CRAB-AGEDDON 2019!

The Bay of Pigs.

Famous for scuba diving and, oh yeah, a botched CIA supported invasion of Cuba in the 60s.

The only real reminder of that was a museum that I was really interested in seeing in the town of Playa Giron.

A museum that was closed for the few days I was there because it is the 58th anniversary of the invasion on April 15 and they were spiffing it up!

So there were tanks and planes out front we could see.

(In fact there are a lot of places in Cuba where there are tanks and planes to see if you'd like to.

Also a lot of bloody uniforms, and hats supposedly worn by Che or Cienfuegos or Fidel himself!

What's interesting is some of these hats and other items look like they are brand new and have never been worn.

Maybe the guys didn't sweat much back in the 50s? In Cuba... where it's really hot and humid.)

So the fabulous Fabian and Hannah and I came to the Bay of Pigs to do some scuba diving and to snorkel a sink hole.

"The fabulous who?" you ask.

Well, Fabian and Hannah are two totally awesome German's I met while rock climbing in Vinales. They are some of the most fun folks I have ever met backpacking and I hope to see them again somewhere in this amazing world of ours. (Currently they are in Mexico working in a commune, adopting baby possums and playing in drum circles. :)

In a classic bit of traveling I had set up a climbing day for 9am on Monday, the day I returned my scooter. There's one Casa in Vinales that knows the rock climbing, so I stopped by there on Saturday to set up the climb. (One thing I learned about Cuba is you have to be 1 or 2 steps ahead of where you are currently at, planning for what you are doing in the future. Cause if you don't... odds are it won't work out how you planned...

which sometimes is just as it should be.)

So Monday rolls around, and I go to return my scooter at 8:30.

Well, it's Cuba.

It takes a little while to get it taken care of.

Then I had to book a bus ticket to leave the next day to head to the bay of pigs.

There's two options of places to book a bus ticket. Both of them were helping other people.

I waited patiently, but at this point it was 9:10, and I was late for climbing. So I asked if I could come back later,

she said If I was back by 3:30 or 4:00 I should be fine to book for tomorrow, but she can't reserve without making phone calls and collecting money.

Well that will work out. I'll come back...

So off to climbing. Meet my awesome guide, Yaroby, gear up in a shed full of quite a lot of rock climbing gear. All donated from travelers because officially climbing is not legal in Cuba. Even though there are hundreds of bolted sport climbing routes in the Vinales area and they have competitions and it is a favorite place to climb for people from all over the world. But for some reason the Cuban government doesn't see how it can make money?  Or maybe there is something else going on?

Then we pick up Fabian and Hannah from a random outdoorsy restaurant on someone's ranch.

Originally I was by myself, but they had called in last night around 9pm. (Right about the time I was writing in my journal how it would be really nice to meet some cool travel friends to travel with... I'm not kidding. It was at almost the exact same time.)

We spend the day climbing in this AWESOME almost cave.  It was really a crevase between the rocks of the Magote near town. Walls 30 meters tall (that's 99 feet for all us Americans. ).   It was shaded almost the entire day, but for about 15 minutes when the sun shot straight down on us. Fabian did all the leads, and I went up the routes afterwards. I was really happy with myself. As some of you know I used to rock climb all the time, but have drifted out of it and haven't been climbing in 10 years... 12 years... maybe more. Likely more.  It was SO FUN!  I was really happy how quickly the techniques came back. And sure, my forearm strength eventually gave out on the 4th of 5 routes. But it was awesome to be on the rock again.

Yep, I'm way up there!

Meanwhile making friends!

Afterwards we all sat on the guides porch. Talked about climbing, and they invited me for lunch... and as one of my travel guidelines (stolen from "the Beach") is to "Never refuse an invitation". I said yes and off we went...

which means I was not going to get back in time to get the bus ticket.

Which means I would likely stay another day in Vinales.

And that seems like the perfect plan. :)

We ate, we explored caves, walked into this hidden valley inside a Magote that was like Jurassic Park (minus the T-Rex). Though there were PIGS! One mama and 3 or 4 little ones that kept coming up to us as the night fell and we told stories in the dark. We were "attacked" by a strange insect that looks like a cicada with glowing eyes. We thought it was a lightning bug until it flew into my headlamp and landed on the ground next to us. Don't know what it is. But we made up stories about it.

A grand day with some great people.

Traveling done right...




 

So after that day and another exploring caves and riding in the rain, we rode a taxi collectivo to Havana... The car was a beat up old Cadillac with a Jesus gear shifter and eyelids on the lights.  It dropped us in some field next to the highway along with a bunch of other travelers on the south side of Havana. Somehow everyone ended up in other Taxis, cars and these classic old ford buses to get to where they are going. It's amazing that any of this works and that anyone gets paid. But it does... and I guess they do.

