I travel

..enter summer …….

How does one get through 13.5 hours grinding across the Pacific in economy class of the Taiwanese airline EVA air? My prescription was a couple doses of hybrid gummies spread out over time, a few podcast episodes, one movie, and the entire first season of White Lotus. I’m not saying it’s the perfect recipe, but it got me into Taipei with minimal discomfort and moderate enjoyment. 

What does middle aged long haul travel look like these days? Long gone are the pre-departure sessions of drunken debauchery at the Little Joy or Shortstop (aka longstop). Now it’s hydrate up and get a minimum of 6 hours of sleep the night before. The red wine no longer flows in my direction on the flight, hydration please, so it’s nothing but water. And you gotta have those compression socks on, or the feet tend to balloon up the first few days in the heat and humidity of summer tropical travel.

Once the feet are on the ground and I’m in country, gone are the days of flip flops all day everyday and that ubiquitous flip flop tan line. Now I got a killer athletic socks tan line cause walking miles a day in havianas just won’t work anymore with these middle aged feet. The eyes can be uncooperative with short distances, so those glasses better be handy. Sunscreen used to be just for beach time, but now the ears, face, and neck get a regular coating each morning. Don’t have the coverage on top anymore, so gotta have the hat in the day_man_bag every day regardless of weather. And after a full day of walking/eating/seeing/exploring, you best be stretching the body out after all is said and done for the day. Adaptation is key, beneficial, and ultimately leads to a much more enjoyable travel experience in the middle aged body.

2023: Taiwan

Enter Taiwan, Formosa – “beautiful island”

The plan was a clockwise route around the island, in a bit of a J pattern, by arriving in the north and departing from the south.

Got my feet on the ground and my travel legs going in Taipei, and that’s where the eating began. Taiwan is know for their night markets where food is king. Cheap and delicious stalls selling all types of mouthwatering and questionable food and drink stuffs. Beef noodle soup (a national dish), beef pepper buns, oyster omelette, slow braised pork over rice, pork sausages grilled and put into a sticky rice “bun” with your choice of fixings, fresh seafood galore, dumplings all day everyday, fried chicken, scallion pancake, fried rice, pork belly in a steamed rice bun making a little burger of sorts with pickled greens and crushed peanuts, grilled squid, wok tossed noodles, and everyone’s favorite stinky tofu (fermented tofu that smells a little like raw sewage and wet garbage, but is all the rage). Every city has multiple night markets that are known for different dishes, and most of my dinners were had at them.

Taiwan is the birthplace of pearl milk tea (or boba as the cool kids and tech bros know) and I was a fool for my midday milk tea with those heavenly boba pearls. Vietnamese coffee is still my king of midday caffeine, but black milk tea with pearls half sweet full ice is definitely the queen right now. 

Oddly enough I found the Taiwanese to be very mild drinkers of beer and spirits, in my limited experience. But that did not stop me from having convenience store beer, usually at my favorite asian bar, Bar 7-Eleven. At some Taiwanese 7-11’s they have beer on tap, and all have a little seating area and even clean-ish bathrooms. But most importantly they have kick ass air conditioning for the sweltering summer heat and humidity. 

The island itself has some high elevation peaks in the middle, close to 12,000 feet at points, with big cities on the west coast and smaller rural areas on the east. My east coast jaunt consisted of the Taroko Gorge where water has cut through marble rock over millions of years creating narrow, colorful canyons and gorges. Small sections of the coast have a highway 1/Big Sur vibe, and I was able to rent a motorbike and check out the vantage points and cliffs dropping into the ocean below. Jumped on the (push) bike for a day of riding amongst the rice paddies and lakes of their mini central valley with a pork chop bento box in my day pack that was had in the shade by a lake. 

Then hit up the cities on the west, Kaohsiung, Tainan, and Taichung. Lots of temples, history, culture, nature, eating, and pleasant Taiwanese city life. 

Taiwan observations:

Taiwan public transport rules. Trains are cheap, plentiful, and on time. Subways are small yet efficient. Buses are there for the taking. And if the train, subway, or bus doesn’t go there they have an awesome bike share program. Best of all one metro card works for all forms in every city, and you can even use those metro cards to buy your beer at the end of a long day of exploring at Bar 7-Eleven. Easy peasy. 

Speaking of 7-11 (they also have Family Mart and Hi-Life), whereas in the states they are good for, ……….well…… shit. I don’t know……, buying late night beer? Cold drink or bottle of water? Bag of ice? Getting a couple Quick picks? But in Taiwan you can pay your bills, pick up your train ticket, pickup or send a package, top up your metro card, get a quality meal or snack, buy useful household and personal goods, among other things. 

