Epic World

A 125-day adventure by Eric Read more

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Epic World Eric Schaefer
Seminyak, Bali
August 5, 2016 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
It’s time for a vacation within a vacation. All that driving in Australia really wore us out so we decided to head to Bali for a week and relax. We stayed at Sinar Bali in Seminyak and signed up for a 5 day surf lessons which was our originally reason for picking the location. They have amazingly consistent beginner waves. Bali was great! Our days consisted of breakfast, morning surf lesson, local lunch, relax by the pool, massage (only $6 for a hour), wander the shops and venders, dinner, drinks capped with a late night gelato and repeat.

It was quite enjoyable to get a little structure to our day from the surf lessons. We both improved a lot, I was paddling into some decent waves by the end of the week. It’s such a good workout I wish we had it back in Toronto.

We did a day trip to Ubud for a biking excursion through rice fields. On route to Ubud we stopped at a crater lake for some pictures followed by a coffee plantation for some sampling. This place specialized in cat poop coffee!! They had Kopi Luwak on site digesting the beans. The bike ride was pleasant and leisurely.

The only stressful bit of this week was trying to get back to the airport. Our cab didn’t show up. After waiting for the next one we sat in traffic for 2hrs to make a 15 minute drive and just barely made our flight. Whew!Read more
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Epic World Eric Schaefer
Seminyak, Bali
August 6, 2016 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
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Epic World Eric Schaefer
Seminyak, Bali
August 7, 2016 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
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Epic World Eric Schaefer
Seminyak, Bali
August 8, 2016 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
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Epic World Eric Schaefer
Seminyak, Bali
August 9, 2016 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌙 26 °C
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Epic World Eric Schaefer
Seminyak, Bali
August 10, 2016 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
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Epic World Eric Schaefer
Kuala Lumpur
August 11, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
We have arrived and Malaysia and are beginning a whole new leg of our trip. I’ve noticed a few things since we have arrived:
1. The temperature. It’s reaaallllly hot and humid. Bali was hot, but at least there was the ocean or pool to cool off in.
2. This is a real city. I was surprised how modern Kuala Lumpur is. They have ambitions of being comparable to Singapore by 2020.
3. The price. Our dollar takes us a lot further here; we can eat a full dinner for about $3 CAD if we go to local stalls.

Our day was filled with typical city tour stuff. Jungle Park Walk, KL Tower, Petronas Towers and KCLL Park. We bought an iPhone attachment to get wide angle shots of the towers from some sketchy hawkers and felt like typical tourists. To get out of the heat, we would duck into one of many giant malls. In the afternoon a storm rolled in so we tried to hop on a local bus to get us to a mall but the bus sat in traffic not moving for 15 minutes before we decided to get off and run for it. As the storm thundered on we caught the movie Suicide Squad.

The highlight of Kuala Lumpur came at the end of the day with our food tour. We had heard good things about the food in Malaysia and were blown away. Our guide took us around for 4 hours to local stalls to try interesting food. It was amazing. We had to be rolled home we were so full. The food here is a blend of Chinese, Indian and Malaise. The classic meal being Nasi Lamak, a Malay fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf and typically filled with an egg and other ingredients.Read more
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Epic World Eric Schaefer
Kuala Lumpur
August 12, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
We enjoyed our accommodations in Kuala Lumpur at the 1000 mile hotel. They were inexpensive, well-kept and in walking distance to many of the city center attractions. Using local transit we made our way to Batu Caves. Batu Caves, one of Kuala Lumpur’s most frequented tourist attractions, is a limestone hill comprising three major caves and a number of smaller ones. This 100-year-old temple features idols and statues erected inside the main caves and around it. Incorporated with interior limestone formations said to be around 400 million years old, the temple is considered an important religious landmark by Hindus. The place is over run with tourists, religious worshippers and monkeys.

We spent the morning exploring and paid for a cave tour. To assist with renovations, tourist are recruited to carry bricks up the large flight of stairs. Interesting method, and efficient. After returning to KL we grabbed our bags caught a late afternoon bus to the Cameron Highlands!Read more
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Epic World Eric Schaefer
Cameron Highlands
August 13, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
We arrived in Cameron Highlands the night before after a 4 hr bus ride that winded its way up to 1,500 metres of elevation. The last portion of the drive was really scenic as we became surrounded by jungle covered mountains and steep drops off as the bus wound around curves. Finally a little relief from the heat. There was still humidity, but a big improvement.

We stayed at the Cameronian Inn. The accommodations were moderate but we really liked the staff, location and the breakfast. The owner was a lot of fun to talk with and gave us everything we needed to know about hiking in the area. We were warned to stay off one trail where people were frequently mugged.

