ELF Travel To …

Originally we were to tour Malayasia for 12 days, Indonesia for 11 days and Singapore for 2 days. Of course, this was cut short by the coronavirus. We toured Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Cameron Highlands in Malayasia and then headed back to Kuala Lumpur for our flight home via Hong Kong.

Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital of Malaysia, is the cultural, commercial, and transportation center of the country.  It is very modern, with many skyscrapers including the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. At 88 stories high, the Twin Towers are the tallest twin buildings in the world and house the headquarters of Malaysia’s national petroleum company. At the base of the Petronas Twin Towers is KLCC, an upmarket shopping mall – we wandered around the mall but it was very expensive and really had many of the same upscale stores that we have at home. We were impressed by the number of parks and trees in KL and it appeared to be a very clean city (seemed to be litter-free).

We stayed at Lanson Place apartments both on our arrival and again when we were waiting for a flight to Hong Kong. Our 1 bedroom apartment had a washer and dryer which was good after a month living out of a suitcase. Also Larry cooked our meals at the apartment once the partial shut-down went into effect. The apartment was clean, well equipped, had a great view of the city plus the staff were friendly and very helpful. We were lucky to be staying at Lanson.

Views from our 48th Floor Lanson Apartment, and from around our building.

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On day 2 in KL, we met our guide, Mr Balan, and our driver Mr Fahimi from Odynovo Tours and we travelled with them from March 11th until we returned to Kuala Lumpur.

We knew little about Malayasia before our tour. Mr Balan explained that the Kingdom of Malaysia consists of 9 federal states. Each state is led by the ruling Islamic royal family – a sultan. Every five years, the 9 federal sultans choose one sultan to be the new king. The 5 year appointment means that it would be 45 years until a sultan can be elected for the second time. The King is the head of the state and together with the Prime Minister, the King  appoints the cabinet from among the members of Parliament. We visited the King’s Palace and watched the changing of the guard.

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Independence Square was where, on August 31, 1957, the Union Jack was lowered for the last time and the Malayan flag was hoisted for the first time marking the country’s independence from the British rule.

The National Monument was built to recognize and honour those who gave up their lives during Malayasia’s struggles against the threat of communism. The monument is one of the world’s largest free-standing bronze sculptures.

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Next stop was Malacca (Melaka), which is about 2 hours from Kuala Lumpur. We stayed at Casa del Rio, a small hotel on the river, and a short walk to Jonker Street in historical Chinatown. After dinner at the hotel, we walked to the Night Market. There are many food, clothing and trinket vendors – interesting to walk through but we didn’t buy anything.

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Our final stop before returning to Kuala Lumpur was Cameron Highlands which is 200 km north of KL. It was our favourite spot in Malaysia. We stayed at Cameron Highlands Resort, which was a quaint Tudor-style resort. The restaurant and lounge areas were wonderful. Cameron Highlands is known for tea plantations and strawberry farms as you will see from the pictures. Such a beautiful area, and the strawberries were delicious.

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Our journey ended in Cameron Highlands. We then headed back to Kuala Lumpur where we worked through the many challenges to get back to Canada.

As we look back on our trip to Vietnam and Malayasia, we remember the amazing things we saw and experienced and the many wonderful people who made this such a special adventure.

We arrived back in Huntsville on Saturday March 21st. We are relieved and happy to be here. We will be in self isolation for 14 days.

As you know from our last few posts, it was stressful and scary being away from home and not knowing how or when we would get back to Canada. For those who are still trying to get home, our thoughts are with you.

We are well and we are catching up on our sleep. Over the next week, I will finish our Vietnam and Malayasia posts. It will be good to remember the positive side of our travel and we hope you will enjoy our stories and pictures.

Thank you for all of your kind comments and emails. Deb and Rich, thank you for helping us get home safely. Thank you Peter and Tracie for being our grocery delivery service. We are blessed to have such wonderful family, friends and neighbours and to live in Canada.

Stay safe

March 20th 4:15 p.m. : Our flight is on the Departures Board, with a Gate # – thank goodness! Over 20 hours just moving from the lounge when it closed, and back when it opened at 5:30 a.m. was not much fun, but it looks like we made it.

Posted time of departure is 6:15 p.m. which is in 2 hours (Hong Kong is 12 hours ahead for Toronto). Not sure if you received our March 19th blog update below which provides details of how we got this far (a bit of a story).

Once we are back in Huntsville, with 14 days of self isolation and not much to do, I will finish our Vietnam blogs (1 more to go) and post our Malayasia blogs. As always, lots of pictures still to post.

We are not discouraged from travelling but we also are both saying “there is no place like home”.

