In conclusion...

The original plan for the big trip had us visiting 10 countries, with our flights home having an 11 hour stopover in Singapore, providing time to take advantage of the free tours offered by Changi airport for long layover passengers. The first trick was to get to Jakarta airport during the day, which almost subverted the whole plan, as the traffic was crazy and (at least according to James/google maps) the taxi driver took the wrong route to the airport, with the trip taking almost 2 hours. This created some unnecessary stress, but once checked in we were able to start to relax a little.

After arrival in Singapore, we checked in with the tour desk for our pre-booked tour, and asked them about a small issue we had identified that might cause trouble. namely, Gillian was 3 days over the "6 month validity" on her passport, which was a requirement for entry into Singapore. They told us to check with the immigration officials, who have a "trouble shooting" desk at the automatic immigration gates, but the only way to get in the queue to see them was to attempt entry and get rejected. This would have meant sitting outside the entry and waiting for hours until the tour, so we decided we would just wait and see whether being in transit would be sufficient for them to let us in. 

Once the tour group assembled, we all headed to immigration where, sure enough, Gillian was refused entry by the automatic gates. We got diverted to the desk with real people, but were still sitting there when the tour group departed. After finally getting to see someone, they gave us clearance to enter after a very brief discussion, but by that stage it wasn't such an attractive option if it meant having to figure out what we were doing for ourselves - planning fatigue had totally taken over by that stage and we figured that Changi airport had enough attractions to keep us entertained until 2am, when our flight departed. 

The end result was that our big trip included just 9 countries (😉), and a very long wait in Changi airport. We checked out the robot bartender, went to the butterfly enclosure, the cactus farm and every shop in the place (some of them twice). We considered the free movie theatre but decided against on the grounds that there was nothing interesting on and the risk of falling asleep and missing our flight was way too high. We had the most expensive glass of beer and glass of wine ever, and found a comfortable seating area where we could ignore each other and watch Netflix until it was time for the flight.

We got on the plane very tired, and managed to nap on the 7.5 hour flight to Sydney. Budget airlines don't provide great seats for sleeping (or any pillows), but the cheap price was adequate compensation. Upon arrival in Sydney we were a little surprised that our boots were deemed clean enough to go through Customs without required disinfecting after numerous jungle hikes. This also meant that we could get an earlier bus back to Canberra, where we were fortunate to find cheese in the fridge and wine in the wine rack. And a comfortable bed for our first night at home in 101 days.

Jakarta

We learnt throughout the trip that one day in a new city really puts the pressure on when it comes to trying to get a sense of the place. As a result, we booked a tour for our one day in Jakarta, to hit the highlights without having to think too much. Our guide, Enok, picked us up at 9.15, and we set out to see the cherry-picked attractions of Indonesia's capital.

First stop was the Mini Indonesia Museum (Taman Mini Indonesia Indah), which is not quite like what the name might suggest. This is a museum with an area dedicated to each of the 38 provinces of Indonesia, with the idea of giving a flavour of the diversity of the country in one place. It is quite impressively done, and the 2 hours allocated could easily have been stretched to the whole day. We visited the indoor museum first, with samples of fabric and traditional dress and artworks from across the country, including a big "tree of life" sculpture, which took us back to the start of our trip where we saw a similar concept in Karkhoum, Mongolia. 

We progressed to visit traditional Sumatran and Papuan houses (interrupting a Papuan birthday party along the way - Gillian wouldn't let James accept the offer of cake). Enok was open to us going to the places of personal interest and discovered this was a mistake when James saw the sign to the Komodo reptile house, which has a collection of (among other thing) Komodo dragons. We decided that this was going to be an addition to the tour, and proceeded to spend an hour there, seeing lots of interesting creatures in addition to the dragons. They included a poison dart tree frog, a fluorescent blue snake and a reticulated python. This was of particular interest, as they are one of the apex predators in Borneo, where they hunt baby orangutans and other monkeys. They have also been known to kill and eat humans, with several relatively recent incidents where they killed middle aged women foraging in the jungle. Gillian is not a fan.

Having successfully subverted the timetable of the day we moved on to lunch, ordered for us by Enok at an Indonesian restaurant. When the food arrived, it was clear that she seemed to have mistaken us for 4 people, with an enormous variety (and quantity) of dishes landing on the table. Despite heroic efforts, there was no prospect of finishing it all, despite it being very tasty.

After lunch, we drove by the Istiqlal Grand Mosque and the Jakarta Cathedral, sitting across the road from each other in an intentional show of Indonesian religious tolerance. They are connected by a tunnel under the road, opened for special occasions, such as the Pope's visit in 2024. It's a powerful show of the acceptance of diversity in a majority Muslim country. We went from there to the national monument - according to Enok, a visit to the Mini Museum and the Monument (the two "must see" sights) meant that we could now officially claim to have visited Jakarta.

