maik's travels

December last (2008) I made another trip to Bangladesh.  From Dhaka to Barisal to Chittagong and Cox Bazaar it was a very resourceful trip !  See my report on my another blog and post your views and critics.  Thanks !

I've added more photos of my travels on LoneRunner.  I have much more to add so check me out often as I will update regularly.

Left on the 8th June at around 14:30 for Madagascar with around 46 kilos of luggage!!!  I'll tell you why later.  Flight and landing at Ivato airport were smooth.  Went to a guest house that i booked online for my first day and enjoyed the ride till there.  Madagascar is vast !  The first word that came to my mind just when the plane was about to land and also while the drive to the guest house was : "Immense" !  The weather was cold and very good.  By the time i reached the guest house it was already time to go to bed.  The next day i went out on the balcony and had my first good view over the city and the Rova (the Queen's Palace), quite far away though.  I then arrange with someone to come fetch me in a taxi because i wanted to go to a village.  He arrived and we started our way to Amboromanina.  Its the village name and its not far from a bigger village known as Ambohimangakely, only 11 kilometres far from Antananarivo. 

 

Amboromanina is a very basic village situated on a hilltop.  There's neither water nor electricity in that village.  What a surprise when i reached there !  There was around 50 people already waiting for my arrival !  Well, the day before i left i called someone and told him i'd be coming, so word spread that a Vazaha (stranger / tourist) was coming and people gathered to see that strange creature !  After the introduction, there was a girl who spoke french who was there to translate as no one spoke french, i presented a gift to the head of that village.  His name is Pastor Rakotozafy, pronounce as Rakoutzaf.  Now remember my 46 kilos luggage ?  It was what it was meant for.  After having presented my gift to the Pastor that weight was halved and i was also relieved !  Now dont ask me what i gave him because this is private.  If you really want to know drop me a mail and maybe we can talk further.  But the gift was very welcomed and the Pastor started the distribution to his fellow villagers, nearly everyone got something.  Time went and soon it was dark and time to use a mosquito repellant cream.  My translator said it was time for her to go home and another Pastor who was there also asked me if i would like a little walk.  Agreed and we started to walk to accompany our translator to her home.  Now that i look back i figure out that, that night we walked nearly 4 kilometres !  And we were walking in quite complete darkness as there is no electricity and as bizarre as it is no one uses a torch !  There were only candles in the huts.  Maybe because of their poor condition ?  When we returned to the village it was already late but they were king enough to have boiled water for some tea !  Ah ! Have i told you that i am a great tea drinker ?  Yes ! A heavy chai drinker i am and i brought with me, naturally, my complete chai kit ! (Powdered milk, tea bags and sugar)  So i enjoyed tea and sat in the cold dark night thinking of our own condition compared to these people !  Time to get in as the people were already arranging their matress. 

 

Now a little word about where i stayed.  It was a mud hut no more than 9 meters square with straw roof.  It was all.  Bare with only a little bed in a corner and a mattress down in another corner, the Pastor stayed there with his wife and 3 small kids.  And today i am the guest together with the other Pastor (Patrick) and his wife and two kids !  So we were 10 people in that room with me as a guest on the bed and the remaining on 1 mattress !  Can you picture this ?  As it was very cold i slept completely dressed up in jeans and big jacket and i went in my cosy sleeping bag.  I had a good sleep though.

 

The next day we woke very early, around 05:30 a.m  Water was already boiled !  What time did that lady wake up to boil water !  She had to boil it on a very small mud oven and it took time to do so !  So i guess she woke up very early to do this.  Thanks lady !  So as soon as i awoke, i had water already for my teabags and enjoyed another big glass of tea.  Happy i was !  Then they prepared lukewarm water for me to use for brushing my teeth and washing.  Now rose a problem !  The WC !!! Should i call it a WC ?  It was a square hole dug up to around 4 feet deep.  Above it was placed a sheet of plywood with a small square cut in the middle.  To use it you have to squat on the hole and do your thing.  Very dangerous !!!  The plywood was thin and i weigh aroung 90 kgs !  I feared that it would break under my weight and i did not use it !  Another problem was that the WC was built in a small hut built to Malagassy standard !  Malagassy people are generally small in size but i am 185 cms high !  I had to bend in half to get in and I thought it was better not to use it... no more about this subject, sorry !

 

The second day i accompanied Pastor Rakutzaf to Ambohimangakely, he had some things to deal.  We took the local bus to go there.  After his dealings we made some shopping, i wanted to buy some things for them as i was staying there.  Chut ! No more !  So we went back to the village and then the friend who took me to the village called me and asked me how things were.  I decided to go back to Tana because i felt i will not be able to stay there for hygienic reason. He told me he will be coming in after two or three hours.  In the meantime i was the centre of every one's attention, specially the children.  The digital camera always make wonders with children as they can see them in the LCD screen and everyone wanted to be photographed !  Finally my friend arrived and i made my au revoirs to the villagers and was off. 

