Philippines 08

So here we go again, It has been close to a year since I last posted. I can't say a lot has really happened. I had my last year of uni (hopefully) and worked all year. I have recently been practicing sleep depravation along with all my work mates which is fun but I am getting tired of it. Yeah it even gets you making bad jokes.

So this is really just a test post to make sure my blog still works. I am not sure how much blogging I will do While we are away but I will endevour to post some stories and pictures over the next month.

Dylan

The Gibbon Experience

I would have to say this was the highlight of the trip for me for two reasons, the first reason was because it was an amazing experience, lots of fun, the great people we met including the guides, the second reason is a pun.

We first heard about it from Sam (yes the same Sam as Le Vendome, I think I owe him a beer) before we left Australia. We did an internet search and found numerous sites including the official site and many blogs and sites of people who have loved and written about it (I can now join their club). Katie emailed and made a booking a week in advance as recommended, we checked in the day before and got to read our somewhat daunting (or perhaps exciting) disclaim form. The day we left we met at 9am in the office in town to get ready and watch a safety video in which they warned us of some of the dangers including zipping with ‘long or crazy’ hair. My hair was not long but I think fluffy short dreads count as crazy. We jumped into the back if a Land cruiser troop carrier and headed off along the bitumen to the dusty dirt highway, then across a small river, then along a mountain track for about an hour at times wondering if Sebastien Loeb was driving, only stopping to pick up the forest police guy and his AK 47 (no I am not kidding these police have to be serious).

We all got to the village in one piece and were welcomed by the returning tourists some guides and two pigtail macaques Jack and Som Sii. When it came time to walk to our destination we had to catch the monkeys, I caught Jack but I think I shocked some people when I was holding her by one leg as she wriggled and screamed at me. I was confident about grabbing her because of playing with little monkeys a lot before but no one else knew that. I got to walk with Jack on a leash half the way. Som Sii couldn’t be caught but she followed along watching over everyone. When it got to climbing the hill Som Sii jumped up on Pam’s shoulders and got a free ride. I think Pam liked it at first but as monkeys are very warm and climbing a hill is hot work... Pam’s efforts to remove her monkey just ended up in people being nipped.


Pam and Som Sii


Jack


We arrived at a big hut (the kitchen) where we were welcomed in and rested for a minute before being given our harnesses and rollers before walking a minute more to the first cable. This is where the ‘pun’ comes in. Our accommodation was a tree house, three stories tall in a giant fig tree. The middle floor was about 30 meters off the ground and the only way in or out was by way of a 13mm steel cable suspended between trees. One by one we clipped on “Safety First” and zipped away.



We had a little while to get acquainted with our new home over tea and coffee. Lunch was served and then we took a trip over to tree house two to drop of Phil and Katie (not my Katie) who were to stay there the night. The first zip was straight out of the house to the ground on the side of the valley. We walked up the hill and onto our biggest zip yet; “No Brake OK” was the instruction as we left and it soon became clear, I stopped well short of the target and had to pull myself hand over hand to the end. In my fear and fatigue I didn’t notice that the tree I was at was only half way, I got directed around the tree and was soon on another cable for another big zip. We walked a short way up the hill to tree house two which is also the biggest zip that we got to experience.

I can’t easily explain the feeling of zipping. You can imagine the fear of being 110m off the ground hanging from a 400m long cable well it’s not like that. It is kind of scary but I feel worse on top of a building. I think the awe inspiring view and the sheer ridiculous nature of the activity overrides the fear somewhat, It is just –insert F word here- cool.


Me on a line


Katie


Annie

We spent our second day zipping walking quietly looking for wildlife and just walking. There was a report of a gibbon sighting at tree house three so we went over to see the house and see if we wanted to stay there that night. Yaniv and Carine decided to spend the night there while the rest of us decided on the comfort of our original houses.


