Singapore Day 2

Up shortly after 8:00, I slept awesome.

We had breakfast and decided to head to Pulau Ubin, a backwater island 500 metres off the NE coast of Singapore.

We caught bus 2 to the Changi Ferry Terminal and there was hundreds of people in the queue to go to Ubin.  It's a holiday in Singapore, Tony (hostek owner) told us it would be busy.

We waited about 30 minutes before we finally got on a boat. It was a 15 minute boat ride to the island. Each boat only takes 12 people, so they had a loyt of boats working today.

On Pulau Ubin, we had lunch, then walked around the hike close to the pier, through sokme kind of jungly bits, along the mangrove forests. It's so hot and humid I'm sweating like crazy.

After walking, we drank beer and a storm rolled through. Thunder, but not much rain.

Ubin is more like other parts of SE Asia, not hi-tech or developed like Singapore.

Around 3:30, we caught the boat back to Singapore, back to our hostel and booked Baba Guest House for April 23, 24 and 25 on Penang.

We were trying to figure out how to book a hostel for tonigjht, as we arrive at midnight. Jen had sent an email to a guest house in Georgetown earlier in the day, but they replied and said they had no room.

We started talking to Tony, owner of Betel Box, and he did us a favour and called Hutton Lodge and was able to get us a room for about $10-12/night. Decent price.

Tony was super helpful and awesome.

Jen and I started talking about supper, and Tony suggested laksa and told us where to go to get the best laksa.

Around 7:30, got our backpacks and headed to the airport, via the MRT.

Arrived in Penang around midnight and caught a taxi to Hutton Lodge and went to bed.

Singapore

Slept pretty good, considering it was the middle of the day to my body.  Up about 7:15, Jen too. We're in the 20 person dorm, so tried to be very quiet.

Showered, then we had breakfast at the hostel (free).

After breakfast, we got directions to the MRT and headed downtown. Downtown Singapore is exactly as I suspected, huge skyscrapers, ultra clean, very modern and super nice. We didn't really have a plan, just walked around the Marine Bay area.

There's a huge hotel complex that looks like it should be in Dubai. It was three massive towers, with a "boat" on top, sporting palm trees and a pool. We tried to go up, but they wanted $20 to go up, and you couldn't even use the pool.

Very humid today.

We headed to Chinatown for lunch and had a beer, then headed to Orchard Road area. Jen had heard about a "4 Floors on Whores" at Orchard Tower and she wanted to check it out. We didn't see much.

We headed back to the hostel around 3:00. So tired. Still jetlagged. Updated journal, then I napped for 2 hours and woke up at 6:00pm, then Jen and me took MRT to Little India to get some Indian food for supper. After supper, went to a pub for a few beers, then took MRT back to hostel.

To bed about 11:00pm.

Off to Singapore

Mavis took me to the airport.  I took the C-Train to Lions Park Station, and where she picked me up.

It was a direct flight from Calgary to Tokyo, and was very uneventful and arrived in Tokyo on time.  As we were flying down the coast of Japan, I wondered if I was getting a higher dose of radiation than normal.

I had a 3 hour layover in Tokyo.  Narita Airport is BIG, so I spent a lot of that time walking around it.

My flight from Tokyo to Singapore was United Airlines.  I wasn't expecting much, and they didn't disappoint.  Hey, United, 2001 called, they want their little 4", lo-res LCD screens back!  And, for business fliers only, they advertise a "Personal Video Tape System".  Tape?  Really?  Oh, and one of the announcements before we took off: "For security reasons, passengers are not allowed to congregate around the washrooms on the plane."  One cool thing they have on offer is the ability to listen in on all tower communications.  It was interesting to listen in all the planes and towers communicating. The plane was about 25% full.

During the flight, a curious thing, the planes flight plan showed it flying right over Taiwan.  But, when we reached the northern tip of Taiwan, the plan made a sudden course change and veered down the east side of the island.

Landed in Singapore about 11:50pm, got through customs and got my bag and Jen was there waiting for me.  She was waiting for 2+ hours at the airport.  The Beesy Bus dude was there waiting for us, so after grabbing some money at an ATM, he took us too the Betel Box Hostel.

The hostel was very busy, and we had to wait for him to get to us, finally we got checked in and probably got to bed around 2:00am.

Long day!

Off on another adventure

Today I'm off on another adventure. I'l be spening almost four weeks travelling through Singapore, Malaysia and China. The big part of this trip is a hike through Tiger Leaping Gorge in western China.

I'm meeting Jen in Singapore for 8 days, then flying to Shanghai to meet up with Lisa for 10 days. The final week, I'll be on my own, taking trains from Kunming back to Shanghai.

