Map of our Final Itinerary

http://www.tripline.net/trip/RTW_2011-567116073410100490E6AE0CA6D9B9E0

Final Itinerary

Wow, we've been busy booking flights.  Almost 50 total this year.  Here's our final itinerary!

http://www.tripit.com/trip/public/id/1E35D2CDED86

Gunung Mulu – a short novel - Mara posting

See the ropes?

The saying, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself” does not apply when you find yourself dangling from a rope off a sheer, slick rock face, over an abyss.  I wasn’t quite dangling; I had a firm grip on the wet rope and my feet were planted in two tiny footholds (but they were shaking so hard and the rock was so slick, it felt like I was dangling).  And the rock face wasn’t sheer; most people would clamber up or down with only a pause. And it wasn’t really an abyss; I could see the bottom, but it looked like a long, long way down. While it only felt like I was dangling off a rope over an abyss, to me, there was in fact more to fear than fear itself.

Somehow I overcame the fear, and I made it down that seemingly sheer rock cliff with only a rope; and then I made it up and down at least five more of them.  In between bouts of panic, there were stretches of sheer awe.  We were in Racer Cave at Gunung Mulu National Park.  The cave was alive.  Amidst the constant dripping water, there were swiftlets, bats, crickets, spiders bigger than my hand (literally), and cave snakes; ceilings taller than the reach of my headlamp, 20 foot mounds of guano crawling with cockroaches; and when the lights went out, utter and total darkness. 

Gunung Mulu has been a highlight of our trip.  We spent five nights and four days in a tropical rainforest, exploring caves and the tree canopy, sleeping in dry beds, and eating decent food.  I assumed such an experience would be completely out of our price range (it is if you book a package from a travel agent).  We ended up spending less per day than travelling on a strict budget in New Zealand.  I include our costs to help anyone planning their own trips (currently 3 MYR = 1 USD).  You do have to pay for almost every activity, as guides are mandatory (although not necessarily helpful or informative).

We flew from Kota Kinabalu to Mulu on MAS Wings and from Mulu to Kuching for $45 per person. The 5 minute van ride to the park cost MYR 5 per person, but you could easily walk. Our first full day at the park, we saw Deer Cave, the world’s biggest known cavern (can you see the person in this photo?). There is a 3 km boardwalk that leads to the entrance, where waterfalls spatter down, swiftlets and bats chatter, and the acrid smell of guano fills the air.  At the back of the cave, we left the boardwalk with our guide, then scrambled over boulders, guano, and through the river up into the “Garden of Eden” (which was not a garden, but a waterfall surrounded by limestone and vegetation and a few accompanying leeches). The tour came back through Deer Cave, and ended with a loop into Lagang Cave.  It poured that evening, so we were unable to watch the bats leave the cave (Deer Cave tour is MYR 20; the Valley hike we did was MYR 105 per person and included lunch).  Day 2 was Racer Cave (where I feared more than fear itself: 4 hours of climbing, sweating, and exploring for MYR 95 per person).

Day 3 started at 9 am with a longboat ride to a small morning market, then onto Cave of the Winds and Clearwater Cave – both amazing caves that have extensive boardwalks, and hundreds of stairs (MYR 20 for the cave tour, MYR 30 for boat trip).  They were much busier than Deer Cave, but compared to Carlsbad Caverns and other caves I have seen, the number of people was manageable.  At noon, the other ten people on our tour took the boat back, but we opted to walk. The walk is supposedly 3 km (although, it took us an hour and a half), and winds up through Moonmilk cave (bring a flashlight), and climbs back down into the jungle for the remainder of the walk. It was incredibly peaceful, as we were the only people on the trail, and it gave us the chance to appreciate the rainforest plants and insects.  That evening we went back to watch the bats leave Deer Cave.  At 6:25, thousands of bats spiraled up and out of the caves and into the sky.  The walk back in the dark was magical, with fireflies floating in the air, amidst a cacophony of night noises (including an insect we named the “hoover bug,” since it sounds like a vacuum cleaner.)

I celebrated my birthday 30 meters in the tree canopy.  We did the canopy walk on Day 4 and learned about the trees and insects (MYR 70 per person). 

For accommodations, we stayed in the park hostel for two nights (MYR 40 per person) – it’s adequate, but anytime you have 20 people in one room, a good night of sleep is questionable. We spent the other two nights in a longhouse room (MYR 180), which was huge, clean, and a treat after several nights in hostels. Breakfast was included (Asian or western fare, good coffee).  Although there are a few places nearby, we ate all our other meals at the cafeteria (which were all good to excellent, and usually cost $10-15 total per meal for the two of us). 
Our total cost for the two of us to spend 5 days and 4 nights, including all of the hikes and caving adventures and domestic flights was $550.  The feeling of making it out alive after dangling from a rope off a cliff over an abyss: priceless.  I would go back in a heartbeat!

Food in the Philippines - Mara posting

The other morning, I ordered a pizza for breakfast. For the week prior, we ate oatmeal and bananas to save money (and cholesterol levels – in tourist places, overpriced eggs and white toast is often the only option, but we found a store that sold instant oatmeal).  I wanted something different. Perusing the menu, I saw that a pizza cost the same as an egg and toast, and the kitchen was willing to make it.  So I ordered a vegetarian pizza. 

After about 30 minutes, the waitress came back, smiling. “I’m so sorry, the chef . . . he made the wrong pizza. If you wait 15 minutes we can make you another.”  I asked what had been made, above the din of my growling stomach.  She said, “It is like the vegetarian, but with tuna.”

