Ko Lanta / Thailand

...beach, breakfast, hammock, books, lunch, beach, sunset, dinner, hammock, books, sleep...

Kuala Lumpur & Taman Negara & Kota Bharu / Malezya

...arrived in KL on Chinese New Year (which also happened to be valentine's day but that of course didn't interest me). Considering the large Chinese population living in KL I was ready for a big celebration, but to my surprise the town was even quiter than usual as most stores were closed and people were at their homes celebrating with their families. Left KL a little dissappointed. My original plan was to head north along the western coast of Malaysia, making a couple of stops along the way and cross over to Thailand. But out of the blue I had the brilliant idea of cutting across the center, visiting a natural park, all the way to the east, where it was supposed to be less westernized and more Malay. So the city boy hit the jungle (and the jungle hit back)...
...I needed to cross the river to get to the waterfall. As I bent down to untie my shoes I noticed a wormlike creature crawling on my sock. Tried to pick it off but it was clinging pretty strongly, gave it a hard pull and got it off but this time it clung to my finger. After a few tries I was able to shake it off. Still not knowing what it was, went back to taking off my shoes and rolling up my panths. The scene I had to face as I rolled up my panths was something out of a horror movie. The stories my friend had told and warnings I had about these creatures suddenly flashed in my memory and instantly I knew I was having my very first encounter with the notorious leeches. There were ten of them clinging to my skin, sucking out my blood, my whole leg below the knee was covered in blood. The red stain covering my panths finally made sense as it was not from a tree trunk or plant I had rubbed against, which was what I had thought all along, but was my very own blood. Started to pull them off my leg while freaking out at the same time. Took off all my clothes, examined them and my body over and over again to make sure I had gotten them all and after half an hour or so I was calm and confident enough to put my clothes back on and move on. I inquired about them from a local guy I came across and he assured me that they were harmless, and were actually "good" for me as they were sucking out the "dirty blood". I decided I was happy with my dirty blood and hoped that they would stay off of me, but were relieved at the same time that I wasn't going to die :) ...
...if there's one thing in Kota Bharu to see it definitely is their market. Markets everywhere are refreshing, energizing and fun, but some of them have a vibe that sets them apart from the rest. And the one in Kota Bharu had that vibe. Situated in an octagonal building with three stories, it contained a great variety of things from squid to toys, from spices to silk dresses. But of course my favorite part was the food court. I think heaven must have a food court just like that one. Beef stews, chicken in different marinates, all sorts of veggies, and best of all the seafood. Crabs, squids, fish curries and prawns as big as a lobster, yummmmyyyy indeed...

Bali Island / Indonesia

...had to spend a couple of days in Kuta before meeting my friend with whom I had met in Malaysia while couchsurfing the same house and had agreed on meeting in Indonesia. The city was infested with surfers from all over the world (mainly Australia) and clubs. Every three meters (ten ft) you either got offered a massage, taxi ride or a woman. Needless to say it wasn't my favorite place to be in. For some odd reason I decided to pick up my friend from the airport with a scooter. It would have been fine except that the scooter had manual gears, which was something I wasn't used to, so it kept dying on me, my friend had a broken arm in a cast, and a huge backpack. It definitely wasn't the smartest idea but thanks to her positive attitude turned out to be a fine ride...
...she came up with the brilliant idea of renting a car and having a road trip, so we shopped around a little bit and settled on one of the finest vehicles ever produced, known to humanity by its well deserved name of "Super Jimmy". The body resembled a classic Jeep and that was all the resemblance there was. It looked old, in fact was old, and sure enough ran like an old car with all the roughness and grunginess...
...sate (satay), which basically is meat on skewers, was my favorite food in Bali. This simple street food is prepared by marinating meat, pork or fish in peanut sauce and cooking it over a grill. Green bean ice cream was another pleasantly different thing we tried. And we were also very fond of our whisky with iced green tea for the evenings...
...despite having a car we didn't do much driving around. Our longest stop was in Ubud, which seemed like a playground for rich hippies with all of its fancy shops and restaurants with a mystic touch (here mystic describes the false, deceiving atmosphere created and sought after by the modern day hippies that commercializes the ideas and serves them on a golden tray to their comfort and pleasure). Another stop was a coastal town called Amed. There I had my best snorkeling experience to date with an endless variety of fish in an infinite spectrum of colors. My friend kept mentioning how happy I looked every time I came out of the water, and she sure was right...