Japan controlled Taiwan for around 50 years, so all the trains, public transport, and city planing are very reminiscent of Japan.

Taiwan recycle trucks sounds like the ice cream man. Where they play the jingle as they slowly move around town, and everyone comes out to throw their recycling in the back of the truck.

If you are ever wondering what happened to all the claw machine games (where you put in your quarter and try and grab a prize with the metal claw), well they are all in Taiwan. Taiwanese are crazy about them, and they have full on arcades with nothing but claw machines that have everything from beauty products, to electronics, to stuffed animals, even boxes of ice cream, and everything in between as prizes.

Lots of girls rolling around with a single hair curler in the front of their bangs. Half shirts with the midriff and baggy short shorts is all the rage with the ladies. Lots of little dogs and cats being rolled around in pet strollers. A noticeable amount of pet birds in cages on the train and subway. Taiwan was one of the first countries to recognize same sex couples, so the LGBTQ+ are free, proud, and well represented.

After 17 days on the island, it was time to move the summer adventures along. AirAsia got me to Kuala Lumpur,….

…where I stayed the night in a capsule hotel at the massive airport (which is a solid airport, requires a lot of walking on your part, but has lots of good food options, shopping, grocery store, lounge areas, etc. Unfortunately it also has far too many drunk Australian surfers) …..

…….and early the next morning I was off to Indonesia, West Sumatra to be exact.

Excited to get back to Indo!

Enter Indonesia

Land of the Minangkabau

Sumatra is the 6th largest island on Earth and is the largest island in Indonesia that is fully in Indonesia, Borneo (shared with Malaysia and Brunei), and Papua/Irian Jaya (shared with PNG) are both larger but not fully in Indonesia. And if we’re being honest, Papua isn’t Indonesian at all. Yet, part of it is in Indonesia? Anyway,……

Sumatra is a big island. Over 1,000 miles tip to tip. Tall volcanic peaks, “rugged tropical terrain”, volcanic lakes, highlands, coastline, canyons, and valleys, other smaller islands off the west coast, it’s a big ass island. And if you wanna travel anywhere, it’s gonna take you a lot of time. Cause shit is far apart, and traffic is a bitch (trucks hauling industry, palm oil, petrol, goods & services, and all form of transports from animal to human powered, to mechanical powered scooter, cart, car, van, bus, and automobiles of any sort on the small roads).

The people of West Sumatra, the Minangkabau, are descendants of tribes that excelled in buffalo fighting (the name literally means “buffalo champion”). All of their traditional homes, government buildings, and even some of the modern ones have roofs that peak up at the end resembling, and paying respect to, buffalo horns. The Minangkabau are also a matriarchal or matrilineal society (property and wealth are passed down through the female line of the family), “women have power” is how the local men would say it. I’d say they are a better lot because of it. 

Padang, a coastal city, at about the middle point of the island on the west. Well known for its food in and outside of Indonesia; Nasi Padang, Rendang, and the spiciness of it all (which tends to vary from island to island in Indonesia, but here in West Sumatra it’s just spicy). Typical Padang restaurant will place 7-15 small dishes on your table, as well as rice. Dishes are generally chicken dominant, beef in one or two, a couple veggies, egg, and seafood near the coast, and of course a dish of chili sambal (many chilis and a little garlic ground stone on stone). You pay for each dish you eat, don’t pay for what you don’t touch. Best food I’ve had in Indonesia without a doubt. Spicy, with flavors you can’t seem to get enough of, damn good food.

Wouldn’t be an Indonesian coastal town without the Ikan Bakar (grilled fish) restaurant. Pick your fish (or other delicacy from the sea) from the coolers in the front. Pick your sambal sauce; here it”s spicy, pretty spicy, or a soy sauce-ish thing. And it will be grilled up within minutes. You can even watch if you want. Order your sides (which are more likely than not to be spicy) and of course the nasi putih aka white rice. At this point you might as well double fist with a water and a beer. Dance… 

Locals do their eating with right hand only, Muslim style. Very common to get up multiple times in a meal to wash their hand as they work through different dishes. Interesting to see how they manage the plate, build the bite, and apply the chili sauce/sambal all with the right hand and the flick of fingers. 