I’ve never had tuna on pizza before, but since we were by the ocean, I figured, why not? So I told her that I would eat that one.  A few minutes later, she came back, laughing.  “It is not tuna,” she said, “it is egg.”  I was really hungry, so I said “ok.” She brought out my pizza, with a half-cooked fried egg on top.

And so it went in the Philippines: for me, an incredible food challenge.  In addition to the fried-egg pizza, here is a sampling of the other foods that made me cringe:

1.      Canned black beans (fermented, and stored in a fish sauce)

2.      Worms in my mango and a giant maggot in my banana.

3.      Vinegar is the only condiment. Granted, there may be three kinds of vinegar on the table, but nothing else. No soy sauce, no chilies, no herbs, salt or pepper.

4.      Halo-halo. I still don’t know what it is, but it seems like a poor, gelatinous substitute for ice cream.

5.      Sarsa. Not salsa, but a foul sauce that we bought thinking it would be like mayo to mix with our canned tuna.

6.      Crème crackers. I thought they were crème cookies. But when I opened them, I realized that what I bought was saltine crackers, layered with unsweetened lemon. (I actually kind of liked them after the initial disappointment passed).

7.      Grilled meats and fish. They are excellent (the first dozen times you eat it). But after the fourth or fifth day of only grilled meat and white rice, I hoped for some veggies….

8.      Service – I’ve never been one to complain about service, but we had really bad luck. Two different times the waitress forgot to submit our order, so we waited for over an hour, and then when she realized the mistake, they had run out of fish (which is what we had gone out to dinner for)!

A pause button for progress

Balinsasayaw is the Tagalog (Filipino or Pinoy language) word for swiftlet bird’s nest soup.  El Nido (roughly: “the nest”), where we are currently staying in the Philippines, is named in honor of these valuable little products.  At one point they were the main industry and export of this beautiful part of Palawan Island.     Now we have Bangka boats giving island hopping tours, local resorts and restaurants, you know tourism.  And a half paved road from the capitol city of Puerto Princesa (eg the Airport) is the lifeline.  The local kids play takraw (like hackey-sack on steroids) and badminton under the flickering streetlights on that very road.  Meanwhile their parents crowd around a 20” TV or radio to listen to sports or watch old “shoot-em-up” commando movies.  People seem genuinely happy and life is fairly simple at this point.  The electricity and technology is useful for what it is, but only for part of the day.  As far as I am concerned, thats the way that it should be.

Too bad there is no pause button for capitalism.  We need something to freeze progress, when the good still outweighs the bad, before the rat-race takes over.  Before the greed sets in and people start acquiring things simply for the pleasure of shopping or to outdo their neighbors.  Or just to have more stuff.  Just be thankful for what you’ve got and you will be all right.  I can hear them paving the rest of the road right now and it makes me cringe.  Here come the air-conditioned, high-speed, package tour buses.  Next they’ll build the big all-inclusive resorts.  And that’s the end.

Bangkok Beauty

All the clichés of Bangkok ring true.  “Dude looks like a lady” is jamming in the chic hotel lobby as a couple of white boys looking for a good time get on the elevator with a 6’2” D-cup Bangkok Beauty.  He’s a perfect she.  The curves, the smile, the cheek bones, all perfect.  After walking the streets to the incessant calling of “Where you go?”, “Tuk-tuk ride”, “sex show”, “looking for a good time?”, these guys had decided to willfully suspend their disbelief for at least the evening, or maybe a couple of hours.

But there is certainly two sides to the Bangkok Story.  A delicious $US15 dinner for two with perfectly balanced sweet, salt, fish, bitter and chili spice. Temples and four-story teak-houses without a single nail used to build them.  Every shop filled with more shit than the last.  Some of it is the most amazing shit you’ve ever seen.  Whether its gemstones, woodworking, Buddha relics, ceramics, embrodidery, leather or art, the Thai people will have the best variety and quality (and of course a big smile on their face).

Endless night markets, food markets, malls.  Prostitutes lined up next to T-shirt vendors.  Fake Viagra right next to the banana pancake stand.  Sex toys next to knives.  One after another for miles.  Well, you get the picture.  No questions asked.  It makes Vegas look like grade school in the suburbs.  Bangkok Beauty!

Filipino Trinity of Transportation

The jeepney, the tricycle and bangka boats. You truly have some interesting forms of transportation when you visit the Philippines.  Throw in some crazy drivers and you make memories!

The jeepney on the left is a remnant of WWII.  When the Americans packed up and headed home they left a lot behind (literally and figuratively).  The Pinoy (local word for Filipino) decided to not let all of those old things, especially jeeps, go to waste.  They retrofitted them to meet their mass-transportation needs and gave them one hell of a paint job.   The "trike" on the right is a motorcycle with a cab and space for 3 or more additional passengers.  They're ubiquitous and affordable!



A sunny day at the park for Pinoy kids serves a dual purpose.  They also receive basic training to one day grow up and run a successful taxi business.  They even have a size smaller than the one in the picture, if you can imagine that.  Something like a five year old cruising up next to an infant and saying "hey meester, need a lift, good price for you!"

The Phillipines is an island nation.  Almost 7000 of them, to be exact.  So you need boats and lots of them.  Rubber rafts and outboard motors are expensive.  A simple canoe with bamboo outriggers can be built with local resources.  An old lawn-mower engine, no matter how loud it may be, can be easily found around town.  And the bangka boat is born!  Wow, what beautiful places they have taken us so far.