For day 1 we packed a lunch and headed to Trail 1. This was the longest and hardest trail which started a short distance from our accommodations and took us up Mt Brinchang to the famed BOH tea planation. We hike through the jungle to the peak of the mountain then followed the road down to the tea planation. The views were great but the tea was served in more of a cafeteria then a tea room (and way too many people). We started our return walk along the road, which we realized was going to be a long one, and accepted a ride from some locals and hopped in the back of their pickup truck.

The truck ride was great. They dropped us off at the Brinchang weekend night market where we wandered the stalls and purchased our dinner. Everything worked out really well today.Read more
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Cameron Highlands
August 14, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Today we crammed in a few more trails: 10, 2, 3, 6 and 4. Nothing too long or challenging but enough to fill our day. We ended up in Brinchang for lunch but struggled for an hour to find a place we felt like eating. Brinchang is filled with Chinese restaurants but we just weren’t in the mood for Chinese. We capped the night of with dinner in Tanah Rata at a local roti place.Read more
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Georgetown, Penang
August 15, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
We hopped on an early bus towards Georgetown, Penang. 3 hours later we arrived. George Town is the colorful, multicultural capital of the Malaysian island of Penang. Once an important Straits of Malacca trading hub, the city is known for its British colonial buildings, Chinese shophouses and mosques. It is also classified as a UNSECO World Heritage site. We started our exploration of the old town and walked colonial district toward the waterfront and by Fort Cornwallis. The heat got the better of us and we retreated to our accommodations for some AC. Georgetown is also famous for it’s street art and street food. We ventured back out in the evening to locate both and were not disappointed. The street art was interesting and mixed real objects with the art. The food was delicious, a mixture of Malaysian, Chinese and Indian.Read more
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Epic World Eric Schaefer
Penang National Park
August 16, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
We had a rewarding trip to Penang National Park. Local transit took us to the gates where we purchased an entrance ticket. This was followed by a 2 hr hike through jungle shoreline, across beaches and up a hill to a secluded lighthouse. Great views but really hot. Some young locals that had run the trail wanted to a take pictures of us at the top of the lighthouse. Following the same track back down the hill we stopped at Monkey Beach for a couple hours for a refreshing swim and a drink. The beach had a few vendors selling refreshments and foods. Given the heat we opted for the more fun water taxi back to the park entrance. Back in town we bought some dinner and a few more Indian treats to snack which we had been really enjoying.Read more
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Penang Hill
August 17, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
On our last day we got up before dawn and climbed Penang Hill. The hike started at the botanical gardens and it was interesting to see how busy the gardens were before sunrise. Everyone was exercising before the days heat. The hike itself was a grueling jungle stair climb followed by 3 km on very steep road. Not a bad pace, we finished the climb in 2 hours. The views at the top were great but the sky was a little hazy. We enjoyed a funicular ride back to the ground and off to catch a flight to Langkawi.Read more
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Langkawi
August 17, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
After a short 35min flight, we arrived at Langkawi. If was a tough decision between Langkawi and the Perhentian Islands. We had booked the honeymoon sweet which was a spacious wooden hut. It was bloody hot out so we relaxed in the room before heading to the main drag to find dinner. We had a few days to explore and relax and plan before heading Borneo.Read more
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Langkawi
August 18, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
A new Island to explore. We kicked it off with a walk down to the wharf for an island-hopping tour. It was a longer walk than we expected and we made the mistake of not booking a tour in advance, so we were unsuccessful in our first attempt. We cabbed back to the main drag and killed some time before booking an afternoon tour.

It was great little trip. We had three stops (unfortunately no photos). The jungle-clad islands of the Langkawi archipelago are fringed with white-sand beaches and colorful corals. We set sail on a private boat and visited three different islands— Pulau Dayang Bunting, Pulau Beras Basah, and Pulau Singa Besar. The first stop was at Pregnant Maiden Lake; a freshwater lake located inland on a small island for a swim. There were lots of warning signs about swimming and potential bacteria but everyone seemed to do it so we jumped in. The 2nd stop was to watch some eagle feeding and we finished off with free time on a secluded island beaches.

We enjoyed some good banana leaf dinner to cap of the day.Read more
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Langkawi
August 19, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
We have been on the road for awhile now and we had our first big fight of the trip today. Planning the next leg of our trip and lack of routine had gotten to us and boiled over in frustration. We needed to blow off some steam today.