Jogjakarta / Java Island

Spared a week to Java, planned out where to go. Didn't consider one thing, when two Turks meet what may be happening. Started off as a day or two visit to a friend's house, we stayed up every night slept 'till the twilight; went to pool and cinema, got a massage and into the sauna; drank alcohol like it's mother's milk, got into a barfight for the heck of it; both the music and breakfasts had to be Turkish, backgammon was played with bliss; Indonesial girl beat me at strip poker, was hardly able to keep on my boxer. Departure date was postponed everyday, therefore had to cancel Java plans and head to Bali right away...

Sumatra Island / INDONESIA!!!

Coconut grill


My first interaction with the Indonesians was with the security guards at the bus terminal. A friendly welcome, a few games of chess, and my first lesson in Indonesian..





Coffee shop Indonesian style


Rice fields everywhere




Youngsters break dancing


On the left is my tree house room


Sunset at Lake Maninjau


Indonesian Christian Fusion





Teenagers playing the guitar at Lake Toba

Ohhh the sweet taste of mangoes, lychees, salas and a ton of other tropical fruits I don't know the names of. Fish dressed in a variety of sauces and curries, accompanied with delicious vegetables, and of course rice, and chilies, always the chilies. No matter how magnificent the nature may be or great the architecture is, it's always the food that lures me first and foremost. And I already like Sumatra for that very reason. Of course there's more to it than just the cuisine. People are friendly in a sincere way, and it's very underdeveloped, which makes it attractive for a traveller like me even though the locals would have preffered it otherwise. Sumatra has also been the place with the least number of tourists around. First question you get asked is your country, naturally, then whether or not you're a muslim, and finally if you can speak Indonesian or not. I tell them I'm from Turki (Indonesian for Turkey), pretend to be a muslim (scoring big points), and start listing all the basic bhasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) I know of, so right away we become BFF. :)
The island is a natural beauty, covered with lush green tropical forests, volcanic mountains, and gigantic crater lakes, where I spent many of my days chilling around in. Downside of such a mountainous landscape is loooooong bus rides (also contributing are terrible conditions of the roads and run down buses). For a short distance of 400km (250miles) which should only take 3-4 hours (2 hours if I'm driving) you end up spending 12 to 15 hours in an uncomfortable bus. And the broken seats are not the worst part of it all. Apparently Indonesians've never heard of second-hand smoking, because people (only men actually) smoke everywhere, including the buses. I don't think I've ever been to a country where smoking is as wide spread as it's in Indonesia. From young teenagers to old old men, every male in this country smokes it seems like. One entertainment you get during the bus rides is (I'm not considering the cheesy ear scratching Indonesian pop music video clips they play as entertainment) guitar players getting on and off the bus for short periods of time to play their music and collect money. Guitar is like a national instrument here, every teenager plays it, making one think it originated here. During any given bus ride you may encounter at least ten different guitar player/beggars performing in the bus. Interestingly enough, people always give some money to these performers. It's such a contradiction how people in poorer countries such as India or Indonesia give out a lot more alms to beggars than the ones in developed countries like the States. If guitar is their national instrument, chess should be their national sport. Everywhere you go you come across chess sets and they're not there just for decoration, people actually play chess to pass the time. Having always liked playing chess, I got to practice my skills quite often in the short amount of time period I've been here.
Sumatra definitely deserves more than just a week, but unfortunately there's so much to see in Indonesia and I only have a 30 day visa to do it all. Off to Java island...

Kuala Lumpur / Maleka / MALAYSIA

Petronas Towers, once the highest buildings in the world


A modern mosque in KL


Old Railway Station / Kuala Lumpur


Streets decorated for the Chinese New Year


Read the sign above the dog!! (only in Asia :))


Horse shoe shaped Chinese gravestones




A traditional Maleka house


No, the temple is not on fire, just lots of incense burning




Oldest mosque in Malaysia. It was quite weird seeing mosques in far-east Asian style.