End of the Road

After a 5 day trek, we were so tired and slept in until well after 8:00am.We went to Jack's Cafe for amazing breakfast.Lisa, along with her Kiwi friends, Cam and Jodi booked a night bus to Bolivia for tomorrow night. It made me quite sad to not be going with them, as I've had an amazing time. Bolivia sounds amazing from what all the other backpackers have been saying. However, I am out of money (had to dip into my line of credit a bit at the end) and my work tells me they miss me very much. Hehe.After Lisa came back, we headed back to the police station to see about getting my official report for my stolen camera. We took a taxi there, went to the office. There were 5 people in the office. I handed them my citation, and the one guy in the office took charge. He was VERY rude, was not nice or polite to Lisa at all. He said the case has been closed because we never showed up on the days specified on the citation. Lisa explained to him that we DID show up in the 3rd, the first day specified on the citation, and were told that it wasn't ready, and that they didn't know when it would be ready. One of the girls went upstairs and got the official report, which was actually typed up on the same day we filed it, Oct. 31. He insisted that we didn't come, we insisted that we did. We told him that we were told that it wasn't ready, and that we could come back anytime and get it. He was insistent that his people would never say that, that we had to come at the specified times. He further said that when anyone comes to the office, it's recorded in a log book, and there's no record of us in the log book. Lisa fought with him, so hard, I could see her stress level going up! When we were there the first time, one of the people even wrote on the back of our citation a phone number that we could call. At that time, Lisa asked if it would be worthwhile calling first, then he said no, probably not, better to just come down. We pointed out the phone number, but was insistent that his department was perfect, and that we didn't come. The first time we were there, the guy also told us that we could come by anytime, it was open 24 hours and collect the report. However, today this guy was saying no, we had to come at the specified times on the citation. We didn't show up at any of the three times, so they closed the case. He even berated Lisa for speaking perfect Spanish but not reading the citation, which, apparently, says that we have to show up at the specific times on the citation. Yet, not one person, none of the police at the airport, nor the people in the office when we originally went, told us that....they ALL told us we could show up anytime and get it.Anyway, I guess they have a lawyer there at the times specified on the citation. When you go in, you are essentially cross-examined to make sure the story is true. No one told us that we had to be there at the specific times. I said to Lisa that it appears we're getting nowhere, so don't worry about it. Lisa was awesome, though, holding our ground and not giving any. And this guy was totally rude to her. I owe her a few Pisco Sours at the bar tonight. But, hey, Lisa got some more great Spanish practice. She remarked to me afterwards that her Spanish was just spewing out, she didn't even have to think about she was saying, it was just coming.So, on my Christmas wishlist this year, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 camera. :-)Well, there's not much more to report.We're meeting up with some of our trek group tonight at an Irish pub here in Cusco. Some shopping will be done today.I fly from Cusco to Lima tomorrow at 4:45pm, then I get to hangout at the Lima airport for 6 hours or so for my flight back to Toronto, then to Calgary. Back to work on Friday....gotta pay for my trip now!There will probably be no more journal updates.

