A bit of island hopping (Part Two)

June 19, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

Having ticked the major Komodo Dragon box for me we decided to take the slow route back to Bali, taking in some of the lesser-known and less touristy places. This meant that rather than hopping a one hour flight from Labuan Bajo we would hop a ferry (many of them in fact) and bounce from island to island on our way back in the general direction of Bali.

So the first thing was to get a ferry. This led to some very strange looks from people as nobody did this. Why would you go to nowhere places, when you can be back to relative civilisation within an hour’s flight. But they weren’t married to Jill, who wanted the adventure. So we moved from our nice hotel to one that was closer to the shoreline (still pretty nice).

Sumbawa Island

We hunted down the ticket office and worked out that for $10 we could invest ten hours on a local ferry that would take us over to the island of Sumbawa and and more specifically the town of Sape. Given that we would be in for the long haul we sprung for the extra $2.50 to upgrade to first class tickets and settled into the air conditioned comfort of the lounge – such as it was.

Sape

After our ten hour journey we arrived on the dock of Sape which is a small fishing village in the far east of Sumbawa. The main claim to fame is as the cheap way (used by the locals) to get to Komodo Island and neighboring Flores. The town consists of a fishing village and a nearby harbor. And not much else.

Jill in doing her research on where to stay found that the usual (hotel booking) websites had absolutely nothing on offer in Sape. But as we would be coming in late, after a lengthy commute, she hunted hard and found us a bed for the night. The alternative was to continue our journey for a 2 hour road trip on highly suspect roads at night to get to the other side of the island.

Having found a place (god knows how or where) we found it was about a kilometer walk from the ferry. So we chose to walk, avoiding the numerous touts offering lifts to the opposite side of the island (because nobody stayed here).

Possibly the only two westerners to have ever walked the streets of the town, we were quite the novelty, especially to the children. As we walked we had large swarms of kids saying hello and god knows what else in their own language.

Our accommodation was acceptable and we managed to get what passed as a meal. Getting a beer however proved far more difficult. In Bali you can get a large (620ml) beer for about $3.90 here it was $8.20 and had to be ordered in specially. Then they passed on the transportation costs (another $2), and after all of that, the beers were hot.

The town did not have the usual issue of stray dogs roaming the streets, rather, it had the issue of stray goats.

Long, floppy eared goats.

And they were everywhere, off leash, darting in front of cars and motorbikes and eating virtually everything in sight.

Some were housed in little roadside shelters, but for the most part, they were free range.

The next morning it was up and out. The hotel manager would organise a ride for us but at a highly inflated price. Having been inundated with offers of a ride the night before, we figured that the same would be true the next morning. How wrong we were.

About 500 meters from our hotel was the major crossroads between the town and the dock. We figured if we went down to there, everyone would go past, and we would be flooded with offers to get a ride (the two hours) to the other side of the island, to the town of Bima.

So we wandered down to the intersection.

On the way, we were once again local superstars, especially among the school children who greeted us, waved, smiled, high fived, and fist bumped us every step of the way. Having milled about at the intersection for a bit, there were no offers of transportation, and no obvious sign that there would be any. The night before we had seen (god bless google maps) that the local bus station was to the right, so we figured we would walk in that direction while we waited for our ride.

As we wandered a local lady stopped her motorbike (with her son on the back) so that her son could say hello, practice his English and introduce himself to us (as well as shake our hands). Did I mention that we were quickly becoming the talk of the town. When she found out we were headed to the bus station she looked mortified. Saying “no too far, too far”.

She then rode off, stopped a few hundred meters up the road and handed her phone to me, when we caught up again. It was her brother, who spoke better English, who proceeded to tell me that we were over 5km from the bus station and that it was a very long walk in the heat. I thanked him, and her, and the son and took the hint.

At this point I hailed down a ute, that seemed to pass as the local taxis. Asked for a lift to the bus station (Terminal Bis), he nodded and Jill and I hopped in the back of his ute. The back of the ute was filled with fish from the harbour, and what I hailed down was not a local taxi, but rather just some dude on his way back fro mthe fish market. Anyway, we had successfully hitchhiked and he happily drove us to the Bus station. Jill sat perched on a polystyrene box full of fish while I stood on the back, ducking low lying branches every time we passed a tree.

Now if we were the talk of the town before, the sight of Jill sitting amid the fish and some big monster ducking trees as he perched high above this ute, really sealed our fate. I am certain that our visit will be talked about for a while to come.

Our mate (as it happened) was not a local taxi, just a bloke willing to help out. So we flinged him $5 and thanked him greatly as we got off at the Terminal Bis.

The bus station was hovel in the middle of nowhere, with some of the shittiest buses that you have ever seen. We negotiated our tickets (at seemingly highly inflated westerner prices) and got on the dodgiest bus that either of us had ever ridden in (which after India is really saying something). We sat in the back seat, the door next to me would not close and within the first five minutes we had blown a tyre.

We passed the true version of rural Indonesian life. There was corn drying by the roadside, every type of landscape that you could imagine and of course roaming gangs of monkeys (tree rats). All of this highly visible and accessible through my open door.

At one point we even passed a truck that had fallen off the side of the road and was laying on its side in the gutter.

There was a crowd of people scratching their heads about what to do about this.

But it reassured us that the idea of staying the night in Sape was a good one, rather than try to negotiate that road at night.

At one point it was time to pay. So the driver came around to get the money and the exorbitant Westerner rate they had quoted disappeared and he only took $5 for the both of us. Whether this was a miscommunication or a burst of conscience, but we travelled the 2 hours across the island for $5.

Bima

Bima was the big town (about 150,000) on Sumbawa and was the home of the airport that would get us out of here and back to something resembling civilisation. But first we would poke about, have a look and spend the night. Needless to say that our bus ride dropped us at a similarly dodgy bus terminal at the other end of the island.

Thankfully Grab worked here (which it did not do in Sape) and we were able to get a car to the hotel that we were booked into. The alternative was that Jill and I would sit pillion on a scooter each while they drove us the 14km, up the steep hill, with our bags to where we would stay. But first we would have to hear all of the touts telling us that no car would come for us and that the only option was the bikes. This continued right up to when the car arrived.

Having got to our hotel we then found that it did not serve food, and that there was nothing within about 5km of us. We decided to order food from the Grab app and have it delivered. This was able to be achieved simply and seamlessly.

Our foray into the less touristy areas of Indonesia was highly enlightening for us. While it is manageable it is quite challenging once you get off the beaten path. Too many tourists is not great, but you do still need enough so that you are not a curiosity having to hitch hike in the back of fish trucks.

Lombok

Lombok is east of Bali and west of Sumbawa and is part of the Lesser Sunda Island chain.

It’s known for beaches and surfing spots, and was somewhere that I had visited, way back when. Our time in Lombok was really more about relaxing rather than racing about to see things. Jill had us booked into a lovely hotel, so when the rain started, we just kicked back and enjoyed some quiet time.

If we had been more motivated, Lombok does offer a fair old range of sights to see. Nothing startling, but the usual mix of Indonesian style attractions, tons of beaches, snorkelling, volcanos. trekking, waterfalls and rice terraces etc.

But our interest, and the reason for coming, lay in the Gili Islands.

The Gili Islands

The Gili Islands (the word “Gili” means “small island”) are a trio of islands off the northwest coast of Lombok. All share similar traits but each has its own style and character. They are all fringed by white sand beaches and all have banned motorised transport. This gives you a small respite from the usual Indonesian traffic.

You can literally go swimming and snorkeling off the shore from anywhere in any of the Gili islands. The islands are home to coral reefs, colourful fish, small reef sharks, sea turtles, and even a few underwater statues. But be warned…there will be lots of people trampling and ruining the reefs. What was probably once an idyllic location is becoming increasingly ruined.

If you didn’t bring your own snorkeling gear, it’s easy to rent a mask, flippers, and a snorkel at any of the dive shops in town or even from locals on the beach.

Gili Trawangan

Getting here from Lombok was a simple car ride to the port and a few dollar (30 minute) boat ride across the water. We had the option of the fast boat or the local boat. The fast boat ($8.50) left on the hour every hour and took 20 minutes while the local boat was cheaper (about $2.25) and had a more laissez-faire timetable. Being in no particular rush, and having just missed the 11am fast boat, we opted for the local boat.

This had multiple benefits, the boat left when it was full (which happened every 20-30 minutes or so) so we were on Gili T before the fast boat was even due to leave.

