that we really enjoyed after KL!) makes it possible to grow tea and strawberries that are the speciality of this area.

Around here, you can go for long treks and see the green scenery: one particular walk we enjoyed was the one that took us to see the Rafflesia. The Rafflesia is the biggest flower in the world, 1mt wide and weighting up to 10kg, it is impressive to say the least. It lives for 7days but it has no roots or leaves as such but grows on other plants as a parasite.

A 2days old Rafflesia

After the tiring walk, we got back to the town of Tanah Rata to reward ourselves with nice cake and tea and an 1hr long foot reflexology massage.

Since the last time I came to south east Asia, I have been dreaming about these cheap massages and how good they make you feel! Already looking forward to the next one...

Strawberry tea and cake

Massage heaven!

Posted via Blogaway

Serendipity

Sri Lanka has been a really good surprise for us as we did not know fully what to expect. I guess the clue is in the title: the early Arab traders used to call this island Serendib - a word that has generated the English word serendipity: and we are definitely happy we came!

We have spent the last few days on the beach of Mirissa: a small stretch of sand on the south coast of Sri Lanka. You can surf/body board the waves during the day, then chill out at night when all the restaurants set up tables by the beach. You can dine with your feet in the sand, the stars above you, a candle lit on your table and watch someone juggling with firey ropes. Last but not least, you taste all the fresh fish you want as they display their catch for you to pick from: tuna, red snapper, groper and chicken fish. You can have it grilled, devilled (a local kind of sweet and sour sauce, served with rice) or pan-fried. A local Lion beer, cold and very cheap also goes down well.. As well as a few drops of rain at times, the ever-present monsoon season.

Our hotel was a 10mins walk away from the beach, on a river side. On the road we spotted a big spider, many fireflies and a big komodo dragon who was hanging out in the bushes. Needless to mention, it was taller than me. 

Mirissa is also a good spot for whale watching: after my NZ experience I was keen to give it another go. We boarded a crammed boat, many Chinese tourists and their massive cameras too, and sailed in very choppy waters, we could not take any pictures but we caught a glimpse of 4 blue whales and one that did its very famous splash-the-tail-in-the-water trick! 

The island is slightly smaller than Ireland but it's still Asia so travelling is slower and more complicated. Currently moving to the east coast then on through the hill country before flying out. Wish we had a bit more time to explore the north area but the rest of Asia awaits.

The Beautiful Andamans

Made of 572 islands, the Andaman and Nicobar islands are situated around 1000 miles from the east coast of India, in the bay of Bengal.
It is currently off season, so we did not expect many people to be around but the islands really did surprise us.
From the capital Port Blair, once a British penile colony, you can get ferries to most of the other islands: South Andaman, Little Andaman and others. As a foreigner, you need a restricted area permit for 28days to travel the islands. The Nicobar islands are off limits on the permit and even the islanders will need a special government permit to travel there.
These islands are actually populated with local tribes, so the land is reserved for them... and some have not had any contact with the outside world at all, like Sentinelese on North Sentinel Island.
We spent most of our time in Havelock, the most developed island about 2.5hrs away from the capital: most of the population consists of people the Indian government has resettled after both the Pakistani and the Bangladeshi partition. The southern part of the island is a very green and thick jungle where no one could settle.
We did a couple of day trips while on the island: Beach #7, located on the opposite side from where we staying. We took a local bus on one of the two roads of the island (the local people called it "danger bus"... Indian driving!) and went for a swim in Neil's cove: we were the only ones there pretty much all day... We left a little bit of our heart there and also a wedding ring!!
On the same bus route and 1.8km away on a muddy track (monsoon season!) lies Elephant Beach. Again, very quiet and with a spectacular reef, it is a white-sand turquoise-water beach... Then we saw a couple of wild elephants feeding in the jungle just behind us! We kept at distance but it was the perfect ending to a few days in one of the most gorgeous places in the world!