Manila - 3 days of rest and visits of the local hospital

I got to Manila on the 27th, middle of the afternoon... My first concern was not to find out where was the best place to go for a run but to find a medical center.

Jeroen had arrange for us to stay at a Filipino couch surfing friend he met 8 years back on the great wall of China!!! Ronnie, our guest, was so kind to help me out finding an hospital that would suit my needs. I proceed to go to the Makati Medical Center straight from the airport based on his feedback.

Philippines is having a lot of stereotypes to its name and is unfortunately having a very bad reputation in the western world I come from. Also Manila is one of the most chaotic places I have been to. The traffic is insane and at first the city was scary to me.

All these ideas were chattered facing the infinite kindness of its people. OMG they are nice people, especially towards me, standing out of the crowd with my bandages. Walking in the street of the capital so many people have been asking me if I was ok or if I needed help.

The nurses in the Medical Center have been amazing to me. By the second day, they would almost all know my name and welcoming me with the warmest smile. I would go for 4 visits in a row to the same medical center.

Besides that, our stay in Manila was very restful to us, especially to me. I would mostly stay in the residence where Ronnie lived. It had a bar/restaurant and 2 swimming pools but our favorite spot was definitely the roof deck located at the 42nd floor. The view from there is amazing. From Ronnie's flat on the 34th floor it was not too bad either.

This used to be a power plant, this is now a mall. 

On our last night, we had a great couch surfing party at his place! It was nice and fun to hang out with locals. Definitely one to remember.

Picture of a Polaroid taken during the couch surfing party :)

After my last visit in the hospital in the early morning of the 30th, it was time to go to the airport again. Jeroen had plan for us to spend New Year Eve on Boracay, a very small island in the center of the country.

Bye Bye Manila - This is Makati from the roof deck of Ronnie's residence.

Last day in Thailand!

December 25th and December 26th

I finally got out of the hospital.

My only concern besides recovery is making it on time in Bangkok to grab my flight for the Philippines... this flight is schedule on the 27th at 9:35am.

I decided to take the last ferry of the day in Ko Pha Ngan... a night ferry leaving at 10pm. This was a bit of a crazy experience... No seats, just 2 rows of really bad mattresses. The trip to Surat Thani would take 7 hours more or less. It was for me a very scary experience because of the very little number of passengers, the risk of infections (I was out of the hospital just for 2 hours and the boat looked like it was straight out of the Pirates of the Caribbean after a battle...) and the fact that this was probably the worst looking boat I had ever seen.

The night ferry. Is there AirCo? Off course not! 

The night ferry from the inside... 2 rows of minimalist beds. A few fans to cool the air.

It was the price to pay in order to spend a few hours in Bangkok and catch up with my cousin there.

In Surat Thani, I had no real other choice of transportation than the bus. It turned out to be a 12 hours ride... I eventually made it to Bangkok at 7pm.

It was already time for me to go back to a medical center in order to have my wounds cleaned...

Easier said than done. In total it took me a few hours to find an hospital and have what would become a daily activity for the next 10 days done...

By 10pm I was finally on my way to spend time with Quentin my cousin from France!!!

It was so good after being stock in an hospital to see a familiar face and catch up.

We spoke all night long, discussing about our lives outside France.

The following morning, it was time for both of us to grab our flights. Quentin would go to Cambodia, I would go to Manilla in the Philippines where Jeroen (my ex roomate in the Netherlands) would join me for a 3 weeks tour of the country!

***** WARNING *****

Graphic content coming!!!

If you do not like to see wounds, do not look at what follows... This is a picture I took in the hospital in Bangkok where I got the first wounds cleaning and dressing out of the island.

It was not so painful and looks worst than it actually is.

Ko Pha Ngan - 3 days in the hospital...

You most probably know that I was admitted to an hospital on the 23rd of December in this beautiful island. I am staying at the First Western Hospital. As mentioned I am fine and making a quick recovery. The truth is that if that would have happened in Europe I would have probably make it out of the hospital the same day. Unfortunately, due to the local reality (tropical weather and risk of infections...) they don't take much risks and almost systematically keep wounded patient for 24/48 hours depending on the severity of the injury.

My wounds are located on my left lower leg, both my forearms and the palm of both hands. For the hospital.

I spent a total of 3 days and 2 nights there. Around 60 hours...
Everyday have looked like one another. Lying in bed waiting for the morning wound cleaning.
Lying in bed waiting for food served 3 times a day at fixed hours: breakfast at 7am, lunch at 11:30 diner at 6pm.