Bus Stop, Cuban Style

As our bus rolled down the 2 lane road along the east side of the bay of pigs I noted to Hannah that "It smells like death."

She said "The bus driver just said its the dead crabs on the bus tires."

Apparently the crabs live on the swamp side of the road, and in April they cross from the swamp to the sea to bathe...

then back across the road to get the naughty-naughty on.

Then BACK across the road to lay their eggs.

Then return to the swamp side to live out the rest of the year.

Two months later the babies cross.

And strangely the next month the BIG crabs cross to do the same thing.

It smells pretty bad, but when we got into Playa Giron, a one horse town if there ever was one, the smell had passed.

But the whole place felt like the apocalypse had come.

It was grey, overcast and there was almost NO ONE AROUND.

So Strange.

We even walked to the "resort" to check about diving and there was almost no one there.

Peeling paint on the "bungalows" (which are just cinder block buildings painted in bright colors").

They are building a lot more... but they are almost all empty.

As was the pool area and the lobby.

Well the next morning we go DIVE!

And man... it is GREAT DIVING!

And only $25/dive!

Hannah and I did 2. Fabian isn't certified (yet!) so he snorkeled. And of course there were other folks there...

almost all German or Swiss. (I'm noticing a pattern in Cuba. :)

I haven't gone diving in 4 1/2 years, so I was a little nervous to get a refresher and make sure it was all safe.

Talk about "riding a bike" It all came back really quickly. And the nice thing is, you just climb down a 4 rung ladder into the ocean with all your gear on, and start scuba diving right there. The reef wall is about 30 meters (100 feet) off the shore. So you don't even get in a boat.

You just take a bus... that smells like death cause it is running over crabs.

On the second dive we saw this HUGE soft coral the size of a person that looked like a giant Horn. It was bright purple and swaying in the current.

And also there as a shipwreck! Which you could swim through. So beautiful and amazing. I love it!

Back in town, we enjoy lunch, then rent bikes to ride the 19km to the flooded Cenote to go snorkeling. Because that is what one does.

The bikes were actually pretty good, brought by some random person the Casa owner called up. They cost 5CUC a day I think.

So we mount up, Fabian starts singing "Push it to the Limit" by Survivor (from the movie Scarface) and I laughed out loud. I sing that song regularly!

 

So we pushed it to the limit and rode north out of town.

Along the 2 lane road that few cars drive on.

Past the occasional smashed crab. Or maimed crab. Or crab flipped over cooking in the sun.

There were a number of them, but not toooo crazy.

We stopped to swim at a little beach resort cove. It was a pretty hot day, so it felt great.

And I took some pictures of the lines of dead crabs in the "yard" of the place. I figured I might as well get some pics to remember. I mean, dozens of dead crabs. It's pretty gross and weird.

RIDE ON!

So I put Survivor playing on my iPhone and we're riding free and fast. The road is flat and clear. It's a pretty great day!

Fabian and Hannah were about 100 meters in front of me.

This crab had crossed 3/4's of the road in front of me... safe from harm... good job Crab!

Then the little ass hole turns around and runs right back in front of my bike!

Not wanting to kill him I slammed on both breaks....

The bike stopped...

I did not.

I flew right over the handlebars going pretty fast. Cursing as I went and thinking "Protect your head!"

So I slammed into the ground hands first and rolled over... popping back up to my feet and stumbling back a few feet.

THEN THE PAIN HIT.

My wrists and palms were all cut up. My knee. My shoulder. My finger.

ANd my ribs...

The crab lived and wandered back into the grass.

Hannah and Fabian eventually rode back as I was bent over.

Now conveniently Hannah is a doctor!

So she checked my wrist (that was bruising pretty badly) and my ribs and said that she thinks its just bruised.

"Do you want to keep going? Or head back?"

Oh, if nothing is broken, we keep going. There is a Cenote to snorkel.

At this point you might say: "Craig. Why did you hit BOTH brakes??"

Great question. And it occured to me that the scooter that I'd ridden for 2 days, the back break is on the left hand... and on a bike the left brake is the FRONT brake.

So habit of two days.

Well, the sink hold wasn't much further. Maybe 3 or 4km.

I did NOT hit the brakes if a crab ran in front of the bike.

I did try to avoid them, but if they charged, I will say a few crabs might likely have crunched under the back tire. In fact I guarantee it. It was a nasty sound, but I'm not wiping out again.

We get to the Cenote around 4:45 or so. And the path in has crabs in the rocks all around us.

We get to the largest flooded Cenote in Cuba and jump in. We snorkel.

And collect trash, because there was a bit of trash around. Not India level of trash. But there was some ,and figured we would leave it better than we found it. With Fabian leading the charge to collect bottles and cans.

