Category: Uncategorized

I did not bring a pair of sandals with me on this trip so I decided to buy a pair at the first opportunity, which was in Cambodia. They had normal sandals for about $2-$3 (after bargaining). I saw another pair of the sport sandal type that looked to be more durable and better quality, but much more expensive: $8. I decided to splurge and bought that pair. Now I have worn those sandals every single day ever since (the one exception being during my Mt. Kinabalu climb, when I wore my walking shoes). I have easily walked over a hundred miles in them, over asphalt, cement, dirt, sand, rocks, hills, valleys, all sorts of rough terrain, through rivers, lakes, streams, beaches, grassy plains, meadows, rainforests, caves, climbed trees, towers, and thousands of stone steps. They have taken quite a lot of abuse. I almost lost them several times, but always got them back. My trusty sandals served me admirably and lasted my entire four-month trip! They are well-used, but still in wearable condition today! I have never had a pair of sandals withstand that kind of use and last this long. Hooray for my amazing Cambodian sandals!

The marketing slogan for Tonga is “Where Time Begins”. This refers to the fact that Tonga is the first country west of the International Date Line, so each day officially starts here ahead of the rest of the world.

For some reason I expected Tonga to be more primitive than Fiji, but it turned out to be the opposite. Tonga is more advanced and developed than Fiji. In fact the shower in my hotel room was the most technologically advanced shower I had ever seen! It was electronically operated, with a control panel to control the lighting, radio, jets, and water temperature. Tongan culture is also more distinct and advanced than Fiji culture.

I arrived in Tonga on a Saturday night. This turned out to be the worst possible day of the week to arrive. Because the plane was delayed by two hours, it was too late to do anything that evening. No problem, I thought, I can schedule some activities the next day. However it turns out that the entire island completely shuts down on Sundays, and I mean completely. Of course all shops and businesses are closed. But also all transportation – airline flights, buses, even taxis are unavailable. Even the hotel was shut down, closing the restaurant and front desk and all hotel staff left the hotel, leaving the guests in their rooms but with everything else closed. So an entire day was wasted. They even turned off the wireless routers before leaving, so I couldn’t even pass the time on the internet.

[Update: After walking all through town I finally did find one place that was open — a pretty good Chinese restaurant, and had dim sum there]

[Update: A nice guy took me on a tour of the island (you can drive around the whole island in about 2-3 hours), so the day wasn’t wasted after all!]

Swimming with a Whale Shark at Sail Rock was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. Another highlight occurred today, while swimming with giant Manta rays! I had seen Stingrays before while swimming and scuba diving, but never a Manta ray, and I had no idea that they could get that big. The biggest Stingray I had seen before was about 4 ft. wide. The Manta rays I saw today were up to about 13-15 ft! And they have been known to grow up to 25 ft! My friend Patrick took the picture on the left. I took a video of the Manta rays with my new underwater camera!

When I started my trip I hadn’t the remotest idea that I might end up in Fiji. The idea was planted in my head by my friend Pat, who was going to spend some time there after sailing from New Zealand. As I was winding down my tour of SE Asia, I decided it would be cool to meet up with him on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific. It also made logical sense, since it is sort of on the way home.

It was also harder than I thought to get to Fiji from where I was at the time (Borneo). But I’m really glad I decided to stop in Fiji.

Just kidding! I didn’t really hang out with the Sultan, though I did want to meet him. I found out that I could meet him and shake his hand, but only at the end of Ramadan when he opens his house to the public and holds a buffet for everyone one day a year. The rest of the time you can’t even get near the Palace. I found Brunei a somewhat strange place, a tiny country in the middle of Borneo, surrounded by Malaysia (in between Sarawak and Sabah). It’s an Islamic country so there is no alcohol allowed, even in the hotels, and no nightlife.

But Brunei does have a beautiful rainforest, with a great rainforest canopy walk.

I went to Langkawi, an island just off the west coast of Malaysia near the Thai border, mainly to meet up with my friend Derick. He kindly let me stay at his house, which made it very comfortable for me. Normally this place would be full of tourists, but this is low low season, so it’s deserted.

I also went parasailing here.