We drove through Chinatowm, and after a brief stop at a puppet making workshop we arrived in old Batavia, the administrative heart of the city from Dutch colonisation. It was a striking contrast to everywhere else, with a clear European tone, that extended to an old canal system. It is now a popular recreation spot, with a band setting up in the late afternoon as the sun was starting to fade and the square was filling up with kids finished with school for the day. 

As we headed home it started to get dark, with ominous clouds rolling in. It turns out we timed things perfectly as the wet season rain came belting down about half an hour after we got to our apartment, probably the heaviest rain we had seen on the whole trip. We were glad not to have to worry about going out for dinner, after our excessive lunch!

Orangutans

Borneo was the next destination, more specifically Pangkalan Bun in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. This is the nearest airport to the biggest orangutan reserve in the world, Tanjun Puting National Park. We were met by our guide for the following 4 days, Hakim, who took us to the river town of Kumlai where we got on a boat to go up the Sekonyer river to our resort - which is only accessible by water (for all intents and purposes). 

The river is really the heart of the experience in this part of the world, as it runs along the edge of the park, which is a jungle with few other means of access. Dotted along the river are a series of feeding stations for the orangutans and in between, the game is wildlife spotting along the banks. There is a steady stream of boats up and down the river, mostly with just couples aboard during the time we were staying, although there were a few bigger tourist groups. We were one of the many groups of two. The most popular accommodation is sleeping on board, parked somewhere along the river. We had a proper room with air conditioning! 

Although we didn't see anything on our way up to the camp, the action started on the very first afternoon as we checked in. In addition to orangutans, the area is home to a huge variety of other wildlife, and the resort is a popular place for proboscis monkeys and macaques. There was a troop of proboscis monkeys in the trees around the resort to welcome us as we checked in. We became reacquainted with them the next morning at 5am or so when they decided to jump out of the trees and onto the roofs of the cabins. 

After a brief chance to get our bearings, we were off to the first feeding station to see our first orangutans. We joined a group of tourists as bananas were dumped on a platform (roped off so we couldn't get too close. We had spotted a bunch of orangutans hanging around (literally) and about 10 descended onto the platform to attack the bananas. Proceedings were mostly controlled by a large matriarch, although quick hands allowed some of the junior monkeys to grab bananas without permission occasionally. It was pretty amazing to see them all up close.

Most of the orangutans who attend the feeding stations are either rescued or "second generation" orangutans, habituated to human presence. Numbers depend on the current food sources ,and occasionally none will show up at all for the regular feedings. Ten was a relatively small number, a good sign for conditions in the jungle. The main goal, however, is to spot orangutans in the wild, feeding close to the riverbanks as you cruise past in your boat. We were lucky enough to do just that on the way back to the resort, which was a genuine thrill - for our guide as well who was quite excited to show us wild orangutans, even after doing the job for 18 years. 

The routine for the next couple of days was set, and early morning cruise up the river, siesta after lunch, followed by another cruise along the river from 3pm until around sunset. We got a spectacular experience of a lot of the jungle wildlife, with macaques and proboscis monkeys featuring regularly (we saw enough that we got bored with them!). We saw 12 orangutans in the wild, which was apparently a pretty large number, along with a variety of birdlife including the stork billed kingfisher and the pied and black hornbills. Even though we were there for the orangutans (mission accomplished!), the highlight might have been seeing a sun bear eating honey from a wild beehive, high in a tree next to the river. This was an incredibly rare sighting, as they are quite shy of humans, and only the second Hakim had seen in 18 years. We were also fortunate to see some Storm's storks (appropriately, about half an hour before a massive downpour), of which there are only about 500 left, spread through Malaysia and Indonesia.

We also had another visit to a (different) feeding station, where only 4 orangutans showed up. Good for them, not as good for the tour groups, except that the alpha male who was present walked right by us to get to the food, which was a pretty spectacular up close and personal interaction. 

The rest of the stay included a night walk through the jungle, with reflective spider eyes everywhere, a viper spotting, several sleeping birds, glowing fungus and a couple of tarantulas. Gillian wasn't super impressed with the guide inducing them to attack a stick from their hidey holes... We also took a canoe trip up a small tributary, where we saw lots of macaques and proboscis monkeys, a crested serpent hawk and a mock viper. 

On the final day, we visited the local village and planted a tree each in the school grounds, which was a nice experience. Part of the package we signed up for included contributions to local conservation efforts, and the whole thing was geared around tourism-based employment for people in the local area, rather than working on palm oil plantations, including the resort staff. There was a lot of relaxing on the boat up and down the river, and a LOT of food (tasty, but we could never finish a meal). It was a great experience. 