And on the far side of the Cenote, all along the rocks, coating the otherside in fact... were crabs.

I'm talking hundreds.

Probably thousands of crabs.

Lined up next to the edge of the cenote. I don't think they swim, so they just stop there... thwarted on their way to the sea.

We swam back into the darker passages of the Cenote. Where the water was only 3 feet wide. With this rock wall of crabs next to us. Climbing over each other. Squirming around. It's pretty creepy and gross. And really surreal.

Around 6 we figured it was time to head back. About 2 hours ride and the sun sets at 7:45.

We put shoes on and I notice we are the last people there besides the two people who had closed up the snack shop hours ago and were watching some Spanish language action flick on the tube tv.

As we walk out, we notice the path has quite a bit more crabs on it than on the way in...

Now the silly thing about the crabs is if they feel threatened (or want to be intimidating) they PUT THEIR HANDS UP IN THE AIR!

And they can't walk forward. So they walk sideways really slow, or stumble backwards like a strange child's wind up toy.

Now if YOU put YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR... they will respond in kind.

It's pretty hilarious.

So we started singing the Trance song "Put your hands up in the air!" and would put our hands up and the crabs would put their hands up and stumble back...

We reach the road, walk out onto it, and look left towards Playa Giron...

And the ENTIRE ROAD AS FAR AS YOU CAN SEE WAS COVERED IN THOUSANDS OF CRABS.

 

Look right... and the same sight.

Um....

Fabian asked the two workers how long the crabs would be there. An hour or two.

Manana. Tomorrow.

So that means we have to right up to 19km down a road covered in creepy, crawly, skittering crabs.

Yes it does.

Oh boy.

So we start... and when they are in mass, the crabs will slowly part if you ride slow and steady.

Sort of.

Because some of the little suckers would charge you. They would attack you.

They would try to claw the bike tires (with their wind up toy precision).

Sometimes they would grab hold and get rolled up and over and down.

Sometimes they would somehow make it THROUGH the spinning spokes of the bike tires safely...

and sometimes they wouldn't.

The CRUNCH of a crab under the tire happened quite a number of times.

It's a nasty sound.

More than one got hit by the pedals and rolled along.

Often I would just lift my feet up in the air and roll straight and hope I didn't hit any.

Seriously, WTF???

Now both Hannah and Fabian are vegetarians... and even they didn't like these crabs by the end of this.

I mean, they are really dumb. They attack bikes... and TRUCKS.

Every 10 or 15 minutes we would hear the sound of an oncoming truck or car or bus...

and here it would come...

SQUISH SQUISH SQUISH, CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUCH just obliterating crabs by the thousands.

And then we would race after it in the wake, trying to cover as much ground as possible before the tide of crabs closed on the road again.

One car creeped past us, everyone inside videotaping the silly gringos bike riding through the crabs.

It was pretty funny.

In truth I shot quite a lot of video too, because the whole thing seems out of this world.

In some sections of the road there were dead and maimed crabs everywhere. One with only one claw and no legs dragging itself across the road.

Others with broken legs.

Some we ran over... and they were fine.

Some crabs were eating their crushed or maimed kin.

And every once in awhile a turkey vulture would enjoy the dead crab buffet.

Now you might ask: do people eat them?

Nope. They are toxic to people. (The big ones next month aren't thought! So feast up!)

In fact these crabs have no natural predators in the area.

And even though they must die by the tens or hundreds of thousands.

Maybe even millions.

The locals say there are WAY more crabs now than 5 or 10 years ago.

Eventually they started to thin out, and then it was just the flattened crabs killed the day before or whenever.

So we could stop and take a breath.

And Fabian looked down and said "Did you notice what the red sand is?"

Because red sand lined both side of the road.

But on closer inspection it was clear it was not sand...

it was pulverized crab shells.

Kilometers of pulverized crab shells lining the side of the road.

Did they die yesterday?

Last week?

Last year?

Who knows?

The sun set before we reached town, and we watched it from this old reef coastline... surrounded by crabs crawling around the old rocks. It was lovely.

The crabs were hanging off the edge by the ocean. We contemplated what it must be like, to just live going back and forth across a road that wasn't always there (But likely has been since before the CIA tried to take the bay of Pigs.).

We did make it back in one piece... mostly.

There was a field in town, dotted with crabs about every 3 feet (1 meter). It reminded me of the shot from the Walking Dead where the zombie wanders through the

grass field. Only there were hundreds of these.

We rode to the beach and met with our diving friends.

We drank beer. Ate. And toasted one mans new grand child he just found out he was going to have.

Life goes on.

For us and for the crabs...

So the apocalypse we felt when we arrived wasn't for humans... it was for crabs.