The local boat drops you on the beach, away from the dock, so you also avoided having to pay the island tax ($2) on arrival.

Gili Trawangan is where we stayed, it is the more developed of the islands with a buzzing beach strip, bars and restaurants and is the launching point for most of the tours, ferries and day trips.

The island is about 3 km long and 2 km wide with a permanent population of around 1500 and at least that much again (if not much more) in daily tourist influx.

On Gili Trawangan (as well as the other two Gilis), there are no motorised vehicles.

The main means of transportation are bicycles (rented by locals to tourists) and cidomo (a small horse-drawn carriage).

For travelling to and from each of the Gilis, locals usually use motorised boats and speedboats.

Most people rent bicycles to get around. There is only one main road on the island so if you just follow the road, you will ring the island within about an hour. You can rent a bicycle for $5 a day or $1.50 an hour. But beware, there are many uncoordinated and not road wise people who also rent them who are a danger to themselves and others. Not to mention many pedestrians with their heads up their ass.

A short walk to the hotel, get settled, a swim, line up our snorkelling adventures for the next day and find a sport for dinner. And what a spot we found. Feet in the sand, sunset views, cheap food, great service, daily catch seafood, western and local menu, reasonably priced beer and 3 cocktails for $10. We ended up eating here all 3 nights.

Gili Trawangan has had a reputation since the 1980s as a location where magic (Psilocybin) mushrooms are openly advertised and sold. Police presence is low and within the last 10 years finding drugs on Gili Meno and especially Gili Air has become very easy. On Gili Air intense psychedelics are being sold openly to tourists for beach parties. While the police presence is low, Indonesian drug laws remain extremely harsh. Drug possession and use is prohibited and carries potentially grave risk (up to and including the death penalty).

There are several beaches in Gili Trawangan, all offering epic views, perfect swimming conditions, and plenty of beachside stalls, restaurants, and bars where you can grab a bite or enjoy a freshly cracked coconut.

Gili Meno

Gili Meno is the quietest of the Gilis and is mostly for couples and honeymooners. It has a few stylish boutique resorts (read expensive… comparatively) that are favoured by couples seeking an idyllic escape on pristine beaches. It has virtually no nightlife and very few restaurants (that are not attached to the resort).

The main attraction of Gili Meno is the sunken statue sculpture that sits just off the beach.

It was commissioned by the local eco-resort and was created by British sculptor, Jason deCaires Taylor. It consists of 48 life-size statues, formed into a circle. Embracing figures surround curled up statues on the ocean floor. It has become a must do stop for Instagrammers and punters alike, all seeking photos like the one above.

But the reality is quite different. Every boat, every snorkelling tour will take you here, typically all at the same time so rather than getting this view, you are fighting about 150-500 of your closest friends to get your idyllic photo.

The next stop was onto the beach where you find yourself at the turtle sanctuary. This is where you get to see the tiny turtles that had the eggs saved from predators (ghost crabs, dogs, cats monitor lizards, foxes, monkeys etc.) were hatched and raised for 1 year until they are strong enough to be released.

From here it is off to turtle point, where you are virtually assured to see and swim with turtles. But much like the statues, there are several boat loads of people all stalking the same few turtles that are just trying to get a feed. So you are met with the bizarre circumstance of about 100 people in the water chasing after some poor unsuspecting turtles. But that said, you can get some great photos and while we were there, nobody tried to harass or touch the turtles.

Gili Air

Gili Air is the smallest of the islands and is the closest to Lombok, it has a few bars and a bit of accommodation, but on a much more affordable and laid back style than the other two islands. It is the only island in the Gili islands that has its own water table which it can draw fresh water from.

Gili Air has the best of (least trampled) the snorkelling and some bits set up just for the Instagrammers (water swings etc).

Penida Island

Nusa Penida is a relatively undeveloped island south-east of mainland Bali. It is mostly a day trippers island, being only a short hop from both Bali and Lombok, You won’t find snazzy beach clubs, organic cafes or trendy restaurants here, but Nusa Penida is still worthy of a visit. It houses some of the most photogenic sights in Bali.

The main reason people (Instagrammers) come is to get a photo with the rocky outcrop shaped like a T-Rex. The island scenery is pretty spectacular with some pretty amazing cliffs and beaches, but you do need to work to get to them.

If you spend the night on the island this is easy as you can go early in the morning, before the day trippers arrive. But if you sleep in it quickly becomes a nightmare. The first of the ferries and fast boats tend to leave at around 8am so by 8:30 the hordes are arriving. The roads on the island are single lane and full of potholes. Everyone is going to the same places and you end up in a line of traffic and then a line of people all looking for the same photograph.

The same then happens when it comes to lunch and snorkelling, before they all fight for the jetty and dock to go back to either Bali or Lombok. The best way is to arrive mid-late morning with the intent of spending the night and do the tour in the afternoon while the day trippers are all scrambling home. Then you can have a leisurely breakfast the next day and leave on one of the many departing fast boats.

Sanur

Having arrived at Sanur in Bali it was a simple (eventually) matter of getting a Grab and heading to the boy’s place. I say eventually as the taxi industry had taken over the port and had banned all ride share companies access. This meant that you had to schlepp it out of the port for about 1.5 km before the Grab driver could pick you up.

This was not really the issue. The main issue is that you get set upon every step of the way by some of the most aggressive and pushy touts that we have come across in some time.

Anyway, we made it back for some kick back for a few days before launching on our next round of island hopping.

Indonesia

A bit of island hopping (Part One)

June 15, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

Having arrived in Bali and caught up with the boy and his bride, they promptly abandoned us and flew off to Singapore (that work thing tends to get in the way). So with a ready place to use as our base, we dumped the big bags and started making plans to do some island hopping through some of the 17,500 islands in Indonesia.

The island of Flores

Our first port of call was on the western tip of the Island of Flores which is where you will find the town of Labuan Bajo. What was once just a small fishing site, has become the main gateway to the many exotic destinations in East Nusa Tenggara. The reality of this (and the whole reason we bothered) is that Labuan Bajo is the launching point to go and see the Komodo Dragons.

A quick one hour flight from Bali to the Komodo International Airport, which is on Labuan Bajo, as the actual island of Komodo is a national park. So Labuan Bajo serves as the gateway to get to both Komodo and Rinca Islands, where the dragons can be found.

So we settled into our very nice accommodation, organised our full day adventure for the next day and prepped for what was sure to be a huge adventure.

Padar Island

Padar Island is a small island within the Komodo National Park, located between Komodo and Rinca islands. It is the island that did not have any of the Komodo Dragons but does have some pretty spectacular landscapes and an Instagram worthy lookout. While the dragons were suspected to be extinct on the island, recent surveys have found 12 of them on the island.

The island is rugged, with steep volcanic mountains and hills and four deep bays. These bays predominantly have white sand beaches however some have grey and pink sands. The reality of the stop here was for the Instagrammers to get their amazing landscape selfies.

But you had to work for it.

You get dropped off at sea level and pay your park entrance fee, from here it is all uphill for the magic photos. And it is seriously steep and has a ton of non-standard monster stairs that you need to climb to get to the top (where the amazing views were). I did the first few hundred stairs (up to photo point number 2) and looked at the rest and thought F this. So I sat in the sun (there is zero shade) and marvelled at my bride who willed herself (albeit slowly) up the remaining 500+ stairs to the top.

From up the top she got some amazing views of the island and the various bays and beaches. But then she had to come back down. It must be said, after the first 10 meters, there is nothing. No drinks, no shade, just stairs and lots of them. And they are dodgy as all get out. One step may be 10cm while the next will be 60cm and the next anywhere in between. This means that there is no pattern that you can get into and that every step is a lottery.

And coming down is even more of a challenge.

Having done the lookout Instagram thing, it was back on the boat where you could finally get a cold drink. And the cold drink that they handed us was Pocari Sweat.

This is a well known Japanese sports drink.

But neither Jill nor I were too keen to ingest something called sweat.

We had one and it tasted a bit lemony, but the name precluded us from having any more and we settled for water from then on. So on the boat, we bounced around the island to one of the bays (particularly one of the ones with pink sand) cleverly named Pink Beach.

And believe it or not, the sand is actually pink. Pink Beach gets its colour from the crushed shells of millions of microscopic bright pink sea creatures called foraminifera.

Komodo Island

Next stop was the main attraction, Komodo Island. This has an area of 291 square kilometres, and a human population of about 1,800.

