Hospitalized in Kuala Lumpur

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Was it the Christmas dinner? Or was it the 'not-so-well-done' fried egg I had for lunch? Or perhaps it was the toxic water I swallowed in Kuta? Whatever the cause, my stomach and body wasn't happy at all. As I told you in the previous post, I was pretty stupid and went shopping and surfing in the heat, even though I was suffering from fever, dizziness and dehydration. After spending a whole day in Bali waiting for our flight, we arrived Kuala Lumpur (KL) at two in the morning, where we spent another night at the airport, this time on a bench though... I woke up the next morning feeling very dizzy and having stomach cramps. We stumbled around the airport for a while, being a bit worried as I had discovered blood in the diarrhea. (Maybe too much information.) Anyway, we got to Chinatown where we checked in at the worst hostel we've been staying in on this trip. For the rest of that day I wasn't feeling any better, but we decided to stay there overnight (after consulting our medic friend, Tore, on phone from Norway) and pay a visit to a doctor in the morning. Katrine was also feeling a bit sick, but fortunately she was feeling better than me. By the way, it is pretty nice to travel around with a personal nurse;)

Our first hostel in KL. Not the best place to be sick. The hospital was a lot better.

The first picture shows the view from our hospital room. It was quite nice at midnight when the fireworks started. The Petronas Twin Towers are world famous, both for their height and architecture.

The next day we went to the emergency room at one of Malaysia's better hospitals. One hour later I was receiving fluids and antibiotic through a tube while enjoying the view of KL's skyline from my private room on the seventh floor. We got an extra bed for Katrine, and that's how Glenewagles Medical Center was to be our 'hotel' for the next two nights, one of them being New Years Eve! I had probably been food poisoned in Indonesia and I was very dehydrated when we arrived the hospital. (Later we found out that I had dysentery.) We went for a couple of 'home leaves', which we spent window shopping at some of KL's many huge shopping malls. This made us feel even more dizzy, so it didn't take long before we crawled back into our hospital beds. New Years Eve was spent in bed watching the Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy on TV. Not the most exiting start of the new year, but definitely memorable. When we were 'released' from the hospital it was time for real shopping and sightseeing. Actually, before we left the hospital, Katrine was also prescribed some antibiotic. So, high on nasty bacterias and antibiotic we jumped on a tour bus to take us around the city. We went to see the majestic Petronas Twin Towers, made some great bargains in Jalan Petaling (the market in Chinatown) and walked up the 227 steps to the famous Batu Caves.

KL is a nice city. It is very multicultural and has a somehow calm atmosphere, for a big city. Our stay here was a bit hectic as we moved six (!) times and stayed in five different places (including the airport) in seven days. One of these places being a nice Arabic 'home stay' in the Arabic Square. Our stay became longer than we had planned for, but KL is definitely not the worst place to get stuck for a few days, and especially if you need medical treatment. It is not cheap though, so I am glad I have travel insurance. (I have already been refunded everything!)

From KL we took one of Malaysia's luxurious buses (only three seats in each row and great space for your legs) to Alor Setar, from where we caught a taxi to Kuala Kedah and then with boat to the island of Langkawi. Langkawi (situated on the north west coast) is one of Malaysia's hottest tourist spots, and it has a lot to offer, including tax-free shopping... However, we didn't feel like doing too much the two days we were there, except laying on its fine white sand beaches, swim in the warm, clear ocean, and eat fried rice. We rented a sea kayak for a couple of hours just to get some exercise and to get to a small island with a beautiful beach. We stayed in Pantai Chenang, on the western part of the island, so we enjoyed beautiful sunsets.

The white sand beaches in Langkawi

The sunset made us a little bit corny....

From Malaysia we headed into Thailand...the adventure continues exclusively on torsteinsworld

Christmas in Indonesia

For more photos click album 1, album 2, album 3

As you probably have understood from reading the previous post, we both enjoyed the Philippines a whole lot! But, after three incredible weeks it was time to move on. And in South East Asia, exciting destinations is one thing that there is no lack of. From Cebu we flew to Kuala Lumpur, via Kota Kinabalu on Malaysian Borneo. We had a spectacular view of Mt. Kinabalu (4095 m) as we approached our mid-way stop. In Kuala Lumpur we stayed one night at the airport floor. Even though KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) has been awarded 'world's best airport' three times (03, 06, 07), its floor is still pretty hard...