Nothing to complain about there, the food was amazing and the choice very very large. they had the best shake and smoothies ever.
I made a few friends there but mostly spent my time with Marju from Finland occupying the bed in front of mine.

Marju - my hospital buddy and I. Window view.

It was an interesting experience altogether and was very nice to receive the visits of Joshua!

Unfortunately I set my travelling back for 3 days and I had to stay on the island instead of joining my cousin in Bangkok and running the 10,5km on Xmas day.

Health and recovery was more important and I am happy with the recovery so far.

I would leave on the 25th at 7pm (merry Xmas to me!!!!) just in time for what turned out to be the longest commute... ever!!!

This is how they make you feel at home for Xmas. The owner being Santa and distributing sweets :)

The best internet connexion I had so far. Thank god for Netflix.

Ko Pha Ngan - Challenging day 22.12

I had mark the day in my calendar. I had told Joshua - my Dutch friend that arrived on the island the night before - to join me there for some hours of fun and physical exercises. We met at 10 am for breakfast (it is as well the opening hour of the water park) and get energized for the day.

I was so excited.

Soooo, the challenge is composed of multiple modules you have to go through, some are mandatory (if you fall you have to pass it again) and some others can be "skipped" if you fall (you then have to swim to the next element which makes you loss quite some time$9.

Here goes the course: 

- You start from a plate form where you take a swing. You release yourself in the water and get to the first module - The Balance Beam

- The Balance Beam is composed of a very narrow beam with 3 red cylinders in the way. As the name suggests it, balance is key there.

- You then turn onto the Swinging Shapes, 5 hanging shapes very unstable. You need very good hand/foot coordination and very strong upper body. These 2 pieces are mandatory, if you fall, you have to start both again. 

- Completing this, you are a dive away from the Rolling Barrels. You get up a small plate form and face 3 cylinders. Several techniques can be used to cross this obstacle: "crawling" from one barrel to another, or running/jumping from one to one. I decided to run which was much faster and dive straight into the Floating Shapes.

- The Floating Shapes is one of the 2 modules I could not master. It is composed of 4 floating cubes that are very light and incredibly unstable. You need to be so fast and light on these... It is almost impossible. I did try but I have always been falling on the second or third one. 

- You are then having a 20/30m swim to the Pyramid, an inflated structure you have to climb until the top. Not very technical but very demanding physically. 

- From the Pyramid, you take a dive to get onto the Monkey Bars. This one is pretty straight forward... You hang from one bar to the next one but difficulty is increased having your legs hanging in the water. 

- Last element is the Satan's Balls, 3 massives round floating red shapes you have to run through. This is by far the most difficult part and the one where you can loose most time. I have not manage a single time to cross it. I have been spending almost 2 hours going on and off the departure zone trying to master it... without success. The closest I got was jumping from the 3rd ball onto the finishing area... but arriving on the plate form my back first, just bouncing against the white inflated module down the water... So close.

- The time stops when you are standing on this last piece.

First part of the course from the starting plate form. 

Second and final part of the course.

We spent with Joshua a good hour evaluated all elements and practicing crossing techniques before taking upon The Challenge - the timed run of the entire track. The all time record was 2 minutes and 16 secondes by a French guy. My initial objective was to make it into the top 20 and complete the course in around 3 minutes.

On my first try, I noticed how tired I already was from all the time spent climbing, swimming and trying out the modules. I would rest a little, have lunch and try again. My first time was 3 minutes 20 sec... just 3 seconds away of making the top 20. I know I could do much better and already identified areas of improvements.

After lunch, I decided straight away to warm up, swimming and stretching a little bit and try directly.

As expected, I started trying to dive off the swing and going through the first elements slowly but surely as these are mandatory. I failed to pass the Floating Rocks and swam rapidly to the pyramid, climbed as quick as I can and jumped straight into the water, flew passed the monkey bars and climbed facing the red balls. I focused a few seconds... and failed pathetically :D. I was just left with swimming around and climbing to the last plate form. And standing triumphantly. 

My time for this attempt was 2:48. I had my spot in the Top 10 and the best time of the day (besides that staff member... that completed the course in 1 minute and 3 secondes.... He was flying through the entire thing like if it was a walk in the park).

Again, I knew I could do better but was not really sure how much energy I had left. The key for me was these balls... completed it and it is top 3 guaranteed. I spent the next 2 hours as mentioned before up there, jumping from one ball to another. Or at least trying because I would always end up in the water.

