World Trip: Thailand

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I reached the border with the bus, and I ran into an issue. I needed to show proof of onward travel. I wasn’t aware of that. I showed the immigration officer my bank account instead after he said that he wanted to alternatively see that. I can guarantee that it was enough to sustain myself there for a couple of weeks and purchase an exit bus to Laos. But he still just had us sitting there for a while, and we didn’t understand why. There was a German on the bus with me, and he was in the same boat as I. There was another German that came on a different bus, and he started getting very confrontational and loud. He was eventually escorted back to the border and into Malaysia. The German from my bus and I just kept standing there, not knowing what to do. Eventually the bus driver came in and talked to someone while the angry immigration officer was away, and we were hurriedly brought to the counter and we got our entry stamps and shuffled over to the bus and then we were on our way again!

We stopped in some city along the way in southern Thailand. From there, we were dropped off at some travel agency. We were then put on a local bus and brought to the bus terminal.

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World Trip: Malaysia

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It was raining as we crossed the border. We ended up at the JB Sentral station where we got a bus to Melaka, or Malacca—it seems to have multiple spellings. Unfortunately, since that morning, I had gotten sick. Everything I ate or drink went right through me, and I also got quite the fever. I was hungry and thirsty, but I refrained from ingesting anything on the four-hour bus journey because I knew I would need to immediately use a bathroom

After arriving in the city and reaching our hotel, I spent a lot of time in bed wearing multiple blankets and just trying to sleep the sickness away.

After a day or two, I was able to hold down food a bit better, but I was still only regaining my strength. Puujee and I walked around a bit, but I had to stop every 5 or so minutes for a quick break as my breath would start to draw up short. I felt like the most out-of-shape person on the planet.

We saw A Famosa, which wasn’t far from our hotel. It is an old fort from back when Malacca was colonized by the Portuguese. Continue reading →

World Trip: Singapore

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Our plane landed in Singapore, and we made our way to our hostel. Couchsurfing didn’t work out as most people didn’t even respond, and the 1 or 2 that did were busy. Even among the cheapest hostels in the city, it was still 15 USD per person in a 10-person dorm. We decided to stay only one night.

After checking in and dropping our stuff off, we headed downtown. We beelined it for the Marina Bay area and on the way passed through Little India.

While approaching downtown, I kept catching glimpses of a building that looked like a giant ship parked on top of 3 buildings.

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World Trip: Indonesia

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Indonesia is another country that requires proof of onward travel. AirAsia in Manila didn’t want to give us our tickets initially, but after telling them that I waive them of all responsibility of paying for a ticket if immigration doesn’t allow us and that I would pay for the ticket, they let us board.

Once we got to Bali, immigration didn’t ask for proof of onward travel, and we got through without a hitch. After that, though, I was pulled aside because they wanted to search my bag. You pass through security upon arrival, and when my bag way X-rayed, I guess they saw that I had some pills. Other than the typical Ibuprofen, I also carry some antihistamines and other allergy pills ever since I was hospitalized for 5 days following an allergy attack from an unknown source. After I showed them what I had, we were let through after they checked the pills in the backroom.

We struggled with Grab (the Uber of Asia) since our first driver didn’t seem to understand where to go even though there’s a designated Grab pickup spot at the airport, but we eventually got a ride downtown with a different driver.

We stayed at a hostel for a couple of nights and went to the beach to splash around in the waves.

Still waiting…

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World Trip: Philippines

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We arrived after a crazy exit from Hong Kong. Tip: The Philippines requires an exit flight to already be booked, so if you plan on going, make sure that is sorted and don’t do it at the check-in counter like we did. Some more notes at this site and I also went over it at the end of my last post.

In Manila, the traffic was crazy. We needed one bus and 2 metro lines to get to our hostel, and it took us 4 hours. To enter the metro, you have to scan your bag, and they made a big deal out of my pocket knife, saying that I wasn’t allowed to bring it on the metro. After quite a bit of talking with them, they relented after wrapping it up in even more duct tape, since it was wrapped up in China when we boarded on the train to Hong Kong.

Once we reached our hostel, we walked around for a bit, but there really wasn’t too much to see other than more cars and traffic.

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World Trip: Hong Kong

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Some would say that Hong Kong isn’t separate from China. The Chinese government surely would say that. I still feel that it’s different, although the clock is ticking on that. Regardless, we arrived in Hong Kong via the overnight train from Hong Kong.

Right outside the station, there were a bunch of posters describing what the Chinese government had done to the Falun Gong and how they were being persecuted. I was curious, so I read the posters for a bit. Some older guy wearing a billboard on his chest and back approached me and gave me a pamphlet. I was kind of surprised to discover that the pamphlet was the opposite of what the signs said. His version stated that the Falun Gong were basically terrorists, and it explained why the Chinese government had to bring them under control for the security of everyone. I was a little taken aback at how there was basically this information war right in front of the train station. After some cursory reading online, it does seem that the Falun Gong are the victims, so I am left wondering who that guy was? Was he working for the Chinese government to spread their version of the truth? Continue reading →

World Trip: China

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We arrived at 2 in the morning via the bus. The bus stopped, though, and let us sleep until about 5:30, which is about when the subway opens. But it didn’t really matter. He turned off the bus and opened the doors to let fresh air in while we slept, but that also invited a torrent of mosquitos in the early morning hours. You could not sleep with them landing on you and sucking your blood and buzzing in your ears. We had blankets which one could have theoretically hid under, but it was so warm, even at 4 in the morning, that using a blanket would result in a personal sauna.

It was a rough start to the morning, but we managed until the subway opened. Puujee and I went to her university, where we dropped off our bags. Since I hadn’t really done much on my laptop the entire time I was in Mongolia, I did just that while she finished up some stuff for her master’s thesis. Continue reading →

World Trip: Russia

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I flew from South Africa to Saint Petersburg.

I first had to get through customs and border control. It isn’t the easiest process, getting a Russian visa. I went through an agency instead of doing it myself, but I did have to pay a bit for the convenience. As an American going into Russia, even with an already-approved visa, I was a little concerned I was going to get taken into a dark room and grilled for a bit before they would actually let me enter. I was standing in line for the passport control for quite a while. It was finally my time. I walked up to the counter and handed the agent my passport as I was ready to show tons of supporting documents I had saved on my phone, just in case. She looked down at my passport. The looked at me. She then glanced at my Russian visa and then back at me. “Thank you,” she said as she handed my passport back. Way easier than I was expecting, not that I’m complaining, haha.

I had planned on leaving Africa to come up to the northern hemisphere in May so that I would be chasing the warm weather. As the southern hemisphere enters fall, my thinking was that it should be nice in May in Russia. Wrong! Continue reading →