Journeying North

In Bali we had come full loop, ending up in Kuta where the beer was cold and the waves were huge. A heat wave was on and Chris and I kept to the shaded parts of the streets as we walked back and forth from the beach to our hotel. This was one of the laziest parts of our trip. In fact, it's quite weird how time takes on another meaning when traveling for long periods. We spent eight days in Kuta, which is amazing, considering that we didn't do anything significant. Eight days meant nothing to us. We read books and hung out in the pool and watched the Olympics. Seen as how Kuta was much hotter this time around, we decided not to sweat it in our old hotel. We found an air-conditioned haven on one of the backstreets with cable. This was our chance to catch some of the Olympics which were being held in London. Unfortunately, I don't know if it was because of the time difference, but the only sport we seemed to catch regularly was table tennis. We also saw a bit of synchronized swimming, which was great for its entertainment value.

 

During the day we would read, nap, watch TV or hang out by the pool. In late afternoon we would walk down to the beach to watch the sunset. Kuta had been cloudy the first time through, so it was a real treat to experience not one, but several world-class sunsets over the course of our stay. The beach was crowded for these events, complete with guitar-players and young couples in love. There was a real hippie vibe going on. Chris and I sipped on bottled drinks and soaked up the setting.

 

We tried boogie boarding on several more occasions, but due to a super-tide or super-moon or super-something, the waves were fierce. Even the surfers were intimidated, and only a few were out past the break line. I took a few rides on some monster waves before I got knocked off my board and dragged across the sand. Reminded of my intense fear of the ocean, I retreated back to my towel and sat out the rest of the experience. Amazingly the massage lady who I had pissed off the first time through Kuta remembered me and came to visit my towel. I honored my promise and accepted a massage. Maybe I wasn't such bad luck after all.

 

Our experience with hawkers was much better this time through. Perhaps we had that knowing look in our eye. We were hardened travelers at this point; we knew all of their games. It was still funny to see them chase down someone green who had just arrived in town. We seemed to make our peace with them. Not only that, my faith in the Balinese was completely restored after I had accidentally left my wallet at an internet cafe. I didn't even realize it was missing until the next day. In a frantic search, we retraced our steps to the cafe where I asked if a wallet had been turned in. Not only did they hand over my wallet, but all my cards and my money had gone untouched. This completely undid the disillusionment which had come with the shady moneychangers on our first night in Kuta.

 

To wrap up our Bali whole experience: Bali is nothing short of phenomenal. The culture, the people, the food, the temples, the ceremonies, the volcanoes, the paradise-vibe—it's the whole package. It's the best of the best.

 

Singapore Revisited

 

We literally retraced our steps back to Bangkok. These were some long steps though, as the journey is a very long one, and this time we were going overland the whole way.

 

Singapore had been amazing, not to mention, too short, the first time through. This time was intended to be even shorter, as we went straight from the airport to the bus station, where we were to take a direct overnight bus to Georgetown in Malaysia. However, because of a misunderstanding of what a bus station was on the map, we ended up staying longer. Heading down a hot stretch of payment with the equatorial sun directly over us, we came to a large parking lot with buses. Though there were buses, there was no depot and nobody around to help us. We came to discover that the parking lot was just what it appeared to be—a place where buses came to park. This was one point in the trip where I thought I would crack. We had to walk back down that hot stretch of pavement with our heavy bags. Hot and frustrated, I threw off my pack and sat down in a patch of sun. At that point I really felt that I couldn't go on. Perhaps it was part of travel fatigue, the endless walking with our rucksacks in a hot climate. After some arguing, it was agreed that we would spend the night in Singapore and find a bus the next day.

 

Our first time through, we had stuck mostly to Chinatown and the Indian areas. This time we stayed in a more modern section. Though the hotels were outside of our budget, we found a lovely hostel where we had a room all to ourselves (no Filipino workers and no bedbugs). Also, there was a rooftop lounge (complete with a jacuzzi) where we could sit and look out over the city.

 

While we were checking in, we found out that an extra day stay in Singapore was the best thing that could have happened to us. The 47th anniversary of Singapore was on for the next day, with a whole range of activities scheduled. We had secured a ride on a bus for the next evening, so that left most of the day to partake in the celebration.

 

I wonder how we had missed Marina Bay the first time through. Marina Bay is the modern heart and financial district of Singapore, with world-class shopping centers innovative skyscrapers and sculptures. The downtown area surely rivals any city in the Asian world—Shanghai, Hong Kong, even Dubai, I was particularly impressed with the Marina Sands hotel. Made up of three separate buildings, which from the side resemble the Greek character pi, the roofs are as spectacular as the structures. Gardens, parks, even an infinity pool grace the tops of these buildings. For free, we could ride the escalators up and walk through the Sky Park. Looking around, we were reminded that Singapore is called the Garden City. Marina Bay is comprised of many parks, some of them traditional with flowers and trees and conservatories, and some of them completely artificial. A futuristic forest, reminiscent of Pandora, stretched behind Marina Sands. Solar-powered trees, some towering 160 feet overhead, provided a touch of whimsiness. Up above, people walked the catwalks between trees. This reinforced our idea of Singapore as some kind of city-wide Disney World. Everywhere we looked there was the wow-factor, but there were some really innovative, progressive ideas. If only American cities could take this approach.