On my third and final attempt, I improved my time by just 1 second. I was left empty and already sore feeling each muscle in my body.

All time ranking!

It was time to call it a day, go to visit our Dutch friend at the Flying Dutchman and witness a beautiful sunset. We stopped on the way in order to snap a picture or 2 of that amazing scenery.

Sunset and Ang Thong National park in the far back.

Ko Pha-Ngan - Opening day tradition

December 21st.

Solid tradition now !!

New place, early morning run.

This time again, tropical rain.

Since it is 6 days before the race I took it easy. 40 minutes easy run.

I then went on to change accommodation.

The bungalow I had was ok, but there were cheaper and better option.

I decided to head to the North East part of the Island, on the opposite corner to the party area in a much quieter place to the Shiralea resort.

The resort is a perfect place with swimming pool, close to beautiful beaches.

After lunch (pad thai ... what else) and check in, I headed to Ko Ma, an island / peninsula you can walk on to... you have max 50 cm shallow cristal clear deep water for 100m to get there. The place is perfect for snorkeling. Beaches are full of corals of any color you can imagine. It feels like a giant fish tank.

Coral beach of Ko Ma

Happy dog chillin' in front of Ko Ma

My snorkeling spot on Ko Ma

It was soon time for diner. For this I was looking for a perfect spot to record a timelapse and enjoy a nice pad thai (sorry for this obsession of mine - if you don't know what a pad thai is, go to a Thai restaurant. Please.).

We stopped at the Flying Dutchman... One of the nicest place I have been to so far. It is quiet, peaceful heartwarming and the food is de-li-cious.

View from the Flying Dutchman

Tomorrow will be an important day... The day of THE CHALLENGE. My expectations have been building up so high. The place looks like a Wipeout playground for whoever is up for the "Challenge". Can't wait.

The "short commute" from Krabi to Ko Pha Ngan

Another day of commute. 

This 20th of December was funny making the "short" trip from Krabi to Ko Pha Ngan island in the bay of Thailand (269km only...).

One of the main reason I choose this island over Ko Samui I that there is something to this island I really want to experience: The Challenge (dedicated post to come). I randomly discovered this when I was checking where to go and what to do... This was Ze key differentiator!

I first got pick up by a mini van from the hostel in Krabi Town.

The taxi got us to the head office of a travel agency where half a dozen mini vans arrived. While waiting an hour or so, groups would be made depending the destination. Pink for Ko Pha Ngan and yellow for Samui. We would then board the same bus to Donsak in the Surat Thani region en route to the ferry. After waiting for another hour, we would finally board the boat. First stop Ko Samui for 30 minutes then Ko Pha Ngan where we would be taking taxi to the different part of the island where everybody would be dropped of at their hotel. I would make it for diner arriving at 7:30. And would found the company of a cute little cat in my empty restaurant.

The total commute was as short as the distance between the 2 locations - 8 hours and thirty minutes.

No picture today - no time at all I guess :P


UPDATE:
I have found a cute picture of my diner companion I wanted to share with you :) sorry for the poor quality I was a bit shaky and in low light. The cat jumped on my lap spontaneously and left when I was done. Nice little diner buddy.

Pad Thai - Cat flavor.

Krabi - Scooter, Tiger and Railay

When I went to bed in my hostel on the 18th of December in Krabi I was the only folk there. No one in my dorm, no one in the dorm next door. Imagine my surprise when I saw Joshua when I woke up.

Joshua is a Dutch folk I met first in Kuala Lumpur. We randomly saw each other on the beach in Langkawi... and now Krabi. 

After a nice Thai Ice Coffee for breakfast, we rented a scooter to provide us the freedom to move around this amazing region. Ahhh these Limestone formation everywhere!!!

First stop: Tiger Cave Temple. A nice touristy area composed of a Buddhist temple, a stairway (to Heaven???) of 1237 stairs to climb to access a view point, and a cave area which is home to the local monks.

The view from that hill is breathtaking. Absolutely gorgeous and totally worth the effort to climb up.

Top of the Tiger cave temple

We then headed towards Ao Nammao, a village on the sea where we took a boat to Railay... another piece of paradise accessible by sea only. Joshua and I spent the afternoon in that location. Going around Railay beach takes approximately 15 minutes altogether, but there are couple of location that requires a little bit of effort to access not to mention a bit more time: the viewpoint and the lagoon.