Very Muslim area of Indonesia, considering the 6,000 inhabited islands of the country. Not as Muslim as Aceh in the north of Sumatra, or Sulawesi. But here in very Muslim Sumatra you will soon learn that the call to prayer is pretty much guaranteed to wake you at sometime between 4:45am and 5:15am most summer mornings. Sometimes they keep it short, and it is a literal “call” to prayer. Which I greatly appreciated at that time of the morning. But far too often it was a lot more than just a simple call to prayer. Could be a lot of singing, reciting, more calling, it could go on for awhile, a long while, and at that early hour of the morning, it was not something I always appreciated. Then if you do fall back asleep and wake up later, you get to hear the call again that day and into the night, four more times usually. Calling to prayer.

Most of the women cover their head in a scarf or hijab. Again, muslim, gotta be respectful to your god. Can’t be tempting those men with your hair.

Indonesian’s love to smile, say hello, make a joke, laugh, and fool around in a playful way. They are generally fun to be around. The men love to smoke, like all-day everyday smoking. Pretty overwhelming in crowded public spaces, transport like boats, ferries, buses, cars, or motorbike. They also litter, like it’s just what you’re suppose to do here. Which obviously it’s not what you’re supposed to do, but indonesian’s litter. A lot. If I had a rock to throw at Indonesian things I’d first go after the littering, and then the smoking, hoping for a two bird one stone throw. 

After roaming the Minangkabau highlands for a bit (rice paddies up against limestone peaks, waterfalls streaming down those peaks, and some slogs into the jungle in search of rare blooming flowers), it was time to head out on objective number one for West Sumatra, the Mentawai islands, for a trek into the interior to spend some quality time with the local tribe. Which meant securing a guide who has built a relationship with a family, or more importantly with the head of the family who is a Sikerei or medicine man/shaman of the forest and Mentawai culture, for us to stay with. After that it was only a 7hr ferry ride, a 1.5hr ride upriver in a canoe, and 2 hrs of slogging through mud and balancing on jungle roads (small trees that are a handful of inches wide that were cut down and placed in the mud for you to “walk” on to distribute your weight so you won’t sink ankle, shin, or even knee deep into that jungle mud, kinda like a muddy, slippery balance beam but you get to use a stick as a third balance point,……focus is key). Also it’s hot and humid as fuck. So you’re drenched in your own sweat the whole time. Good news is you got boots on and that walking stick is invaluable. Bad news is there’s no bathroom or shower of any sort. Just the jungle. So go #1 or #2 where you see fit. Just be mindful of the mud, slipping and falling as you try and find a spot to do your business, and the pigs as they can materialize out of the jungle and either scare the shit out of you, or lock it up in you, also keep an eye out for snakes, and obviously it’s BYO-TP. Spent 3 nights in the jungle (tbh kinda felt like that was plenty). It’s where the roosters are not so smart about the time but really loud, and the pigs sleep just below you in the mud, making all type of pig noises and occasionally shaking you awake when they scratch themselves against the wood of the home/structure you are sleeping in. We’d go out on jungle foraging trips most days, ingredients for the poison they put on the arrows, material for the loin cloths and rope, checking the wild pig trap, collecting betel nut, wild cacao, cinnamon, coffee, and whatever else they may need or can get from the jungle that day. As is customary, I brought a grip of cigarettes and sweets as gifts to grease the wheels of hospitality. The Mentawai people identify as such, not necessarily as Indonesian, but when ciggys are involved, they become true Indonesian smokers. Between the smoke of open fires and chain smoking of cigarettes I feel like I was smoking a pack a day in the jungle. 

Objective number two after some rough jungle life, was finding an Ecolodge on a remote cove away from it all. Rimba ecolodge fit that bill, a French/Indonesian operation located about a 40 minute boat ride to the nearest road or town. Where one could get a small simple bungalow (raised wood structure with a double bed, mosquito net, an open bathroom in the rear with cold water shower and a western toilet, and a small front stoop) ocean facing with ample hammocks, three meals a day, and water, tea, and coffee at your leisure for about $23USD per day. Reading and then more reading, sleeping (hello siestas!) swimming, snorkeling, contemplating the universe and all things in it from a gently swaying hammock, and talking travel and life with fellow guests around a dinner table kept me fully content, so much so that a plan of 3 nights easily turned into a week. 

My (earned) vacation. 

2023: Thailand

Enter Bangkok

Thai food and drink, temples, shopping, markets, traditional thai massage, Chinatown, MBK food court, street side beers around Khaosan, the Chao Phraya river, etc….. yes, I would love to spend a handful of nights in Bangkok before the long travel home. So I did…..

….I love to travel…….