Komodo Dragons (Varanus komodoensis) or Ora as they are locally called are survivors from the Jurassic period.

It is the largest species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 3 m, and weighing up to 70 kg.

Seeing the Komodo dragon has been on my list of things to do since seeing an old James Bond movie (Skyfall I think). Being Australian, I have seen some big goanas and in Thailand we saw some almost 2 meter water monitor lizards, but the Komodo Dragon is the big dog in this fight.

And we got lucky.

We had heard stories that they tend to overfeed the big ones so that they stay about the main area to guarantee a sighting. But we had met people at our accommodation who had gone the day before and saw only little ones.

Our first encounter was a baby (about 30 cm long) that scuttled up a tree and impressed absolutely no one.

We then saw a juvenile one about 2 meters long under a tree by the beach and then we saw the big 3 meter monster. This one fit the bill of the overfeeding type. It was massive, but it was also in a food coma under a tree, virtually incapable of moving more than to raise its head and look about a bit.

And then we hit the real mother lode. A huge dragon (over 2.5 meters), that had not been overfed and incapable of movement. This was an adult dragon that was walking and stalking about, and that was (quite frankly) a terrifying sight to behold (exactly the experience that I was after). I really wanted to get a sense of just how imposing these bad boys would be to meet in the wild.

And this one certainly delivered this.

Once he settled down a bit, it was time for photos.

Being good guides, they are masters of getting the good photo and they know how to line it all up to look the most impressive.

So based upon that, I got my Instagram shot that looks like I am patting a huge lizard.

In reality I was at least 2 meters behind him with my hand raised as if I was petting him. Neither I nor the guides are stupid enough to actually pet (or let me pet) one of these monsters. But the photo looks good.

In checking them out I found out that their main food source is the Javan rusa. This meant nothing to me until I googled it and found it to be a full grown deer over 6 foot long and weighing around 160kgs. As it happened, we were also lucky enough to see about 6 of these as we trekked through the Komodo jungle.

While the majority of us in the group were amazed at actually seeing wild deer up close and personal, the American in the group was lamenting the fact that he did not have his gun to shoot these majestic animals. The dragons hunt and ambush prey individually but have also been known to hunt in packs when required. Their saliva contains both a poison and bacteria that lead to death.

So once a Komodo dragon bites a rusa (deer) it then follows it about for 3-4 days until it dies. If a human is bitten, you have 5 hours to get a fast boat to Labuan Bajo to get the antivenom (cos of course they don’t have any on the island where all the dragons are). If you miss the 5 hr window, you will lose that limb. You then have another 3 hours, and if you miss that, then there is no point in giving it to you as you will be dead in 3-4 days, just like the deer.

Taka Makasar

According to the blurb, the sensation of enjoying a tourist destination in Komodo National Park will not feel complete if you don’t stop at Taka Makassar, a piece of a lost island that appears there. This island is the size of a football field in Komodo National Park will only be visible at low tide.

When the sea water recedes, the island appears in the form of a stretch of white sand surrounded by blue sea.

So our boat (along with every other damn boat) stopped there so that we could be buffeted by waves to walk on a sand bank and then do the whole lot in reverse.

Kanawa Island

The island of Kanawa is only 15 km from Labuan Bajo and is renowned for being fringed with coral reefs teeming with colorful fish all around. The turquoise water is calm and clear making it the perfect swimming and snorkeling stop on our island hopping tour.

The island itself covers only 32 hectares with two bulging hills offering fantastic panoramic views. There is nothing really to do on the island, except to take in everything that the water has to offer.

Sadly the coral was flogged. Tons of clumsy tourists stomping all over everything has pretty much made this a dud stop. The island is pretty and the water is clear, there are still some fish about, but as a snorkelling destination, most people passed.

Day over and we were back at Labuan Bajo for some well earned rest.

Philippines

Cebu Island

May 27, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

When we started round 2 of the adventure we came to the Philippines and stopped in on Cebu island but only made it to Cebu City and Mactan (the airport area). We saw the main tourist sights (the old fort, a ton of churches and the cross that Magellan planted in the 16th century). We shopped (as much as we do) the main district and sampled the infamous local lechon.

This time my good mate Brad had moved to town with his partner Nora and they were now living in downtown Manila (Makati really). So this gave us a few days of midweek catch-up while he worked and a weekend blowout to Cebu Island.

The thing that we really missed on our first visit to Cebu, and that has been bugging me ever since, was to swim with the whale sharks. So on this fact alone, we were destined to return. The island itself is about 200 kilometres long and 20km wide with coral reefs virtually surrounding its entire perimeter.

We hopped an early morning flight from Manila, bounced to Cebu (70 mins), hired a car and headed to town as they had not seen the churches and Magellan’s Cross etc. The biggest challenge to this was trying to find a parking spot.

From then we started the 4-5 hour drive down to the town of Oslob. The distance is not that far (120kms) but the road and traffic conditions means that it is time to settle in for a long and stressful drive. Getting access to our hire car was in itself a nightmare. The Filipino systems are brutally inefficient. To achieve even the simplest of tasks can sometimes seem monumental. Yet other times things will run a smooth as silk.

Having negotiated the 5 hr drive, with Brad driving and the rest of us clinging on for dear life, we arrived at our hotel, which on first glance seemed idyllic. A beautiful spot overlooking the ocean, with 25 attentive staff grinning and welcoming us.

On the surface this hotel was amazing, but we would soon find out that it was far from ideal. Initially you are greeted by a grassed area on top of a cliff with a whale shark statue and the fading light of late afternoon sun. Next to the grass was a couple of beautiful blue pools surrounded by cabanas and tables. And then there was the check in. There were quite literally 25 of the friendliest people that you could ever meet smiling and greeting you at every opportunity.

But it seemed that it was not any of those 25 people’s jobs to get our room ready. Similarly it was none of their jobs to ensure that Brad and Nora’s room did not stink of sewage. Our room was a bunk bed with a TV and bean bags underneath it. This may be fine for the local crowd, but at six foot one the underneath area came to below my armpit, and to climb onto the bed I smashed my head. It was physically impossible for me to sit on my bed as I would have sconned myself on the roof. Anyway, the pool looked nice, so why don’t we head to there.

Brad and I settled in, ordered a beer and soaked away the stresses of the long drive and the inefficient staff. As the first beer seemed to evaporate, I then spent about 10 minutes trying to get the attention of one of the 25 staff that were milling about, in an attempt to replace and refill our beers. This became the pattern for every subsequent beer.

After about 15 minutes we tried to order round 3 to find that we had drank them out of the local San Miguel Pilsner. Five people at the bar stared at each other, unsure what to do. We suggested that we remained thirsty and that they should remedy this however between the five of them they remained stumped.

Totally perplexed as to what to do, I suggested that perhaps one of the 25 people standing around with their thumb in their ass could maybe go down the shop and buy a case or two to restock the bar. After some head scratching an several long conversations they agreed with my solution and 20 minutes later someone arrived with the proverbial mouse, proudly displaying it to us as they headed to the bar.

The sunsets were stunning and the moonlight over the water was amazing.

Whale Sharks

The next morning we were up early and out the door by 5 am, foregoing our free breakfast to be there in time to register for our whale shark experience. This is something that you must be there in person to do. So despite our 5am start, the volume of people saw us registering to board boat number 87. So we poked around the trinket shops, had some breakfast and even found a pretty decent cup of coffee.

There was about 10 outrigger style boats that held between 4 and 10 people on each that would paddle out to a mooring rope and give you access to the whale sharks. Here they would moor to the rope as smaller canoes would feed the sharks shrimp, ensuring that the sharks did laps in front of you. Each boat got a 30 minute viewing window, so at number 87, we were in for a bit of a wait. After sitting around for a while, by about 8am (bearing in mind the boatmen had breakfast in the middle of this) our turn came.

And we were not disappointed. The first sightings were from the boat as these huge mouths came up to the surface to feed. The huge heads, gaping mouths and spotted bodies are unmistakable.

Once moored to the lines it is into the water that you go. And now the real show begins. Armed solely with a mask and snorkel and a go pro your adventure goes to full speed within seconds of getting wet.

And then either your boat dude or your mates aim their go pro at you and you have evidence of one of life’s greatest experiences.

The reality is we probably shouldn’t encourage this as the act of the local fishermen feeding the Whale sharks makes them want to stay in Oslob and potentially domesticates them. This then messes up their migration cycle potentially impacting their breeding habits which may have a negative impact on reproduction.

But it is really cool.

