Sitting in an internet cafe at Vientiane in Laos. Can smell myself. Travelled overnight to get here from Bangkok. Changed plans because Dee was there- and was not going to be there when we there and then was going to be there again. Will catch an another overnight bus to Vietnam tonight. Had a very tasty big salted fish for breakfast. Don't have time to upload pictures- so all you millions will have to appreciate the power of my prose.
Met up with Kyle in Kuala Lumpur yesterday- very jet setterish of us. A merry meeting in Starbucks cafe.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Kingfisher
One of three different species we saw- this one at night when we went out around 9 O'Clock. Saw some small crocodiles- Owls with very yellow owly eyes, and a Civit cat. The guides were very adept at spotting stuff.
long tailed makaks
We have a lot of these dark blob sort of photos- Our zoom didn't quite handle the top of tree shots. By the end of the trip it packed it in altogether. I think these were Makak (could be spelt with a q) monkeys- perhaps long tails- they are very common- saw many groups sitting in the top of fig trees.
The Kinabitangan
On the Kinabitangan- Sabah's biggest river. Big and brown with lots of bits of logs floating down it. Very good to have wind in your face after a 6 hour bus trip from Kota Kinabalu- and then a further 1 hour in a minibus.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Down
Ronny and I at the end- tired but happy. Actually I'm not sure how happy Ronny was- perhaps some of the wonder might wear off if you've been going up the mountain three times a week for three years- but he stolidly did not complain. To quote my father again- a real grandmothers walk- an absolute doddle. Took us 1 hour 40 minutes on the way down (3 hours up, so doing the maths, down was quicker). The only person to overtake us going up or down was a porter coming down. He had a huge load on a makeshift sort of backpack on his back, and he practically sprinted past us. I couldn't help notice his massive calves as he shot past. However I was not as bashful as I could have been for I had on gaiters- splendid things for those that lack in this area- though I do have a clip broken on the top of one and my lack of calf means it falls halfway down my leg, so exposing a good deal of calf.
It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be reading about it- but it is now two days after it and I can still feel my legs- still a bit of stiffness there. Got a certificate at the bottom for my efforts for 10 Ringit then went to hand in my last lunch voucher so they could send me off as rotund as possible (seemed to be a definite aim- I probably disappointed them). Had lunch with Tim and Vanessa, who'd come down by this stage, then drove them to the same hotel we'd stayed at, while Teresa and Dianne had lunch and drinks 50 metres outside the park- which meant at least a 100% saving.
slightly bigger pitcher plant
This was about one and a half times as big as the first pitcher plant I saw.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Mountain orchid
I just put this into my blog on Mark (yep, a multiple blogger). There are traps for the unwary blogger.
One of many orchids - I didn't see them, but I've heard report..
path
Gives you a bit of an idea of some of the vegetation higher up- low and 'high altitude' looking. The pipes on the side of the track are electricity going up to the guesthouse, and water going down to the next rest stop.
Laban Rata guesthouse
Took me an hour and 50 minutes to get up to the top and a bit over 2 hours looking around at things and deleting photos so I could take more, coming down. Second breakfast was waiting my return- Their meal schedule was very hobbit like. Within the 10 to 15 minutes it took me to have breakfast it clouded right over again and visibility was back down to 300 metres.
Looks fun
If you've got a bit more money, they've got a series of metal rings and hooks off the side of the mountain you can climb around. Think it was called a via rata or something similar.
Northish
There's a drop off of 1000 metres to the right of this to Lowes gully. It divides the eastern and western plateaus of the mountain.
Shadow of the mountain
Great how the shadow of the mountain stretches out past the sea here.- It did even if the photo doesn't really show it.
St Johns peak
You could stitch these next 4 photo's together for a western arc view from the top. This is St John's peak- only 5 metres lower than Lowe's peak (the highest point). There are a number of bits like this sticking up that are only slightly lower than Lowes Peak.
Granite
Sun came up and revealed much cloud to the East streaming up over the mountain. Bit worried I was going to have a common Tasmanian mountain top experience- where you should have an amazing view but visibility is at about 10 metres. It got better- and the light revealed a granite world with bits jutting up all over the place. Be interesting to know how it was formed.
Top of Kinabalu
I've got about nine of these photo's almost exactly the same- Ronny went berserk, he also took a lot of me standing on ledges when the sun was coming up. Ran out of room on the memory card shortly after and had to start deleting.
