emm…as usual, i have the habit of writing “the 2nd last post” before writing the “the last post” article prior to any travel adventure. hehehehe. but i think, its ok, since its kinda like a list of things that i have to take into account before travelling.

Issues

we actually have a big issue at hand. rinjani becomes active since may 2009. This is not welcomed at all. i think they have raised the alert level to level III. basically, at this warning level, you have to stay away from the center of eruption at a radius of 2-3 km. this means that we cannot camp at plawangan sembalun. we can go up to plawangan but have to go down as soon as possible. this makes all planning go hairwire.

change of plan

so…we have to change our plan. we have few choices. 1st choice is to climb up to the 3rd post, camp there, and go up at the wee hour of the next morning and try to catch the sunrise at plawangan. after that, we descend to post 3 or maybe we can go out straight to sembalun lawang. if we choose this option, we are going to take 2-3 days in rinjani alone.

2nd choice is like the 1st one but originate from senaru. its gonna be hell of a journey since it is longer. just imagine, the last time that i went to rinjani, we took like a day to trek down from segara anak to senaru. And the best part was… we were running. cant u imagine if we were not to run and…we trek up from senaru. Its going to take, not twice but thrice the amount of time to get to senaru plawangan. we have to camp somewhere. So the plan will be 2 days of trekking up and 2 days of going out to senaru. this will taxed up the time in bali. basically, we will not have time in bali. maybe 1/2 to 1 day only.

3rd choice is to scrap rinjani. proceed with plan C: bali touring…emm emmm…so hard to resist

GR – General Reminder

I have to get the following things done before the trip:

1. repair shoes, trekking trousers, repair flash?
2. charge slr batteries
3. settle pending jobs….arrghhh. actually i have 2 pending jobs… :-p
4. locate my sleeping bag
5. what else…emm…will write them when i do remember.

ok guys, this is not a new news. this is a confirmed trip. will be flying to bali and lombok at the end of the month ( next month ).

arey suggested that we elongate the trip to 2 days extra. would love to do it. i think, i have to extent. i dont want to miss bali like the last trip. the 2 days extra will make way for photo shoot out of an event in bali. and of course…i dont want to miss a thing.

i have been longing for a new lense. thinking of an ultra wide angle (UWA). ding-dong-ding between canon 10-22 and tokina 11-16 f2.8. reviews tend to favour tokina. missed the oppurtunity to buy tokina at sim lim square. it was just rm 2100++. That was cheap. i have thought twice and i really hate it. i have been used to make purchase instantaenously, without thinking further or plan before hand. kind of like impulse buying. but i did not do it, and i really regret.

this year, i have purchased the following travelling gears:

1. deuter .. a big backpack, more than 60L
2. sony handycam
3. coleman trekking poles x 2
4. smaller backpack that i use everyday to carry my laptop and cameras
5. toothbrush holder
6. a deuter cargo back

and im looking forward to buy

1. tokina 11-16 f2.8. must buy before rinjani, or i will lose the much needed wide angle views
2. tempted to buy 18-50 f2.8 as well as 70-200 f2.8, work hard and i will get this
3. a new shoes. my acg is experiencing tearing down
4. cooking stove…the liquid one. would love to get coleman stove instead of MSR. MSR is damn expensive here in malaysia.

emm…that is my wish list. hopefully to get it done this year.

if i dont get married next year, i will be planning an australia-nz trip next year. so .. cya ozie girls.

hi there,

i know, i have not finish my previous write up for the hanoi-sapa-hanoi-halong bay trip in february. but on the contrary i would love to write another piece on our recent trip to Singapore. Still looking for time to write a lengthy review but in short here it is:

day 1

1. went to singapore from 29/4/2009 to 1/5/2009. bought airasia return tix for RM 160. it is quite cheap. in fact the taxi fare from my place to LCCT costed me RM 70 one way. The return fare was cheaper at RM 52 only.
2. departed from lcct at 10 and arrived at changi at 10.50 am. Roughly, it took 40 minutes to arrive in Singapore. The weather was ok. my 1st impression of changi was WOW….it is far far far better than KLIA. No wonder changi has been repeatedly voted the best airport in the world.
3. took MRT from changi to bugis station. And it only costed 1.40 SGD. That is damn cheap for a 30 minutes journey. We walked to the-inncrowd backpackers hostel. Paid the rest of the bill and continue to our dormitory on campbell street. the room was ok but not as advertised on the-inncrowd.com … why why why?
4. had to do some work before going to sim lim square. arggghhh…i hate work on vacation. surveyed the 11-16 f2.8 tokina canon mount. it is around RM 2100++. Quite cheap, tempted to buy it but it is still early.
5. after that, went to see the lion . “the melion” near the fulllerton building. Singapore architecture is simply amazing. Went to the esplanade @ durian shaped structure.
6. went to the singapore flyers and had dinner @ popeyes. Not bad lah…loves the mash potatoes. The chicken is quite crispy and hot.
7. went back to the inn and sleep