Sardine Run

From here we headed down to the bottom of the island and partially back up the other side to the town of Moal Boal. This is a touristy town that was full of western tourists (as opposed to Oslob which was 70%+ local tourists). The town is famous for its diving and most of all for the Sardine Run and abundance of turtles.

We all got to see the millions of sardines swarming and schooling around us but sadly, my camera work was not good enough to capture it well so had to steal a couple of tourist shots. The turtles thankfully moved much slower and gave me some great shots.

Sadly the thing that they didn’t mention about the Sardine Run and Turtle experience was that the area was also swarming with jellyfish. The others managed to dodge it (mostly) but I got caught swimming through a swarm of them. This saw me applying vinegar at the restaurant afterwards and then taking anti-histamines that night as the buildup of toxins were having negative effects.

Kicked out

The next morning we were up for breakfast and I had recovered from all of my jellyfish stings. Jill had woken at 4am and could not get back to sleep so did some computer work while taking in the sunsets on offer.

As we all rose to join her (eventually) she alerted us to all of the reserved signs around our pool and the associated cabanas. I asked them what they were for and was told that they had a group of 35 people who were coming in as they had bought day passes at our resort. I asked him politely where were we to sit then if all of the areas had been reserved. He grinned at us stupidly and clearly had no way to answer. So I asked again, yet another grin.

In essence they had sold out the entire hotel to day trippers, leaving no room for the staying (and paying) guests.

Sumilon Island

Sumilon Island is found about 125 kilometers from Cebu City and the ferry to get there is about 5-10 kms south of the whale shark viewing area. The island is the first marine protected area in the Philippines and was made a fish sanctuary in 1974. Now it hosts a resort with an area of 24 hectares and is surrounded by crystal clear waters.

Having been all but kicked out of our place we hopped in the car and headed down here, took the ferry across and settled into the infinity pool at the top of the hill. After a while we migrated to the other side of the hill for the included buffet lunch.

The reason that we had to migrate was the fact that day trippers were removed from the main resort facilities at noon so that the paying guests got uninhibited access to their own facilities. Brad and Nora opted for all the activities (snorkelling, paddle boats etc) while Jill and I lazed by, near or in the pool.

Mama Mary

Typically referred to as the Simala Shrine this area is about 10 minutes off the main ring road and is the site of the image of Our Lady of Lindogon or more commonly Mama Mary. Devotees believe that this image is miraculous with claims that it has shed tears and it was credited with healing those with dengue fever back in 1998.

We came past on a Sunday , which meant it was manic. But it was a pretty impressive church, set high on a very scenic hill, surrounded by people selling religious icons. We saw the church but did not buy any of the trinkets.

House of Lechon

With Cebu being the home of Lechon, we could not leave before stopping into the most famous of the venues and settling in for some crispy porky goodness. Whole pig, roasted and served with spicy chilli sauce, how could anyone say no to that. Certainly not the four of us, so we settled in before our flight back to Manila.

Our time in Cebu (apart from our hotel) was incredible. The hotel looked stunning and was an Instagrammers paradise, offering great photos and awesome views. But as a hotel it barely functioned. Brad kept making Fawlty Towers references throughout our stay.

On the second night, we were lazing by the pool in the evening and Jill all of a sudden raised her foot and pulled out large sheets of plastic. It turned out that this was the pool insulation that was peeling off in long strips and just floating about the pool.

To be fair, the kitchen was good and the meals were lovely. The staff were friendly and polite but not attentive and totally incapable of problem solving. It was about $70 a night for our basic room and only $100 for Brad’s deluxe room.

USA

Hawaii

May 2, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

Hawaii is an island state of the US that lies about 3,200 km off (southwest) the US mainland. The state is made up of 137 volcanic islands that comprise almost the entire Hawaiian archipelago.

There are eight main islands (Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi) with the biggest of the islands (Hawaii) giving the area its name. However Hawaii (the island) is more commonly known as the “Big Island” or “Hawaii Island” to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago.

The islands were originally settled by Polynesians sometime between 1000 and 1200 CE. In 1778, British explorer James Cook was the first (recorded) non-Polynesian to arrive at the archipelago prompting an influx of European and American explorers, traders, and whalers. This led to a virtual decimation of the indigenous community.

Cost

The first thing that we were told (and then were told repeatedly throughout our time in Hawaii) was that everything in Hawaii is 40% more expensive than it is on the mainland as everything must be shipped in. The cost of landing a container into LA is $6-700 but this balloons to $1200 to land it in Hawaii. As such, you are paying a premium for almost everything around.

This became evident while travelling around, not so much from the prices (which were high) but from the lack of staff. People could simply not afford to live there so had migrated to the mainland. Lower paying jobs were advertised everywhere we walked. Shop workers, waiters, cleaners, housekeeping and hospitality staff were needed everywhere.

Weed

As with almost everywhere in northern America weed is everywhere. You cannot walk down the street (anywhere) without being hit by a waft of weed at least every 10 minutes and more often than not, way more frequently.

Oahu (Honolulu), Hawaii

Oahu is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and one of the most popular tourist destinations. It is best known for its beaches (notably Waikiki Beach), lush tropical forests, and culture. The northern shore of Oahu is considered the mecca of surfing, attracting professional surfers worldwide.

Probably the most important thing about Oahu is that it holds Pearl Harbour a site of immense historical significance in the US and the trigger event for the US to join WWII. On December 7th, 1941 at 7:48 a.m. the Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. All 8 of the US warships in Pearl Harbor were damaged, and 4 of them were sunk. The raid damaged a total of 21 ships and resulted in the death of many people.

The next most famous is “Waikiki Beach”. While generally just described as Waikiki it is actually a series of beaches stretching the bay and covering around 3.2 km of the shoreline. The place is lined with hotels, packed with tourists and is obscenely overpriced. My memories of this place (from way back in 1996) was that it was the Gold Coast with shitty beaches. Interestingly, Jill’s impression of Waikiki was pretty much identical.

Our foray saw us landing on a Sunday to a very quiet and clean city that seemed highly functional. The roads were wide, clean, with footpaths and a well functioning public transportation system (albeit at reduced intervals being a Sunday). Bus number 20 runs right past the cruise ship terminal, through the heart of Waikiki and on to the famous Diamond Head Crater.

This volcanic remnant is one of Hawaii’s most recognised landmarks and covers about 475 acres. Common practise is to do the steep 3 km hike up to the top for the views.

I am not common.

Iolani Palace is the only royal palace in the US. It was built between 1879 and 1882, and was once home to two monarchs of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Having been locked on a ship for a few sea days in a row, we were keen on getting off the boat and stretching our legs. So off we went hugging the shoreline and taking in the beautiful Ala Moana Park. After a nice hike, we ended up at the Ala Moana shopping Center which is the world’s largest open-air shopping center. Here we found a Yum Cha restaurant and had a much needed Asian food fix.

Hilo, Hawaii

Hilo is a town on (the big island) Hawaii and is mostly known for being the home to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. If you are lucky (which we were not) this is where you can see the flowing and glowing lava.

Being very keen to see this we paid top dollar to join a tour that would take us to the National Park and more specifically to the Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes. The Kilauea volcano last erupted in September 2023 and recent (minor) earthquake activity had been measured in the area raising the likelihood of opening some fissures and providing the magic views that we were after. But sadly, we were just met with moonscape type scenes as we stared over lava fields and the caldera remnants.

The Wailuku River State Park was our first port of call to take in the Waianuenue, or Rainbow Falls. The Rainbow Falls cascade 80 ft over a lava cave that, according to legend, is home to the ancient Hawaiian goddess Hina, the goddess of the moon. A morning visit will let you see the rainbow effect.

The Boiling Pots are a series of cascading waterfalls along columns that were formed from the slow cooling of basalt lava, these pools appear to be bubbling – almost as if they were boiling.

Next stop was to the Thurston Lava Tube which was formed 500 years ago when when low viscosity lava formed a hard crust that thickened and formed a roof over the still-flowing lava. This lava tube is paved and lighted providing a safe and easy way to visit.

The tube itself is around 200m long and is a short stroll from the road. The access is down a steep path and the return involves some steps and a bit of an uphill hike.

Our timing for this (highly priced) tour was not ideal, but the biggest issue that we faced was the age and mobility of our fellow travellers. Despite clear descriptions of the levels of activity involved, there were at least 40% of our group who were not up to the walking, stairs and terrain that was involved.