And yet still they live and grow and spread....

Maybe someday they will spread beyond this little corner of the world...

CraigO

PS:  As I finished writing this, PUSH IT TO THE LIMIT just kicked on. I'm not kidding. :)

PPS:  It's almost 4 weeks later and my ribs still hurt a little bit. I've had it checked after I got back and it is just a bruise. I guess they take 4 weeks or more to heal so I'm right on track.

Everything else was good in like a week. Though it looks like I might have some small scars on my knee. Was it worth it?  Well, I'd double check the brakes before riding ANYTHING again. But otherwise, hell yeah!

VIVA VINALES!!!

Vinales.

A town. A national park. A landscape of fantastic Migotes. Limestone mountains, with trees and bushes on top. Hidden valleys. Caves. Underground Rivers. The cliff faces were so sheer and beautiful. The whole place was a magical wonderland. It was really cool (and as I've talked to people it is one of the main places people go when in Cuba). Which doesn't make it any less awesome.

The only other places I've seen landscape like this were in Vang Vien, Laos and Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.  (Southern China has them as well, or so I hear).  I had no idea Cuba would have them until I got there, and they were awesome.  Awesome to ride horses around, to hike, to climb, to sit and stare at at sunset.

 

To Get to Vinales I went to the Viazul bus station in Havana to buy a ticket the day before I was planning on leaving. A thing about Cuba... you have to be thinking one or two steps ahead of where you are in order to keep any sort of momentum or flow to your trip. Because buses get full, cabs leave early, there may be only 1 scooter for rent in an entire town. And it isn't like you book it on the internet. You have to do it old school style by showing up!  It was kind of awesome :)

So I go to the Viazul bus station and.... its closed for remodeling. No sign. No other information. Just people inside working. Keep in mind this is the PRIMARY BUS LINE that runs around the country. And this is their MAIN OFFICE in the capital city. Ahhhh Cuba. 

There was a helpful Taxi Collectivo (group taxi) dude outside that said you could go to the main terminal somewhere 3 km away, or he would do a collective taxi and take me there for 23CUC, which is basically the same price as the bus. I said sure, signed up. (You don't pay until you are there, so no scam. This is the way it is done). 

Since I was across from the zoo, I went to the zoo. Saw some animals. Spoke with a cool Cuban who used to work on a fishing boat all over the world. He had some amazing stories of searching for Diamonds in Africa and learning fishing in Northern Russia. Now he works with the animals including a 53 year old Chimpanzee who has 50 kids. 

The next day we head out, the Taxi shows up mostly on time. And inside is a dude that looks Jason Statham (I mean, EXACTLY like Jason Statham!) and some other folks. The Cuban music was BUMPING in the cab and we were off. This cab was a classic American car. So cool.

Just travelin with Jason Statham... no big deal.

We stopped at a (The afore mentioned) Cigar plantation on the way and learned how that all worked. Got to try one. It is one of those things you expect in countries like Cuba, that on the travels you end up being taken to additional coffee or tobacco plantations. They want you to buy something. Jason Statham bought 20 cigars.

In Vinales, the main town has tons of places to eat and drink. It is very tourist friendly. Which some may view as good and some as bad. I'm curious what it looked like 5 years ago. Or 10. Definitely 15. Because Cuban's used to not be able to advertise the rooms in their houses. They could rent out up to 2, but no ads. No Signs. Now pretty much everyone rents a room or two or 5. (The 2 room limit has changed).

I managed to book a sunset horseback ride. It was sort of weird, the guide basically didn't want to give me the full time, it was so strange. I paid for 3 hours, he wanted to end in two. ANd most of the time was spent at a... you guessed it,... coffee plantation!  Ugh. Here was a situation I wanted to just enjoy the ride, the valley and sunset. It was weird, he literally would not ride any further. Even though horse riders were coming from futher in the valley, he said he couldn't go further. I have no idea why. He spoke some English. My Spanish sucks (as will be mentioned repeatedly) and so....

I decided to enjoy it. I bought a Mojito sin Azucar. And sat and waited for the sunset. There were puppies and kittens (Heather  you would have loved it!). And a nice French gal and her guide who rode up. So we hung out. Took pictures. As you do.

 

After eating I headed to the live music bar on the square. There's only one. It's easy to find. It's 1CUC to enter. I enjoyed the music. Was grabbed by a Cuban man who used me as a wing man to dance with some tourist gals. Then a Cuban woman who looked to be around 55 or 60 grabbed me and started Dancing. Some Salsa, but really she was drunk as a skunk and was bootie dancing on me. She'd bend over and rub her butt all over me as her Daughters and sisters laughed and shot video. (she introduced me while bumping on me, just so it wasn't TOO weird. lol).  After the song (and in Cuba the songs are like 20 minutes long when they're live), she drug me to the bar, asked if I liked Cerveza. I said sure. She ordered two, and when I reached for one... she took them both! And told me to order myself one. I did. And of course paid for all 3.  $5CUC total!