 

Back to Antananarivo (Tana) i checked in a cosy guest house and had a good shower.  After that i went out to look for a restaurant to have lunch, remember last night i had tea as dinner ?  And this morning tea as breakfast ?  So i went walking towards Independance Avenue and found the Terasse restaurant and pizzeria.  What a feast i made ! Ending with a cup of ... tea of course !  The following two days i spent walking all around Tana, up and down and everywhere.  Shooting photos and photos ...

 

Friday afternoon i went to Ambodivona to book a seat for Toamasina (Tamatave) on the minibus for the next day.  I could just have turned up and buy the ticket on Saturday itself, but i wanted a specific seat so i preferred to book in advance to secure that seat.  The ticket cost Ar 15,000 one way.  For currency exchange and info ask me.  I bought a front seat as there is more legroom.  Departure is scheduled at 08:00 morning on Saturday.

 

Saturday, 14th June, i arrived at the taxi-brousse station (Ambodivona) at around 07:30 a.m and waited for my minibus.  We finally departed at around 08:40 starting for a 7 hours long ride.  The trip was very scenic and exciting but tiring also.  I tracked the complete route on my GPS and it is now on my map.  After many stops we finally arrived at Toamasina (Tamatave) at around 16:30.  There are so many pousse-pousse in Tamatave !  Bicycle pousse and man-pulled pousse.  See the photos for understanding.  I took a bike pousse and told him to take me to the city centre as the taxi-brousse station is out of town.  We reached there and i walked around looking for an OK guest house.  After visiting two different hotels, one too expensive and the other too dark, i finally checked in a quite Ok one.  Went out immediately to look for food.  I did not eat anything since the morning and was glad when i found a good snack on Boulevard Joffre.  Nice food and good tea !  Went back to my room for a good night sleep.  I had to use a mosquito net because in Tamatave weather is completely different as Tana.  Tamatave is hot and has many mosquito.  So i used my repellant cream and crawled under my mosquito net and slept well.

 

Sunday was spent visiting town and the beach.  I went back to the taxi-brousse station to buy return ticket for tomorrow, monday.  This time i bought the two front seats so that i'll have more space !  Tamatave is a city found near the sea and has quite good beaches so i went to the beach for photos.  While walking on the beach i was approached by two kids.  They were enjoying the beach and when they saw a vazaha (stranger) they wanted to know everything about  him (me) !  We walked the beach chatting and i should say they were quite clever kids as they spoke very good french and even some english apart from their maternal tongue !  We had lunch, yes i invited them, and they took me to visit the bazar-be afterwards.  Bazar-be is the big bazar.  Quite interesting things, i bought vanilla straws for a friend (a bon entendeur salut !) and i also bought Eucalyptus oil for its perfume and Caiman oil for massage.  The kids left me at my hotel at around 15 hours and i went in for some rest.  After maybe 1 hour rest i went out for another walk.  Met with some old men sitting and enjoying their sunday evening and had a good chat with them.  At around 19:00 i walked back to Bvd. Joffre and went to a pizzeria i spotted earlier and ordered a pizza.  I had to wait a long time as there was many people before me.  As it was quite dark, no so many street lights in Tamatave, i preferred to go back to my hotel and read.  Yes i always have a reading book for my spare times.

 

Monday morning minibus was scheduled to depart at 09:00 and we departed at 11:00 !!!  Plus the more or less 8 hours trip back, i reached Tana at night.  Checked in the Anjary Hotel and stayed there till Wednesday 18th June.  These last two days i spent lazying and walking and meeting some local friends i made earlier.  Wednesday 18th i left Tana for Ivato for my night flight back home.  Ivato is a very small airport and as it is Madagascar my flight was delayed for around 1 hour and we left finally....

 

10 days in Madagascar is nothing.  But it was a first time and there will be many more trips to come.  See the photos for more understanding and email me any question or clarification you want.