Down by the water, the anniversary festivities were kicking off. Crowds gathered in a sea of red, the color of Singapore. Music played and flags waved. Chris and I found a seat on the ground where we blended in with the crowd. From there we had an excellent view of the air show. Unfortunately we felt the tug of time and the reminder that we had bus to catch. We had to weave our way through the crowds back to the metro station. As we were leaving, we heard an engine roar above us. Everyone on the sidewalk looked upward to find a plane heading directly towards a skyscraper. Bracing ourselves, just for a moment, 9/11 flashed through our minds. It wasn't only us; everyone on the street gasped. But we had misjudged the distance between the building and the plane, and it soared cleanly over. That got our hearts pounding.

It was hard to break away from Singapore. It may have been my favorite city in Asia. Not only was it clean and modern, but the vibe was good. With the mix of cultures, the government was promoting acceptance and tolerance, setting up slogans and signs all over city. Perhaps there is a dark underside to Singapore with repression and conformity, but we never saw evidence of it.

It was dark by the time we boarded our overnight bus. We had missed the fireworks display, though we caught a glimpse of it on TV. Like everything else in Singapore, it was epic. As our bus slid through the streets onto a highway, we passed by Marina Bay for the last time. Lit up like a jewel, it shone beautifully in the night. It was bittersweet, leaving Singapore.

Jim's Place

Our bus was first-class with wide reclining seats. It was better than some of hotels we had stayed at. We slept pretty soundly as the road hummed. We passed through Kuala Lumpur without stopping. This was kind of nice, leaving the past behind us like that. By this time my eye was much better and my vision was steadily returning.

Our destination was Georgetown, or Penang, a city on an island on the western coast of Malaysia. Though we had visited many regions of Malaysia before, Georgetown was completely different. We could see that immediately as we stepped out of a taxi (the bus hadn't taken us all the way). For one thing, Georgetown looked really run down. Gone was the modernity we had seen in Singapore. It looked like a place lost in time—and that time was something like the 1960s. Indeed, there was that hippie backpacker feel to the place. I suppose it was only fitting that we stayed at Jim's Place, which was more of a love shack than it was a hotel.

Sir Jim—how can one describe such a character? Part philosopher, part egoist, part ladies' man, part pervert, part bullshitter. He was an older Indian guy, though he wore dreadlocks and walked around without a shirt on. For an older guy, he had a pretty good physique. I'm sure this was due to some regiment of yoga and bullshitting. Did I mention that this guy was a total bullshitter? At least he kept us entertained with his stories. Apparently, women could get pregnant just from sitting in a chair he had sat in. Needless to say, I made sure to keep clear of his chairs. Sir Jim, as we called him, was alright despite his overt sexuality. Perhaps he was creepy, but this seemed fitting in a town with a street famously called Love Lane. Still, there was something gross about sleeping in our bed for the night, wondering how many babies had been made in Jim's Place.

Our room was awful. One of the worst we had on our trip. Not that it was dirty, but it was spartan with just a bed crammed between two walls. There was no air conditioning, just two fans to fight the humidity, and get this—no windows. A true hell hole. There was no sleeping that night, as it was hard to even breathe. Besides that, the Indian food we had eaten earlier that day was not sitting right with me. I must have sat half a night in the shared bathroom. At least the bathroom had a window and there was some airflow. However there was some activity going on in the mosque behind Jim's Place and there was some guy reciting what I can only imagine to be the Koran over a loudspeaker. I must have heard the whole Koran being read while I sat on the toilet (such are the drawback for eating Indian food).

Georgetown, like much of Malaysia, is a mixture of cultures. Indian, Chinese, and Muslim, with a touch of colonialism. Walking through the streets was like walking through several countries at the same time. The streets were dingy, though not entirely dirty. There was nothing really touristy to be found. Even Love Lane didn't have any standout features. We did wander around Fort Cornwallis for awhile, which boasted canons and haunted-type prison cells to get our dose of Britishness. Other than that, we sat around in bars and watched the remaining events in the Olympics. Georgetown definitely had a laid-back vibe. An itinerary wasn't needed, though we did schedule a day-trip outside of town to visit a Buddhist temple.

Kek Lok Si is a Buddhist temple to end all Buddhist temples. Located in the misty mountains of Penang Island, it really is like a scene that could be painted on a fan. It was the full Buddhist experience with joss sticks and wishing ribbons and Buddha bellies to rub. Architecturally it was a photographer's dream with rounded doorways and pagodas and large Chinese script. We took a cable car to the top of the mountain where the Mother Goddess of Mercy sits, in all her 100-foot glory. My goodness, what a setting. The air was lovely, rising above the heavy, dusty Georgetown humidity. It was like being transported to heaven for a day.

Back at Jim's we got moved into another room. This one was in the front of the house and it had two large windows which opened. This was a vast improvement over our previous room. It was more of a bedroom than it was a hotel room, and again, the idea of Sir Jim and his seedy ways (pun intended) was on our mind.

As if we hadn't experienced enough culture in Georgetown, we came across a Hindu celebration on the last night as we wandered through the streets. There was a fire procession. Lots of music, lots of noise. We followed it to a temple where the fire was carried inside. By this time we were quite celebrationed-out, though I'm glad we got that last dose of culture before moving on.

Our travels were winding down. We were to continue north to Thailand, then looping through Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Though we still have several months left to go, it was starting to feel like the end. And in a way, this was nice as a return to American life was looming—an adventure in itself.