Taman Negara National Park

We made it to the park after a 4 hour bus/van ride thru the Salad Bowl of Malaysia - interesting farms - and then a 2+ hour boat ride. First night we made it for a quick hike to get the feel of the land. It is a heck of a lot hotter here then the Highlands!!! Scott is like a wet rag.
The town is a real tourist trap - and NO customer service what-so-ever- the recurring theme here is "if you don't like it you can go somewhere else".
We were up early for the first boat to the park - did the canopy walk (i did not look down too much) before heading for a 8k hike thru the jungle to cool baths/waterfalls. Maps are not to detailed ... we really thought we were lost after 4 hours of trekking (not to mention out of drinking water) when a boat came by and helped us across the river. How refreshing the water felt! We had a great boat ride back. Huge trees and Fungi were my fasination - Scott came out of it with a few unknown bites and 2 leach holes in his ankle (all the animals seem to love him). I think we are done with jungles and trekking for a while. We are heading out to the Perhentian Islands for some beach time and snorkeling / diving / relaxation.

Malaysia

We are in our next country ... Started out in KL. Big city, however it is very quiet! We spent some time in the parks and visiting the markets - the food stalls are wonderful and quite an experience!!! It rained each night about 4 p.m. but it did not stop us.
Now in the Cameron Highlands - we spent the last couple of days hiking thru the jungle (wow - talk about a challenging climb with arms and legs) and checking out the village(s). Today we took a break and had tea at BOH Tea where we overlooked the fields/mountains. Off to Taman Negera tomorrow for rain forest/jungle.

Bali N.W. side

Gosh we have been thru a lot since the last post!
Spent time in Lovina (as a hub for day trips) - saw waterfalls, rice fields, and beautiful villages ... we then headed across the coast West near Gilimanuk. We found a great place to stay - Manjangan Resort - in a National Park. Lots of wild deer (2 kinds) roosters, and monkeys. We had a very small bungalo, but it was right off the water - watched the sun rise every morning. We had a GREAT time snorkeling - best coral we ever saw just off Manjangan (deer) Island! Hiked around the park - even ran into a komoto dragon (saw from a distance - we turned around and went the other way quickly).
As we were packing and ready to go - Scott twisted his back VERY badly (could not move, stand or sit up) we got him into the bed - after there was no progress from the icy-hot and pads we had, we ended up calling in a therapeutic masseur from a near by village with the help of the housekeeping boy. He worked on Scott that evening and again in the morning ... Ketut recommended we get relaxers - Seffey took me to a local Doktor for medication - slowly Scott was able to walk and move ... four nights later we did leave and head back to Ubud. Amy had to drive - yikes now I know how crazy it really was to be in the drivers seat (poor Scott).

up to Lovina

DAY 4
Today we rent a car to get to Lovina - the hotel had arranged a car for us. The car that arrived for us had bald tires ... no way we were going to head out and explore with that! Off we went with bags to find a car - down the road a bit we finally found a place that could get us a car - they called it "new" - it was 2005. We think they call their friends who have vehicles and rent those out when needed (we got it for $11.50 per day). The gas gauge was on "E" - so instead of going right to a hike thru rice fields and temples - we set off for a station. 8k later and being stuck in a traffic jam - for an Independence parade - we made it to a station. They call petrol "premium". Already behind on time, and too far out - we decided to get on the way. The ride was nice thru rice fields and orange groves, up to Kintamoni. We stopped to look at the volcano's, but were attacked by vender's who would not stop! Back in the car, we go to the coast and needed to go west to Lovina - OOPs another traffic jam - Independence parade. We were stopped for a good 30 minutes - people and motorbikes all around us! We talked to others around us ... and when traffic began to move we followed them the back way thru town and out! First hotel we saw we stopped - whew!!! They only had one cottage left $20. it was very cute and the location was right off the ocean. We stayed there had dinner and relaxed.

DAY 5
After breakfast we went off for a waterfall hike. First we needed a map - road maps seem to be non-existent here! we never found one, but we picked up a general map. First, off to Pupuan, a spice village. The drive was very nice - stopped for a snack over looking a rice field, and watched the people and how they worked. We had a heck of a time finding Sambanagn Village for our trek. Every time we stopped people would say that way and point ... it took many "that way's" to get there, but we found an information station. A guide came over and led us to, and thru, the trek. Very beautiful waterfalls, not much of a "path" to follow. We could do the shortest trek due to time - maybe 1.5 hour. We went back to the hotel, swam, walked the beach and had a wonderful dinner - fresh tuna and cooked veg!