Giant Squirrel

On the last day I woke at 5:30 hoping for wildlife but the forest was silent. I lay in till 6:00 but I didn’t get to see anything apart from a few birds as the sun came up and some giant squirrels. Annie, Pam and I went for a zip and then a long walk from tree house two (where we collected Phil and Katie) back to number one. After breakfast and some procrastination we walked back down to the village to our awaiting troop carrier and new set of tourists.

The whole three days were great. Unfortunately we didn’t see any Gibbons, That would have made the trip beyond amazing. We did however hear a group of them singing one morning that was amazing on its own. I really hope the project can protect the forest and in the future the numbers of Gibbons and other animals can return to what they once were.

I won’t tell you all the details of the project as you can find that on the website:
http://www.gibbonx.org/

Thanks to all the staff and guides for making the trip what it was, amazing. I really appreciate being able to go on an eco friendly community friendly trip which is surprisingly hard to find.


Jun and Polar the moon bear

Cheers
Dylan

The New Head of the Village

On Wednesday we arrived in Luang Prabang. For those that don't know it is one of the largest towns in Laos and is a World heritage city because of the many temples and colonial buildings. We have been here twice before both times on our first trip. We decided to stay in Nok Noy guest house where we had stayed before. The family that run the guest house are really friendly and welcoming. We arrived late in the afternoon so headed straight out for a wander and some food. We noticed on our way out that there was a huge speaker stack being built in the lane way so we figured that there was going to be a big party. On returning from dinner we found the lane way full of tables, chairs and people eating and drinking and someone talking through the huge speakers. We tried to discreetly walk past not wanting to intrude but we were called over by someone at a table. It turned out to be Tui (the manager of the guest house) he got us seats and poured us all beers with ice (thats the done thing here). I asked him what was going on and he said that every three years the village head man changes and today was that day. I got the idea that on the same day the prime minister and everyone else in high positions of power change as well (I could be wrong).

Soon enough the next song started and half the crowd stood up and went down next to the speakers to dance. Katie was first to be asked and to my surprise she jumped straight up and went to dance. Annie and I soon followed and soon found that there was a particular way to dance. The crowd made a circle with the men on the inside and women on the outside. The circle moved very slowly anticlockwise while everyone slowly bopped moving their hands slowly in front of them. It was all very funny for us and funny for the locals seeing the farang try and dance.

It turned out that the band was Tui's brothers band and Tui and his crazy partying dad Mr Som Phone, sang songs as well. The song finished and we all said Cop jai (thank you) and did the little hand together praying thing then all sat down again. As soon as we were seated we had fresh full cups of beer and ice and people topping them up after every sip. Soon enough a new song started and we were up again. We had to be careful of the drinking as we could have got quite drunk. The locals seemed to be drinking much slower than they were getting us to drink so we just kept full glasses for a while. There was one guy who kept trying to get us to scull our drinks even though he wasn't sculling his. I don't know if he was just being friendly or if he wanted to see the farang get drunk. After a couple of hours we made a quiet exit before the party turned messy. It was heaps of fun even if we did feel silly trying to do the Lao dances.

Le Vendome

While staying in Vientiane we decided to spoil ourselves and eat out at a fancy restaurant. Sam (a guy I work with) had recommended to me that I eat at a French restaurant called Le Vendome and he said I had to try the souffle "It's bull shit" was his description. This is a good thing. So we got dressed up in our best backpacker clothes and headed out. We were seated and given menus and drinks. We ordered in French with all of us pooling our French to work out what everything was. I think even though I speak no real French I was best with the menu knowing more terms and food items than Annie or Katie both of whom speak a little French. We ordered:

Creme de potiron
Gratin de choux flour au becon
La fougasse
Magret au canard de barbarie
Escalope duc de guise
Souffle au chocolat avec coilis de chocolat chaud
Souffle au citron avec coulis de miel d'accacia
Creme brulee

I ordered the house red as I couldn't eat duck without wine but couldn't bear to pay as much for my wine as a week of travel. As it was at US$3 a glass it was as much as a room in Cambodia. The food was great, as much because it wasn't rice or noodles as the fact that it was well cooked French cuisine. My duck was medium the chicken was moist the soup was creamy and the vegetables presented on the plate were perfectly cooked and arranged with care.

