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Big Adventure
  • Réka Fehér
  • Alex McKenzie

Big Adventure

Juhu, we are embarking on our 6 months of travel via North America and South East Asia. Bobo will manage our residence in Berlin, while we are away. Read more
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  • Big Adventure

    Bukit Lawang: apes everywhere!

    Jul 20–28, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Bukit Lawang is a small, touristy village right in the middle of the jungle. I know I said that Tuktuk is also in the middle of the jungle, but this one is _really_ in the middle of the jungle. Check out those macaques (like grown up Georges) just chilling on the power lines! I spent several mornings just watching the monkeys while drinking my coffee.

    Of course the main point of coming to Bukit Lawang is to enter the wilds, which we did a couple of times, guided of course by expert locals. The national park right next to Bukit Lawang village is unfortunately quite overcrowded, so while we saw orangutans there (wow!!) they were semi-wild, and the fact they were willing to come so close to the massed humans was not a good sign. :(

    On our next trek, which included an overnight camp, we again saw orangutans but from a much greater distance, as wild orangutans are (sensibly) rather wary of humans. Check out that amazing cave we saw!

    We also met some really lovely people here, including Andrea, who runs the guesthouse we stayed at (Green Hill) and also runs a library for local children. We also met a really cool American family who are currently living & working at an NGO in Kurdish Iraq.

    -Alex    Read more

  • Big Adventure
    The little cat family living at our guesthouse
    1Creepy thing we saw

    Batu Katak: a more remote jungle

    Jul 28–Aug 1, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Batu Katak, our next stay, was similar to Bukit Lawang, only more remote and less overrun with tourists. We had some trouble finding our guesthouse, after being dropped off on the wrong side of the river, but our hosts were very kind and came to find us.

    First and foremost: look at that cute family of cats! They were living at the guesthouse with us. The owner is a real cat person, so there were plenty of cats wandering around, including a heavily pregnant one who really liked hanging out in our room. One night she was meowing a lot and I was convinced she was going to give birth (she didn't).

    We saw the world-famous corpse flower here, which only blooms for a few days so we were really lucky that our guides had found it. Look how huge it is!

    We also went for a night-time trek, which was worth it because we saw a slow loris in one of the trees. It was too dark to get a good picture, but I remember! Also we saw this creepy thing (see the pic).

    -Alex    Read more

  • Big Adventure
    Reka and her tattoo

    Kuala Lumpur: best food of the trip

    Aug 2–12, 2024 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    On to Malaysia, where we met up with our friends we'd met at the Ecovillage in Lake Toba who convinced us to add a Malaysian stop to our itinerary. And we were glad we did! Honestly, Kuala Lumpur is up there (for me) as one of the most consistently excellent food experiences in the world. We ate so much good food! Malaysia has a great mix of Malay, Chinese and South Indian people, all contributing to its unique food culture.

    We visited the Batu Caves, the site of an important Hindu shrine, where (again) the monkeys ran the show.

    -Alex    Read more

  • Big Adventure

    Stopover in Hat Yai

    Aug 12–15, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    "You're spending 3 nights in...Hat Yai?" our Malaysian friends asked, incredulously, when we told them of our plans. Hat Yai, of all places? There's nothing to do there!

    Our impression was: a) we are quite happy to do nothing, and b) in any case, there's plenty to do. For example, visiting one of the several temples in the area. I've included a couple of pictures of one of the more interesting temples, made mostly of steel, which I visited while it was pouring with rain.

    We also found this cool outdoor exhibition consisting of pictures of locals. Overall we had a nice time here as a not-so-brief stopover.

    -Alex    Read more

  • Big Adventure

    Trang

    Aug 15–19, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    After a long coach which took 2 hours longer than expected for no apparent reason, we arrived in Trang. Now I'd be lying if I said this was a beautiful city, but I really enjoyed my time here, possibly the most out of anywhere in Thailand. Firstly (and let's face it, most importantly), the food was really good, especially for vegetarians like me! I'd struggled a bit in Hat Yai, so seeing that there were lots of places to eat was a real blessing.

    We particularly enjoyed one vegan restaurant where the owner, upon hearing that we were in the city for a few days (during off season, I gather it's not too common), took out a piece of paper and wrote us out an entire day's itinerary, which we followed the next day - it was a great day out!

    Another place we really enjoyed was the bookshop, Phan Ma Ba, which (maybe you're sensing a theme by now) was packed full of cats. We spent a whole afternoon cuddling the cats, drinking coffee, and reading books. Bliss!

    -Alex    Read more

  • Big Adventure
    An abandoned restaurant
    Filming the very loud frogs2

    Koh Muk

    Aug 19–24, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    We couldn't leave Thailand without visiting at least one island. In our "slow travel" style, we decided to do just that: visit exactly one island, and really get to know it.

    Being that it was off season, I'm not so sure it was the right thing to do, since a) it rained a lot, and b) almost everything was shut. Perhaps if we'd been on a slightly more touristy island, we'd have found it easier to find things to do. But we still enjoyed ourselves - we walked all around the island, and visited the few restaurants and cafes that were open.

    On one night, during heavy rainfall, we heard an extraordinary symphony of frogs all over the island. It was a sound I'd never heard before.

    -Alex    Read more

  • Big Adventure

    Bangkok

    Aug 25–31, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    We took a pretty comfortable overnight train to Bangkok, which would be our last stop in Asia :( We made sure to take full advantage by eating lots of delicious food, going to temples, eating more food, going to malls, more food & drink, museums, food, bars, drink, etc etc etc... Suffice it to say we didn't need to eat much when we got back to Europe.

    Since Reka had gotten a tattoo in Malaysia, I decided to do the same and got this tattoo of a space cat in Bangkok. I still love it.

    Bangkok is an overwhelming place, so big and full and full of life. I enjoyed it a lot, but I was pretty ready to come home when the flight day arrived. It had been an extraordinary, unforgettable 5 months.

    -Alex    Read more

    Trip end
    September 1, 2024
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