Malaysia

After picking up and dropping off our bags at Kuala Lumphur, the capital, we flew to Kuching and took a taxi to Logos Hope Ship and met up with our friends Steph (from Sudbury) and Marco. We had a tour of the ship, which is where we were going to be staying. Logos Hope is an aid ship goes around the world bringing help and hope, mainly educational as well as outreach.

the Logos Hope!

Our first day we were there, we both worked in the book store. Aaron worked as a parking assistant, gangway helper and helped sell tickets, and Becky was at the front desk repairing books and explaining the Journey of life, which explains the story of the prodigal son coming back to his father after he made some unwise decisions.

El Capitano the ship mascot

We enjoyed going out to food markets a few nights with different ship people and locals and having dinner there.

The next day we went on a connect day to a group called the Girls Brigade, made up of different churches. We gave a powerpoint presentation on Canada about our geography, animals and activities. Becky went to the younger group and Aaron to the older, we both did a drama and action songs. Becky sang a song and Aaron shared some testimony.

After we finished we were given a traditional dessert called ABC which is like a ice slushy with rice and fruit flavoured syrup and fruit pieces (this is their version of ice cream because dairy is very expensive and has to be imported in from New Zealand).

ABC's, and 'something else' with squid in the middle

We went to church on the ship on Sunday and ate at the night market with some people. We then were dropped off to spend a few days away from the ship. We stayed at a hostel in downtown Kuching and walked by the river. We went to the Sarawalk Cultural Village all day. There they had long houses and tall houses which are made out of wood and sticks or small boards. It was quite scary to walk on the tall houses that were 3 stories high with cracks in the floorboards that look unsteady. And we also climbed up a log that had narrow half steps cut out of them. There was a room where they had made clothes out of bark tree trunks. After we looked at some of the huts there we saw a really nice cultural performance with singing and dancing.

Then we went for a swim in the ocean with some of the ship people we met up with at the beach and headed back to the hostel. Aaron got lost trying to find an ATM machine. Our main outing in Malaysia was overnight to Bako National Park, with a guide. We travelled by boat to a rural peninsula, saw tons of stuff and learned a lot.

While we were there we were lucky and saw 4 kinds of monkeys: the Silver Leaf (long tail with orange babies),

Proboscis (males have a huge nose, but this is a female with a small nose),

Macaque (small and mischevious),

and Flying Lemurs which actually aren't monkeys...or lemurs!

We had meals included in our stay. While we were walking through the forest we came across a pool of wild spa fish. They were quite ticklish on the feet.

The park was very beautiful and we hiked to a remote beach which was gorgeous, and had more wild monkeys. We went swimming at the beach but stayed near the shoreline because it was jellyfish season and Aaron saw one nearby!

Selfie with our guide

There were wild boars (actually bearded pigs) walking around close to humans with its baby. We also saw some beautiful sunsets! Aaron went for a night hike.

 

The next morning we hiked up a hill and saw interesting plants that eat insects and small critters. We also saw an ant home that growths on trees. We returned to Kuching by boat and went to the museum and aquarium.

Animal-eating plant!

 

There was a Chinese temple we passed by and a history boutique. Then we took a taxi back to the ship to spend our last week in Malaysia. Becky served in Angels for a day which is the cleaning crew on the ship and Aaron served in deck crew peeling paint on the ship. The day after we both worked in the book hold where they store all the books for the bookstore and where they price the books and organize them. Becky enjoyed this process and spent another day pricing books. Aaron worked with the engine crew helping a welder.

That afternoon we went out with Steph and Marco to a museum and some gardens, and went exploring across the river in Kuching. We walked by some traditional Malay houses and a castle. While we were at an orchid garden Aaron noticed reported a few bamboo trees on fire. The staff didn't know about it and came running! It was a really crazy 'coincidence'.

Museum

Colourful Malay houses

Looks like a really special building...actually just a parliament

That night  we went to a huge Tribal gathering of churches across several provinces. To Aaron's surprise, Canadian David Damian was involved with it, who he knows from events back home. There was dance on the stage, worship and prayer.

The last few days we were on the ship, we had a tour of the engine room, which was super huge and cool. Our very last night on the ship there was a music concert on the ship, which was really special from all different cultures, and some local Malaysian artists as well. Aaron tried an instrument on stage made from the Philippines. There was also a local band from Kuching and we had some classical music too. Aaron also talked with people in the international cafe.

The very last day we were with Steph and crossed the river into a poor village on stilts that is directly across from the ship. They huts were run down and some of the board walks were run down, decaying and falling apart. There was lots of garbage around on the ground. Some of the children were unclothed. It was a drastic change to other places in the city. It was an eye opener to see how much we really do have in Canada next to these people that have nothing or very little.

After this we had lunch and left to the airport and took a flight out to London overnight. We were flying for a total of 15 hours that day. It was a bit sad to be leaving Southeast Asia probably for a long time, but the experiences we had there were special and we will remember them for the rest of our lives.

Thailand

And now the moment we've all been waiting for!

The day after we arrived in Thailand, we first stayed in Phuket. We took an airport bus to a small town where there was a small grocery store. This was the first place we visited that didn't have kitchens in the places we stayed. The culture is different in that people eat out a lot more at local shops or stalls, and for good reason: its really really cheap. We saw a few temples and had lunch nearby. At one of the temples we saw a large half buried Buddha statue, ornate buildings, statues and a museum.

The roads are heavy traffic with no cross lights and with crazy drivers and seemingly no rules. The next day we went to a close park beach close to our hostel. When we were on the beach it had garbage in some places. Becky stepped on a fishing hook, it hurt a little but luckily it didn't pierce her foot.