Of course the whole reason we had come was to see the souffle and we were not disappointed.


Souffle au citron avec coulis de miel d'accacia

Personally I liked the lemon the best but the girls liked the chocolate more. I think though the brulee was my favourite desert as it was text book just set wonderfully creamy and the caramel nice and dark. While we were having desert the Chef came out to wander through the restaurant and he gave us a look of "I am glad you are enjoying that but who do you think you are you pigs" as we shoveled souffle into our faces. It was very funny for us at least.

We were a little anxious to see the bill knowing we had spent more than we normally would and more than two nice guest house rooms but for US$25 we really couldn't complain. All in all it was well worth it for a memorable great meal.

Summary

Hi all,

We are currently in Vientiane, Laos. We have covered quite a bit of ground in the last two weeks. We stayed 2 nights in Karon beach, Phuket. What can I say, it was a beach, there were tourists, there were prostitutes, there was sun burn, anyway... We moved to Bangkok where we arranged our Lao and cambodian visas since we had made a decision to skip the islands in favour of revisiting Angkor (Siem Reap, Cambodia).

We had a fun bus ride to Siem Reap including hitting cameras and heads on the roof of the bus and having knees crushed under seats while surfing pot-holes. It was great to be back in Cambodia even with the huge number of huge hotels that have popped up since last time. The temples were still amazing so were the thousands of tourists. It made a good photo just that bit more challenging, but we did manage, with the help of our tuk tuk man, to find some quiet spots for sunrises and sunsets. I think the highlights for me were Tha Phrom, and Phreh Khan which are both huge yet have sucumbed to the jungle somewhat.

Tha Prom


Sunrise


From Cambodia we headed back to Thailand to Nakhon Ratchasima for one night, Nong Kai for one night and the to Vientiane yesterday. Of course as always there are more tourists but the people seem as relaxed and honest as ever. We will stay here for at least one more day before visiting "Lao Vegas" aka Vang Vien which is like the Kao san of Lao but it has the function of breaking up a very long bus ride and the scenery is beautiful.

I will attempt to post some pictures soon, I have stolen Annie's camera for a few shots as I am shooting film and Katie's shot are not able to be posted yet.

Hope everyone is having a great summer.

Dylan

P.S. feel free to post a comment and say hi.

Lets call this trip 3, post 1

Well it is saturday morning on the eve of new years eve. I have the day off work and it is my last one till we go. I am starting to feel the 'I think we are really going away' excited tingly feeling. We have our packs out and a few things scattered around waiting to go inside them. I think we have everything we need. We have tickets booked, insurance paid, packs, cameras, a vague itinerary, we have even got a hotel boked for when we land. I feel like we are cheating booking ahead but hey 10pm in a town you have never been to after traveling for 18 hours on no sleep I will be happy to have booked.

To be honest I should be cleaning right now that why I am writing. I guess I will write again in a week and a bit when I have my first story to tell you.

As before I would love to get comments on my stories. I can see people have visited but it is great to know who you are and what you think.

Cheers

Dylan

Koonamore

Wow nearly a year since I last posted, I must have been busy with something mundane. Katie and I are about to embark on yet another trip to our second home, Thailand. But before I start posting about our travels I have to give a short run down on a short but interesting trip we took a month back.

So back to the beginning... A few months ago Katie spotted a flyer at uni telling of an ecology trip run through Adelaide uni looking at plants. Of course this was too good to be true for Katie and I was wondering how I was going to get out of it (just kidding). So after a few emails we had volunteered to go and count salt bush.

So just after our end of year exams we headed off with a bunch of new friends to a station called Koonamore which is well, in the middle of nowhere. About an hour away from Yunta which is a couple of hours from Burra which is a few hours from Adelaide. We arrive in the afternoon unpacked had a cup of tea and after a short briefing we were put to work. I put my hand up to stay in the house to help clean up and organise dinner while others went out rabbiting and quadratting.

