Wednesday 1 december 2004 koh pagnan still

Hello every body, I am still chillin out on Pagnan, somewhere in the North (Mae Hat) part which is really different from the rest of the Island and very peacefull and lovely.. the beaches are super.. I just came back from a sincere walk through the Jungle I decided to make today … I’m leaving tonight with the night boat..so I wanted to hike through the jungle before going away and see some of the waterfalls… Yesterday I actually did nothing else than lying on the beach, swimming, Tai Massage (1 hour long and on the beach, a little out of sight dough luckily), shower, sunset, … and we had a nice dinner with a bunch of people to say goodbeye to my buddy (Christian= Diving Buddy) and his girlfriend (Kathrine). They left early this morning… we had a nice evening, playing some ‘petanque’ and a game where you have to take out some cubes from a tower and put them on top, the one who makes the tower fall is the loser… (not me this time…)

I’m heading West Coast tonight.. Krabi I think… the funny thing is that I often don’t know for sure where I’m going too and make my decision on the way. Maybe Krabi, Maybe Koh Phi Phi, maybe Ko Lanta…

This place is a place where zou can stay and actually never leave again… For me it is ok to go, but I met a couple of friends who are settling in here and just practically never go home anymore… Carlos is one of them, he’s originally chilean and has been travelling for 20 jears now.. Today he starts his first opening gig-set up- no building yet… of the clothes he’s been making (designing) in Nepal. He knows this place really well and because of the fact that I became his neighbour for the last 3 days (there he lives for several months in a bungalow), he showed me around and got me in touch with the local people, very nice…

There are a few other victoms, like Aldo and Aquira that are commited to this place, to enjoy and just relax all the time… amazing isn’t it…

This Island is beautiful and truly looks like paradise… So I’m happy I stayed a bit longer than expected… (I will show the pictures soon)

WEDNESDAY 15 DECMBER 2004 SINGAPORE

THE WEST COAT OF THAILAND

As I arrived in Krabi, after a night boat trip followed by a bus ride, I looked for a cheap Hotel to drop my bags and go for a look at the West Side of Thailand. The night traveling provided me enough sleep to keep on going today…so for 1 Euro I could enjoy a breakfast consisting out of 2 toasts, butter and Jam, a small fruit salad (papaya, banana and water melon) and a coffee before starting my search for beaches and sightseeing locations. Krabi seemed to be a good choice to start with; it seemed to be a cheap place from where you can easily reach the surrounding ‘hot-spots’ by boat trips. I went to see all travel agencies (abundant out here) because I was up for some Islands-visiting-trips. Especially curious about the Phi Phi islands (the famous beach)… I succeeded to make a deal for some discount on a speeds boat trip to all these well known Islands, a special treat for me tomorrow. Krabi town itself had a Night market going on which provided me with an introduction to fruit and vegetables species I had never seen before in my life. A friendly Thai atmosphere and much less touristy than the other locations. The next day I was very excited, Railay Beach was the first I could see from the speedboat, where we went to pick up some more people… Wow what a beach, big lime cliffs jumping out of the Landscape and the clear blue water, surrounded by coral reefs and white sand beaches…yep like the pictures. Oh oh what are the Islands going to offer than..? Pretty amazing but… there is a but, all the tourist boats and people are part of the menu and very obvious within the picture… still it was special to see these beaches and lime arts around them… nature has created some special treats out here… The snorkeling we did around these corals was awesome, sometimes scary how close the fish dare to come and how curious these underwater creatures are… I’m sure that diving would be super out here, the water is as clear as crystal and the color fiction like. We had lunch on Phi Phi Don Island on the beach and ‘Bamboo Island’ was our last treat of today. This island = breathtaking… quite and beautiful… The nights in Krabi felt like home, every little restaurant played some recently released movies, so very relaxing with a nice mixed fruit shake and some Pad Thai. I enjoyed Railay beach the next day together with Patricia, a Canadian girl I met. We literally roasted ourselves on this amazing beach. Followed by some night market food. The next day I left for Koh Lipeh, a place where I was curious about. I heard about, I dream about… strange but through it turned out to be the most beautiful place in Thailand to me. If I could I would keep it secret, but I can’t keep it to myself how I loved it to find out about this paradise and how I felt when I left this place… (left my soul there down by the sea… I lost control...) This Island is the end… and not only the place but also the people I met here where special. Julien & Caroline (France), Ryan (USA), Tom (Norway)… So I should have stayed, A little longer but time is running and I only have 6 days left for Malaysia and Singapore…? The interest in Kuala Lumpur and the oldest Jungle near Jerantut (Taman Negara) drove me away from the magnificent place in the South West of Thailand. The minute I left the Island clouds where appearing and it actually rained throughout 4 days … What does it mean? Probably not much because it is the rainy season down here… but I believe it did in some way means something.