We finished up with a visit to a traditional long house of the Dayak tribe on the way to the airport, which included a chance to try out our skill using a blowdart. James was quite impressed with himself after hitting just outside the bullseye of the target provided, doing better that Hakim. Gillian, however, topped both of them for accuracy and was declared the expert. The only downside to the whole visit was a long delay for our flight back to Jakarta, after an impressive rainstorm forced the incoming plane to divert to another airport, causing a 3 hour delay. It was a price we were happy to pay. 

Kuala Lumpur

After a quick flight from Penang we found ourselves in Kuala Lumpur for a couple of days. We had a place to stay in the middle of the city, and it turned out that the check-in directions through booking.com were pretty basic so it took some finding, which caused some minor aggravation at the start. Despite this, a good view and a washing machine made up for a lot as we settled in. 

The first stop the next day was Batu Caves, on the outskirts of the city, where there is a limestone hill rising straight up out of the ground, with caves at the top. The caves are dedicated to a series of Hindu temples, and there is a whole complex centred around the entrance. One noticeable feature as we approached was the large number of monkeys, ready to harass the tourists for anything they could get away with. We resisted, but there were plenty of people who didn't and we were glad to leave them to their monkey friends.

Climbing up to the temples was the first test, with nearly 300 (steep!) steps to get to the top. Once there, it was interesting to explore the various different temples located in the large caverns. They even came with their own poultry, as we discovered with some surprise on hearing a rooster crow. It is a popular attraction, and being close to Diwali, there was a steady stream of people approaching priests for blessings.

When we got to the bottom we visited one of the secondary temples and were summoned for a blessing of our own. The priest was disappointed when he found out we had no cash to make a donation... 

The final section on the way out was another cave, this time with an entrance fee, and a brochure extolling us to enjoy the "natural wonder" of the cave. When we entered, we were amused to see coloured LED lighting everywhere, along with a painted display of statues illustrating different Hindu stories. Any "natural" aspect had been well and truly suppressed, and the cave was one of the tackier tourist traps we had found ourselves in for the whole trip. It did provide us with some amusement, however.

Further exploring took us to the Kuala Lumpur Botanic Gardens where we had a late lunch and explored the orchid and hibiscus gardens. We managed to avoid the afternoon downpour on the way back home, and after it dissipated we jumped in the building pool. For dinner we headed into Jalan Alor, one of the best know street food areas in KL. Gillian didn't fancy ordering frog, but we definitely did manage to order more food than was reasonable - and eat it all. 

Breakfast was optional on our last day, and we headed in to the city centre to wander around the older parts of the city. The architecture throughout has a noticeably Islamic influence, also seen in the Petronas Towers - strikingly visible from our flat. We wandered through markets in Chinatown and also visited Merdeka Square, which front onto the Royal Selangor Club, a remnant of British rule and now a sporting a social club mainly for expats living Malaysia. A big lunch left us feeling lazy when it came to dinner, so we took advantage of the rooftop cafe in our building, and had a light dinner with a view to celebrate the end of our short Malaysian stay. And a beer/glass of wine or two. 

A day in Penang

Penang was the next destination, more specifically the old town section, Georgetown. This was the centre of the British administration, when that was a thing, and is now a real melting pot of varied cultures and communities. Our first taste of that was on the night we arrived, when walking to dinner we came across a street parade (at 9.30pm, no less) for the Chinese mid-Autumn festival. 

The next day we spent criss-crossing the streets of Georgetown and exploring. First destination was the clan jetties, where family groups from different parts of China set up communities, fishing and trading posts. A lot of the area was destroyed in WWII, but there has been a concerted effort to conserve and rebuild, with the jetties becoming a tourist attraction in the process. There are still a large number of people permanently living there, mixed in with a wide range of tourist trap shops.

We walked through the rest of Georgetown gradually throughout the day, and explored Armenian Street - although no longer a hub for the Armenian community, Chinatown and a range of temples and old mansions. We also got a tour of the local mosque, which was built in 1801 by Indian Muslim traders. Malaysia is the first country we visited on the trip with a significant Muslim population, and it was interesting to see mosques as a common feature, amongst the familiar Buddhist and Hindu temples.

Our explorations were great, with the layout and architecture making it a very rewarding place to explore, with a lot of little nooks and crannies to stick your head into. The food is excellent, with a range of different cuisines on offer. Malaysia has been a place with a variety of influences so we found it difficult to find distinctly local cuisine, it's really more of a fusion, for the most part. However, we did find some nasi lemak for dinner, which is the national dish of Malaysia. Or so we were told.

There is a huge variety of street art around the city, including a series of 80 bent metal sculptures exploring the history of the place. It all lends to the ambience and the interest that makes Penang worth a visit. 