day 2

1. heard some girls just could not sleep well. Few persons snored…hueheuheueh.
2. had breakfast at a nearby mamak. will recall the name later…its inside my handycam. had a big murtabak. mine was mutton and todd had chicken. the murtabak was chopped into 4 slices and i think 1 slice is what we malaysian would typically have normally.
3. went to arab street…near kampung glam. went shopping for cloth, woman cloth especially. Todd got bored and i asked him to leave. he went to look for bicycle’s shops. continued shopping till 1.30.
4. Prayed at masjid sultan and rush to capture todd at orchard road. oh…god, why is this place full of shopping complexes. i wonder how, i wonder why…. We strolled along orchard road and had a cup of sundae in front of … oh i forgot again, heeren, the name of the shopping commplex. something like shesheens.
5. went back to the-inncrowd. leave the cloths. had a chat with amid from the uk. went back to robinsons. bought 3 t-shirts. had dinner at Lau Pa Sat. We had satay. 10 chicken, 5 mutton, 5 beef, and 5 big shrimps.
6. met vietnamese girl in lau pa sat. they were friendly. their english is very vietnamete . they were buying satay too.
7. going back at 11 pm.
8. sleep at the couch.

day 3

1. met azie and eda at little india mrt station
2. had breakfast at some restaurant along dunlop street. had chapati. not that nice…i think ok lah. no nasi goreng…grr grrrr
3. went back to hostel at pack up. stored our bag at the reception
4. went to sentosa island. went there via mrt. watched the dolphin show. strolled along the beaches. went to underwater world. underwater world was nice.
5. had dinner at a foood court @ sentosa
6. went back to bugis and pick up the bag at the inn crowd. went back to mrt and proceed to changi.
7. had tea with charles at changi
8. bought cordless phone @ changi
9. boarded the flight at 7.10 pm. arrived at lcct @ 8.10 pm.
10. the end.

emm…i am in the middle of writing the vietnam trip report when aishah suddenly showed me the southern new zealand map and the places that she has been to. So this post will consist everything we need to know for the upcoming trip:

map - http://www.backpack-newzealand.com/mapofsouthisland.html

backpacking info – http://www.backpack-newzealand.com

hi all,

we have just returned back from a very adventurous trip to hanoi, vietnam. It was not 100% pre arranged but we think we had secured one of the best deal in town. Just imagine, in that short 7 days, we have managed to cover 7 places altogether. Below is the summary of what happened in vietnam, “the land of flat butts”:

DAY 1

arrived in LCCT early, by around 12 am. Rearranged the food ration and trying to sleep but i just could not do that. Others arrived as late as 530 am and we rushed to check in the baggage. I think the guy at the counter were trying to cheat us. I think he pocketed some money from the baggage weighing machine.

wandering at noi bai international airport

anyway, we departed at 6.30 am and prayed Subuh prayer inside the plane. It was full house with vietnamese and i..myself sat beside a german/switzerland couple. After three hours of flight, we touched down at noi bai international airport in hanoi. The weather was like foggy, i am not sure, is it haze or something else.

upon embarking the arrival hall, we called ms tho but failed. Tried several times and finally we got thru. Since we have already booked thai binh hotel, we decided not to take ms tho service.  its kinda disappointment to me since i really appreciate being accompany by a local. Local people means localized information at your finger tips .

We took a van/mini bus to the city center, specifically to the mango hotel. The cost was USD 20 and i think, it is ok lah. The cost might be cheaper if we pay in dong. after 30-45 minutes of travelling, we arrived at the mango hotel. To our suprise, we do not need to pay for the train ticket, i think we will only required to pay when we arrived at the hotel. Anyway, we got a tourist class Livitrans ticket from Ha Noi to Lao Chai. But we need to wait until 8.40 am to embark on the train journey. It was still 10 am in Ha noi and we decided to put our baggage in the train station. For one locker, we pay like 17000 dong. The staffs at the train station were nice. They did not overcharge us and we just have to show the train ticket to qualify for the locker service. Thanks to Mr. Nam Hong for his tips.

nisa restaurant, hoan kiem lake, ha noi

And after that, we asked the locker man to show us the way to Hu Huan street in which Nisa restaurant is located. Although we did not understand what he said, but based on the pointers he draws on the map, we managed to reach nisa restaurant at noon. Nisa restaurant strategically located near Hoan Kiem Lake at the old capital or Old Quarter. We were greeted by the restaurant manager Mr Azhar and we quickly ordered our food. I had “pho” – pronounced as “fur”. It is basically a bowl of noodle with meat slices. Some what like “Mee Sup”. The pho was nice. 4 of us had pho while the rest enjoyed the meat beriyani. Nisa restaurant is one the two remaining Malay Moslem Halal restaurant in Ha Noi. The meal and the drink cost us around 4-5 USD per person.

after that we proceed to the one and only mosque in Hanoi. I think it was 15-20 minutes walk from Nisa Restaurant. The mosque is currently being renovated. We took a rest for 20 minutes while waiting for the Asar prayer.