Street Scene / Maleka

Kuala Lumpur greets me with monsoon rains and great humidity. When the cheapest ticket I found out of India was to Malaysia, I didn't know it was the monsoon season here. Although not lasting for too long, you have to endure heavy rains at least once, sometimes twice a day. As a friend over here put it nicely, when the rain comes it's the coffee time of the day, because there's nothing you can do but seek shelter at the nearest enclosed place and sip on your coffee. Even though it effects my travel plans, I'm happy to experience3 the monsoon rains.
I decided to give the couchsurfing site another shot in Malaysia after a not so pleasant first experience in India. I made arrangements to stay at two different houses and spent four days in the first house and two days in the second house during my visit in Kuala Lumpur. Both of my visits were fun and pleasant. While staying in a family environment and enjoying home cooked meals in the first house, I was hosted by younger people who showed me sides of KL I hadn't seen at the second house. I will keep using this site when I get a chance.
Kuala Lumpur is a highly developed, modern city. It's no different than any western city except for all the Malay, Chinese and Indian people surrounding you. After centuries of immigration from China and India, these minorities now form 40% of the population and their demands for social equalities as citizens occupy the political scene here in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, being a very livable city, is not all that interesting for a traveller, but has been a pleasant stop for me thanks to the experiences I had through couch surfing. Malaysia has many other parts to explore but I decided to cross over to Indonesia and return to Malaysia towards the end of my journey. I arrived in Maleka to take a ferry that would bring me to Sumatra island of Indonesia. After spending a few days in Maleka exploring the interesting architecture including the oldest mosque and temples of the country, I'm leaving this highly touristic city for Indonesia where I'm planning on spending a month in...

Kerala / Au Revoir INDIA!!!

Chinese fishing nets








Boathouses you can rent and spend the night in


What you see actually is a river bed covered with overgrown plants


Kerala is a communist state, governed by communist political parties so you see such signs and posters all over the place



Chinese fishing nets


First day I arrived in Kerala the whole state was on a strike against the local government. Every single business was closed and the city (Ernakulam) was like a ghost town. Being the southern most state in India, temperature was much warmer and more humid than the north. I spent the day walking around the empty streets of Ernakulam and more touristy Fort Cochin. Kerala is known for its backwaters, which are river-ways and channels that make their way through dense tropical forests of palm trees and small villages scattered around on the shores. I took a boat ride through these backwaters that lasted for eight hours with magnificent views of the nature and life on the river. As quiet and peaceful as it is, there’s an endless activity on the waters as the locals use them to fish, wash, transport, and swim. Traveling along the coastline, I reached the beach town of Varkala on New Year ’s Eve. Not knowing what a popular tourist destination the town was and not having made any reservations I desperately started looking for a room only to find out that every single hotel in town was full despite their outrageous prices. But my protective angels were busy at work as always and I ran into a guy who offered me a spot on the rooftop of his hotel for free. Washing away my exhaustion with the best shower I have taken in my life in open air on a rooftop under a full moon I was ready for 2010 filled with optimism and enthusiasm. Celebrating the midnight with a British couple and two Swedish brothers I met at a restaurant, we made our way down to the beach after cops forced the restaurant to shut down for some obscure reason, and joined the crowds of people on the beach celebrating to the early hours of the new year. I spent most of my last days in Varkala just enjoying the beaches with the company of new friends. Soon (always too soon) it was time for me to close the India chapter of my travels and start a new chapter in Malaysia.

Spending two months in India was nowhere close to being enough for such a vast country with so many different cultures and sights to explore. India feels like a different universe than the rest of the world, and it’s very easy to lose yourself in this overwhelming place. I don’t know whether it’s over one billion people living together, all the religions existing in harmony, endless spices you eat in the food or the colors that surround you, but the country grows on you and before you know it you become addicted to it. I think most of all it’s the people smiling unhesitantly with their perfect white teeth despite the poverty or conditions they’re in that leaves the deepest mark. I know that I will go back to India someday and she will welcome me with the same joyful head wiggle.