This meant that it ran REALLY slowly, with excess time allotted for the old and infirmed. This also created major traffic jams behind the slow and doddery and meant that some of the more interesting items we were simply told about, as we were forced to drive past them without stopping due to the time and mobility of those on board.

King Kamehameha is credited with uniting the Hawaiian Islands into one royal kingdom in 1810 during a time of increasing western influence (Captain Cook).

His legendary strength and ferocity as a warrior was tempered by his diplomatic skill and his love for the Hawaiian people.

As you would expect, the tour finished at a series of obscenely priced trinket shops but not before stopping at some natural vents where the water meats the thermal rocks and produces steaming vents. This was of course billed as the location for your own private facial.

Kauai (Nawiliwili), Hawaii

Kauai is another of the Hawaiian islands that has been nicknamed “the Garden Isle” thanks to the tropical rainforest covering much of its surface. The dramatic cliffs has made it a popular destination for the filming of many Hollywood movies.

While there was not too much here to play with, it was the prettiest of the islands that we visited and would top the list of places to go back to in Hawaii. We bounced around the local township (Nawiliwili) and checked out the local beach.

Further examination revealed that if we had gone a little further afield there was the usual Hawaiian activities of snorkelling, sailing, kayaking, waterfalls and rafting all on offer.

On the whole our adventures in Hawaii were nice. The scenery is beautiful, the people are friendly and the beaches are OK. Being Aussies we are spoilt for beaches and our level and idea of what makes a good beach is considerably more elevated than most.

Americans and Guns

This is a bit of a sideline more than anything else. While sitting on our incredibly overpriced and slow tour of Hilo with the oldies there were a bunch of people smoking in the National Park (mostly weed). So one couple next to me queried me as they thought that it was illegal to smoke within the national park. At this point they went into a long diatribe about how bad it was and that the rangers should stop it.

Their solution was that the rangers were highly armed, so they should be able to stop the smoking within the national park. At this point I turned around and looked directly at them and asked if they really believed that the park rangers should wander about shooting people for smoking. Their response was that the rangers had guns. I then asked if they seriously thought that that was reasonable.

At this point I turned away from them and made a loud statement that I was so glad that we lived in Australia if this was the American attitude towards responsible gun use. They did not talk to me again.

French Polynesia

April 27, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

Polynesia is the area of oceanic islands from Hawaii in the north, to Rapanui (Easter Is) in the east to Aotearoa-New Zealand in the south.

Polynesia (from the Greek for “many islands”) is a collection of over 1,000 islands spread over a region of the Pacific Ocean covering an area equivalent to North and South America combined. Polynesia was first populated some 3,000 years ago, when a people known as the Lapita journeyed eastward from New Guinea, arriving first in Tonga and Samoa.

Roughly 2,000 years ago, these Polynesians journeyed across thousands of miles of deep ocean to populate the Cook Islands, the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, Hawai’i, Easter Island, and finally, New Zealand.

There, in what’s known as the “Cradle of Polynesia,” a distinctly Polynesian culture developed over the course of a thousand years.

Early Polynesians probably journeyed all the way across the Pacific to South America. That’s the only ready explanation for the presence all across Polynesia of sweet potatoes, which hail from South America. Further evidence: Throughout Polynesia, the word used for sweet potato is kumara—the same word used by the Peruvian Indians in South America. © The Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu

French Polynesia is five separate groups of islands (the Society Islands Archipelago, Tuamotu Archipelago, Gambier Islands, Marquesas Islands and the Austral Islands). It is made up of 121 individual islands and atolls within these chains.

They sit in the South Pacific Ocean about half way between Australia and South America. Combined they stretch over 2,000 kilometres and have a total land area of 3,500 square kilometres, with a population of a bit over a quarter of a million.

The Society Islands include the major islands of Tahiti, Moʻorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora and Huahine. The archipelago is believed to have been named by Captain James Cook during his first voyage in 1769.

The Tuamotu Archipelago are a chain of just under 80 islands and atolls that constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is 850 square kilometres. The major islands are Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo.

The Gambier Islands are a group of islands that are remnants of a caldera with islets and a fringing reef. They are generally considered separate from Tuamotu due to different culture and language.

The Marquesas Islands are one of the most remote in the world with Mexico (about 4,800 kilometres away) the closest continental landmass.

The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia with a population of around 7000 across almost 150 square kilometers.

Our foray into French Polynesia was to take us into the Society Islands particularly Raiatea, Tahiti and Moʻorea but missing out on Bora Bora and Huahine.

Raiatea Island

Raiatea is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti. It is widely considered to be the birthplace of Polynesian culture. Regarded as the ‘sacred’ island and birthplace of the gods the island houses numerous archaeological treasures.

The first island in the region to be inhabited, it is also home to the most spectacular and important marae in the Polynesian Triangle.

A marae is a fenced-in complex of carved buildings and grounds that belongs to a particular iwi (tribe), hapū (sub-tribe) or whānau (family).

According to the blurb, the marae of Taputapuatea, was once the center of religious and political power in all of Polynesia, including Hawaii, New Zealand Easter Island and the Cook Islands.

The island has a regular population of under 13,000 people. Our landing saw us greeted by the typical bands, flowers and dancing displays before being let loose on a pretty small, but incredibly clean and friendly township.

There was not a lot to do in town and we had not booked a wider island tour so we wandered the streets, checked out the (exorbitantly priced) shops and generally just poked about the very pretty township.

We found our way down to a local swimming spot, not far from town, and had a fantastic dip in the ocean pool. As some of the first off the ship, we were among the first to the swimming hole and had a great half an hour before the hordes began to descend on our little hidey hole.

Sadly we (well Jill really) had a clash with (possibly) the worst type of human being that exists, the bogan Aussie mother. She and her tribe of boganettes came in and took over the entire area, moving other people’s stuff around so that her mob could have the shady area under the tree, despite others beating them to the location. And from here when Jill called her out for her rudeness she then wanted to pick a fight.

A charming display of Australians on vacation.

Papeete, Tahiti

Papeete is the small (under 30,000) capital of French Polynesia. The name Papeʻetē means “water from a basket”. It has a tropical climate with a distinct wet and dry season.

Our entry to Papeete, Tahiti was less than stellar as we arrived on a wet and rainy Sunday. As is usual on a Sunday throughout the highly religious Polynesian region, everything is shut and very little is going on. This meant that in no way did we see the best of Tahiti and more particularly Papeete.

But what we did find, was yet another incredibly clean township, beautifully maintained and filled with a friendly and welcoming population. As almost everything was shut, there was very little to amuse ourselves with other than to wander through the immaculate parks and gardens that were on offer in the township and more specifically along the shoreline.

An amazing thing that we discovered was an area between the shoreline and the Marina (only a few meters wide). Here the Tahitians had been submerging artificial reefs in the already developed areas to try and encourage the sea life and coral back into the areas that they once likely inhabited.

While the town was closed, Tahiti did treat us to one of the best sunsets that we have had for quite some time.

Moorea Island

Moorea is one of the most scenically striking islands in French Polynesia. and was our last stop in French Polynesia. Located only ten nautical miles from Tahiti, it is easily accessible and a favorite destination for couples, families and locals.

We had a snorkelling tour organised which saw us off the ship and on a smaller boat for a snorkelling adventure. The first thing was to head back to the boat to watch the show put on by the local Spinner dolphins. So we saw several small groups of dolphins leaping from the water and doing various types of acrobatics along the way. This was also the way our Maldives day went so the early signs were that this might be a good day out on the water.

Next stop was to a small area that had a ton of sting rays and black tip reef sharks. And there were plenty there to see and they were not shy with the humans.

As usual, I was one of the first out of the boat and while trying to climb down the stairs an overly inquisitive stingray of about a meter diameter decided that I was his friend and tried to mount my leg while I tried to enter the water. My knowledge of stingrays is limited, but I do know that one of them killed Steve Irwin.

And here I am on a set of stairs, wondering if it is going to move so I can jump in the water without landing on it and pissing it off. Long story short, it didn’t move, I shoved it aside and jumped in the vicinity of clear water (and did not get barbed). From here on we were set upon by stingrays (likely looking for food) and had the Black Tip Reef sharks swimming much closer than I had imagined that they would.

The next stop was to a pretty flogged out coral garden that was more trampled than garden. But the water was clean and there were a few small parrot fish bobbing about. But sadly not a shadow on the Australian offerings. A bit later on we got to see (but sadly not swim with) some turtles as the boat bobbed along close to shore.