To arrive to both location, the hike is pretty spectacular and incredibly difficult because of the incline and the mud (it is raining everyday at some point, making it very muddy). Again, the view from up there is pretty special. The lagoon is another story. after the climb up, there is a 100m climb down which is very very technical... that place is made exceptional by its difficulty to be reach. We I got down to the lagoon, there were 3 persons only... and very few tried to go there that day apparently.

Viewpoint in Railay

The princess lagoon in Railay - picture credit

It was quickly time returned to Ao Nammao with the last boat at 6pm.

Leaving Railay

Of course the ride back to Krabi town (around 20km) was humid - we played catch and seek with a tropical storm but made it safe back to the hostel. To keep the tradition alive, the day ended at the night market for some live music and some food. Unfortunately no egg wrapped pad thai. but some nice spring rolls.

Tomorrow will be another day in the transports. 

Krabi - Life is THE Beach

Oddly enough, I had to change the time when I arrived in Thailand. We are in the time zone UTC +7 hours. It does make a difference regarding my running. I am still going running every second day as early as possible which basically means when the sun rise. In Malaysia it was between 7 and 7:15 in the morning. In Krabi, I went for my morning run before 6:30.

The mini marathon next week will start at 5:45 in the morning... better getting use to it!!!

So I did run a little on the bank of the river... Quite a few runners out there. Interval trainings it was, trying to get some speed. It is a training that makes me very inconfortable. I am out of breath most of the time, at a pace I can't handle... but it helps apparently. My brother suggested that I do intervals of 30 seconds for 10 minutes which means 30 sec very quick and 30 sec recovery for 10 minutes... then slow pace for 10 minutes just to have your heart rate going down... and do it again.

Impossible for me today. I went to bed very late the day before as I was speaking with a couple of English and an Australia at my hotel (the first persons I have met that did not enjoy their stay in Thailand at all). I completed only half of the training set by Simon... 5 minutes intervals of 30 seconds twice with a 5 minutes recovery run in between. I did not feel the sleep was missing, I should maybe just do this more often and increase slowly the reps. We will see in the coming weeks how I can squeeze this kind of specific trainings in the travelling plans.

I had booked a last minute tour to visit some islands located in the "bay" of Krabi (which, as I learnt, is called the Andaman sea... Thank you google...). Many many many (and many more) tour options... James Bond Islands, Monkey Island, Phi Phi Islands, etc etc etc.

I went full on Leo style and choose the Phi Phi Islands tour package. Phi Phi Islands are a group of 2 main islands known for the movie the Beach starring Leonardo Dicaprio... and Virginie Ledoyen. I really though she was forgotten by international audience by now, but seeing 95% of the girl getting recorded out of the water like this I understood how wrong I was.

The tour was taking out the group to places absolutely incredible. Again, it is hard to put words on the landscapes, the color of the water, the islands, the feeling of that perfect sand on your feet... You have to see it for yourself and make yourself an opinion about these places. I am not going to lie, it was amazing and as you probably guess, incredibly busy everywhere we went. 

Here is a small summary of the day and the visits.

Departure by boat from Ao Nang, a nice little beach resort 20 km away from Krabi town.

40 minutes wandering on Bamboo Island - an island without bamboo... but a LOT of corals.

We went for short picture stop where we stayed on the boat to see the Viking Cave. This is a place known for its bird nest. Apparently a bird nest found there can be sold up to 100.000 Bahts according to our guide (2600 euros approximately)... A delicatessen in Asia were we told.

We had a swim in Pileh lagoon together with doyens of other groups from alternative tour companies.

We spent 45min on Ko Phi Phi Lee. We were dropped off Maya Bay - the Beach of "The Beach".

We spent 5 minutes off shore of Monkeys Beach snapping a few pictures... and feeding the monkeys.

We then headed to Ko Phi Phi Don for lunch. A buffet for hungry tourists with local food.

Our final stop was for snorkeling close to Nui Beach, a little creek breathtaking.

We return to Ao Nang, all absolutely exhausted. I slept most of the 30 minutes return to my hotel... and therefore was ready for yet another my egg wrapped pad thai :D

Coming back from this and since I have been wondering how such a landscape was formed I did a little research. I learnt that these seascape elements are called karst and are (surprise, surprise!!) NOT the results of millions of years of erosion but of a chemical process acting over thousands and thousands of year. More info here and here.

There are worst ways to spend a day really.