So to keep a long story short It was hot (45.2°C if I remember correctly) and dry. I probably walked about 20 km in the week, in the sun, but it was still fun for some reason that can’t explain.

So to the highlights…

The stars


The food


The Tea


The pineapple (Oh I mean Lim)


The Measuring



The lake (who put that lake there anyway)



The scenery


The wildlife (when we saw some)



The hats and fly nets


The house


The people ; )


I Hope those of you we travelled with a having a great summer (of course I hope everyone is having a great summer)

Happy New Year.

Dylan

The End...

Well this is it, the end is in sight. We are back in steamy Bangkok once again. We are flying home on friday so we land on saturday morning at Adelaide airport. No I don't expect anyone to come except hopefully a Mother or Father or some random guy to pick us up.

As usual there are mixed emotions. I, We, want to come home to see everyone but don't want the holiday to be over. It was hard to leave Monkey World saying goodbye to all of those little fury people and the bigger less fury people as well. We left with the promise of returning as soon as we could. Don't worry We have all intentions of being at home next Christmas.

For those who know him I met up with Andrew this morning with no help from his guesthouse (they seemed to have never heard of him even though he was standing at the counter right next to me.) He is at the start of a trip which I am jealous about but at least I can offer him advice and reminise about places I have been before. We had a good chat about places and people even though I was only awake due to the 4 hours of sitting in a cafe waiting for a room.

So we are killing time, thinking about how much space we have to bring back Thai cushions and whether we like you enough to get you a present. (sorry we don't like many people that much).

Katie and I are now movie producers. We completed a 34 minute film called 'The Sanctuary' it took about 24 hours for us to sift through (and convert to the right format) about 100 movie clips and 400ish photos and decide out of hundreds of possible songs and stick it all together to get to our final product. There were tears and frustration as we battle a freezing computer and typing monkeys (they never do write Shakespere) but we are both happy with the product even if a littte rough around the edges. I take my hat off to animators and people who make movies with children and animals. For those of you who know me you can have a look when we get back.

I will save anymore pictures for one massive post which you will hate if you have dialup, and for a possible CD slideshow. So for now it's goodbye.

Dylan

Ps. Mothers I hope one of you do come and get us xxx.

Monkeys Monkeys Monkeys

This is just pictures of Monkeys

Peter Sleeping



Shan Penn Grooming Peter


Peter Eating Stolen Cake


Katie and Peter


Peter at the Petronas Towers KL


Sunny The Smallest Monkey


Pinky The highly strung Baby


Mongabi The only remaining Gibbon


Mongabi and his friends


Me, Susan and the oranges


ET

Myanmar Stories part 7 (Bagan)

Well at last I have got around to writing my last installment from Myanmar. I currently have a baby monkey called peter on my arm so I have to type one handed.

Bagan is, well I don't know how to start this. It's pretty cool, it's an area about 10km long and probably about 5km wide (just guessing really) and there are a few thousand temples and stupas ranging in age from the present to about 1000 years old.



Riding around on bikes is a very nice way to get around. We didn't see half of the area but it was nice to see what we did at our own pace and being able to scramble through the prickle bushes to see temple that hardly see any tourists. At a few temples you can still climb up the narrow stairs and onto the upper levels where the view is breathtaking every time. These photos really just don't do the view any justice.



We somehow managed to see the same temple twice, once in the morning and once near sunset when all the souvinear shops were packing up or had already left. It was much more enjoyable the second time around. We discovered that squirrels can run up the walls and jump from one piller to another. At this temple the light started streaming in through the westerly entrance and lighting up a new looking golden Budda statue which could be viewed from the southern side. It was quite cool looking and very nice to be the only people there to see it at that time.



An ogre at one of the first temples we visited.



On our second day way we took a horse cart to old Bagan and explored some more. The unfortunate part was we picked a cart with an old horse and the driver kept whipping the poor horse to keep it going which was a bit depressing to see.

Overall it was a very cool experience. One that is easy to draw comparison with Angkor in Cambodia but it is of course very different and unfair to compare except to say they are both amazing religious sites.



Dylan