The airport floor wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep. Eating Banana Split in Bali was much better...

Anyway, we got some sleep and the next day we disembarked on the legendary island of Bali. I'm not really sure what we had expected, and perhaps the recent visit to the pristine Filipino islands was still on our minds, but we were quite disappointed with Bali, or rather Kuta-Legian. Kuta beach has obtained a special, almost mythical status amongst Norwegians, and honestly, I can't understand why. Sure, there are some good aspects, such as the shopping and the blood red sunsets. The highly visible Hindu culture is another nice side of Kuta-Legian. However, these aspects do not outweigh the pollution, the dirty, smelly beach, the traffic, and the rubbish that is everywhere. The surf is supposedly world class, but it is hard to fully enjoy it as pieces of plastic stick to your arm on every paddle, dead fish float around you, and as you have to concentrate more on not swallowing any water than actually catching a wave. Having said that, on one of the late evenings in Legian I had one of the best surfs ever:)

Every evening the rather dirty and smelly Kuta-Legtian beach turns into a postcard-perfect sunset, displaying every possible nuance of yellow and red.

We stayed for three nights in Legian, in a nice, spacey room surrounded by a fantastic Hindu garden, full of gods, the smell of incense, and a couple of dogs. We spent the days mostly shopping. But we also went for a half day to the cultural city of Ubud, which was a welcomed get-away from Kuta-Legian. On the way to Ubud we stopped at an impressive Hindu temple. In Ubud we visited the palace and spent some time together with the monkeys of the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. It was all good fun until I felt a stream of warm liquid running down my neck. A little monkey bastard who was sitting on my head (!) suddenly thought it was a good idea to pee on me!

The monkeys were very cute, until one peed one me. The picture is taken at the exact moment when it happened. Enlarge it and see for yourself. As you can see he was struck by a red lightening and suffered a slow death...

Some of Bali's several thousands nice sculptures

Outside our room and on the bottom of our pool

We were glad to leave smelly Kuta-Legian on 'lille julaften' (the day before Christmas Eve), going to its less touristic neighbour, Lombok. First three hours bus ride to Pandangbai, via Ubud. Then five hours on a ferry to Lembar, before getting on a minibus to Senggigi, another two hours. Senggigi, and Lombok in general, has a much more relaxed, laid back atmosphere than its big brother to the West. So it was all laid out for a relaxed and joyful Christmas;) As the sun set in the ocean, making Bali's volcanoes yellow and red in the distance, we were dining on the beach, being almost alone in the restaurants. We both missed our families and the Norwegian Christmas, but we, at least, had a good three course Christmas dinner on the eve of the 24th.

On Christmas day we actually came pretty close to a white Christmas. Together with our new friend George, a language professor from Minnesota, we drove two hours south, from where we took a small boat to the amazing Gili Nanggu. I guess this island was everything we wanted Indonesia to be like. The beaches were so bright that we had to wear shades. The ocean changed from light green to light blue, reflecting the silky sand and the colorful corals, before the deep gave it a dark blue color. When we entered the water we were immediately surrounded by hundreds of fish, and even more when we revealed our treat, a banana and a couple of slices of bread... Gili Nanggu is a small island, it only takes you about 15 minutes to walk around it. However, you can easily spend hours taking inn the empty, white beaches that surround the island. Hidden in the lush vegetation that comes all the way down to the beach were thousands of grasshoppers. We also had a close encounter with a couple of big and nasty spiders. One looked like the devil himself. The island is also a turtle sanctuary, hosting a new generation of teenage mutant ninja turtles. Well, all good things come to an end and soon it was time to work our way back up to Senggigi. On the way we stopped to look at a couple of wedding parades that literally blocked the road. Awful music, but hopefully a happy marriage.

Gili Nanggu has most of the features a tropical paradise
should have...