Post Scriptum: It is hard to pick a few pictures from all these places. There are 2 that I really like: one from "the back of The Beach" on Ko Phi Phi Lee (everybody stays on the Beach while 2 minutes of walking takes you to a no man's land with that view) and one from the snorkeling. What do you think?

Island in the back of Maya Bay.

Fishes photo-bombing my selfie.

Bye Bye Malaysia - Hello Thailand

Another day, another adventure could be an alternative title to this one.

After 2 nights in Langkawi, I had made my choice to leave Malaysia and head to Thailand. It was a hard decision as the place is a little paradise with plenty of entertainment around and a very laid back feel in general. This is an island after all. I should be back here, maybe... I will be in Malaysia again in February anyway, on my way back to Europe. Future will tell. For now I was set for another long journey towards Krabi.

Bye Langkawi.

A taxi picked me up at 7:20am at the hotel. One last stop en route to the ferry terminal as we were picking up another person. And I would be travelling all day with Lee. He is travelling solo just as I am and heading to Phuket (that would add at least 3 hours compare to my already long journey... can't even imagine how happy he was to finally get there).

Anyway, we got to the ferry terminal by 8am, had a coffee, waited a little at Malaysian immigration, embarked at 8:45, left at 9, arrived in Tammalang at 10:30, passed through Thai immigration, took a songthaew to the local bus station, arrived right on time for our bus at 11am and left...

Because we would travel during the day and it was hot and sunny outside we did not suffer so much from extreme cold that is usually ruling Thai buses... The drivers in South East Asia are hardcore fan of air conditioning, and it is common to have polar temperature in these rolling things.

I arrived in Krabi bus station in the middle of the afternoon and said goodbye to Lee - one advise he gave me could impact tremendously my travels in the next weeks... more on this soon :) - Where was I exactly, I had no clue. Where would I spend the night, I had no clue. One sure thing, we were NOT in Krabi town... I went for the easy was and took a taxi to the center where I would have much more chance to find an accommodation for the night. Finding a place took me very little time... After 15 minutes walking around, I had a winner. The place looked clean, very close to the markets - the fresh food market and the night market - and cheap.

Perfect combination.

I was finally ready for what I had patiently waited since February: a Pad Thai in Thailand!

And the best place to find one was at the night market.

Going through the shacks on my quest, something I did not expect at all happened at 6pm sharp. A loud Thai music was blasting in every direction and EVERYBODY stopped whatever activity they where doing. At first I wanted to laugh out loud then I realised it was probably the national anthem and stayed quiet. Google confirmed that it was indeed the national anthem and that it was played twice a day at 8am and 6pm. Not being aware of this at first, I thought a second I was taking part in the world largest Mannequin Challenge... It was that intense!

Night Market Krabi seconds before National anthem being played.

And around the corner it was... The Pad Thai Shack! A special one as the recipe was upgraded to a egg wrapped pad thai. It was absolutely delicious.

This is how it's done. That simple.

As I like to say in Thailand: one pad thai a day keeps the grumpy face away. 

Pad Thai egg wrapped.

Langkawi - Life is a Beach

2 buses, 1 ferry, 1 taxi... 10 hours...

We - 2 german girls making the same trip and I - left Cameron Highlands at 8am, and for to Cenang Beach at 6pm. The first bus took us to Butterworth in Penang, the second to Kuala Perlis where the ferry was making the short trip to the island of Langkawi.

10 hours... this is what it takes to reach this paradisiac place. The first island on the trip :)

First things first on arrival: find an accommodation for the night. On the way there, I received good word for couple of options: the Cottage and the Gecko. I went first to the Cottage but it was fully booked. Gecko it was! 100m away from the beach. Very close to the main street with all the restaurants and souvenirs shops. Very nice place it turned out to be. Full of cats, roosters, chicken and guess what... geckos. Very happy as well to be able to buy fresh fruits from the nearby night market... Maaaaaan these mangos and bananas :)

I started the day after a nice sleep the same way I did in the previous stops: going out for a sunrise run. That 3rd run of the trip was so different from the ones in Kuala Lumpur (big city) and Cameron Highlands (mountains) not only because of the nearby beach but specifically for the wild life...

I got uber-scared seeing 3 buffalos peacefully drinking from a ditch right next to the road and a family of a dozen monkeys looking for food in the garbage of one of the hotels. My last encounter with a monkey had been epic some months ago in Cambodia and I didn't want to have the same experience again. The weather was punishing. 27 degrees and 85% humidity at 7am. Standing still in the shade is enough to start sweating... Running was hell of challenge. I am starting to hope for rain in the races of Bangkok and Cebu... 