French Polynesia was nice. It was very pretty, well maintained and beautifully clean. Added to this it was obscenely expensive with some fairly limited cuisine options (at top dollar). The waters are clean and the people have a great attitude towards littering with none to be seen. And importantly, they really seem to care about the oceans and the state and health of the waters.

It was nice to see (on a cruise ship transiting) and we would happily come back, but it is unlikely to ever feature as somewhere that we would aim to come to again. It is a long way from anywhere, with not much on offer and while it was great to see, we would not pick this as a destination island, preferring many others long before this.

New Zealand

April 24, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

New Zealand is somewhere that both Jill and I had been to several times (although separately). My first foray was in my early teens and in a former life I used to come here twice a year for work.

But all of this was before the website and the thought of capturing our experiences.

Needless to say that in our multiple visits (each) we had seen quite a bit of New Zealand and had (for the most part) enjoyed our forays thoroughly. Some of the highlights included:

Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum, and venue hall renowned for being bicultural. THe five main displays represented include Art, History, Pacific, Māori, and the Natural Environment.

No trip to NZ is complete without visiting the stinking mess that is Rotorua. The geothermal pools are interesting enough as are the cultural displays, you just have to abide the rotten egg gas that takes over the town.

And of course there was the stunning Mt Cook, the location of my first real (and most embarrassing) snow experience.

Waitomo is known for its underwater streams, lakes and caves covered by stalagmites and stalactites. But the star of the show is the lightshow provided by millions of glowworms (found exclusively in NZ) the only light in the cave.

And my personal favourite was Lake Taupo. This is the largest freshwater lake in Australasia (about the size of Singapore) and is the crater of one of the largest volcanic eruptions earth has seen in the last 5000 years.

In addition to the main sights of New Zealand the place is just generally stunning.

Bay of Islands

The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northeast of New Zealand that is famous for its natural beauty and as one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country. The Bay of Islands has 144 individual islands but our visit saw us tendering in from the cruise ship near the small town of Paihia. Paihia is a tiny town of under 2000 people but (as with most of NZ) is very pretty and a very civilised place to visit.

I guess the thing that threw us the most was the cost of things. On Early glances, the cost of living in New Zealand is considerably higher than that which we enjoy in Australia (even taking into account the exchange rate). Now it may have been that we were in a small tourist town, but the prices in the shops were considerably higher than we would pay for the same items back home.

The township itself was small but lovely. A launching point for further exploration of the Bay and the surrounding Islands it centres around the dock and a small one block of shops and restaurants. On the day we arrived the local market was set up, with all of the expected tourist trinkets on offer.

The main claim to fame of Paihia is that it is just down the road from the historic Treaty House at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.

This is the location that marks the beginning of New Zealand as a nation. On 6 February 1840 the British Crown and about 540 Māori rangatira (chiefs) signed the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty is an agreement, in both Māori and English, where they agree to jointly found a nation state so that both parties would live together peacefully and develop New Zealand together in partnership.

Just west of Paihia is Haruru falls and a short boat ride away you will find the quaint township Russell which was the first seaport and permanent European settlement in New Zealand. While on a boat you can also get to the aptly named ‘hole in the rock’ at the tip of Cape Brett.

Being New Zealand and in a place named Bay of Islands, needless to say there is a ton of water based activity on offer. This includes cruising, sea kayak tours, scuba diving, fast jet boats, yachts, catamarans, fishing trips, and even tall ship sailing.

Bay of Plenty

The next morning we had moved on and found ourselves in the Bay of Plenty staring at Mount Maunganui and the town of Tauranga. Tauranga is a small beach town of about 130,000 with beaches, hot saltwater pools and an extinct volcano ringed by winding walking paths.

The bay is a large bight stretching 260 km and containing numerous islands. According to local Māori traditions, the Bay of Plenty was the landing point of several migration canoes that brought Māori settlers to New Zealand.

We hopped off the boat and circumnavigated the town taking in all there was to see (with the exception of walking to the top of Mount Maunganui). Tauranga is a narrow neck of land with the Mountain dominating one end. It is full of tourist accommodation and the associated cafes and restaurants that go with them.

The town is stunningly clean and very enjoyable and the natural beauty abounds. It was a bit too cool to venture near the water (although many were donning wetsuits and going in). It was a lovely little spot that reminded me a bit of the CQ town of Yeppoon (only colder).

The natural beauty of New Zealand can be found around every corner. The place is literally stunning. There is very little that can be found in New Zealand that is not postcard worthy. This was lost on me on my first ever trip (in my teens) but has not been lost on any of the subsequent trips.

Uncategorized

Seven Continents in 4 months

April 20, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

We did not aim to do this, but it is just the way that it happened.

Starting our year off on a cruise headed for Antarctica (a long held dream) we found ourselves starting our year spending New Years Eve floating off Copacabana Beach in Brazil after having already spent some time taking in the sights of Brazil.

Having done that, we spent the next little bit bouncing around South America as we headed towards Antarctica.

This saw us visiting Uruguay (Montevideo) and Argentina (Buenos Aires, Puerto Iguazu, Puerto Madryn, and Ushuaia) then Chile (Punta Arenas, Valparaiso and Santiago).

This saw us dumping the boat and continuing on land in order to see the absolutely magical Iguazu Falls.

But before that, our Antarctica exploration took in Drake Passage, Gerlache Straight, Dalhan Bay, Paradise Bay and Elephant Island.

We saw icebergs, glaciers, seals, whales and penguins (on icebergs) and basically fully ticked the Antarctica experience box fully.

From here it was back to bouncing around South America after we hopped off the boat in Valparaiso (Chile). We experienced our first ever earthquake (5.0 magnitude) before heading back into both Argentina and Brazil to take in both sides of the absolutely amazing Iguazu Falls.

The South American bounce continued with forays into Paraguay (Asunción), Bolivia (Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Samaipata), back to Argentina and Chile before heading back up to the US flying into Miami. After some time in Miami we continued our journey on another cruise ship that took us into the Caribbean, South America and importantly into some previously unvisited Central American nations.

So leaving Miami our first port of call was into Costa Rica for an up close and personal experience with sloths, and then on to Cartagena (Colombia) for yet some more wildlife encounters.

A few more Caribbean islands (Bahamas, Jamaica) and it was back in Miami readying ourselves for a decent sort of Transit to Europe. Nothing too silly this time around just a quick visit to France and Portugal.

Before heading off to Northern Africa for bit to see Morocco (with a special stop off to visit Casablanca) and then on to Tunisia.

Leaving North Africa it was back to Europe to stop into, and be totally blown away by Malta. And then on to Turkey where we were shocked by the prices.

But despite the prices charged in Turkey, we did get to see some global bucket list items (Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia).

From Turkey it was a quick dash to Asia (Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam) to catch up with mates, before heading into Australia for a snappy 48 hour turnaround before hopping on the next boat out again.

And that was it. New Year’s eve watching in the new year from Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro and by the 12th of April we were in Australia having touched down on every continent. Once again, it was not something that we planned or aspired to do, just the way that the cards fell.

But an interesting little sideline to our ongoing adventures nonetheless.

Vietnam

Vietnam (again)

April 16, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

Having finished the Cambodian sampler with the Ballinger’s we hopped a plane to Hanoi to do a quick Vietnam sampler. Upon arrival a bus and ferry saw us back over to Cat Ba Island. We loved this place the last two times that we had come and the price was so low that we had to come again.

Cat Ba Island

Now is probably a good time to mention that the price WAS so low, but now it has gone up over 300%. Don’t get me wrong, it is still cheap, but the days of $ 10 a night rooms are gone. Sadly also gone are the cheap food stalls by the bay. They have been shoved off over the hill leaving only the overpriced tourist options in the heart of town. While some of these are ok, most of them are very much the same, leaving a hole when it comes to variety.

The first activity was to do a run around the island on one of the electric golf buggy type transports. This started in the hospital cave and went on to the Trung Trang Cave. After some time spelunking the caves we buzzed about the island before returning for dinner and a few drinks.

Next day it was off on the boat to visit Halong Bay with all of the usual inclusions (candle rock, turtle rock, kayaking, swimming, the fishing village etc.) along with a landscape dotted with karsts. Sadly, the levels of smog and pollution has made the concept of having a blue sky virtually impossible.

I must say that this trip to Cat Ba and Halong Bay was disappointing and will probably be our last. It has become even more touristy (if that is possible) and the level of pollution is making the place unpalatable. At our first stop for a swim, not one person on a boat of 35+ people was willing to get into the water due to the state of pollution. The boat moved to a new spot and then a few braved the waters.