On the way to the mosque, we bumped upon some tour operator. We asked for the tour to Halong Bay – pronounced in vietnamese slang “halong by”. The cheapest we can get was USD 33 for a 2 days one night tour. All meals included which means we will get lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch again. We think it was a good deal as Azhar from nisa restaurant did offer us a one day trip which is closed to USD 40 per person. We have not made our decision yet coz i would like the team member to recalculate their budget to include the halong bay trip cost.

tranquility of hoan kiem lake

After praying, we quickly search for Hanoi Youth Hotel. Hanoi youth hotel is situated at 33, Luong Van Can St. We negotiated for 2 rooms with 4 person in one room for the last day of our trip. Few steps away, there is the sinh cafe tour agent. We booked the halong bay excursion from him. We paid for USD 33 per person. After that, we quickly walked to the train station thru the Hoan Kiem Lake. Hoan kiem lake was beautiful. You can see several woman offering the service of measuring your weigh. I think this is a good service. It promotes healthy lifestyle within the hustle and bustle of the city life. A lot of hanoian run around the lake and that makes me wanna live in hanoi

we arrived at the train station early. I think around 7 pm. We had coffees and some pancake while waiting for the train. At 8 pm, we quickly moved to the Mango hotel to board on the livitrans coach to Lao Chai. As advised by apek, we did not give our baggage to stranger but unfortunately one man tries to help us by showing the way to our coach. We thought that he was one of the livitrans helper. He ended up asking for several USD for his service. Syed, i think had given him 1 USD and told him to go away from our cabin.

Livitrans cabin was ok. We were greeted by a beutiful lady and that just made our day…hahaha. We were given 1 small drinking water, a chocholate wafer and a wet tissue. The bed and pillow… i think was ok too as we had a good sleepover on the train. We did not have our dinner as we really need that sleep for our next day trekking up the phang xi pan mountain.

syed on his livitrans bed

day 2

at around 5 am, the “stewardess” knocked on our doors signalling that we were about to reach lao chai. We stopped at lao chai @ 540 am and find our way out of the station. I spotted a man holding a placard with my name and i quickly approach him and he excorted our entourage to the mini bus. That morning lao chai train station was busy as usual. We were not the only passengers in that van, but with us were 1 euro couple and 1 french lady.

we continue our journey to sapa. i think we took nearly 40 minutes to reach Sapa from Lao Chai. I could spot a lake on the way up to sapa. When we reached thai binh hotel, we could feel the strong wind that awaits us in the mountain. We were greeted by Mr. Pham Nam Hong and a lovely smile from Ms. Feng. We were served a welcoming drink and we took that oppurtunity to have our breakfast. And you guess what, we had high 5 bread with anchovies sambal plus beef floss. Mr Nam had given us the key to 2 rooms so that we can take our shower before climbing mount fansipan. Indeed, we really need the shower. After 2 days of not taking bath, a hot shower had really refreshened our body, mind and soul.

After bath, we quickly repacked our bag. Everybody gave all foods, sleeping bags and cooking utensils to the porter while we only carried a small bagpack with us. We had 4 porters and 1 guide. Our guide name is Mr. Nam. He is a young man, aged 26 years old and he is very energetic. He had climbed mount fansipan 40 times and with us, he is going to make his 41st. At 9, we started our journey to Tram Ton Pass. Tram Ton pass is the starting point for all climbers who want to conquer mount fansipan. We stopped by Hong Lien Son National Park office. Mr Nam handed our name and obtained the climbing permit for us.

if i am not mistaken, we reached tram ton pass by 10 pm. We didnt waste anytime and started to trek. Actually, i didnt really timed our journey up to fansipan. May be it is because, i am always late and i will be the last man to arrive at the checkpoints. hahaha.

Anyway we arrived at a campsite at 1 pm local time. we cooked our lunch i.e. rice and sardine. Actually, the porter had already cooked the rice for us. Its just that some of us who are very pious did not feel comfortable eating the rice. There is a nearby waterpoint at the campsite and also WC..(“some called it WelCome…hahaha”)

We continued our journey at 2pm and the first part was an ascend of about 20m of nearly 90 degrees. after that the journey continues on a flat land. It was like walking on a range before going through several 70 degrees ascend. We reached our campsite at about 5-6pm.

We camped inside a hut built by the monk who used to climbed fansipan. The guide said that they perform prayers at the top of fansipan because fansipan is the highest peak before you reached the sky in indocina. I think that means, by reaching fansipan summit, the closer you get to the god. Anyway, fansipan means, the stone between the earth and the sky/heavens.

We had a good dinner.,,,

day 3

day 4

day 5

day 6

day 7

day 8