Left for Malaysia on the 6th April 08 at night and reached there on Monday 7th early morning.  Flight was boring but i managed to sleep a little.  Reached KLIA and from there took the KLIA Expres to Sentral and from there the Putra to Masjid Jamek and walked to Jalan Masjid India where i stayed two days.  I had some time to go to Gombak visit my silat instructor, remember last year when i went there to practice silat ?  I got the "Seni Beladiri" magazine where i was featured last year.  Had great time enjoying Malay food and as i observed i always weigh more when i leave Malaysia !  Food is so good and cheap there ! Wednesday 9th April, i left  for China by Air Asia.  Got the early morning flight at 05:45 a.m., so the last night i barely slept.  Air Asia flight was full and left as scheduled.  Arrived in Guangzhou 4 hours later and taxied to Beijing Lu where i checked in my usual hotel.  Same day i started my business, i had only 3 days so i had a tight schedule.  Next day also was spent touring the dirrerent markets and day after also.  In China i like to eat in the small Muslim eatries, there am sure i'll not be eating snakes, dogs or any similar delicacies... !  Also their menu are clearly displayed on pictures and so easily ordered.  As you can imagine its difficult to communicate with the local folk, as they do not speak a word of english !  Why should they speak english ?  So, sign language and mutual effort for understanding is common and usually it works. 

 

Sunday the 13th April. i took the 10:20 a.m flight back to Malaysia, flew to LCCT where i departed also.  LCCT stands for Large Cattle Carrier Terminal, where cattle are herded in lorries and sent to their respective pastures or knacker !  Oh sorry : LCCT is for Low Cost Carrier Terminal !!!  Where all low cost airlines depart and land.  Its not far from KL International  Airport.  So i reached LCCT at around 14:30 and taxied back to Jln Masjid India where i stayed till the 17th.  I like to stay there because there is my usual hotel there and also a very nice food court open 24 hours, some shopping centres like Mydin and Hanifa where i can find cheap things and presents for my nephews and niece !  There are also around 5 money changers around, internet office, covered walking street and the famous Saturday Night Market on Saturday nights.  The metros also are within walking distance, so easy travel to the IT centres like Sungei Wang / Low Yat, Times Square for some fun or to the Pudu bus station.  Sogo and Pertama Complex are also some minutes walk and for those who want the large screen there is the Odeon Cinema nearby.  So shopping and rest was my main objective for these days.  Wednesday the 16th i took the KTM Komuter (local train) for Port Kland where i spent some time walking the small port where the boats sail to Pulau something, sorry i forgot the name !  Train back to Sentral and back to my hotel.  Thursday 17th the hotel gave me till 17:30 to check out ! I am a regular client and a personal friend of the Manager so you can guess why i got 5 more hours free...  Had a last dinner in my favourite food court and taxied to Sentral.  This time i had to take a taxi because i had two bags full of gifts, guess for who !!!   Boarded my sleeper train for Singapore and slept nearly all the way till Johor Bahru where we reached early the next morning. 

 

Immigration procedures, customs and welcome to Singapore.  Train again till Tanjong Pagar (Singapore Railway Station) and taxi to Mustapha.  Y Mustapha ?  Because there are plenty of cheap hotels around and also because Mustapha is open 24 hours, so no hassle for shopping.  Checked in the Shing Hotel for 65 SGD / night.  A few shopping in the Mustapha Shopping Centre and on the 19th morning taxi to Changi airport and flew back home !

 

Click on the blue words, they are links and will take you to the related websites for more info.

 

I just added a few photos from my travel to India and Bangladesh (December 2007).  The trip started from home and a 7 hours flight to Chennai in India.  Spent only 1 day in Chennai, roaming around near the Chennai Egmore train station, then flew on Deccan to Kolkata where 1 stayed another day.  From Kolkata i flew to Dhaka on Biman (Bangladesh Airlines).  But Biman had 10 hours delay, 10 long hours that i spent in Kolkata airport ! I then spent 13 days in Bangladesh going from Dhaka to Srimangal and back.  From Srimangal i went to 2 different tribal villages and to the Lawachara National Park.  I also went to Ramnagar, Manipuripara to taste the 5 coloured tea, unique in the world !  Then back to Dhaka again by bus (7 hours trip, due to traffic jam).  Next, I went to Barisal by launch, a launch is a boat and the river trip took around 9 hours.  Spent only 4 days there and at that time there was the Muslim festival known as Eid-Ul-Adha, when the Muslims sacrifice cows or goats or camels.  I had the opportunity to visit the cow markets, i never saw so many cows in my life before ! From Barisal I went to visit the Bait ul Aman Mosque in Guthia, Uziapur and visited the village there.  Also went to Bamrail, 1 hour bus from Barisal and then walk 3 or 4 kilometres in the crops and paddyland to finally reach the Kalihata village.  Spent a day with the local people  and i visited an orphanage / boarding school and had a feast there with the local children, the best day of the whole trip !  Back to Dhaka by boat again then flew back to Delhi where i spent 4 days and then flew back home.  But I preferred by far the trip to Bangladesh as the people there are really welcoming and gentle.  India is a completely different story, where you must always be alert and see if you are not being scammed !  Delhi was dirty, especially there are works going on in the airport and its dusty and smelly everywhere !  But this is India !  Another experience !