The next day I woke up early and went to go rent a scooter. I was given advice in Havana, from some folks who were on their LAST day of the trip, that I should get there by 7:30, even though they don't open till 8:30.  I got there at 7:15. I was the only one who got a scooter and not until 10:45am. But I was chillin and just going with the flow, cause that is what you have to do in Cuba!

 

It was AWESOME! I rode out to a cave. the 2nd largest cave in the Americas. Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the only bigger one I think. I almost had a solo tour, but a Cuban couple showed up last minute. And if you can believe it, the guy tried to break off formations THE ENTIRE TIME.  The guide did nothing. Literally nothing. Didn't even say anything.  And my lack of Spanish made it hard for me to do anything about it. (And to be honest, I was so shocked the guide didn't do anything that I just shook my head which did nothing useful). In the end he succeeded in breaking off a 6 inch piece of a curtain like thing.

Ride on.

To the gas station.

Strange thing about Cuba. Gas stations... few and far between. And the one in Vinales... had no gas today. Guess that happens. There's talk of building a bigger one. Maybe it'll happen someday. Maybe it won't.

So 25 km away I found a gas station.

How did I find it you ask?

I had been told before I left to get Maps.Me.  In fact every single traveler I met had maps.me.  It's an offline Google maps. And with GPS you can see right where you are at. It even has hiking trails on it. That's awesome!

I tried to get it... but since Apple is an American company, the app store does not work in Cuba.

Doh!

So I had a terrible tourist map, and had been given vague directions on which way to go and where it would be (and told that I had 1 liter of Gas, with which I could go... 20km? 30km?  The guy didn't really know. )

I found it. I put in 6 liters. Filled it up!

And RIDE!

One of my favorite things to do while traveling is to rent a scooter and go. You meet cool people. See things off the tourist track. It's a great way to explore an area.

On the way back I stopped at the LOS AQUATICOS Trail head. These are a few families that learned the healing power of water from a shamen hundreds of years ago or something like that. It sounds fascinating, but I didn't make it all the way there. 

The trail, which was paved with stones and hand carved steps, went up and down over the Mogote's. Gorgeous views of the valley abounded. The hike was mostly shaded since it was late afternoon. So I sat and enjoyed the breeze. Then I came to a junction... the sign to Los Aquaticos lay on the ground. Did it point along the ridge or down?

Looked like down. So I chose down.

(HE CHOSE DOWN!!! (To almost quote Labyrinth!)

Well down dropped me to the valley floor pretty quickly.

It was getting late ish so I figured I'd just walk along the valley floor till sunset.

Then I saw goats.

And then I saw a cliff face... with a cave entrance in it!!!

SWEET!!!

Waterproof headlamp on (yes, of course I have one in my backpack. As you should too :)

And I plunge into the slot in the rock.

It led back, split left and right...

left a dead end. Right leads deeper.

Maybe 2 feet wide.

Slippery mud.

It splits again, with only the left going anywhere....

50 meters back, I found a pool!!! With a wooden structure above it.

It wasn't huge, but it was awesome!!!

And the end of the cave. Or as far as I was going to dare go as I'd have to submerge myself to explore further and as much as I love to explore the unknown, I'm not that crazy.

So I head out and ... hear voices off to the right.

So I head back the way I came and out of sight.... and then I hear they are AMERICAN voices.

So I turn around and walk back and surprise a family, their Cuban guide family (who all spoke English) and the owner of the property.

I made friends and they told me about a BIGGER cave around the corner.

I asked if it was okay to explore (since it was on his property).

He smiled and off I went.

 

The cave was like a tunnel all the way through the Mogote. Maybe 30-50 feet tall, and pitch black until you came around a corner to see out the other side... and a BIGGER POOL!

So I did what everyone would do, right? I got down to my underwear and went into the pool. It was waist deep. I half swam around in it and eventually went back to the side I started on.

What lay beyond....?

I'll have to come back to find out.

On my way out of the cave, I enjoyed a song written by my friend and former Feet Firster, Brandon Miquelon called ROOTLESS TREE.  It's a song he wrote after a multiple month trip through Europe he went on a few years ago. In truth, this was one of the main songs of this entire trip. I love it. He captured the feeling of the traveler so well. So thank you Brandon for the song, if you are cool with it I'll share it with people on the email thread.

I headed out of the cave, up to the farmer's house. Where they offered me coffee and I sat and enjoyed the coming sunset with people who mostly spoke a different language, but it didn't matter. We shared a nice time, looking out at the valley, as the guide drove off in his 1952 Pristine condition car...