End of the road for my morning run.

I went for a typical breakfast - food here has a big Chinese and Indian influence - and eventually headed to the beach for a swim and in order to finish the book I had started in the bus the day before.

It was only a few minutes... an hour max... but enough to get sunburn. Unfortunately there were not so much shade on the beach so I went walking around instead. It seems like there are quite some things to do on the island, however none of it will be for me for now.

I want to get to Thailand fast as I must be in Bangkok on the 24th. So tomorrow morning, I will get a ferry to Thailand and a bus to Krabi. I will be in for another long day of transportation.

That also means there will be more island in the coming days and more pieces of paradise :)

Selfie in Cenang Beach.

Cameron Highlands - Tea, Forest, Run

I finally got on the road and arrived from KL to the Cameron Highlands region in the center of continental Malaysia (the other half of the country is sharing Borneo with Brunei and Indonesia).

Tanah Rata is my host city for 2 nights before following my route towards Bangkok.

I have been meeting again a lot of new faces but funnily enough I got reminded just how small the world is. The first night I shared a 6 beds dorm with 2 French girls that graduated from the same school as I did (IAE Grenoble) but 9 years after... and a Canadian girl that had cross path during her travels with the American guy I was with at the roof top bar the night before. We had a good laugh telling each other how random this all was.

Anyway, on arrival I had booked a tour for early this morning and went discovering the region with my guide and... 10 tourists from China. It was a lot of fun for most of the tour... An intensely noisy experience but somehow fun. The kids were dabbing all the time (imagine 4 little Chinese Pogba doing the Dab, every 2 minutes).

The tour started with a visit of the tea plantation in the area.
A few facts from what I could hear and understand (these Chinese...):
- A British "discovered" the potential of the region while mapping the area. Not sure when.
- It took a Scot to develop and manage a 1200+ hectares black tea plantation.
- The 3rd generation of that Scottish family still owns the plantation.
- The tea leafs are harvested every 3 to 4 weeks.

The place is absolutely breath taking and no pictures can do justice to the beauty of these hills.
I took a bit more than a 700 pictures today just in that area with both my phone and my GoPro.
I deleted most to keep just 52. And here are a couple for you :)

Tea plantation (black tea)

Green is the new black

I am trying as much as possible to organise the picture on the go, otherwise I am pretty sure it will never be done. I have to admit that I am adapting quickly to my MacBook air. The software developed by Apple are making it so easy for you to arrange organise and edit your pictures (no they are not paying me to write that ...).

After the tea plantation a short visit to the tea factory. Interesting stuffs again. The process seems to be both easy and quick. From the tea tree to the tea bag there is less than a day of work. The leaves are being processed in some big machinery, dry with hot air and that's it really...

A couple of extra visits were scheduled:
- the Mossy Forest. A rain forest as there are a lot in the region.
- the Mt Brinchang (2032m above see level).

Very interesting explanations from the guide but towards the end of the tour I was not as entertained as in the beginning. The Chinese had won their battle against my patience and tolerance... I decided to step back a little rather than screaming at the adults that kept throwing garbage everywhere in the forest and on the roads... and there were unfortunately nothing I could do to make it stop. I tried to tell them twice, they pretended not to understand. To add to my disappointment the guide did not seem to care so much either.

I went back to the Hotel for a small nape. The day had been intense up until now. I had woke up at 6am, run through the hills for an hour and had an intense tour.

Tomorrow will be another day. For the first time I will set foot on an island in Asia as I will take a ferry from Kuala Perlis to Langkawi. The bus going north will leave at 8am and go for 6 or 7 hours depending on the traffic. After 2 nights in the mountain at 1500m above see level, it will be nice to finally get to the sea :)

Kuala Lumpur - getting around and first day

As I should have expected, the plan did not go so much... as planned.

The aim of the day was to visit the National Mosque and the Islamic arts Museum Of Malaysia.

Both are located in the same area of the city, short distance from the central train station. I decided to head there walking... which was not a bad idea but the difficulty to reach these places efficiently was doomed by the fact that I was not carrying a good map, just a poorly printed copy displaying only the main roads.

One of the entrance of the National Mosque

For that reason I took several detours around the National Mosque. When I eventually got there I was welcome by a group of devoted Muslims giving free gifts (a piece of cake and a little perfume). The Islamic community is celebrating the birthday of the Prophet, hence the little present to visitors. Unfortunately, no access was granted to me at the Mosque since I arrived during praying hours. 