Originally, we wanted to rent a scooter and drive around the island but they were surprisingly stringent and we ended up renting a car since we didn’t have motorcycle licences. We had found a little mountain, Mt Gunung, to climb which actually had stairs going all the way to the top. 4,287 steps to be exact. We actually really enjoyed it. Along the climb there were different signposts indicating how high you were compared to tall buildings. They do charity climbs here each year like the CN tower climb. The estimated travel time was 2 hours and 15 minutes but we crushed the climb in less than an hour. We enjoyed some tea at a scenic outlook tower at the top.

Back in the car, we stopped a 2 more waterfalls for a quick swim and a secluded beach for a stroll.Read more
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Langkawi
August 20, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
A low-key day. We slept in and did some itinerary planning for Borneo. Some casual walking on the beach. We had been looking for a good authentic restaurant each day and finally tried the one right outside our accommodations and it ended up being our favourite.

ff to Borneo. We caught a Flight to Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia via Kuala Lumpur.Read more
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Kubah National Park
August 21, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
We arrived late the night before and headed straight to the hostel. We had an overnight hike the next day so we had to stock up on supplies. Not a great selection. We found a convenient store that was open and picked up some unhealthy prepackage food.

Caught 10am bus to Kubah National Park. From the Park headquarters we took the Rayu trail. It was a slow 4 hour jungle trek to Matang Wildlife Center. I’ve come to realize jungle hiking isn’t my thing. Way to hot and sweaty.

We had accommodations in a old long house at the park and dropped off our gear. From here, we explored the Matang Wildlife Center. It had a very ominous vibe with the oppressive heat and surrounding jungle. There was nobody around. We joked that it felt like the setting of a horror movie. It was a stark contrast to some of the other zoos we have seen on our trip. However, Matang is not a zoo. It is a dedicated centre where endangered species, such as orangutans are rehabilitated and released into the forest. Most were confiscated from members of the public, who illegally kept them as pets, and must be taught how to fend for themselves in the wild. The orangutans looked very intimidating. I wouldn’t want one as a pet.

The park it’s self was an interesting place with campgrounds. It’s probably a popular destination on the weekends for locals. We took a quick swim in the river as a rain shower rolled through. We did a short walk out of the park to a convenient store. It was really just a local’s garage with a fridge at the back, a whole group of locals just stared at us as we bought some beverages.

That night we enjoyed an intense thunderstorm from our longhouse under our covered porch.Read more
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Kuching
August 22, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
We reversed the hike out of the park and skipped the side trails and waterfalls because we were tired and sweaty. We had a long wait for a bus that we weren’t even sure would show up.

Back in Kuching we explored the town and picked up food supplies for the next excursion. We enjoyed the hostel we were staying. It had a very good vibe and a nice lounge on the top floor. We did some more itinerary planning and finished our bookings for Zanzibar.

Another thundershower that night.Read more
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Bako National Park
August 23, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
Our next excursion took us to Bako National Park for one night. You can’t get there directly by car, so we caught a bus and a small boat to get to the park. There is a main cafeteria on the island which is the only place for eating and several buildings with basic accommodations. Lots of small lizards inside our room.

We did the big loop trail around the island which took 2 hours. It was a thick forest walk which included coast lines, beautiful vistas and a waterfall. It was a very hot day which made the walk challenging. I also made the mistake of carrying a heavy pack as we hadn’t checked into our accommodations yet.

At the main hut there was a family of wild pigs roaming free and lots of monkeys and birds.

We supplemented the crappy food we brought along with dinner at the communal cafeteria followed by a beach walk and sunset. There were lots of tiny crab running all over the beach.Read more
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Bako National Park
August 24, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
After breakfast at the café, we did the Lintang trail followed by the side trail to Kecil view point. We didn’t wear packs today but felt exhausted from the heat and prior day hiking.

Right as we were getting ready to board the boats, a wicked rainshower rolled through and we took cover under some rocks while it passed. The boat we rode, had some real engine issues and we kept thinking we were going to get stranded.