 

I've still got a smile on my face as I write this.

Awesome.

CraigO

OPPA PA-NANG STYLE!

May 12, 2013

Heeeeyyyyyyy Scenic Vistas,

Op, Op Op-a Pa-Nang Style!

Heeeeeyyyyyy great museums,

Op, Op Op-a Pa-Nang Style!

Heeeeeyyyyyy hot as ball sacks!

Op, Op Op-a Pa-Nang Style!

I've really enjoyed Pa-Nang. It's a busy, energetic place. There's all these different neighborhoods: Little India, China Town etc, which are so specifically filled with folks of that persuasion it's amazing. And they are right across the road from each other. China Town is full of places to stay, Chinese temples, hawker carts and food spots. Little India is all pastel buildings, Bollywood music pumping from bootleg DVD stores, and women in Sarees. It's awesome.

And the food. HOLY CRAP BALLS is (most) of it reallllllly good.

From the Nyonya food. To one of the best Indian Kurma's I've ever had. Oh yeah, if you're a foodie, this is your spot. You can eat at posh restraunts (which might cost you $15 USD a plate) to stalls on the street that are $3 USD a plate. Either way, you'll (most) likely get good food. Great food.

It may not look like much... but WOW is it good!

For my last day here I went to the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, and had a great tour full of fun stories about the "Rockefeller of the east". They have cup mosaics, built from pieces of colored china cut into pieces, that took the artisans 4 years to recreate and cost a 50% of the restoration budget. But it's one of the few places in the world (other than huge temples in China) where you can see it.

On to the Panang museum for some history of the area. Then a sweaty ass walk to Fort Cornwallis. It was so hot by this point I could hardly function, so I didn't enjoy that to much. But to Air Con in the Indian restraunt and the orgasmic food made up for it.

Then off by moped to Kek Lok Si Temple. Since the roads here are so often 1 way and they force you into loops and turns and there isn't very good signage, it took awhile to get there. Got to see a lot of the city though! The temple is a pagoda on a hill. There's an enourmous bronze statue behind it. I barely made it before close, but got up to the top and saw good views.

I chose this, not because it really captures the view, but that level of sweat was continuous in Penang. :)

Then as evening approached and it got cooler, I explored up this road into the hills... and found a recreation area dam. There were mountain bikers in full gear. Runners. Walkers. Families. And not trash. And I thought: this feels like home. Malaysia really must be doing better than a lot of SE Asian countries, because people have time and money for recreation and exercise. Ironically, because they have easier physical lives (like us westerners), they might need the exercise, as I've seen more chubby folks here than in Indonesia.

I took pics of the views of the city and went swinging on the swings! Fun! Then walked about 50 feet into the woods on a trail and there were noises in the trees. Monkeys. A whole group of them. Leaping and swinging and climbing. So often you see monkey's on tours or on beaches with lots of people. But to be in the darkening forest with the monkeys as they played and crashed and ate was sort of surreal. They would look at me occasionally and climb in my direction, but never got very close. 

The Malaysians are super nice and friendly. They're always helpful when asking about stuff, even if they don't speak much English. Which brings up the fact that many folks here speak some, but it's not as much as I was lead to believe. And ironically, sometimes they're speaking so fast and with this interesting sing=song accent that I have a really hard understanding. It's funny, because I know they're speaking English, but have no idea what they're saying. :)

I headed up the incline rail to Panang Hill. 2500 feet elevation overlooking the city. It was night. The lights were out. I ate up there and enjoyed the view. I also explored the abandoned amusement park type place. Now, during the day there would be people there. But at night it was very quiet. And what amusement area would be complete without Buddhist temple and Mosque. 

Back to town to return my moped and... CONCERT TIME!

A stage was set up in the parking lot of this hostel and a Chinese gal in fancy costumes was singing. The music was recorded and she was taking requests from the scattered crowd. It was sort of like all request Karaoke. The audience was mostly Chinese, as it turns out this was a birthday celebration for the temple across the street. Many of them were older. 

A lot just watched, but there was a small group of lively folks who were dancing it up. This older woman was super fun. She was hunched over, but she would get up and do this very diliberate 1,2 step with her arms out. Almost like she was running in realllllly slow motion. She had her thumbs up and was having a blast... I think. Because her expression never changed. It was always completely stoic. Only her body language was joyous. Even when I smiled at her as I was dancing, she didn't change her expression. She was so cute. Some other travelers were dancing as well. It was great fun.

 It didn't matter that we all spoke different languages, because we all could dance.

CraigO

PS:  I nearly lost this email thanks to internet dropping out and other things. But fortunately it is mostly in tact. Enjoy!