That afternoon we took a minibus to Khao Lak and settled in there and had dinner. Becky's temporary replacement wedding ring wore out so we got another. The following day we went to the beach close to our hostel and they were open access beaches near resorts which was cool. When we walked home from the beach and had dinner on the way, Aaron lost the key to our room so he went back and retraced his steps. He found the key a kilometre away by a fruit stand we went to thank God!

A different market

After that we went for a Thai massage and they flex every part of your body or press really hard on your back. Becky found it a very painful massage experience. Aaron found it a bit painful but still good. After Aaron went to a Thai boxing show and had to walk 5km back because he didn't have any money left and the dogs were following him.

The next morning we left for a 2 day tour. We had a scenic stop, elephant trekking fed them bananas, and fed monkeys too. One of the monkeys jumped on Becky's shoulder. While we were at this place feeding the monkeys, there was a funeral cremation procession coming in to the park with a long line of vehicles, to perform the traditional collecting of firewood.

Gopro elephant!

 

We had lunch by a river forest and had a tube river raft ride with a paddler at the back. We stopped at a place where there was fish feeding. And they stopped at another place on the river where they have us tea in bamboo cups. Then we went to a tree top jungle resort and had dinner and stayed there overnight.

Gopro swarming fish!

 

The next morning we watched Hillsong online live for Easter Sunday and they gave us an American breakfast. After breakfast we went for a rainforest walk and saw some monkeys and waterfalls and biting mini puffer fish. Becky went swimming in her clothes because the guide didn't tell us if there was swimming, and a puffer fish nipped at her toes twice and really freaked her out.

Traditional or silly...not sure

We then bused back to Phuket. Aaron watched Glad Tidings online for Easter too. We flew to Bangkok and arrived in the middle of the night to a hotel. The next day we took a confusing bus on skytrain to our airbnb guesthouse and couldn't find it because of all the narrow alleys. That night we took a ferry to a flower market and went to china town. The guesthouse owner had a bar where we ate.

Chao Phraya river, Bangkok

 

The following day we went to the main temple attractions Wat Arun, Wat Pho and also went on a long tailed boat through canals and went walking through Khao San road.

Beautiful and sad to see Buddhism and its expense

Becky picked up a cute elephant dress from the side market and we walked by monuments and a government building. Aaron dropped his new phone and it became his 2nd cracked phone. Then we took a Tuktuk (motor bike with a carriage at the back) ride home.

The next day we went to the Royal palace and temples, the big Buddah, a Songkran (new years) ceremony. The tuktuk drivers get commission at shops, and Aaron got suckered into (a good deal on) a tailored dress shirt.

The following day we took a skytrain and bus to Ayuthaya, which historically was a capital city. We had lunch and walked around the ruins and took a tuktuk tour ride to more ruins and temples and then we went to a floating market.

Becky also fed a goat and some fish through a little bottle. Then we bused home and had dinner at a Bangkok mall. The next day we packed and took the ferry to the main temple where we took a tuktuk tour to another temple and another suitshop (didn't get suckered in). But this time Becky did get suckered in to a nice ring at a jewellery shop. Then we headed to the mansion museum of the past governor and then walked to the ferry and boated home on the river.

That night we took an overnight train in sleeper berths to Chiang Mai, in the northwest of the country, which worked out very well. On the train and lots of other places, they only had squatting toilets, basically a hole in the ground with foot rests on the sides. Not to mention the spray hoses or buckets to clean yourself after...

We visited Tiger Kingdom, where you can see and touch tigers! Becky went to see the baby tigers and Aaron went to see the large tigers. We pet them, laid on them and took pictures with them. It was a bit scary for both of us. It was really cool to see them play too.

After this activity, we went to the Elephant PooPooPaper Park. At this place we learnt about the cleaning process of the elephant poo and other animals and how the straw like substance is separated to make paper. Becky made some paper crafts.

Next we went to see some crocodiles. We saw a trainer put his hands and head in the jaws of the crocodile before it closed shut! It was actually a bit of a sketchy place. We tried feeding the crocs with chicken on a stick but they weren't hungry.

The main reason we went to Chiang Mai was for the Songkran (New Years) Festival, which is the biggest in the country. One of the traditions there is to splash anyone and everyone with waterguns, buckets and even hoses, for 3 days! Thousands and thousands of tourists and Thai people gather every year for this purpose, in addition to some traditional Buddhist processions as well. When we went to go home it was a downpour of rain and we rode home in the Tuktuk with not much coverage from the rain. So we got soaked for a long ride to the hotel, and even then people were still throwing water at us!

The next day we walked around the city temples, ruins and markets, all the while being splashed and soaked.

We also visited a nice park garden which Becky enjoyed the most. In the main area there were tons of people around with water guns and buckets of water ready to splash anyone walking by, especially tourists. There was some live music and dance stages with people using hoses and pressure sprayers to shower the crowds with water. While this was going on there was also a Buddah Parade through the other streets.

Buddhist cleansing parade

That night we went out to eat and avoided the crowds and had our feet massaged and went out to a jazz bar. The following day we met up with Maaike Zeeman, a friend from Laurentian University, and went to the water dance stage and had lunch. Aaron got soaked while Becky had had enough and wore a poncho.

After this we went to the fish spa and had our feet tickled/nibbled by fish.

Gopro spa!

Thailand was first non-western nation in our trip, and we really enjoyed experiencing the change in culture, along with the beautiful country and wildlife. We had some of our most memorable experiences here.