What we did at the LCCT

28/29 October, 2010

Air Asia is a fantastic low cost airline serving Asia and parts of Europe, whose hub happens to be Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and that is precisely where they brought us tonight from Vientiane, Laos. It was our first Air Asia flight, but won’t be our last…duhn, duhn, DUUUUUUHHHN.

Air Asia takes up most of the space at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal next to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which is roughly 73km outside of Kuala Lumpur. This is where we are going to spend the night. Why? Well, after passing immigration, collecting our packs and going through customs it was 10PM. So? So we have a 7AM flight to the Philippines tomorrow, which means that we need to be back out here at 5AM, and I say “back out here,” because, again, it’s 73km from town. Plus, we’re engaging in a cost-saving exercise. ;)

So these are the things we’ve done while here:

1. Immigration
2. Spritzed perfume/cologne at a Duty Free shop – admit it, you’ve done this too.
3. Collected our packs
4. Passed customs


5. Ate our weight in fries and a McFlurry at McDonalds – don’t judge us, not too many options at the ol’ LCCT; plus, it was gooooooood. Oh, and they totally ripped us off by using a lower exchange rate; overcharging us by at least $1.08. A-holes.



6. Checked our email and chatted with Jill online



7. Looked for a shop that would sell us a bottle of water at 2AM; didn’t find one; steri-penned 2L of tap water (it’s probably fine to drink…)
8. Found a nice-looking spot near an electrical outlet on the floor to camp out
9. Used a new plug adaptor – this is exciting for us!



10. Shared said adaptor with a GREAT couple from China who let us sleep on their blanket with them in return
11. Kinda slept off and on for about 40 minutes
12. Found breakfast of cheese/mushroom omelet, strange white beans, garlic bread, and coffee – it was a set menu.
13. Posted this blog

Future us will check our bags, go through immigration, find our gate, maybe sleep until we board, fly for 4-5 hours to Clark Airport in the Philippines, go through immigration, collect our bags, go through customs, grab a taxi, grab a bus, grab another bus (5 hours total) to Baguio where we can’t wait to see Sherry Manning…and maybe sleep!

The end!

By the way, if you plan to traffic drugs in Malaysia…you probably shouldn’t.
Our arrival card stated: BE FOREWARNED DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS UNDER MALAYSIAN LAW (The same message is posted throughout the airport.)

Kep = Awesome

Kep, Cambodia
October 17th to 21st

After 2+ months of travel we’re in love – yes, still with each other (most of the time :) and now also with a small town called Kep (pop. 11,500), which is on the southern coast of Cambodia. We spent four fantastic days here, exploring the jungle, the coastline, the mountains, the ‘city’, and the countryside. It was very hard to part ways, and we seriously contemplated overhauling our upcoming travel plans on more than one occasion to stay longer; Laos was very close to being axed. The tough choices of travelling with few constraints. Please pity us.

A little history: Kep was founded by the French elite in 1908 as a ‘retreat’ for the high-rollers of the era. Numerous generously-portioned villas were built along the coastline, and in the hills, and white sand was even shipped in from nearby Sihanoukville to ‘fancify’ Kep’s naturally rocky beaches. Then, a transformation occurred in the mid-1970’s, after the Khmer Rouge came to power. They loathed the French influence, and proceeded to set Kep on fire (quite literally), destroying much of what Kep had come to be. Today, the scars remain in the form of burned out, crumbly villas. Some are occupied by squatters, but the majority remain empty; eerie ghosts of the past. Although still quite rough around the edges, it’s hard to ignore Kep’s natural charm and beauty.

We had heard that Kep was ‘cool’ from a couple of friends when gathering intel stateside, but didn’t specifically plan to go there until the day before…and even then, we were uncertain if the journey south would be worthwhile or how long we would stay. (This decision came after the call for heavy rains along Cambodia’s southwest coast thwarted our initial plan to treat ourselves by doing boo on a remote island beach for a week).

So, we fired up the internet around midnight to look at lodging options, came upon a place called Jasmine Valley Eco-Resort that had excellent reviews, and boarded a local bus headed from Phnom Penh to Kep at 7am. The bus journey brought good news / bad news. Good news: there is availability in the budget-friendly ‘tree-house’ room at Jasmine Valley (we phoned at a reasonable hour). Bad news: a long delay and a confusing transfer to another bus with standing room only after our initial bus backed into a truck after leaving a rest stop halfway to Kep. Perplexing, as the only damage was a broken tail light, which evidently makes the bus ‘undriveable’…yet, there are motorbikes whizzing by on the rutted gravel road, many loaded to the max with a combination of 2 to 4 people, large sacks of grains, long pieces of wood / metal, and ducks all hanging off the side…yes, this is okay, but a minor fender-bender makes the press. The complexities of Asia…you just have to accept it with a smile, as the search for logic and reason can be fruitless.