March 19th, 7:35 p.m. Hong Kong time: Thank you for the many heartfelt comments, emails and messages – much appreciated!

Just when we thought we finally had things nailed down, we woke up to one more surprise. Our hotel in Hong Kong alerted us to new requirements. Effective March 19th (the day of our flight) “People arriving in Hong Kong who have been to any overseas countries/areas in the past 14 days, regardless of whether they are Hong Kong residents, will be subject to compulsory quarantine.” 

Of course panic – so I once again called on What’s App to our lifeline, better known as “Deb and Rich Help Line” . Just hearing their voices helped, and they started their research and would get back to me. Meanwhile I called the Canadian Embassy in both Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. They said they were finding out things the same time we were and other than registering our whereabouts on the Canadian Government site, they had little to offer at this point. Of course our level of stress went up a few more notches…but our lifeline came through. Deb and Rich researched and made some calls. Deb found out from Cathay Pacific that if we were just transitioning through Hong Kong i.e. not going through Customs, then the quarantine did not apply. The catch was we had to be using Cathay Pacific the whole way – Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong and then Hong Kong to Toronto. Due to the cancellation by Malayasia air, I had just booked through Cathay Pacific – that turned out to be a good cancellation.

Malayasia was in a partial shutdown, and more restrictions were coming so getting a taxi to the airport was our next priority. Luckily we had made friends with our tour driver (who in his spare time was a taxi driver) and he took us to the airport.

Getting through the Malayasia airport was much easier than we thought as they were happy for foreigners to leave. Not surprisingly, their focus was on arriving passengers with tough new entry and in transit restrictions. 

Coming into Hong Kong, they did a temperature check before we entered the “in transit” area – we were normal (well our temperature was). That was at 10:30 last night….and for the last 9 hours we have been hanging out in the Hong Kong Departures area. We tried sleeping on the chairs – not good, then Larry tried the floor – really not good. So we wandered around looking to see if there was anything else – of course there wasn’t. We thought of Tom Hanks in The Terminal movie – he was much more creative than we are.

It is 7:30 in the morning on March 20th – we are 12 hours ahead of Toronto time. Many cancellations on the Departure boards, so we are hoping that our flight does not become one of the casualties. We really need to leave at 6:15 tonight or we will become Tom Hanks

I will update again once it looks like we are actually boarding the flight home (15 hour flight from Hong Kong to Toronto). 

We will do our 14 day self-isolation in Huntsville – and we are glad to do it as long as we are home.

March 19th, 7:35 p.m. Hong Kong time: Thank you for the many heartfelt comments, emails and messages – much appreciated!

Just when we thought we finally had things nailed down, we woke up to one more surprise. Our hotel in Hong Kong alerted us to new requirements. Effective March 19th (the day of our flight) “People arriving in Hong Kong who have been to any overseas countries/areas in the past 14 days, regardless of whether they are Hong Kong residents, will be subject to compulsory quarantine.”

Of course panic – so I once again called on What’s App to our lifeline, better known as “Deb and Rich Help Line” . Just hearing their voices helped, and they started their research and would get back to me. Meanwhile I called the Canadian Embassy in both Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. They said they were finding out things the same time we were and other than registering our whereabouts on the Canadian Government site, they had little to offer at this point. Of course our level of stress went up a few more notches…but our lifeline came through. Deb and Rich researched and made some calls. Deb found out from Cathay Pacific that if we were just transitioning through Hong Kong i.e. not going through Customs, then the quarantine did not apply. The catch was we had to be using Cathay Pacific the whole way – Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong and then Hong Kong to Toronto. Due to the cancellation by Malayasia air, I was able to book through Cathay Pacific – that turned out to be a good cancellation.

Malayasia was in a partial shutdown, and more restrictions were coming so getting a taxi to the airport was our next priority. Luckily we had made friends with our tour driver (who in his spare time was a taxi driver) and he took us to the airport.

Getting through the Malayasia airport was much easier than we thought as they were happy for foreigners to leave. Not surprisingly, their focus was on arriving passengers with tough new entry and in transit restrictions.

Coming into Hong Kong, they did a temperature check before we entered the “in transit” area – we were normal (well our temperature was). That was at 10:30 last night….and for the last 9 hours we have been hanging out in the Hong Kong Departures area. We tried sleeping on the chairs – not good, then Larry tried the floor – really not good. So we wandered around looking to see if there was anything else – of course there wasn’t. We thought of Tom Hanks in The Terminal movie – he was much more creative than we are.

It is 7:30 in the morning on March 20th – we are 12 hours ahead of Toronto time. Many cancellations on the Departure boards, so we are hoping that our flight does not become one of the casualties. We really need to leave at 6:15 tonight or we will become Tom Hanks

I will update again once it looks like we are actually boarding the flight home (15 hour flight from Hong Kong to Toronto).