Hanoi

From Cat Ba, it was a five hour journey to Hanoi where we checked into a local house (AirBNB) in the heart of oldtown. This saw us in behind the shops down a tiny alley. Once settled we started by hitting the usual haunts on yet another day when the old folks destroyed the children. First, it was off to the lake and a trip through the Tran Quoc Pagoda then a wander across to St. Joseph Cathedral before hiking down to Train Street.

After a drink and having a train try and run us over we walked back to the heart of the old town for a meal. But on the way we took the scenic route passing by (but not entering) Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, the palace, the opera house and the war museum. This walk saw one child being carried while the older two dragged themselves along as if they had circumnavigated the globe on foot (bearing in mind that the first 5 hours were sitting in a car transiting from Cat Ba).

The evening was spent blitzing the night markets and just generally experiencing old town Hanoi at night, something that continued the next day too. The new thing for us was to jump in and do the full tourist routine and attend the water puppet show. This is typically something that Jill and I run from, but it was pretty good.

The days were spent exploring, with a particular focus on the infamous egg and coconut coffees that are on offer in Hanoi (something that almost all of us got stuck into).

Hoi An

Leaving Hanoi we were off to Hoi An and Danang to explore. Some airline rescheduling issues made our attendance almost irrelevant as we were on the ground for less than 24 hour before having to leave. Our travel buddies got to stay and play but we were virtually there and gone again.

But before we left we managed to find time to blitz the food stalls and have ourselves some quality Banh Mi, Cao lau noodles and white rose dumplings.

The Cao Lau noodles cannot be found anywhere else in Vietnam as the noodles can only be made with lye water from a local well. Cao lau noodles are thicker than normal rice noodles and topped with pork, herbs, a little fragrant broth and rice crackers. The white rose dumplings get their name from the way that the white rice dough falls into a rose-like shape when they are steamed, these are filled with shrimp or pork and topped with crispy garlic.

Time being short and all, Jill and I left the Ballinger’s for their holiday while we headed on to Australia to start on the next leg of this seemingly endless journey. As Hoi An is the home of the Vietnamese tailor shops we left our friends being measured up for a wardrobe refit and with a heap more exploring to do.

Cambodia

Siem Reap (Cambodia) again…

April 13, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

Well we’re back in Cambodia and back in Siem Reap again.

This time it was to play host and hostess for long time friends Boof and Bec and family. Having spent heaps of time together over the years the subject of holidays arose and their experiences had been a little more flash (and therefore more expensive) meaning that they were less frequent.

So in a chat (before we even left) we suggested trying Cambodia and Vietnam which would be more budget-friendly than their previous attempts (in France etc).

A plan was hatched and the timing was set to coordinate with the Easter school holidays to minimise disruption for the children. So the first port of call was to be Siem Reap in Cambodia to let the kids run up and down all over the temples for a few days.

But first we had to eat and drink and sample the night markets, just to get into a taste of Asia. So we hit the street stalls, pub street, night markets. We shopped, grazed on weird and unusual (for the kids) foods and just generally soaked up what was on offer.

The next morning it was up and into a couple of tuk tuks and off to visit the temples. Given the time of day that we set off, we boycotted Angkor Wat as it was peak hour and did that later in the day. I did a full temple breakdown last time around so will ignore that and just show some of the highlights of the day’s exploration.

The heat and walking saw us all drinking our body weights in water and everyone was struggling by the time the day was over. So after a pretty amazing lunch, we made our way to the main attraction, Angkor Wat. This had Bec and Boof excited but some hot and bothered kids were less enthused. So after some cursory exploration (by the kids) Jill and I took the kids to the nearby market to sit and have cold drinks while the parents got to explore in peace.

We had a plan to visit something new for us (the hero rats) but due to the heat overload, we pushed it off to day two. What are hero rats you ask, well we didn’t know either. but Bec had found them so the first thing that we did on day two was head to Apopo. This is a non-profit organisation that started in Belgium 25 years ago that uses animals (primarily dogs and rats) to detect landmines around the world. There is another arm that uses the animals to detect tuberculosis.

The sensitive whiskers and noses allow the animals to detect the explosives without the false positive results that metal detectors give (from bottle tops and the like). This means that the detection and removal can happen much faster than using metal detectors. A trained rat is tethered between two operators along with a tape measure and they detect and mark the location of landmines for explosive technicians to come back to and disarm or detonate.

This was new to us. We had done the land mine museum before but did not know about the rat detection squad. Speaking of which, the land mine museum was next, closely followed by a few more temples and lunch. The boys had seen the whole roasting pigs on the side of the road and the lunch option was chosen.

A few more temples and it was back for a swim and a much-needed foot massage (for most). Jill tried to have a sexiest feet poll on Instagram (after my claiming that clearly, I would be the winner) but it was pulled under community guidelines as they thought that she was trying to upload some foot fetish porn.

Anyway, that was our (very) rapid exploration of Siem Reap and the temples with the Ballinger’s. Next stop, Vietnam.

Turkey

Istanbul

April 1, 2024 richardpieper Leave a comment

Turkey has long been a place that both Jill and I have wanted to visit, and it has taken us a long time to get here (life getting in the way and everything). And it is a shame that it has taken us this long as Turkey (along with a number of other European destinations) has had about enough of tourists.

So once upon a time it was cheap to visit Turkey (more specifically Istanbul) the Turkish government used to offer discounts and incentives to attract international tourists and many of the attractions were free. But those days are gone now. In January this year a €25 per person entrance fee was tacked onto the (formerly free) Hagia Sophia which rises to €47 if you want to add the Museum. By way of context, it was about 40% cheaper for us to see the sights and spend the week in the heart of Paris than it was in the heart of Istanbul.

There is an e-pass available that will include a lot of the sights and provide discounts on others. But without the e-pass the current (per person) pricing of main tourist attractions in Istanbul (March 2024) look a bit like this.

Visa to come to Turkey in the first place $USD60 ($92 AUD)
Hagia Sophia €25 ($42 AUD)
Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus €45 ($75 AUD)
Topkapi Palace and Museum €47 ($78 AUD)
Basilica Cistern €26 ($43 AUD)
Bosphorus Cruise with Dinner and Turkish Show €35 ($58 AUD)
Dolmabahce Palace €38 ($63 AUD)
Maiden´s Tower €20 ($33 AUD)
Istanbul Aquarium Florya €21 ($35 AUD)
Sultan Suleyman Hammam (Turkish Bath House) €50 ($83 AUD)
Blue Mosque free (free AUD)

Needless to say, this adds up pretty quick and becomes a very expensive city to visit, and that is before the touts and gouging even starts.

Most of the historic places in Istanbul are located in Fatih (Old City). The Fatih district has a history dating back to 2700 BC and is the place where Istanbul was first founded in ancient times. There are countless monuments and sights to visit on the Historic Peninsula. The most famous of these include the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapı Palace and Grand Bazaar. These historical sights attract millions of visitors each year and form the showcase of Istanbul.

We arrived in Istanbul and were almost immediately disappointed with what was on offer. Jill had arranged (3 weeks earlier) for a hotel pickup from the airport which was not there. So after hanging around looking for our ride in the wet and cold for 30 minutes, we gave up an got a taxi to the hotel.

Some lame excuses later and we gave up and settled in. It was cold, wet and windy when we arrived (late afternoon) so we decided to keep the movements tight with an early start the next day. Jill had us set up in the heart of Touristville (as almost everything you want to see in the city is in the heart of old town). This was super convenient for seeing the sights but was obscene when it came to touts and pricing of any sort of items.

A kebab dinner (for one) was running well over $20, an Aperol spritz to wash it down with was $27 and my beer was around $12. So we started with some bread and dips and finished with a Turkish Pizza (a bill that ran over $70) all while choking back the smoke fumes from a group of squealing German backpackers. And I was up all night with indigestion after the overpriced and ordinary meal.

Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia was built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the Christian cathedral of Constantinople for the Byzantine Empire between 532 and 537. Sadly this once impressive building has, in many ways, been left to neglect and is a shadow of its former glory. The only saviour to the newly introduced entrance fees is that some of it may go towards building upkeep and restoration works. Don’t get me wrong, it is still seriously impressive, but outside of the (wide) tourism shots (above), the neglect is obvious, especially in the internal mosaics.