...including giant spiders and pagurus bernhardus

The next day was spent by the pool, frying our dark Latino skin in the Indonesian sun. Then, during the final night in Lombok our stomachs started making trouble, a revolt that would later culminate in a couple of nights in a hospital in Kuala Lumpur. (I'll get back to the hospital story in my next post.) We both took a few pills and got ready for the bumpiest and most hazardous boat ride we have ever experienced. And keep in mind that the oceans around Norway aren't the calmest... I can't tell how high the waves were, but we couldn't see above them when we were in the 'valley', and they broke (!) onto the boat. It wasn't very pleasant, and most people got pretty sea sick. The only peaceful thing to rest our eyes on were the dolphins that seemed to enjoy the rough sea. Anyway, we came across to Bali, where we spent one more night before flying out the following evening. By that time I had a fever and felt pretty awful. It didn't stop me from having a last surf in the toxic sea though, probably a very bad idea as I just got worse.

To be continued...

How to Choose from 7107 Tropical Islands?

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album 1, album 2, album 3, album 4, and album 5

When traveling to foreign and unfamiliar countries you always have to make some really difficult choices; what places should you visit; where will you find the most unique, the most authentic or the most exiting place? There is always the danger of leaving out places that you should've visited, and going places you shouldn't have gone. There is so much to see and do, but almost every time I travel I feel that my time is too limited, and of course, my budget doesn't always allowing me to do everything I want. Choosing where to go and what to see was particularly difficult in the Philippines. This vast tropical country consists of no less than 7107 islands! Katrine and I ended up with three main destinations: Manila, Boracay and Palawan, all of which gave us some unforgettable experiences and memories, both good and bad.

When you're exploring new destinations,
it is extremely important to keep your head above the surface...

Unfortunately, we had some problems starting our travels on time, due to the occupation of Bangkok International Airport. Because of this we lost three days in Manila, but it could have been much worse as Thai Airways wouldn't promise to get us there at all. However, as a result of hard work and hours on the phone we managed to get a flight via Singapore instead, and at least get two full days in Manila. In Singapore we stayed overnight with two god friends. We even had a few hours to kill the next day before our flight. Chen and Miki were our personal guides to the plethora of shopping malls in Singapore.

Our first meeting with Manila was rather chaotic and not too pleasant. First of all, we didn't really arrive in Manila, but at Clark, an old American military base, two hours outside Manila. Anyway, we got on a bus and a couple of hours later we were dropped at a run-down bus terminal in the deepest of Manila, at midnight... We grabbed the first taxi we saw and headed for Alabang, where some of Katrine's family live. We tried to bargain on the taxi, but failed miserably. I guess it was both because of the fact that we were way out of 'practice', and who wants to stay downtown Manila at midnight with all your belongings trying to save a couple of bucks? Not us... We arrived Alabang safely and Katrine's uncle, Ingar, welcomed us with dinner at around 1 am! The next day we went with Ingar to see one of the projects he's working on. Driving through Metro Manila in daylight was undoubtedly nicer than by night, but Tondo, the place we were going, was definitely not the sunny side of Manila. Tondo is one of the poorest and most dangerous places in Manila, and the Philippines overall. (A couple of weeks later, sitting in a bar in Puerto Princesa (far from Manila), telling two guys that we had been to Tondo, they both just said 'Wow, and you came out alive!?'). Here we visited some abandoned warehouses that have been taken over by Filipinos, desperate for shelter. These warehouses have the somewhat ironic name 'Happy land'. Ingar and his companions have started clearing out tons of garbage, installing electricity, and offering medical help to the most needy. Walking through these warehouses, smelling and seeing the unbearable situation, where people live in conditions many times worse than what animals experience in most countries, seeing critical cases of mal-nutrition, extensive sniffing, and the lack of essential human needs, made a strong impression on us both. At the same time, experiencing the smiles and the laughter, the joy of the kids, and seeing how the situation actually has improved, was good proof that even the worst cases can get better; and it isn't much that is needed.

The next day we went to see a very different side of Manila, the Mall of Asia. It is currently the fourth biggest shopping mall in the world. What can I say, it was BIG... After two days full of contrasts and good company, we headed off to the premier tourist destination in the Philippines, Boracay.

The day we arrived in Boracay it was raining cats, dogs, and cattle... Luckily, it got better. Boracay had some colorful markets with the freshest fruits and live seafood.