Islamic arts Museum

Next stop the Museum located 5 minutes walk from the Mosque.

Getting there, the emptiness of the place really surprised me. It would turn out that I arrived after the first round of group visits and left before the second round of group visits. Lunch time IS the perfect time of the day to visit this place, you skip the noisy and not always interested foreigners.

The different exhibits were absolutely wonderful. I got to learn a lot of things about Muhammed, Islam, Prayers, Architecture, Calligraphy ... and Islamic arts in general. A temporary exhibition of Austria and Islam highlighted the influence of the Muslim world to this european nation.

This museum is a must if you are curious and want to learn about another culture. I have to thank Thierry for the tip there. It turned out I spent much more time than expected visiting the collections loosing another opportunity to go to the Mosque (visits in between prayers).

I decided to return and go towards the Twin Towers, walking around the city for a total of 20km according to the activity tracker of my watch. I eventually got back to the park I was running in the same morning... but absolutely crowded. It would have been impossible to run during the day. 

Shopping mall underneath the Petronas Twin Towers facing the KLCC park

Petronas Twin Towers. Once the tallest building in the world.

I returned to the hostel around 5 pm, lied down for a little bit while uploading the pictures on the computer and speaking to other guests. We decided at 6pm to go have a drink at the Heli Bar, a heliport during the day that transforms in a lounge bar in the evening. The view up there is amazing: KL tower on one side, Twin Towers on the other side. The group of people I am with could hardly be more international: an American, a few Brits, an Ukrainian, a Dutch and a Malaysian. 

That's what travelling is all about, meeting different people and sharing experiences.

Photo credit Aizad.

Tomorrow I will be heading to Cameron Highlands, known for its tea plantation and endless hiking possibilities.

And some more photos and curiosities:

KLCC park. Despite being rather small, it is possible to take pictures without humans on it!

Sidewalks with roof are found everywhere in KL.

View from the heli lounge bar before sunset.

Kuala Lumpur - getting in and first night

Here I am!

The journey was long and almost sleepless.

30 minutes in the plane to Istanbul (3 hours total) and twice an hour en route to Malaysia (on a 10 hours flight). As usual I could watch a few movies: the last Bourne, the Intern, Angry Bird, Point Break, Joy.

Arriving in Kuala Lumpur international airport, there are many ways to reach the center of the city. The quickest (and the one that cost more) is the express train that reach the central station in 30 min for 55 MYR (around 12 euros). This is the option I went for. I couldn't be bothered to look for the right bus and spend hours in traffic before eventually getting somewhere in the center where I would have had to find my way to the hostel.

From KL Sentral arriving with the express train, I knew I had to take the Green MonoRail until AsiaAir - Bukit Bintang stop. Easy but it still took me 1h30 to reach the final destination for the day. After a quick check in, a well deserved shower, I went in the surrounding streets to grab water and food. It is quite amazing how the main street (with their McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks and Irish Pubs) can differ from the side street (with a lot of nice local restaurants and their "terrasses" virtually tourist free).

My diner - Pad Thai and a cold Tiger

Soon enough, it was time to go to bed.

The night turned out to be very short. Someone in my dorm got back from partying at 4am. Impossible for me to go back to sleep.  I took the opportunity to make some researches and plan the day, watch the last 30 minutes of PSG against Nice, check out on Saint Etienne results and sports in general (nothing different from my daily routine :D). Outside it is pouring rain, one of these nice and warm tropical rain. I have identify what I want to do/visit during the day... It is naturally time for a run :D.

It felt amazing. There were no one in the city, the skyscrapers for company and the park right below the Petronas Twin Towers for playground. Arriving in the city yesterday I was doubtful it would be a runners friendly city. I was so wrong. The park I went to had a 1 km athletic track making it a perfect place for a little workout. After a few loops I went back towards the hotel trying to run under the Menara Kuala Lumpur - another tower looking like a mix between Vancouver's Lookout and Berlin's TV Tower. I eventually got lost... When I found my way back and got to the hotel, I had ran for 14km approximatively with 410m of ascent Kuala Lumpur is NOT flat at all but the 5.09min/km suggest I am in a decent shape (not sure if it is public data - try to click here to check the workout otherwise see below).

