nakedeyeview.com.my 2008
The travel-bug bites all of us at one time or other. We are bitten in different ways. One of mine is just to get away from it all and escape the ennui of life. But as the pace of life quickens and the world gets smaller, it's increasingly difficult to find a place to get away from the daily hustle and hassle of modern life. When you do find an idyllic haven on Mother Earth, where life is stripped down to its basics and slowed to the point where you can hear yourself think, you will find stresses of modern living falling away. A good example of this is my diving trip to Club Rannalhi in Maldives with some friends and our spouses. Though scuba diving is my hobby, I chose to spend more time lazing away and practising the gentle art of doing nothing slowly and resting afterwards.
But if you are also a traveller who wants to write about your travel, then there will be little that is interesting or exciting to write about on your sojourn in a serene sanctuary. Therefore, I travel not only as an adult excuse to run away from home and the annoying hassle of the 21st century, but also to explore and seek adventures which I can write about to bring back glimpses of little chartered places. I have grouped these under "Thrills and Spills Of Travel". An example of these travels is my adventure trekking up the North Face of Mt. Everest. Interestingly enough, the hardship and suffering I went through trekking in that part of Himalayas has been amply rewarded when my effort has got me two listings in The Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) and was among the selected few to receive the MBR Award Trophy from our PM on 2nd March, 2004! Be that as it may, whether one travels for pleasure or adventure, one would invariably encounter assorted experiences, some unpleasant and some even harrowing, from stepping out of the house to coming home. These unpleasant encounters are grouped under "The Trials and Tribulations". The worst of these is my encounter with an "educated bushman" in Johannesburg, South Africa who nearly bumped me off. These experiences I write about may perhaps serve to forewarn and thus forearm anyone venturing out of the comforts of life for a wee bit of adventure in foreign lands……when, as Charles Kingsley has it, all the world is young…..
THE THRILLS & SPILLS OF TRAVEL 1. A TREACHEROUS TREK TO BASE CAMP OF MOUNT ACONCAGUA ...read more2. THE "SILK ROUTE" TOUR OF XINJIANG ...... read more 3. BLINDED BY MAJESTIC MT. KILIMANJARO .....read more 4. AN ARDUOUS TREK TO THE NORTH FACE OF MT. EVEREST .....The Adventure to Mt. Everest's North Face Read more ---Click here for the story published in the Star Online..... Click here to view video clip (Windows Media Player file) 5. TREKKING THE ANNAPURNA CIRCUIT, NEPAL ....read more 6. AN ADVENTURE IN THE WILDS OF MONGOLIA .... Read more 7. DIVING SAFARI IN MALDIVES: BURSTS OF EXCITEMENT AMIDST SPELLS OF DOING NOTHING SLOWLY .... read more 8. IN PICTURES - A JOURNEY OF AWAKENING TO NORTHERN LAOS AND CAMBODIA.... read more 9. AN EXHILIRATING DIVING SAFARI IN KOMODO ..... read more 10. THE ASCENT OF ISLAND PEAK - THE CLIMB OF A LIFETIME..... read more 11. AN ENCHANTING TOUR OF SOUTH PERU IN PICTURES:
12. TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY: AN EPIC TRAIN JOURNEY ACROSS RUSSIA...read more In Pictures:
13. A Pleasant Sojourn in Mystical Wuyishan .... read more 14. A MEMORABLE VISIT TO MY ANCESTRAL HOME ......read more 15. IN PICTURES – TREKKING THE GREAT WALL. .... read more 16. A Delightful Sojourn in the Land of the Giant Panda...... read more 17. IN PICTURES - A PLEASANT REVISIT TO NEW ZEALAND…..read more 18. DIVING IN PULAU WEH – AN ISLAND HIT BY 2004 TSUNAMI…. read more 19. Enchanted By The Unmatched Beauty Of Zhangjiajie's Specticular Landscapes..read more 20. An Exhilarating Experience In Exploring Gunung Mulu National Park.... read more 21. Diving in Bunaken & Lembeh Strait - The Good & The Bad ..... read more 22. A Delightful Tour Of North Vietnam ...... read more 23. TREKKING IN PHOTOGENIC TAIMUSHAN ...... read more 24. The Scenic Splendours Of Huangshan & Hangzhou: Part One – The last attempt to admire the beauty of Mt. Huangshan …read more 25. My First Visit To The Land Of Silk & Spices In India – Kerala......read more 26. Trekking in Maliau basin – the land of leeches & waterfalls .......read more 27. IN PICTURES -- A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE .......... read more 28. TREKKING IN PHOTOGENIC TAIMUSHAN ............. read more 29. Exploring the Hakka Tulou in Fujian ......... read more 30. A pleasant retreat in New Zealand ........... read more 31. Exploring Myanmar - The Golden Land of temples & Pagodas ....... read more 32. Milford Track - A Fine Tramp Marred by a Traumatic fall ........ read more THE TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS OF TRAVEL 1. Starting From Home To start with, a traveler has to have an International Passport to visit other countries. And here in Malaysia, to obtain one can be a hassle. In early Aug 2000, I had an unpleasant encounter at the immigration office in Subang when my wife and I went there to apply for our new passports. The officer rejected my photographs, which were taken the previous day, because he claimed that they looked the same as the one in the old passport! (See "Cheesed off at the immigration office") 1.2 Applying For a Visa In Malaysia, as in all countries in the world, we are required to apply for visas to visit some other countries, such as US, Japan, China etc, etc. Some visas are easily obtainable but some are more difficult. In July 1997, I applied for a visa to travel to Alaska from the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Firstly, a visa procession fee of RM52.00 had to be prepaid to a special account only at DCB bank which had few branches outside Kuala Lumpur. Secondly, to get one's Passport back one had to line up at the guardhouse outside the embassy's compound and be subject to the mercy of the elements. All in all, I felt very slighted by the treatment given to all visa applicants. And I am sure the situation has not changed for the better especially after the 911 terror attacks in the US. (See "Getting a visa to visit US is a hassle" ) 1.3 Flying With MAS As a patriotic citizen, I have always chosen to fly with MAS in most of my overseas travels if there is a direct flight to the destination. However, not all flights with MAS are uneventful and the worst I had was with Flight MH004 from KL to London on 14 December, 1996. (See "MAS - The return of Mana Ada Sistem") This article, though sent to The Star and NST, was not published -- most likely they thought it was best to consign it to their shredders. This was not unexpected then. It must be remembered that the then "crony" was almighty and riding high and no print media in Malaysia dared to give our national carrier any unsavory publicity, not even the Minister of Transport and the then Deputy Minister of Human Resources. In the case with the Minister of Transport, he had advised MAS employees to be more caring to passengers during flight disruptions caused by the haze. MAS had taken exception to his remarks and their staff expressed their disappointment over the Minister's advice at a gathering on Monday, October 13, 1997. In the other case, it was reported that MAS was considering taking legal action against the Deputy Minister for a statement the latter was purported to have made about MAS's deteriorating standard of service. 2. Unpleasant Encounters 2.1 In Foreign Lands Unlike tourists whose itineraries are pre-arranged and tours conducted by tourist guides, travelers have the freedom to decide their own itineraries and the length of time they wish to spend on each place they visit. The inherent disadvantage of travelers is that they have to deal with problems and risks on their own in unfamiliar environments and sometimes under adverse circumstances. I have traveled to many far away countries with my wife for over a decade and have many unpleasant encounters. However, they were all not insurmountable, but some are traumatic and unforgettable. The two most traumatic experiences we encountered are: The first incident was during our travel through Europe by car. We were detained by the Czech immigration at the Czech-Austrian border for over three hours with no reason or explanation given. When we returned home, I sent a report to the Czech Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. But I heard nothing from them though they promised to investigate the incident. On the second incident, my wife and I booked a tour to Kruger National Park, Swaziland and Soweto at the Tourist Information Counter in Johannesburg International Airport. During the tour, we were short-changed and upon returning to Johannesburg, we were intimidated and extorted in broad daylight by the "boss" of the tour operator! After our return, I reported the incident to South African High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and The South African Tourism in Pretoria. As expected, all they did was to tell me they were looking into it and action would be taken soon. After many false promises and a merry-go-round nothing happened which led me to believe that most South Africans would tell you whatever you wanted to hear just to make you go away and leave them alone in deep slumber. 2.2 In Homeland Not all my unpleasant encounters in my travels happened in foreign lands. Even in my homeland, Malaysia, unexpected incidents can also happen. The latest incident was in May this year when I went with some friends to scuba dive in Pulau Layang-Layang. On the day of our departure for home, and just before the crack of dawn, my roommate and I went to the end of the uncompleted runway to take some pictures of sunrise. While busily taken photographs, we were accosted by our naval personnel who threatened to detain us for trespassing. But finally, my camera's memory card and the roll of film from my friend's camera were confiscated. See "Pulau Layang Layang - An Underwater Paradise with Hidden Land Hazards" (June 2002 unpublished) Note: The operator of Layang-Layang Island Resort was adamant who refused to help us to retrieve our items from the Naval Base even after I threatened to highlight the incident in our local press and in the internet. But finally, the memory card and the negatives with a set of prints were returned to me by them in July, 2002. 3. Returning Home After an exhilarating journey abroad, I always look forward to a quite and peaceful homecoming. But sometimes, this can be marred by irritable and unpleasant air travel on your homeward journey. I had this unpleasant experience when we flew home from Guangzhou after our successful trip to China in August, 1995. Again we were traveling by MAS and were greatly disturbed by some rowdy passengers who turned the economic class cabin into a pasar malam (night market). And most unfortunately, the cabin crews were completely hopeless in controlling the situation. See "Air trip spoilt by noisy M'sian travelers" published in The Star 19 August 1995. |