January 14th, Penang, Malaysia – Following up on my previous update, one of the other biases often demonstrated by travelers is assuming that experiences with poorer people are more authentic than with the upper classes. This leads people to dismiss … Read More
January 9th, Melaka, Malaysia – A few days of scuba diving was a nice, relaxing diversion. The diving outfit picked us up each morning from our hotel to take us to their base at a nice resort just outside Kota … Read More
January 2nd, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia – If the mountain was a physical outdoor adventure and the river a cultural one than Danum Valley was our scientific natural experience. The Danum Valley Research Center is part of a private conservation area … Read More
December 27th, Sukau, Malaysia – After climbing the mountain we needed some less physically intensive activity; luckily we were heading to the Kinabatagan river where we could spot wildlife (and possibly orangutan) from the seated comfort of boats. The river … Read More
December 24th, Sandakan, Malaysia – Booking a day before we wanted to go meant our only choice for accommodations at Mt. Kinabalu Park was the hostel. Staying in dorm rooms contains a major negative and a major positive attribute; on … Read More
December 20th, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia – That Brunei is wealthier than its neighbors is immediately noticeable; the number of new luxury cars spanning Mercedes to Lexus to a few Ferrari and Porsche sprinkled in and the elaborate design of some … Read More
December 16th, Miri, Malaysia – After some thought we decided not head to Batang Ai for a remote possibility of seeing orangutan (we will have other opportunities in Sabah) but instead, inspired by a book I read on our trek … Read More
December 10th, Kuching, Malaysia – The contrasts between Indonesia and Malaysia are noticeable as soon as you cross the border. The first difference you see is that the roads are wider with better pavement, signage and frequent, intelligible distance markers. … Read More
December 5th, Pontianak, Indonesia – While most people here are good natured there are some who are just trying to take advantage of you; and even when they are not, the difficulties of communicating can lead to situations where it … Read More
November 28th, Semarang, Indonesia – They say it is always darkest before the dawn; I don’t know if that is completely true but it is really dark outside. We’ve come this far so we might as well go through with … Read More