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT

May 11, 2013

So I'm riding in a bus through Tennessee on my way to Miami Bay Beach. It's nice and green. Mountains everywhere. The 6 lane freeway is flowing smooth and fast. The A/C is blasting on the bus. A line of Lamborghini's zips past. Everyone is staying in their lanes. We stop at a real rest area for a pee and a snack...

... oh wait. Are we on the left side of the road? Is that sign in a different language? And did my driver nearly get in a fight with a passenger.

Yes indeed, I'm in Malaysia folks!

Been here for a few days and have to say that I'm suprised at how modern everything is. Subways. El-trains. Monorails. Roads that are actually wide enough for cars to go each way. Bullet trains. High rises. Shopping malls with all the boutique stores. A movie theater showing Iron Man 3 (for $4 or $7.50 in 3d). (I almost went but it didn't time out right!) A surprising lack of smokers. And just about the most diversity I've ever seen. When I got on the subway in Kuala Lumpur (KL) the cross section of Malays, Indians, Chinese, Muslims, folks in shorts and T-shirts, in mini-skirts, the combo was pretty awesome.

I landed at the airport and it was as nice as any I've seen. I rode a bullet train into town. My hostel was slick and modern.

I spent my one day in KL going to the Batu caves, which are a holy Hindu sight with 260 stairs and the largest statue of Murga in the world. There's also a Dark Cave that has a good eco tour with a great guide who tells you all about it. I wanted to go spelunking, but haven't found a place to do that yet.

The rest of the day I spent in and around the Patronas Towers. Eventually going up to the sky-bridge and the 86th floor observation deck at sunset. It was cool to be able to have a view of the city, and the mirror image building that you're in. Usually you can't do that from a big observation deck. Really cool.

Officially Malaysia is an Islamic country, though there is freedom of religion, so there are many Hindu, Confuscionists, Taoists and even some Christians too. It's the first place I've been that had a sign "No Indecent Behavior" and a silhouette of a couple kissing on the subway. And at the beach. And the national park. Seriously: DO NOT KISS each other. Jeez people. Way to risque!

I took a bus up to Georgetown, which sort of feels like New Orleans. With tight streets and colonial archetecture, albeit British and not French. There are tons of flop houses, bars, reggae places and things to do. At first I thought: hmmmm, not so sure about this, it feels kinda junky. But it grew on me fast. Especially when I found a private room with AC! and fan! and bathroom! for $15USD! wooo! It ain't a palace, but that AC is cranked!

Met some folks who are biking from Germany to Australia. Yep. And another biker going from Indonesia to Japan. Biking. Crazy! That'd be an adventure. It was fun to drink Tiger Beer and swap stories.

And we also had Nyonya food. It's a local food that exists pretty much here and is HOLY COW GOOD!! Really tasty. Panang (the island Georgetown is on) is known for it's awesome food. I'm looking forward to trying more.

TOday I rented a scooter and cruised to the National Park. The scooter guy was this cantankerous Chinese/Malaysian man who was so funny. He talked fast and was crassy. Enjoyed it. 

I met some other travelers and we hiked through the jungle for 1 1/2 hours to Turtle beach (which had Turtles. They're under protecxtion and being prepped for release). Then took a boat to Monkey beach (which had no monkeys). Hmmmm. Couldn't swim to deep because of jellyfish, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Malaysia is an interesting place. Looking forward to seeing more. Mountains and the deep deep Jungle.

CraigO

I’M IN FRICKIN’ INDONESIA!!!!!!

That's right Team,

I'm in Indonesia.  Gili T to be precise. A small island off the coast of Lombok (itself an island) located near Bali (also an island...). In fact, all of Indonesia is 17,000 + islands of awesome.

This is the first BIG TRIP since Morocco in November of 2011, and I am glad to be on it. In fact, I've already extended the trip by almost 2 weeks!  (Thank you frequent flier miles for free flight changes!).

Ready to go!

I know some of you have been to Indonesia (notably Bali) and said it was one of your favorite places. It really is cool. Though it may be a bit overrun with tourism in the south, as we made our way to the east coast and Amed, things thinned out and it became much more the legendary "Bali of old" (Which seems to get brought up a lot. In fact, Lombok and other islands get mentioned as what Bali was like 10 or 20 or 50 years ago. So far they all seem cool to me, though different...)

For instance, Indonesia is the worlds largest Muslim nation. But Bali is not a Muslim island. It practices it's own unique religion found nowhere else in the world. A mix of Hindu and many other things. It also has it's own language, Balinese. Though they speak Indonesian and many speak English. 60 years of being a tourism hotspot will do that to you I guess.

So this trip is the first time I've been back to Southeast Asia since the massive 2005 Thailand/Laos/Viet Nam/Cambodia adventure...