A long trip towards KL

So I left Koh Lipeh at 8.30 AM, arrived in Pakbara (the dock on the mainland), left with a mini bus to Hat Yai, where @ 7PM the big bus to KL departed. After one hour I needed to get out of the bus to check out of Thailand, 2 minutes drive further again to check in to Malaysia. Now I could try to sleep, because 8 hours later I will arrive in KL. Very cold, uncomfortable, long drive and the rain didn’t make it much nicer. Anyway 5 AM… KL (Kuala Lumpur) in the early morning and I immediately went for the search to reach Jerantut. Which was again a 3-hour bus-ride, which only left at 7.45AM. In other words I ended up staying only 2.45 hours in KL. From Jerantut you have to take a mini bus to the dock place (45 min), where after you take a 3-hour boat to Taman Negara, Pahang. A beautiful boat-ride through the Worlds oldest rainforest… I was very tired arriving here, a 130 million-year-old gift from nature. Well preserved, the first and largest National Park in Malaysia. Frequently visited by Locals, tourists, environmentalists and nature lovers… Charming place! The rain caused some problems though. Night Jungle trekking was canceled. (In a way I could go to sleep fairly early) I shared a dorm with 2 KL-girls and Oliver (a backpacker from UK). I woke up early and went hiking through this forest with Oliver. We were more up for our individual discovery trek than an organized tour, so… Well worth it, very beautiful. Around noontime the thunder came blasting through and we ended up returning onto the big hill 3 times, because the place was flooded. Following the paths wasn’t always possible in other words and we came back at 4 PM, soaked and luckily I was leach free… (Blood sucker), many other people had them on their legs and ankles. Again I had a wonderful experience, but it was very cold! The shower in our dorm was freezing so no option to me when I arrived home. I went to sleep at 7.30PM (necessary). The next day everybody left early in the morning, I stayed a little more to talk to the guides and local people. This place is a good spot to come back too, to get more experienced with Rainforests and their protection. There is work for me here if I want to go back. The Wildlife of Taman Negara; Elephants (even some rhino’s), sun bear, tapirs, King Cobras, black Cobras, Tigers, more than 300 bird species, many insect species and micro fauna and most of all; The trees, the plants… incredible! I left the place with the last boat at 2 PM. A train left for Singapore at 1 AM that night, so I killed the time walking around through Jerantut.

Singapore City-Country

This country I’m experiencing together with a local family. Jeffrey was a person I met in the bus to Jerantut in Malaysia. He told me to contact him when I arrived in Singapore, but he was actually standing on the station when I arrived. That was a surprise to me, but I feel very lucky that I can experience this place this way, other than playing the usual tourist again. He has a typical Singapore house just outside of the center, 3 wonderful kids and a beautiful wife. His Cousin is a Cap-driver and showed us around the city. I haven’t seen a more detailed and beautiful Christmas decorations as here in Orchard road, Singapore. Singapore is huge to my eyes, small for the people here because it is a country as well as a big City. So it depends how you look @ it. The best way for me to discover the local traditions, dishes and habits. The Kids all practice Taekwondo, fighting mainly each other (joke). In Singapore you find the finest Noodle kitchen, carrot cakes, sateh and BBQ stingray. * Laksa = red Curry soup, with coconut flavor, seafood and noodles (delicious)! I’ve visited China Town and walked around the center. Shopping, shopping and more…shopping. I haven’t seen a more organized, well-developed and clean city in my life. So the sayings are true. The public transport system is an example for our world and the hygiene-arrangements are effective! But the electronics aren’t that cheap as I heard. I think that that time is over. Prices are practically similar, maybe a little less. But transportation by MRT (metro-train) is cheap and so convenient. One more day in this metropolis and I’m off for Indonesia. I’m looking forward to go and meet Jaco, who’s been there for 4-5 months already, working with the locals on the reintroduction of a bird species and protection plans for see turtles and a endemic macaque species. So the adventure continues…

2 Everyone....

I will be out of reach for a while…

So I have to wish you all

A LOVELY CHRISTMASS

A SUPERBE NEW YEAR

WITH LOADS OF LOVE AND HAPPYNEZZZZ

LOVE INEKE

I am in North Sulawesi, Indonesia...for christmass, to be precise... BatuPutih, Tangkoko...

This place is a beauty... amazing coralreefs, volcano's, black beaches....

very lovely people, friendly and happy... so thinking of you all, I will enjoy my christmass over here,

hot greetings, ****

Tuesday 28 December BALI