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The Big Trip Report Number 9 - Thu, 21 Nov 2002
G'day mates. Yes, we have arrived in Oz and the baking heat at the end of the
dry season in Darwin. This is Crocodile Dundee country, and we've just returned
from the Outback. But first you'll want to know where we've been since our last
report.
We left you in Yangshou in southern China, the land of bizarre egg-shaped limestone
karst mountains. It was incredibly beautiful. We biked around the countryside
with a local guide who took us to her village and cooked us a tasty lunch.
We then spent a couple of days in a small car free village perched on a mountainside.
Most of the mountain was covered with the most amazing rice terraces (referred
to as the Dragon's Backbone). The terraces carved the slopes into steps creating
wild geometric patterns. As well as being beautiful to look at they are almost
unfarmable due to the steep slope and small size of the terrace. Everything
must be done by hand. But in China, one thing they are not lacking is cheap
labor.
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It was then time for our final 24 hour train journey back to Beijing at a bargain
rate of $50 each. In Beijing winter had arrived (brrr). We did our final shopping,
packed up our 33 kg dive bag, said goodbye to Ian and Fiona before heading south
to the tropics and Palau.
Palau has some of the best diving in the world. There are loads of big fish
and small sharks. The down side was that we were back to expensive American
prices. Another treat was the boat trips out to the dive sites through hundreds
of small islands covered with lush foliage dotted throughout a calm turquoise
sea. It was paradise above and below the water. We also kayaked around the islands,
snorkeled with millions (literally!) of stingless jellyfish; and explored WWII
caves where the Japanese had holed up while battling American forces. There
were even still some bones and other artifacts left in the caves.
It was then on to Yap, another tropical paradise with a silly name. The main
attraction was the manta rays, and we dove with at least one of these huge graceful
creatures every day. We also met Kjeld and Elizabeth, a Danish couple, who managed
to get engaged underwater while diving. Congratulations guys! Yap is a very
traditional island where everybody chews betel nut, and so has blood red stained
teeth. We went to a cultural show in one of the villages where the men wore
loincloths, and the women were topless with colorful hibiscus skirts. The children
danced for us and we had a go at chewing betel. Didn't do much for us (obviously
an acquired taste). Yap is called the 'island of stone money' due to it's tradition,
still practiced amongst some of the locals, of bartering with huge carved stone
coins, some as big as 6 feet across. Needless to say, people didn't carry much
pocket change!
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Undaunted by recent events, we left Yap for Bali. Due to bad connections and
the cancellation of our direct flight from Taipei to Bali (presumably not enough
passengers) it took 48 hours to get there - very frustrating! However, when
we finally reached the Honeymoon Guesthouse in Ubud we soon forgot our troubles.
It was an amazing small hotel with beautiful individually decorated rooms set
in a traditional Balinese garden which contained one of the best designed swimming
pools we have ever seen. We certainly didn't feel like budget travelers anymore.
We really enjoyed Bali and its friendly and gentle population. The only depressing
thing was the severe problem the Balinese are facing because of the collapse
of the tourism industry. We did some great wreck diving and climbed an active
volcano at dawn. Both places would normally be full of other tourists but we
had them almost all to ourselves. So for anyone out there who is thinking of
going to Bali, don't let the bomb stop you. You'll have a great time.
We did visit Kuta while waiting to go to the airport and witnessed part of a
huge Hindu purification ceremony they were having at the bomb-site. It was strange
to be there now, having seen Ground Zero in New York last year.
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Anyway, that somber note brings us back to the present down under. We've just
spent the past 4 days camping and hiking in the bush, swimming in billabongs
and beating off vicious outback flies in Kakadu National Park (made famous by
Crocodile Dundee). This is a beautiful but harsh environment filled with tons
of life despite the ferocious heat. We've seen wallabies, frill necked lizards,
vast quantities of cool birds including flocks of cockatoos, magpie geese, cormorants,
etc. Oh yes, did we mention the crocodiles? This place is loaded with them,
both freshies (not usually dangerous) and salties (very dangerous). We went
boating at sunset down the Mary River, a site that boasts the highest concentration
of salties in the world! No swimming here!
Tonight we head to Cairns where we will be boarding a dive boat for 3 days to
check out one of nature's other greatest predators, sharks!
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