Agra, India Home of the Taj Mahal, one of the most magnificent structures in the world. Even more beautiful in real life. There were other sights to be taken in throughout Agra, such as the red fort (Agra Fort), but we opted to limit ourselves to one major sight per day, whenever possible, to avoid …
Delhi, India We’re embarking on another 3 week tour, with Imaginative traveler. This one is called Amritsar, Dharamsala and the Desert Cities of Rajasthan . We’re looking forward to a (relatively) hassle-free 3 weeks, with someone else taking care of getting us up and around. Since we’ll be on the road a lot throughout this …
Bangalore, Karnataka, India After flying in from Mangalore, the early evening taxi ride was nothing like our first introduction to Bangalore. It took over 1 hour to travel 10km! We were eager to get into town to meet up with one of my IEEE contacts, Dipa. Dipa is an electrical engineer, working at Cypress. We …
Mangalore, India Staying at Poonja International Hotel. I swear I’ll never take a local bus in India again. It was a long, painful, ride, stopping everywhere to pick up and drop up people. Seats were hard, and barely big enough for a child’s bottom. Roads were rough and winding; People were puking into bags and …
Tholpetty, Kerala, India A two day break in a wildlife reserve on the Kerala, Karnataka border. Stayed at the Pachyderm Palace, at the edge of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. We were so lucky to have stumbled upon this gem. I have to give credit to the Lonely Planet for this one. They described it as …
Mysore, Karnataka, India Stayed at the Green Hotel, an ecofriendly hotel, away from the hustle-and-bustle of town. Mysore is known across the country for its Palace and annual Festival of Dasara. We arrived right around the eve of this 10 day festival (not the best way to escape the crowds). Perhaps due to the increased …
Bangalore, India Staying at 37th Crescent Hotel.After 2 nights, moved to the more affordable Vellara Hotel (+91-2536-9116) We sure planned this one right, arriving in one of India’s most congested cities at 3:00 in the morning. The streets were dark and empty as we rode into town, so we remained blissfully unaware of the traffic …
Singapore, Singapore Just enough time on the ground to catch up with an old work colleague of Grant’s before boarding an early morning flight to Bangalore.
We spent one night in Melacca, at the gorgeous Puri Hotel. Rooms are a little tiny, but who spends any time in their rooms? Our first experience in Melacca was the pleasant shock of its bus station. KL’s bus station is very crammed, old, and chaotic. That’s where we borded our luxurious (yet still cheap) bus to Melacca. …
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Back to KL for two nights. We spent our final day in Kuala Lumpur dealing with fun logistics such as picking up our Indian visa. We had another fun night with our friends Pek, Richard, and Sharron. Gerald and Raulyn’s has become a familiar, albeit out of the way, place to visit …
Staying at the Dragon Inn.Diving with North Borneo DSS. We were enjoying Borneo’s nature and wildlife so much, that we delayed our return flight a couple of days. This gave us enough time to hike up Kota Kinabalu, sleep in the rain forest near Sukau, and still be able to dive the world famous sights of Sipidan …
Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia In Sandakan: Staying at Hotel Seafront (Tel:089-222233) In Sukau: Rainforest Lodge (No phone 🙂 ) The Sukau Rainforest Lodge was a very memorable way to celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary. The 2 night package included a visit to the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary, a high speed cruise through the mangroves from Sandakan …
Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Climbing the peak of the highest mountain in South East Asia, Mount Kinabalu.Staying at the Mesilau Nature Resort. Mt. Kinabalu is the largest mountain in S.E. Asia. It’s a popular, but challenging 1 1/2 day trek to the top. We drove to a less well known part of the park, to stay at …
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Borneo), Malaysia Staying at Akinabalu Youth Hostel , planning to try to get ourselves to Mount Kinabalu tonight, to start the 2 day climb to the top by tomorrow. We plan to try to stay at one of the Sutera Sanctuary Lodges , hoping they have room for last minute travelers. We …
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Stayed at Fortuna Hotel again, but this time met up with a good friend’s sister, Pek Chin, for a personal tour of the hidden gems of KL. Back in Kuala Lumpur, we met up with Pek Chin, the older sister of our friend from Ottawa, Pek Lee. We met her and some …
Pantai Cenang (Pelau Langkawi), Kedah, Malaysia Staying at Malibest Resort. Lovely cabin on the beach, with beautiful sunsets, great swimming, and no hassels. Tel: 04-955-8222 Langkawi is a popular seaside destination, but not when the monsoons are in the west. Therefore, we ended up feeling like we were on a secluded beach. Waters are silty …
Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia Staying at “The White House Hotel” tonight 8/26 (picture Washington – NOT!), and moving across the street to the Oriental Hotel on 8/27Â www.oriental.com.my Penang is an old town, settled mostly by the Chinese Malaysians. They seem to have resisted the type of modernization we saw happening in KL. During the day, …
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Arrived safely in Kuala Lumpur and setting up camp at Hotel Fortuna – 87 Jalan Berangan, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Tel 21419111 www.fortunakl.com We spent 4 nights in KL, which would become our hub for exploring Malaysia. The train from Singapore was quite comfortable, but did stop at every town on the way …
Singapore, Singapore Staying at the Beach Hotel in the CBD. Singapore was mostly a comfortable break from our hecktic travel lifestyle. Although the weather was very hot and humid, we were treated to block after block of airconditioned malls and subway tunnels. The evening ritual of enjoying a cold beer was dampered by the expensive …
Bali, Indonesia Here’s a summary of some of my top experiences/impressions from Bali… The infectious smiles and hospitality (not to mention excellent customer service) of the Balinese. Beautiful fabrics and crafts of the Balinese, which seem to have been adapted to appeal to western tastes, without loosing that unique balinese feel. The outskirts of …
Legian, Bali, Indonesia After our dive, we chartered a car and driver to get to Kuta. We stayed in Legian, the town north of Kuta, at the Vilarisi Hotel Bali. I was sad that we would only have 1 night in the Kuta area, since that wouldn’t give us enough time to try surfing again. …
Amed, Bali, Indonesia Staying at Shell House, which is associated with Sunrise Cafe, in Jemeluk Village. It’s a local family run operation, with great hospitible service, yummy food, and excelent beach front location (despite the anoying road noise behind us). I highly recommend this place. Plus, you just know that the money you spend here …
Lovina, Bali, Indonesia Hanging in Lovina at Nirwana SeaSide Cottages for a few days for diving, massage, and living Balinese style… I highly recommend this hotel. Very clean, spacious, modern (yet with character), comfortable, and with beautiful grounds and pool. Good value too, especially when you pay ahead for more than one day. ————————- We …
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia We arrived safely in Bali. Yesterday was spent checking into our new home (Pari Gong), and touring the beautiful city of Ubud . Many craft, fabric, and clothing stores, beautiful friendly people, and gorgeous scenery with streams through a royal monkey forest and rice paddies scattered through the town. Can’t get over …
Darwin, NT, Australia Tonight marks our last night in Australia (sadly). We have had an incredible time in this amazing country, and will be updating the blog soon with pics and tales. Tomorrow we fly to Bali to sample our next country: Indonesia. ———————————– We returned to Darwin early, and spent the afternoon walking around …