At last, we made it to Kep, and to Jasmine Valley…and immediately knew we were going to stay awhile. I could fill up a page with my praises, but in summary: great location (tucked in the jungle in a quiet valley), great ‘management’ (Owen & Jasmine, Scott – salt o’ the earth), great design & concept (sustainability: eco-friendly buildings / support of the local community / environmental projects), great staff (friendly, eager to assist & learn), great food (fresh, Khmer ‘home’ cooking) and above all, a great vibe (VERY relaxing, VERY chill.) Sniff around the website; it’s as cool as it sounds/looks (see the link on our blog.)

Our time in Kep was also spent driving around the area on a motorbike (scooter) and exploring the coast, the crab market, and the country (we drove all the way to Kampot – 25 km – got a flat tire in town, had it fixed for $1 while watching kids play bocce, and drove back dodging cows and trucks.) Note that some of the world’s best pepper comes from this region, and I LOVE PEPPER, which makes Kep that much cooler. And we spent a day hiking a trail/road through the jungle – hiding under trees when it rained, catching great views of the sea below…

This is running long, and I want to hit the street in Luang Prabang (Laos) now, so, ultimately, we really like Kep, we really like Jasmine Valley, it was hard to leave….BUT we have now decided to change our plans completely and to come back to SE Asia/ Cambodia / Kep / Jasmine Valley for Christmas…and a bottle of star-fruit cider. Ho ho ho!

Devolution

A couple weeks ago, when crossing into Vietnam, a Vietnamese border official paused and informed me that my passport photo looked nothing like me...fortunately this didn't seem to matter much, as he let me in anyway. I should note that my passport was renewed in January of this year, so the photo is recent. And in Tibet, a guy stroked his face and howled at me on two separate occasions on the street. This made me beam with pride, like Tom Selleck must whenever anyone mentions his mustache. Indeed, it has been awhile since I have used a razor and yes, grooming has not been atop my list of late (I really am not concerned about the soiled, funk-laden man next to me on the bus judging my appearance). Yet I did find myself getting my first ever mani-pedi in Hoi An a couple days ago. Emily caught me at a vulnerable moment and lured me with a carrot (a beer), which I did consume as two women made my nails look oh-so-pretty.

Anyway, I thought I would post a few pictures documenting said 'devolution' (as Emily calls it).

Taken Aug 10th (similar to passport photo)

Taken Aug 11th (Left) / Taken Oct 7th (Right)

Devin's Eyeball

Tonight, in the middle of our last round of fittings with the tailor (we had some clothes made - another story), Devin took the bikes we’d rented back to the bike shop as they were due at five o’clock. (I like using the word “o’clock.” Is it really even a word? You can’t use it in any other context, can you?)

Anyway!

Upon his return to the shop he remarked that he had something in his eye and asked me to look at it. I saw nothing and suggested he do some heaving blinking in order to tear the whatever-it-was out. A bit later he was still messing with his eye. Maybe we could flush it out? Devin and I stood outside the store and while he peeled his eye open I poured water into it…well, I tried. He has a really hard time with people putting anything into his eyes – I can’t say I blame him.

One of the girls at the store saw our futile attempts to flush Devin’s eye and came over with what I can only assume were Vietnamese eye drops. She said they would help, so we gave them a go. Whatever the liquid was, it made his eye burn. Hmmmm…

Dev said he’d be fine so we left the eye alone, collected our clothing, and made our way to the overnight bus. (We’re actually on the bus now – I’m typing in a Word document and will just copy and paste once I have an internet connection.)

Not long after getting on board, Devin’s eye was really starting to hurt. He didn’t use those words, but he wanted me to try to flush his eye again, and I know how hard that was the first go around, so I figured it must be pretty bad. I said I’d try again, but remember, we’re now on a bus. A sleeper bus at that. It’s a funny angle to get to Devin and we don’t have any towels – he said he didn’t care if he got wet. Ok…

Dumping water into his eye didn’t help and only made Devin a soggy mess. I thought about the night I scratched my cornea all to hell and remembered that the doctor gave me drops and made me wear an eye patch overnight to rest my eye. We don’t have access to eye drops, but Devin has 400mg of ibuprofen in his system and he is wearing a money belt around his head – the money belt is off-centered, covering his right eye but allowing him to use his left eye. (He’s like a travel-savvy pirate.) Plus, his shirt is soaked.

It’s all very miserable-looking but he says he’s ok. Hopefully he’ll be able to sleep but the guy in the bed behind us is snoring like it’s his job so we may need to dig out earplugs.

The End

The Great Firewall of China

Xin chao!  We're back! 


If you will direct your attention to our map, you'll notice that we are no longer in Japan.  Magome, Japan was Day 3 of our travels...Day 57 will end in 37 minutes.  Whoops-a-daisy.


Vietnam, where we currently reside, is on the other side (although not far) of The Great Firewall of China.  Officially known as the Golden Shield Project, censorship is alive and well up there; successfully blocking us from this blog, your blogs, Picasa, Facebook...you get the idea.  The People's Republic of China (PRC) government restricts the free flow of information in and out of the country, especially social and political commentary. 


Yeah, yeah, there are ways to get around the firewall, but it was a nice excuse to take a break from the stress of blogging.  Ha ha ha!  All four posts!


We've been busy and it's been awesome!  This is what we've been up too...