At the end of five days in KL, we can't really decide how we feel about it. The largeness of it is both refreshing and annoying. Mike and I both feel as if we haven't really seen the city, even though we hit all the spots we had targeted. Perhaps we're thrown off by the repressive heat that magnifies the car exhausts and street smells, or by the fact that we've spent twice what we did in Bali in five days. Perhaps the vast differences in people and styles and man...

Malaysia! It was rather surreal getting on an airplane and not flying home, but to a new country. That all went well. Air Asia is constantly expanding, so the plane was new, practically freshly removed from it's shrink-wrap. A two hour flight, and then Voila - new country! I keep finding I'm subconciously forcing myself to 'get' it. Like I'll find myself thinking "I'm brushing my teeth in MALAYSIA" or "this is a MALAYSIAN orange". I did this the first couple of ...

Here's a collection of random things. I hope to add to this as obsevations arise. ---------------------------------------------- We often wondered why, when you get into a taxi or tuktuk in Thailand, even in the big international city of Bangkok, and you show the driver the map and point to where you want to go, why he blinks at you and then at the map for a good thirty seconds. Even if the words are written in Thai. This observation was later explained by our ...

Well Munduk was indeed hilly and waterfally and very beautiful. Our cheery driver helped us bargain down the price of our hotel room from $45 to $30, leaving us with a three room suite with two large queen sized four-poster beds and an absolutely stunning view over the surrounding hills. The hotel was set on a steep hillside, so sitting on the balcony, you felt like you were floating over the bushy trees and bright red poinsettia below. After lunch we did a small...

Part 2 - Amed to Munduk The drive from Tirta Gangga to Amed was only about an hour and a half, passing some stunning rice terraces. Amed is generally the name given to a group of very small villages spread out on a stretch of coastline. Once parked in a hotel, there is little incentive to leave - as most places have their own restaurant, view of the ocean, and even the cheaper guesthouses have infinity pools. Not long after we arrived in Amed, my head cold took ...