After an hour on a small aircraft and a 15 minutes boat trip, we found ourselves on an island referred to as both a paradise and as a prime example of the destructive effects of mass tourism. We found it somewhere in between, but closer to a holiday paradise that the opposite. The thing is, you have to accept Boracay for what it is. If you don't like tourists, resorts, 2-for-1 cocktail deals, cheap massage, jet skis, Richard Clydeman for breakfast, Boney M for lunch and DJ Tiesto for dinner, buffet dinners on the beach, etc., Boracay is probably not the place for you. I can definitely do without most of this, but at the same time Boracay's snow white 'White Beach' that stretches for 3 km. and is covered by palm trees, the smiling Filipinos, the crystal clear water, the fresh mangos, the chilled out beach oasis where you can sleep in bean bags or hammocks, and the lovely old women who gives you the cheapest massage while criticizing the government, make it a beach holiday destination far beyond most you'll find in, for instance, Europe.

The good thing about the Philippines, however, is that it has thousands of other islands to chose from, when you are fed up by Korean charter tourists, corny Christmas remixes, and neon-lit palm trees. We chose Palawan. And we couldn't have chosen better!

Palawan is, according to Lonely Planet, the last ecological frontier of the Philippines, and it sure is wild, beautiful, and untouched. We flew from Caticlan (near Boracay) to Puerto Princesa in a tiny aircraft, with too much air condition. Just as we took off I actually spotted a gigantic whale shark. I could even see the white spots on its back! Domestic flights in the Philippines is not just cheap and necessary, but also very enjoyable, if you are seated by the window that is. You'll see massive mountains, endless palm tree forests, and small isolated islands surrounded by white beaches, reefs, and turquoise water. In the baggage claim in Puerto we met an Italian guy and a Filipino girl. Together, the four of us hired a driver and a car, and from the airport we went straight north to El Nido. First three hours on sealed road to Roxas, and from there four hours on an extremely bumpy dirt road full of pot holes and stray dogs. Except for the times our heads almost hit the roof, the scenery made you forget about the bad road; the green, lush hills, the even rice paddies, small villages of bamboo huts, the overloaded and colorful jeepneys, the winding, narrow roads, and the mighty mountain tops. We arrived El Nido after dark and little did we know of the amazing view from our beach cottage that was revealed the next morning.

The first picture shows the view from our beach cottage.
The others are from around the archipelago.

The following six days were spent island hopping, exploring the most exotic, idyllic, and post card perfect islands of your dreams. The Bacuit Archipelago (bay) is an extraordinary seascape, consisting of numerous big and small islands. Our Creator has sure let his imagination run wild here. The bay is a collection of jugged limestone islands that leap hundreds of meters to the sky from crystal clear water, where all the nuances of green and blue are represented. On many of the islands there are sheltered bays that conceal white-sand beaches, tall palm trees, stunning lagoons, hidden caves, and vivid coral gardens. We spent three full days exploring the archipelago by bangka (traditional Filipino boat) together with out good boatman, guide and cook Delon, and a few other travelers. We also spent one day sea kayaking and found ourselves a personal little paradise on a small island. There were no people other than the two of us, so we felt a bit like cast aways... The rest of the time was spent reading Obama's well written and engaging Dreams from My Father (which I stole from my American house mate in Australia, thanks Tom), eating, sleeping, and wandering around the small and charming El Nido.

The underwater world is amazing around the islands of Bacuit. The visibility was extraordinary and we even found Nemo!

After six fantastic days in El Nido it was time to get back to Puerto, where we strolled around the city and its big Christmas market for a couple of days. We also had time for a day trip to Sabang (two hours west of Puerto) and its world famous underground river. We dressed up in life jacket and helmet and took a seat in a small paddle boat which brought us into a spectacular cave opening and 1,5 km upstream the river. (You can actually continue upstream for another 7 km!). Inside it was, obviously, pitch black, but we had a big torch and for the next 45 minutes we paddled inside the mountain, surrounded by thousands of bats and unbelievable natural sculptures. It was good to return to fresh air and daylight after that dark and sticky experience. Outside we were greated by a bunch of monkeys and some giant lizards. From Puerto we flew to Cebu, the second biggest city in the Philippines, where we spent one night before heading towards Christmas in Indonesia.

Outside the underwater river

We had an exceptional experience in the Philippines

and the best tip we can give you is:
JUST GO THERE!