First days in Bali

We had a 6 hour flight from Sydney to Bali, we landed late 11:45 p.m. Grabbed a cab from the airport - the driver did not know where our hotel was ... thank goodness for cell phones, he finally called and found the way. We stayed in Syminyak near Kuta. We found a room earlier on http://www.asiarooms.com/ the hotel was ok - but far out of town.
Asiarooms.com was fine for us when we were arriving into a city late, but better rooms, in better locations ,for better prices, are available if you are willing to risk it and walk around when you get there (we were looking for the $10 to $15 budget rooms - air and private bath).
In the morning we had a quick bite to eat and took off on foot with our packs in search of the beach. It was a long walk, but a nice one. We discovered the main strip full of shops and restaurants. A few galleries to remember! About 6k later we found the waves and beautiful beach!!! We were on the north side of Kuta - we found a great place to relax and people watch ... there were little venders/restaurants right off the beach. Noodle with sate and a couple of large beers $5. - couldn't have been much better! Kuta for the most part is a tourist and party town/beach ... so if that is what you are looking for perfect! If you are looking for culture and exploring the island - move on.
It was near 2:00 so we decided to head off to Ubud - we wanted to find a place to settle in before dark. We cabbed over for the pre-agreed $18. We had a "Rough Guide - traveling on a shoestring" book to refer to, but the hotels don't use addresses, just street and city names. We got dropped off and walked - packs on back. We did find a place on Monkey Forest - for $20 per night. Don't panic (we did) when places were full - there are a lot of rooms in Ubud if you go down smaller side streets and off the two main roads - no one really wanted to barter for better pricing, but we tried. There was a bar not too far away from us with jazz music - we could hear it perfectly from our balcony - great way to relax before bed.

DAY 2
We were woke up by rustling in the trees - in looking out - there was a monkey looking in from a nearby tree! As we got out there there were probably 20-30 monkeys hopping around, playing and causing trouble. We had breakfast watching them - it was a lot of fun! Today we were exploring the city - we packed water and a light bag and headed out. The town is old / new - culture / tourist, incense / sewage, colorful and dirty. It was the weekend of independence so there were people everywhere, music and celebration ... we found a great market that seemed to go for miles ... anything you could want. Many shops catering to the tourists ... out of town a little, we could catch amazing glimpses of the rice fields and the rivers. The shops are smaller and family owned. We saw some great art work - such detail in the story Balinese pieces!!! We took a quick run thru the NEKA Museum and learned a lot about the culture and their forms of painting. Across the street was a great BBQ place "Naughty Nurries" - we sat down for a vegetable curry - yummy! $2.20
It was quite a ways back - we took our time and soaked in all we could!!! Music tonight from the neighboring bar Contemporary. We went to Aris for dinner - maybe used to be something great, but we thought not so great now - Spring roll was the best. Wiped out - slept good!

DAY 3
Today was full but a bit simpler. We explored a bit more - where the people live so it was nice and quiet. Saw a nice painting gallery again - authentic works. We ran into a great restaurant filled with locals right on the corner of Suweta and Raya - Bu Oka - we ordered a "special" and a fanta. Suckling Pig, rice, chilli's, a couple of pork rinds and a bit of blood sausage for garnish - Scott was smiling all the way thru the meal!!! We had to get to the internet cafe (they are all over the place, connection ok, images slow in upload) - .80 for an hour. Spent a couple of hours and ran to the spa - Eve's - which was one of the more affordable. We had 3 hours of pampering - Balinese massage, scrub, bath - me facial, Scott Reflexology foot massage - all for $45. - Talk about relaxing. We loved it, the only one set back was that it was near the main road MF, so we could hear the road noise. Did I tell you the streets are crazy!!! full of motorbikes going every which way and cars trying to get thru them. We would not really suggest driving in the towns - if you have to, be careful and gutzy at the same time.
We had a minute to relax before the Balinese Dance Show $6.50 - 1.5 hours of dance - first a play and then a fire dance. It was interesting we loved the chants and costumes. We were pretty tired - Found a place for spring rolls down a side street - two for $1 - take away, and sat on our deck for a quiet evening. There are a couple of mini marts available here - easy and affordable to grab a beer (Bingtang) and/or snack.