Top of Mt Kinabalu at about 5.30 in the morning. My hands were pretty cold and my nose was unstoppable. Got up at about 2.30 and had some scramble eggs and cornflakes. Great to be able to sleep under a blanket the previous night. Raza left with his guide at 2.30. Ronny had more faith in me, and we were the last to leave at 3.30. The walk up was great. At times you had to use the white ropes provided, but mostly you could walk up the granite slabs of the mountain. After a few hundred metres we left the tree line and it was just granite and hardy grasses in the clefts. I don't think the trees necessarily stop growing because of the altitude- but because the entire top of the mountain is granite. Could see the lights of villages and towns below and they looked a long way down (would have been over 2000 metres. It was a clear night and there was no moon- the stars were brilliant. At the start you could see the pricks of light from the head torches snaking up the mountain a long way above you. As we climbed and passed many, you could look back and see lights way below.
Laban Rata
I've got better shots of this but they are not the right way up. The water was belting down the granite walls behind the guesthouse. It took us three hours to get up there, which meant I was there at 1 O'Clock. I ate my packed lunch then had an afternoon to fill in where it was raining quite heavily outside. Ended up buying nine postcards. Met the other three people in my dorm. Raza from West Malaysia assured me I would have travelled more than him- then told me he had been to 35 countries.
well fed
The fattest squirrels I've seen so far here. They were waiting around the rest stops on the way up.
Pitcher plant on its side
On the first day you walk from 1866 metres up to Laban Rata guesthouse at 3273 metres- about six kilometres. It started raining about halfway up and got heavier as the day went on. By the time I got to the guesthouse visibility was down to about 300 metres. If it had of been clear I should have been able to see a large chunk of Sabah.
Start of the climb shot
Setting off to climb the mountain with my guide Ronny. The bag in my hand is my packed lunch that you are given by the hotel group which runs the climb. There is no other option but to do the walk this way- so Ronny 'guided' me up the well marked track which would have been almost impossible to get lost on- but he was good company, and showed me some plants I wouldn't have seen otherwise.
Flash hotel
Definitely the flashest hotel we've stayed in (very stiff competition here). It was perched on a ridge at 2000 metres, overlooking steep cultivated hills, and behind that rising another 2000 metres above was Mt Kinabalu.
We had tea at the hotel restaurant- as you do.
Big Flower
Rafflesia- biggest flowers in the world. Can grow up to a metre across. Could do some serious damage to a loved one with a bouquet of these.
Big Beetle
This thing was as long as my finger- a rhinocerous beetle. It was at a war memorial for Australian and British prisoners of war. The Japanese killed over 2000 of them. Most on death marches from a town to the east through the jungle to the foothills of Mt Kinabalu. They were forced on the marches when the japanese knew they had lost the war and it was all over. Only six Australians survived- by escaping.
Blowdart
Apparently it took about six months to make one of these things- You needed a very straight hole through the shaft of Iron Wood, a very hard wood. The darts absolutely fly- and the flight seems to be very true.
Airconditioning
Could have been a Rungus traditional house. They can lift up sections of the roof to increase airflow. The Murut house was made from hard mangrove wood that arrows couldn't penetrate- they were headhunters and a bit suspicious of outsiders.
working lounge room trampoline
At another longhouse at Mari Mari Cultural village. This was my third go- when you get the timing right you fly.
lounge room trampoline
This is a classic. In Bajau people longhouses they have these trampolines built in the middle of the longhouse. They have competitions to see who can touch something hanging above the middle. I think there were teams and three men might bounce a fourth member up there. It's not quite like our trampolines- you don't actually want to be jumping before you leap. At another village I did it- and three teenagers stood on one side pumping the 'tramp' up and down with their legs. I had to pick the moment to leap as the tramp was coming up.
comfy log pillow
In a museum village where they'd set up a whole lot of different sorts of houses different cultural groups lived in. This was from a Chinese house.
Kitchai Ping
In a pretty typical cafe having a Kitchai Ping- a Sabah Chinese drink made of lime juice sugar and a salty plum- a combination which has never entered my imagination before.
KL
KL photo- we didn't really see much. The airport is about 80 km away. Had half a day to spare after flying in a bit after 7am. Felt a little seedy- and tropical humidity intensifies that. Took a Teksi into town and I managed not to find Chinatown two blocks away. Got a little cranky with one another, had something to eat, then headed back to the airport.
Airport shot
At Melbourne Airport before we flew with AirAsiaX at quarter to one in the morning. Got close to getting to sleep on the airline chairs when they turned on all the lights and woke us up to serve us tea at about 2 O'clock.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
For all those interested millions
You can follow fascinating exploits on our trip to South East Asia for the next three months here. So far what this has predominantly entailed for myself is lying on beds or couches with some sort of flu like thing. The two days before this were dominated by fruit- eating as much of the tropical variety as we could (the Gees seem to be trojans at this sort of thing). It has been great staying with them- I'm sure there could be far worse places in South East Asia to have the flu. Its been good to start to get a bit of a picture of what they get up to here.
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