We will do our 14 day self-isolation in Huntsville – and we are glad to do it as long as we are home.

March 17– Previous Blog: The Coronavirus as we know is impacting everyone. This is definitely a time to be at home. This is a quick post to say we are ok – stressed as we are trying to get home from Kuala Lumpur Malayasia and flights keep getting cancelled. It is a book, rebook…again and again as I receive emails that our flight has been cancelled. Getting through to get any help takes hours on hold and even then sometimes I get cut off.

Just when we think we finally have a flight home things change. Right now the Malaysia government has implemented a partial shut down just as other countries and Canada have done – but this one is more severe here. This means flights are also being cancelled – so even the airport for departures is impacted.

We have to get to Hong Kong to get our flight home. We now are booked to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong on Thursday March 19th at 5:50 p.m. (4 hour flight) with Cathay Pacific – Dragon. It is direct as if we stop in another airport we may not be able to continue on as countries like Vietnam will quarantine foreigners.

Assuming our flight to Hong Kong is not cancelled then we fly home on Friday March 20 with Cathay Pacific leaving at 6:15 p.m. and arriving in Toronto at 9:10 p.m. (we are 12 hours ahead here). It is a 15 hour non stop flight.

I am glued to my email watching for cancellations again – there have been so many thus far.

We are right now in an apartment in Kuala Lumpur – we do have some groceries which we picked up yesterday as restaurants are shut down and even getting anywhere is difficult.

Hoping and praying no more flights are cancelled and we can come home on Friday.

Feb. 21st – 23rd & March 7th – 10th: We stayed in the old quarter of Hanoi 3 days before and 4 days after our 13 Day Far North Loop. Our hotel, La Siesta Hang Be, was a small boutique hotel, which just opened 10 months ago. It was a comfortable place to relax and a great location to explore the Old Quarter.

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the commercial, cultural, and educational centre of Northern Vietnam. Hanoi has so many interesting sites to explore on foot or, of course, on the back of a scooter.

On our way from the airport to our hotel, we passed the flower market. Even though it was 10:00 p.m. there were thousands of motorbikes parked at the market and along the roadside for kilometres before and after the market. Our driver said that these people would resell the flowers in Hanoi. The next day there were flower vendors everywhere.

We toured Hanoi with Vespa Adventures.

We rode over the Long Bien Bridge, a 100+ year bridge which spans the Red River. Other stops included a coconut treat at West Lake and a visit to a small temple at Huu Tiep Lake. We finished with a tea ceremony.

We also did a walking tour with Hanoi Free Walking Tours which is a student – run organization. We had 2 young guides who were so much fun. We wandered the streets in the old quarter, and then took a Grab to the Temple of Literature and the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (the museum was a good introduction to some of the ethnic groups we would see on our 13-Day Loop). We finished with a visit to one of our young guides’ favourite coffee shops.

We were in Vietnam for 33 days (1 more day than we had planned due to a 1 day delay in our flight to Malayasia). The Vietnamese people we met were so welcoming, hospitable, and caring. Although we enjoyed everyone we met in Vietnam, there were a few people who touched our hearts. Hien and Phuong from La Siesta Hoi An, Phu from our 3 day motorbike tour and Josie and Hung from our 13-Day Loop – thank you for taking such good care of us.

March 5 – 7, Days 11 – 13: On March 5th and 6th we stayed at Ba Be Legend Villa, which was a mix between a homestay and a very small guesthouse. It was a Tay family run business and Luan, one of the sons, was the main guest contact person. Luan was charming and we enjoyed chatting with him at the end of each day (he asked if I would show him our pictures as he liked our cameras). We ate breakfasts and our dinners at the guesthouse and really enjoyed the “home cooked” Vietnamese meals – Luan was very proud of his mother’s cooking and would quiz us on what we were eating.

We were on the 4th (highest) floor of the guesthouse and of course no elevator, but as Luan said “the view was worth it” and he was right – we overlooked a rice field and from our floor you didn’t even notice the small road in front of the guesthouse.

We visited a Tay village – Cam Ha Village. This village is in the Ba Be National Park which attracts mostly trekkers so some of the villagers had put out homestay signs. Before we left the village, Josie stopped at a home and asked if we could see inside. The grandmother was so hospitable – she lit a fire and wanted us to stay for tea, but we had more stops so we had to decline her kind offer.

On the second day, Josie arranged for a local tour boat on Ba Be Lake which is in the National Park. We made many stops as we travelled the lake and rivers – stops included a cave, a local village where we had lunch and a small temple.