More thundershowers back at the hostel in Kuching, so we ate dinner at the same place, pineapple fried rice. It was good.Read more
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Mount Kinabalu
August 25, 2016 in Malaysia
We are off to our next big hike and Kilimanjaro training. Today was a travel day. We caught a flight to Kato Kinabalu followed by a bus to Mt Kinabalu. Our pre-hike accommodations were a short walk to the entrance. Our accommodations were a large private room in a separate building. Breakfast and dinner were also included. We sorted out registration and wasted the afternoon with 2 movies as it was raining. Early to bed for a big day tomorrow.Read more
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Mount Kinabalu
August 26, 2016 in Malaysia
So our Mount Kinabalu trip turned out to be a big letdown. Everything started out all right. We arrived a day early to ensure we did not miss our climb window and had the afternoon to check-in and relax at our lodge. Rain hampered us from doing anything so we watched a couple movies. On climb day we were up at 6am to pack and have breakfast before we headed to pick up our permits and mountain guide. This whole endeavour was pretty pricey for a 2 day 1 night climb at around $700 combined. We saved a bit of money by splitting our guide with a German couple who had also stayed at our lodge. Ready to go, we picked up our bagged lunches, met our guide and caught a short shuttle bus to the start of the climb. Quickly we learned our guide’s English was nonexistent but everything else was going great. Our legs were feeling fresh and rested and we were slowly passing people on the way up…than mother nature decided to have her say. After about an hour of hiking we rounded a corner and could hear a distant thundering noise that was quickly joined by the shaking of trees. EARTHQUAKE! A 4.0 magnitude earthquake lasting about 3 seconds hit the Mount Kinabalu area. Our guide was visibly terrified. A little over a year ago they had a big earthquake on the mountain and 20 people died so we weren’t actually sure what to do next and if we should be worried. We looked to our guide who was absolutely useless. He wasn’t able to communicate any information on what to do. Not sure what to do, we slowly continued on to see if we might run into other guided groups with more information. A short way up the track we congregated with a bigger group and stood around waiting for more instructions from the guides. The guides wouldn’t make a decision which was infuriating because that’s what I thought we were paying them for. The guides were forcing us to make a decision about going up or down. It was a poorly run operation and after a short while the majority of the group in our vicinity decided to head down as a result of lack of information. Ultimately, the earthquake was small and 80% of climbers actually continued and summited and there was no injuries or damage caused. We opted for the safer route, which based on our nonexistent earthquake knowledge was the right decision but we really wish we had a better guide so we could have made an informed decision. Unfortunately with this type of activity you don’t get much of a refund, if any. All we got was accommodations for the night, a couple meals and a small refund after complaining about our guide. The whole thing was a very frustrating experience when you take into account the time, money and effort to get there. Hopefully, our next guide will be better.

It rained all afternoon so we shared a cab to Pouring Springs Hot Baths with the German couple which was rather disappointing and finished the day with a buffet dinner.Read more
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Kota Kinabalu
August 27, 2016 in Malaysia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
After breakfast, we headed to the bus stop. For 3 hours we waited and watched full buses drive by. We finally gave up and tried hitch hiking. We were picked up by a guy and his young son and made small talk for the rest of the ride. A fairly pleasant ride. Once in Kota Kinabalu, we scrambled to find accommodations since we were a day early and realized we had booked the wrong plane tickets for next day. We’ll have to sort this out at the airport. With the remaining day we explored the waterfront, hawker stalls and hunted down a laundry mat.Read more
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Bario
August 28, 2016 in Malaysia
We got to the airport and all the flights seemed to be mixed up so we aren’t even sure we booked the wrong flight. We actually didn’t have to wait that long and got on a early flight to Bario.

We had an amazing 4 days in the Kelabit Highlands. The Kelabit highlands is a remote jungle region in Borneo near the border of Indonesia. It was built up as a military post previously by the British which made it more accessible. It's in the middle of nowhere so we had to fly in on a tiny 16 seater plane to get there. The flight was a thrill in itself. Once there we had arranged a Homestay with a local artist who was married to a Dane. All our food was provided and they take you in like family. We even got invited to the grandmothers birthday party. We did lots of walks around the rice fields and up a couple small mountains (Prayer Mountain). The people we met were the friendliest we have met on this trip and so welcoming. We stayed at another Homestay in Pa' Lungan for 2 nights with Supang and Audie, which was even further in the jungle. It was a 2 hour boat ride or 4 hour walk from the main town Bario. Our plan was to do an overnight jungle trek while we were there but things didn't work out exactly. The intended shelter was damaged so we settled for day walk in the jungle. We got the short end of the stick with guides again and could only understand 10% of things he said. The memorable story was about German tourist that climbed a giant tree. The best guide in the village was resting for a multi-day excursion so was unavailable. None the less, it was such a fun experience being in the middle of nowhere surrounded by jungle. Without a map, we ended up making a wrong turn back to Bario and a local gave us a lift back to town after we had already walked for 4 hours. They also have the best pineapple and rice in the world. I think what we really liked was everything was so simple and laid back. It was probably the most relaxing destination we have been to. In addition, since it was the highlands the temperature was much more temperate, however we still have been rained on everyday in Borneo.

The one funny thing is even though we were still in the middle of the jungle in an old wooden hut they still had satellite TV. Who would have guessed it.Read more
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