We finished the day with a post dinner cocktail at one of the few places that was open on a Monday night. We were greeted at the door by a concerned looking bar tender who wanted to make sure we knew we were entering a bar and not a restaurant (we definitely didn't look young a cool enough). They had a line of cocktails "inspired" by the seven deadly sins. James went for Envy, Gillian for Wrath. Read into that what you will...

Long transfers, lazy days

We decided to travel from Bangkok to Koh Samui via the overnight sleeper train, which departed at 8.30pm. We had a little hesitation, especially as by the time we booked it there were no separate (first class) cabins available, which meant we'd be out there with the hoi polloi. Once we got on the train we were pleasantly surprised with the setup, which offered enough privacy and comfort to keep us happy - although you wouldn't want to be any taller than James' 170 cm if you fancied stretching your legs out fully. Once strapped into our beds, we didn't reemerge until about 6.30 the next morning, ready for our (nominal) 7.15 arrival.

The train was a little late, but we got off at Surat Thani to find spruikers for a bus/ferry combo to Koh Samui as we got off. We randomly picked one and had time for a coffee before getting on the bus for the hour long ride to the ferry over to the island. Waiting on the ferry we managed to spot one of the local (apparently pink, we couldn't tell) dolphins splashing around near the dock, with the tempting view of the islands on the horizon. After a 90 minute ferry ride and locating a local tuk-tuk, we arrived at the selected resort - tired from an interrupted night's sleep on the train.

There are a host of things to do and see on Koh Samui - apparently. We didn't leave the resort! There was a decent restaurant, a nice beach with shade and a good little swimming pool. Given the amount of moving we'd done in the lead up we decided that lazy was the name of the game and we spent the next 2.5 days sitting around reading, sleeping and drinking cocktails. It was great. The highlight was heading down to the (west facing) beach for sunset each evening, with the second evening providing one of the better photos of the trip.

Departure from Koh Samui saw us with a 15 hour transfer to Penang - with a taxi, then ferry, then van, then another van, a border crossing followed by more time in the van. While a long day, it wasn't terrible with relatively comfortable seats in the vans, plenty of chances to get out and stretch our legs, and the border crossing went smoothly enough. 

The biggest drama was arriving late into Georgetown and desperately wanting some dinner at 9pm on a Sunday night. Our hotel host pointed us in the direction of the local party street, where we found a nice little Indian restaurant to finish off the day before collapsing into bed.

A big city and an old friend

Bangkok was our next destination. and our first time back in a big city for a long time. It also happened to be the place our friend, Wakana, had just moved to for work (only a few days before we got there!). One of the highlights was being able to catch up with her while we explored Thailand's capital. Naturally, we started off with dinner the night we arrived...

The next day saw us visit Wat Phra and the Grand Palace, with the first being the biggest temple in Bangkok and the second the home of the Emerald Buddha, which is the "paladin of Thailand" and had been a source of our curiosity since visiting its former home in Vientiane. Unfortunately, no photos allowed... We were able to see plenty of interesting features, that seemed to be hurried past by other tourists intent on the perfect selfie or portrait. We had to think about whether it was ruder to walk through the frame of the shot, or to block traffic while you took photos amongst hundreds of other tourists.

After the two big attractions, we attempted to take a canal boat ride back to the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre, but Google maps let us down with ferry timetabling, so a bus was required instead. On the up side, Wakana got her first tuk-tuk ride, and we experienced the wonders of the Bangkok bus system, complete with wooden floors and a cranky driver who got sick of the traffic and just kicked us off between bus stops when we were close to the destination. The BACC had a range of interesting exhibits, mostly themed around the environment, and also some interesting architecture. Afterwards we found a little local restaurant for dinner.  

The next couple of days were a bit slower, to aid our mental recovery after quite so long travelling. We did manage a canal boat ride, which was an interesting experience, as well as visiting a couple of attractions across the river from the main part of town - Wat Arun and the old Portuguese quarter, Kudichin. This was particularly interesting and included a museum detailing the Portuguese contribution to the city over the course of 500+ years. A particular challenge was getting there through the maze of alleyways and canal paths, after having approached from the "more complicated" side. James does choose some interesting navigation at times! The quarter also included a Catholic church, which made a stark change from the temples of the previous few months. There was also a cultural dance show, which Gillian dragged James along to - he only had a short nap partway through! We also managed a farewell dinner with Wakana, in the midst of a massive rainstorm.

A final day in Bangkok had us leaving the apartment as late as possible and checking our bags at the train station (the most frustrating experience imaginable!), and a half day of museums and wandering through back streets. We managed a tasty dinner of street food in Bangkok's Chinatown before heading back out for our overnight train.