Malaysia

Petronas Twin Towers, originally uploaded by jokecamp.

Football in Ipoh, Malaysia, originally uploaded by jokecamp.

Chicken Satay, originally uploaded by jokecamp.

From Singapore I took the train north into Malaysia. My first stop was Kaual Lumpur. The city was huge and bustling with activity. It was not the most pedestrian friendly city and I often found myself dodge motorbikes and cars. The food was quite tasty and the prices keep getting better and better as I go north. I got a chance to go up into the bridge in the twin towers picture above. They are quite impressive and really light up the night sky.

From Kaula Lumpur I took a bus north to the city of Ipoh. I didn't stay long as I realized I didn't really have much reason for visiting. I did get to watch some local amateur Malaysian football at the park.

After Ipoh I went to the island of Penang. The island is right of the coast of Malaysia and I got there easily via the ferry. The island used to serve as an old British fort. The island had narrow streets and tons of food hawkers. The chicken satay was delicious. After a few days in Penang the next stop was north via the train into Thailand.

Singapore

Singapore Flyer, originally uploaded by jokecamp.

I've been in Singapore the last few days. The whole country is one huge city. Its not too cheap either. But I was able to find a cheap hostel in the Little India neighborhood. The public transportation system is impressive though and the city is very clean.

This picture is fun because they had a floating soccer field that you can see in the bottom right. Then on the left they are in the process of constructing a whole new section of the city for living and playing. Luxury places and casinos. Singapore is centered around business and money.

Diving the Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef, originally uploaded by jokecamp.

SCUBA Joe, originally uploaded by jokecamp.

I've gone from the central Australian desert to the tropical rain forest and coast.

I just finished a five day SCUBA diving course. We spent two days in the classroom/pool learning how to dive. Then we spent three days staying on the dive boat off the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia.

The reef was amazing. The fish and life down on the reef is bursting with activity. You see hundreds of fish once you peer down into the water. Diving underwater was a completely foreign experience but the entire group was able to dive comfortably after a couple dives. I still need to work on not breathing through my air so fast.

The best was the chance encounters with reef sharks. They were quite passive and we usually scared them away. We saw several sharks, some over a meter in length.

We also did a few special dives. We did a night dive in which we had to jump into the water while we could see sharks swimming around the boat. We did a deep dive of 25 meters and checked for nitrogen narcosis. Then the last dive I did was with an underwater digital camera where I tried to take a few decent shots. Not so easy to focus when the current is bobbing you up and down.

The reef was beautiful. It lives up to the reputation.

The Outback

Driving through the Outback, originally uploaded by jokecamp.

Sunset at Uluru, originally uploaded by jokecamp.

The Road Ahead, originally uploaded by jokecamp.

Well I survived the trip through the outback. The trip started in Adelaide and ended in Alice Springs. We drove well over 2000 kilometers over eight days. Zig-zaging our way north over lonely paved and dirt roads.


Along the way we visited the Flinders Ranges, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Angorichina, took the Oodnadatta Track along the Old Ghan Railway, saw Lake Eyre, and visited William Creek (population of about 9), stayed underground at the opal mining town of Coober Pedy, Kings Canyon and finally Alice Springs. It was exhausting. There was sweltering heat. Extremely dry. Little to no shade. Thousands of flies swarmed your face relentlessly. It was seriously the most fun I've had in Australia yet. Our fearless group of thirteen was great. If I could of I would of wished the tour to go on for another eight days.


Oh and we saw plenty of kangaroos. They are actually quite tasty.