Cambodia, 2005. Boo-yah!

 

...and I can say that it is every bit as awesome as when I left. There is something really wonderful about this part of the world. The people. The cultures. The places. The food. It was special then and it still is. Even though I (likely) won't return to any of those countries this trip, it still feels like the awesomeness is present here in Indonesia.  (Hopefully that will carry over to the other destinations for the trip).

This trip is also the first time in a long time that I'm traveling with a friend. Alicia was actually 2 weeks into her 3 week trip when I got here. We'd planned on overlapping for 4 days at the end of her trip and the beginning of mine.  Now we'll be traveling Indonesia for 2 1/2 weeks before she heads home and I'm off to the next countries. (This way you know who the "we" is when I type it.)

Ridin the donkey cart!

As for adventures so far...

15 hours flight from LAX to Hong Kong. 4 hours in Hong Kong airport. 4 1/2 hours to Denpensar, Bali. 1 hour in customs/visa. 45 minutes in a cab

which cost 100,000 to go 45 minutes!!!!!!!  (That's about 10 USD. :) (I love all the zeroes on the money, it makes me feel like a billionaire!).

And check into a hotel in Sanur. Had a pool (thank god, cause it's hot), and was close to the beach.

The next day it was off to Amed. A 3 hour drive. We hired a driver for 450,000 ($45) who took us to a Bat Cave temple (which was closed because there was a religious ceremony). We did get to chat with a nice family about the offerings the bring in and listen to

some traditional Balinese music. It's tonal. Hammers on metal. Flutes. Klanging and bonging. (Tom, you'd love it!).

We ate overlooking the ocean (which is pretty much what you do here. :). I had Manta Ray for the first time. Tasty, spicey, a bit

rubbery and I actually felt kind of bad because Manta Ray's are so cool!.

We headed to Tirta Gangga, which is this water palace built by the last Bali king in the 1940's. It looks like it's 1000 years old.

There are all these fountains and pools, some you can swim in. There were stone pillars you could walk along out in the water which

felt very much like Indiana Jones. (Don't worry, no flooded caves on this trip... yet!). It was a great place to chill out.

Tirta Gangga, palace of water pleasure

The next day we went SCUBA diving on a sunken World War 2 freighter, the USS Liberty. It was really cool. It's a walk in dive,

right off the shore, only 9 feet deep at the shallowest, maybe 70 at the deepest. Really fun to dive around. And there were ladies and girls

here who carried the tanks in and out of the dive sight on their heads! Nuts! Unfortunately I couldn't equalize my ears on the second

dive, so I had to miss out on swimming through the ship itself. Sucked. Never had that problem before, but I couldn't get 6 feet down

before the left side of my head was peircing with pain.I tried 6 or 7 times and had to call it. Oh well, there will be more dives.

For $40 a night we have an air con room with a pool right on the beach. This is a nice place and honestly much more than we have

to spend. We could do $30 or $20 or even $15 a night (though you wouldn't have a/c or a pool). But the cheaper place we stayed the

first night had a rude awakening of... ROOSTERS.

Lots of them.

Like, maybe 20.

Yeah, it was loud.

From 4am until... well, they never really stopped.

Thus the move to the $40 pimpin pad!

2 rooms. infinity pool. sweetness.

Our last day in Amed we rented scooters and zipped along the great coast road. It's barely a lane and a half wide, but is a 2 way street.

And you drive on the left.

And there are dogs and chickens that run out in the road.

And people.

People sort of hang out by and on the road. You can stop anywhere you want. Anywhere. Block half the road. That's cool. No one

honks. They just zip around you. It's pretty wild.

We cruised up this valley and found a random set of 5 holy springs in this village. A guide showed us around for $5. (The average

daily wage in Bali is 2 to 5 USD a day. )

Love me the scooters!

This is actually the first trip that is WiFi crazy. It has made it's appearance for the last couple journeys (Costa Rica/Panama and Morocco), but here EVERYPLACE has Wi-fi.

Your hotel. Wifi.

The restraunt. Wifi.

The food stall on the street. Free Wifi!

For me I don't love this, because it makes the temptation to use my iTouch to check email or whatever be present. But I resist.

It also makes it much less likely to find internet cafes. They're here, but they seem much less present than when I was here in

2005. Or in Africa in 2008. Guess the times, they are a changin!

Today it was the fast speed boat to Gili T. An island with no cars and no mopeds. The only vehicles are boats and the occasional

horse drawn carraige. Sort of like a horse Tuk-Tuk. There are lots of tourists here. (Very few in Amed). All of them seem to be blonde

and from Scandinavia... not a bad deal. :)

It's great to be on the road again!

Rock on

Craig O