Originally built in 532 as the world’s largest place of worship, the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) has shifted its identity depending on who was in charge. According to Wikipedia, it was the last of three church buildings to be erected on the site by the Eastern Roman Empire. It was an Eastern Orthodox church from 360 AD to 1204 when it was converted to a Catholic church following the Fourth Crusade. It was reclaimed in 1261 and remained Eastern Orthodox until the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It served as a mosque until 1935, when it became a museum. In 2020, the site once again became a mosque.It has converted from a church to a mosque, and then to a museum.

Let’s just hope that our newly introduced entrance fee does actually get diverted into restoration and upkeep because it would be a shame to watch this deteriorate further.

Grand Bazaar

From the Hagia Sofia, we dodged the rain that kept coming and going and fought our way through the carpet sellers that accost you on the street to ‘come and see my store‘ and made our way to where we thought the real touts would be, the Grand Bazaar. Well we were wrong again, no touts, no yelling no screaming, just a modern shopping mall in an old building. A really nice old building, it was nice, overpriced but it was a bit staid.

I think our time in northern Africa may have spoilt us a bit. Casablanca, Marrakesh and Tunisia had far more character to them (I think Marrakesh is my gold standard for Bazaar’s). They had all grown up in the shadow of the Ottoman Empire and were probably once identical. But the version in Turkey today reflects more of a shopping mall in the US than one in Eastern Europe or Western Asia.

Getting around

Istanbul is a city of 16 million people and is huge. While most of the main sights are concentrated in a small and easily walkable area, if you want to travel a bit further afield then a rechargeable transport card is an essential purchase. It gives you access to cheaper fares than buying single or multi-journey electronic tickets and can be used on the metro, buses, trams and most importantly, the local ferries. You purchase a card for 50 TRY (non-refundable) from marked kiosks, newsstands, or ticket desks inside the metro and top up by machine). Up to five people can share the one card.

Day one had left us tired, wet and a bit jaded about the Istanbul experience. We were note enjoying our time and were desperately seeking some redemption. Thankfully it came, through a lovely little cafe in the opposite direction of the sights.

It still wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t exorbitant (our beers had come down from 240 to 140 each – $12-$7). And the man who ran it was super friendly (which to be fair they all are) and the food was authentic.

But because it was off the main strip it was a bit more reasonably priced, and we did not feel as besieged.

And the clay pot display made it all worthwhile. So having had our meal we looked forward to the next day a little more.

Blue Mosque

We had seen the outside of the Blue Mosque the previous day (as it is basically opposite the Hagia Sophia) but being a Friday it was closed. So we headed back over the path of the day before and started it all over again. But today the sun was out, the rain had gone away, and the touts knew we weren’t interested in their carpets.

We had gotten the outside photos the day before so raced to beat a tour bus full of French people through the doors of the Mosque. Firstly, I was seriously surprised to find that it was free. It was a really nice spot to visit and we got to enter and take pictures and then move on. A great little way to spend around 20 minutes.

Along the side of the Blue Mosque is a public square on the site of the old hippodrome where the chariots once raced. Today it has the Örme Dikilitaş or Walled Obelisk along with the Obelisk of Theodosius (first erected in the 4th century AD) and the Serpentine Column (an ancient bronze column and former Greek sacrificial tripod). According to wiki the Serpentine Column has one of the longest literary histories of any object surviving from Greek and Roman antiquity. Together with its original golden tripod and cauldron (both long missing), it constituted a trophy, or offering reminding of a military victory, dedicated to Apollo at Delphi.

Basilica Cistern

From the Blue Mosque, we had all the time in the world as we were not running from the rain so we ambled down the hill to the Basilica Cistern which is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns underneath the city of Istanbul. It was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I. The cistern provided a water filtration system for the Great Palace of Constantinople and continued to provide water to the Topkapi Palace into modern times.

The challenge is to find the Medusa’s head once in the cistern. For us it was pretty easy, it was where all the people who had found it before us were milling about. WARNING there is ambient light down here and the area is too large to light with a flash, my phone camera was rubbish. Having a half decent camera would be seriously beneficial.

Having gone past the Tokapi Palace and through the gardens, we hit the shoreline where we hopped a ferry away from the European side of Turkey and over to the Asian side.

As we traversed we passed the Maiden’s Tower or Leander’s Tower (Tower of Leandros). With a name like that, there is obviously a story and it goes…

According to legend, an oracle prophesied that the emperor’s much-beloved daughter would be killed by a venomous snake on her eighteenth birthday. To protect her, the emperor had the tower built in the Bosphorus and had her locked up there to keep her away from snakes. Her only regular visitor was the father, who, on her eighteenth birthday, brought her a basket of exotic fruits as a gift. He was delighted that he had been able to thwart the prophecy. However, an asp had been hiding among the fruit, bit the princess who died in her father’s arms.

Once the ferry stopped we were, in the Turkey that I had always imagined, it was real, it was authentic, it was not obscenely priced and it felt really warm and welcoming. Our beer price had dropped from 280 lire down to 60 ($14 to $3), our food prices were divided by three, and the range and variety of what was available to us was so much better. So we settled in and ate and drank and just soaked up the Turkey that we had been hoping for.

In case you were wondering, if we ever come back we would stay on this side and ride the ferry over to see all the cool stuff but avoid the drama and expense entirely. But sadly, we had to hop on the ferry and return to the tourist hell where we were staying.

Our ferry ride back saw us delivered at the bottom of the hill near the spice market and the Süleymaniye Mosque. The joint was built in the 16th-century under the direction of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

Being a bit away and a bit less ornate, the Süleymaniye Mosque gets a lot less foot traffic but is an impressive sight in its own right.

The next day we were back in the tourist hell part of Istanbul and I instantly hated it again. We tried to go into a restaurant for lunch and were set upon by the guy next door to go to his instead. So I looked at his menu decided it was too expensive ($100 for a meat plate for two) and went next door. We looked at their menu and it was also too expensive so we left there too. At this point the first guy started abusing us yelling that we wanted to eat for free.

We went up the road and got our meat platter for $60 and enjoyed our meal with a minimum amount of fuss or drama.

And it was good.

Topkapi Palace

The Topkapi Palace (and Harem) is one of the best preserved and most beautiful examples of Ottoman architecture. The palace is a maze of courtyards, gardens, and buildings, all surrounded by high walls and topped with ornate roofs. The architecture of the palace is a blend of Islamic, Turkish, and European influences.

Mehmet the Conqueror built the first stage of the palace shortly after the Ottoman Conquest in 1453 and lived here until his death in 1481. Subsequent sultans (22 of them) lived here until the 19th century, when they moved to the flashier European-style palaces they built on the shores of the Bosphorus River. It was converted into a museum after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1924.

Beside the Palace is a public garden that heads away from Sultanahmet Square (the main tourist bit) that is a refreshing escape from all that is behind it. Mass plantings of tulips, stunning hedges, quiet places all behind large stone palace walls.

Topkapı’s Treasury features an incredible collection of objects made from or decorated with gold, silver, rubies, emeralds, jade, pearls and diamonds. Notable items include the jewel-encrusted Sword of Süleyman the Magnificent and the Throne of Ahmed I (aka Arife Throne), which is inlaid with mother-of-pearl and was designed by the same architect that did the Blue Mosque. And the Treasury’s famous Topkapı Dagger, which features three enormous emeralds on the hilt and a watch set into the pommel. Also worth seeking out is the Kasıkçı (Spoonmaker’s) Diamond, a teardrop-shaped 86-carat rock surrounded by dozens of smaller stones that was first worn by Mehmet IV at his accession to the throne in 1648.

Long story short, there was so much to see and do in Istanbul that it was absolutely worth visiting. But I hated it, at least the European side anyway. Everything was grossly overpriced and unnecessarily aggressive. If we came back we would definitely stay away from the tourist mess and catch a ferry across to see it rather than be in the midst of it. This is a turn-up for us as we usually love being in the midst of things, but just not here.

Our schedule has us returning to Turkey (around August) to see some of the rest of the place (Gallipoli, etc). As airlines go, there is probably little option than to return to Istanbul, but the next version will be very different and will see us far from where we stayed this time.

My recommendation is that if you come, and you should, then stay away from the tourist mess (Fatih district) and commute to it. This will be a bit more painful (as you want to be at the main sights right on opening time) but your peace of mind, stomach (and wallet) will thank me greatly. Looking at the map I suggest the Uskudar, Kadikoy or even Beyoglu districts.

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