1st morning run including 8 loops around KLCC park

I can't wait for coming races I registered myself into:
- a mini marathon on Xmas in Bangkok (10.5km)
- a half marathon on the 8th of January in Cebu - Philippines.

No more blabla for now.
Time to actually visit the city and try to take some pictures.
The visiting tour should take me to the National Mosque, the Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia, Chinatown and couple of temples (Sin Sze Si Ya and Sri Mahamariamman Temples).

Departure Day and Festival of Lights in Lyon

This is probably the 60th time I am boarding an airplane this year and never have I been so stressed.

Not quite sure why, maybe because for the first time since a long time I am on my own and will be for the coming weeks. The last 4 months - ever since I left Barcelona - I have been surrounded by family and friends, feeding myself with their love and energy.

I am now alone on the road on a journey that should help me find the past to my future.

As a good friend keeps telling me: It's all about the journey, not the destination.

Well I hope there are nice waves to surf on in that journey :)

Anyway the last 24 hours have been close to perfect in Lyon spending quality time with old friends and wandering the city's streets at night admiring the Festival of Lights.

For the reason we know security this year have been increased but the overall experience remains special. The building of the old town and the Saint Jean area coming to life in these perfect display of image and sound. Take a minute to see the piece of art that transformed the facade of cathedral Saint Jean (make sure you watch it in 1080p).

The city of Lyon claims that more than 4 millions visitors pass by during the week end.

My journey away from that madness will take me to Malaysia for the first time with a short layover in Istanbul.

It was a fun last day in Europe. I got to share a coffee and couple of hours with an old college of mine from Amsterdam! Was cool to see you Lee :)

As I am writing these line, it appears that a bombing took place in the center of the city, close to the Besiktas stadium. I am safe, at the airport at the moment enjoying a beer waiting for my connecting flight.

Next post will be from Kuala Lumpur :)

The bag packing...

I have spent quite some time thinking what I should bring to that trip.

During my investigation, I came across a lot of valuable information shared by other travellers.

The main point was to travel light and carry as least as possible.

Bringing little clothes will require to hand wash what i have every 2 or 3 days.

This is not my area of expertise, so youtube tutorials and Google are helping me loads :)

Here is a Globetrotter travelling the world with 3 under wears and 3 shirts :

I did my best to reduce the load considering that I have to bring my running gears. On the picture below is not appearing the electronics and travel documents / papers. Are missing:

- MacBook Air + external HD

- GoPro + poll + chest harness

- Power bank + all sorts of charging cables + international plug adaptor.

The latest additions were purchased yesterday in Decathlon and I can't wait to try are a Camping sleeping liner and a portable hammock!

As for the bag pack itself, I'll be carrying a 40L duffel bag maybe not the most confortable but definitely large enough and waterproof.

Heavy chillin ahead.

About time to update this blog!

I had almost forgotten about this blog I started in 2011... (Don't try to look for older posts... I deleted everything besides the first post).

3 weeks ago I tried to quit smoking once more and remembered that I once upon the time wrote my very own blog. Around the same time I have started to train a bit harder and more consistently than I ever did (if you are familiar with Strava, you can follow my trainings here).

Objective is clearly to be and stay fit, healthy and happy.

So far so good :)

The initial purpose has not change.

The only difference being that I am currently not working and enjoying a LOT of free time.

I have been busy travelling and meeting a lot of my family members and friends across the continent having an absolute blast along the way.

Now that this Euro Tour is over (what an incredible 2 months it was...), I will be going further away for another 2 months. Flying out from Lyon to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday the 10th of December.

Upon requests from many of you I have been thinking of a way to share that adventure.

Facebook is probably the easiest media to do so... and I will surely post a lot of pictures, anecdotes, videos to make you jealous as hell.

Updating this blog will be something I will try regularly, sharing more insights and details of that trip.

Being a bit preoccupied to leave Europe alone for some time to unknown locations, I did prepare myself a little:

- I will be landing in Kuala Lumpur and spending 2 days there.

- From the 13th until the 24th I will be travelling overland from Malaysia to Thailand (Bangkok). For this I am getting a lot of inspiration from this blogger.

- On Xmas day I will be running the Thailand International mini marathon, a half half marathon (10.5km)

- The 27th of December, I will be flying from Thailand to Philippines (Manila) and spend there 3 weeks wandering about the islands. I will be in Cebu on the 7th - 8th of January to run a half marathon with the objective of breaking my PB.

- From mid January until mid February there is nothing sure.

2 more days, better packing my bag :)