Happy Chinese New Year Yo

Hello and welcome to an other blog update by Mark. Since we last left word we were in Kuala Lumpur, and heading to inner Malaysia to see the jungle. We then took a train to Singapore, and then flew to Phnom Pehn via Bangkok. This was a week of thrills and as usual good eats.

Teman Negara is a 170 million year old tropical rain forest filled with exotic beasts and ancient trees. We took a bus to the river and then a boat for 2-3 hours up the river, to Kuala Tahan. We checked in to our guest house, and then booked the night safari. Apparently this is the best way to see animals without hiking for 5 hours. When we went to board the night safari, we were told that it was overbooked and asked to do it later that night, or the following evening. we opted for the next night. The following day we hiked in the jungle to the Canopy walk. This is a rope bridge suspended way up in the trees. Approaching the thing Liza was very nervous. Once we actually got to the bridge her fear lifted, and I was suddenly stricken with near paralyzing fear. It took every ounce of my focus to plod along from bridge to bridge looking at nothing but the 6 inch plank under my feet. Meanwhile Liza danced around happily taking pictures and encouraging me as needed. On the way back we stopped at a cache and watched a couple of wild pigs roll around in the mud. Later on I went on the night safari. Liza had decided against it. I sat on the roof of a pick up truck and rode through a palm tree plantation for two hours. The stars were beautiful, and other than a civet cat was all we saw that night. In the mornings about 4:30 or 5 the mosque next door would pump out the morning prayer. At first this was very frightening, like an unexpected very loud alarm clock. Once expected it was enjoyable.

The following day we hopped on a local bus to a town called Jeruntut. This was almost like being on that bus in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I wouldn't have even guessed that this bus could get up to these speeds. It was a bus from the 60's or 70's. The driver seemed to handle corners like he was in an Indy car. Jeruntut was a decent enough town. The 7-11 across the street sold beer, and the hotel had free movies and Internet service. On a walkabout I found a great little stall were I could drink coffee, read the newspaper, and watch the people (although I could swear they were watching me more). At 12:45 am we went to the front desk to call a taxi to the train terminal. Where we were told that taxi's stopped running at 8:00pm. The front desk clerk offered to drive us to the train station, as it might be to dangerous for us to walk the 45 mins.

At 2:30am we were on our train and heading south to Singapore. Looking forward to the sleeper car it was a little different than we had expected. The train car was all bunks with curtains drawn across. It was like sleeping in a room with 38 other people. The train rocked back and forth and was very loud. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep. Night one in Singapore.... Sleeping. Our hotel was in Little India. The food in this area was so good, we just found ourselves getting very excited for India. We even came close to changing our plans and going early. A man from India in a clothing shop basically told us we were crazy to go when it was so hot. In the end we stuck to our guns and decided to go in the heat of April. While we were in Singapore it was Chinese New Year. I ventured in to Chinatown to enjoy the festivities but it all seemed rather tame. I wound up enjoying some beers with some old Chinese guys. They could barely speak English, and I don't know how to say anything NICE in Chinese. It was a very interesting conversation. Singapore is great for shopping and eating.... So Liza and I had a great time.

We then took a plane to Bangkok and then to Phnom Pehn. Liza will tell you all about Cambodia real soon. Until then cheers and thanks for stopping by. Also I was finally able to put some pictures on Facebook. I haven't had a chance to label them but will soon.