Machu Picchu

Up at 3:30, we all met at the main square at 4:00 and started the hike up to Machu Picchu. You can also take buses, but they don't start leaving until 5:30, and odds are you'll get up there too late to get a pass to Huayna Picchu.It's a steep climb and really hard on my feet. After 4 days of trekking, they were screaming "leave me alone!". The hike up also included lots and lots of stairs, which are very exhausting.We got the entrance gate about 5:15, and waited outside. The site doesn't open until 6:00. When I arrived, there were maybe 25 other people waiting as well. As we waited, more hikers were showing up. Around 5:40, one of the workers started handing out tickets to Huayna Picchu. They only allow 400 people every day, 200 at 7:00am and another 200 at 10:00am. Our guide told us we have to take the 10:00am time slot, so we could do our guided tour of Machu Picchu with him. We got our 10:00 time slot no problem, then exited the line and waited with the rest of our group for our guide. Shortly before 6:00 the buses started showing up, out guide was one of the first ones. At 6:00, the gates opened, we waited for the line to clear a bit before getting in line. One other couple from our group took the bus as well (he had injured his knee yesterday during the hike), and they ended up getting passes to Huayna Picchu anyway, so we didn't need to be in that big of a hurry.We got back in line, and ahead of us was this old lady from the other group. She just asked her guide if she should climb Huayna Picchu, and he told her no, not to do it. A second later, the dude handing out tickets to Huayna Picchu had ONE PASS LEFT. He was going down the line, trying to get rid of it. She stuck out her entrace pass and said she'd take it. A moment later, another guy came up and wanted it. She took the LAST HUAYNA PICCHU PASS, despite her complete inability to trek, and just after her guide told her not to, taking it away from this other guy, who wanted to go up with is buddy, who had a pass.Cesar (our guide) took us on a 2+ hour tour of Machu Picchu, showing us everything important, explaining how the Incans broke apart the stones and how they had engineered the water systems, and how they knew about astronomy, and they had designed buildings and windows so the sun would shine through at the just the right angle during summer and winter solstices, etc. Very interesting.At about 10:30, we headed for the Huayna Picchu entrance gate and did the very difficult and steep hike up Huayna Picchu. It gives some amazing views of the Machu Piccu and the surrounding mountains and valleys.We hung out on top for a bit, then back down and hiked up to the Sun Gate. There were 8 official entrances to Machu Picchu back in the day. The Inca Trail that everyone hikes is one of them. The Inca Trail comes up over this pass, at a gate called the Sun Gate, then down to Machu Picchu. The people doing the Inca Trail don't get to see Machu Picchu until the last day, when the come over the pass and pass through the Sun Gate. And, let me tell you, the view from the Sun Gate, looking down at Machu Picchu, is amazing.After the Sun Gate, about 2:30, I decided to make the hike back down to Aguas Caliente. Lisa and Kieran wanted to rest their weary legs for half an hour before heading down. I headed down, went back to the hostal where our bags were stored and had a shower at the hostal (cost me 10 soles!), then picked up our train tickets, and met Lisa and Kieran shortly after 4:00 and we went to a restaurant for expensive pizza, but were famished.We headed to the train station at 5:40 for our 6:10 train to Ollantay, where we got off and got on a bus back to Cusco. Got back to Cusco about 10:00pm. Lisa and me headed back to the hostal, checked in and went to bed.Machu Picchu didn't disappoint. I had two highlights on my South America trip, Galapagos was top of the list, with Machu Picchu second. Both the Galapagos and Machu Picchu were way beyond my expectations. What a way to start the trip (Galapagos) and a way to end the trip (Machu Picchu).If I were to recommend Machu Picchu treks, I would recommend doing the Inca Trail, not Salkantay. Salkantay isn't as much of a trek, as there's bus travel during parts, and you're staying in towns and hostals for part of it. During the Inca Trail, you're taking an actual trail, built from stone by the Incans hundreds of years ago, into one of the official entrance gates of Machu Picchu at the time. It would be awesome to come over the pass at the Sun Gate and see Machu Picchu in front of you. The stone path needs to be maintained nowadays, but it was discovered after Machu Picchu was discovered. Unfortunately, you need to book it months in advance, which is not necessarily possible when one is travelling for a year....you simply won't know where or when you'll be there. That's not to say I didn't enjoy Salkantay, it was very good, but it would be way cooler to get to Machu Picchu the way the Incans did.

Salkantay Trek Day 4

So hot last night, down in the valley is much warmer than up on the mountain. Lisa and me got up around 7:45, packed, and breakfast was at 8:30.Started hiking around 9:30. Sunny and hot today. It was about 2.5 hours hiking on a road to the train station at a hydro-electric plant. On the way there, we saw a massive waterfall coming out of the side of the mountain, we suspect the runoff from the hydro-electric plant. Also along the road, we entered the Machu Picchu park border. As we were registering, there was a massive boom and the ground shook beneath our feet. Dynamite in the area!We had lunch at a restaurant at the train station, then hiked along the railway fro 2.5 hours to Aguas Caliente. Nice walk up the valley, steep canyon walls on either side, and a roaring river. But walking along railway ties is hard on the legs and feet, so that part of it wasn't particularly pleasant.We got to Aguas Caliente around 4:30, checked in to our hostal, at 5:20 we went to the train station to get our baggage. The horses turned back last night, so all our baggage they were carrying had to be brought here via bus and train. The cooks brought them up on the train.I showered and used internet, then at 7:30 we all met at a restaurant for our last supper together.Aguas Caliente is a massive tourist town. It's the town closest to Machu Picchu, and is very much like Banff, huge expensive hotels, expensive restaurants, shops selling everything that are hugely overpriced. Some of the lodges here are like the ones you'd find at ski resorts in Panorama.Tomorrow we're getting up at 3:30am for a 4:00am hike up to Machu Picchu. The mountain that you see behind Machu Picchu in all the typical photo's of Machu Picchu is called Huayna Picchu, and they only allow 400 people to climb it every day. You have to get to the top early to get a ticket to climb it, and we all want to.