As we headed back to Hanoi on March 7th, we talked about our 13 day loop. We saw so much and we also learned about travel in the more remote areas of Vietnam (the places we loved and would go back to and other places we wouldn’t). In these remote areas, the villagers were curious and so hospitable.

We developed a wonderful rapport with Josie and Hung during the 13 days (over 2,500km) we travelled together.

Hung means hero in Vietnamese and he was our hero. He kept us safe on the winding, bumpy roads and was always looking out for us. Although in the beginning Hung was very quiet, he did understand a lot of what we said and by the end we were able to communicate as he would try his English and we got better at charades. We had Luan (from our homestay) write a “thank you” note in Vietnamese so we could give it to Hung along with a tip and gift. Hung was very emotional when he saw that our note was in Vietnamese.

Working closely with Josie was very important as we did have to make changes to our itinerary along the way. Josie had travelled to some of the places we visited, but many were new to her also, so it was a learning experience for all of us. We were able to move through the challenges together, laugh at some of the very embellished descriptions in our itinerary, make changes that made the trip so much better and enjoy so many wonderful experiences – we were lucky to have Josie as our guide. We gave Josie a note, tip and gift, and she also gave us a gift – a bracelet that she purchased at one of our stops. When I wear the bracelet we will remember our loop experience with Josie.

March 4th – 5th – Day 10 & 11: After a good nights sleep at the Max Hotel in Cao Bang, we headed out to explore the area.

Our first stop was Pac Rang, a ethnic Nung Blacksmith Village known for its tools and knives. With rudimentary equipment they made such good knives. Although tempted, we did not buy a knife but we spent time admiring the workmanship.

Next stop Nguom Ngao Cave which was dug out by an underground river. We were told that locals used the cave to hide during the 1979 conflict with China. Although not as stunning as the Paradise Cave in Phong Nha it was still interesting. The lighting and path were both good for the most part, but then the path ended and Josie said the exit sign was pointing the wrong way. Josie then led the way up the rocks and we used her phone to light the way until we once again found the path. Safety is very loose in Vietnam so it is always an adventure.

Our last stop was the Ban Gioc Waterfall which is the largest waterfall in Vietnam, though not the highest. Its vertical drop is around 30m, but it has an impressive 300m span. One side of the falls is in China, and the other is in Vietnam. We could see no people on the China side. We found it interesting as Vietnam has closed its borders to China, but it seemed easy to cross over the river to Vietnam and we saw no police here watching the border.

When we left the waterfall we headed to Ba Be, our last stop on our 13 day loop before we head back to Hanoi.

March 3 – Day 9: We continued on the “Ha Giang Loop” from Dong Van to Cao Bang. We were lucky to stop for lunch in Meo Vac just before a major downpour which lasted almost 2 hours (complete with thunder). The rains were so hard that there were rock slides and trees down on the road. Now we knew for sure that we would not want to be on bikes. Fewer pictures as we had a long journey ahead so not as many stops along the way.

Once the rain changed to drizzle we headed out again, but it was a slow drive because of the road conditions. Initially we were to stop overnight in Bao Lac but as soon as we saw the “hotel” and Josie checked the food options we knew we had to make a change (Josie felt that the local eating places were inappropriate for foreigners). Hung, our driver, agreed that we needed to move on even though it meant another 3 hours of driving. It was actually good that we carried on as there were few vehicles on the road and Hung was such a good driver that he was able to get us around the rock slides and debris without any issues.

We arrived in Cao Bang around 7:00 p.m.. We were able to get a reservation at the Max Hotel for an extra night so all was good….except the power was out at the hotel due to the storm. Luckily there was a really good family owned pizza restaurant, Pedros, close by and their power had been restored. The owner was French and he said he and his mother-in-law make the pizza – even Josie liked the pizza and ended up taking one back for Hung (Hung wanted to stay with the car as our luggage was in it). By 9:00 p.m. the power was back on, Hung had his pizza and we were all ready to crash.

Yes, this was an eventful day, but there was even more to come. At 10:30 p.m. we were awakened by a knock at our door. I yelled “wrong room” and we tried to go back to sleep, but there was a commotion in the hall. Then there was a louder knock so I got up and had to open the door to hear what they were saying. There were 2 police officers, a lady with a “temperature gun” and a fellow who was taking notes and could speak a little English. They all had on the surgical masks. They took a picture of our passports with their phone and then they “took our temperatures” with the gun. We filled out a form which included a list of everywhere we’d been in Vietnam (thanks goodness for my detailed itinerary as they were able to take a picture of our itinerary which saved time – the fellow was actually impressed that we recorded it all). Since we had already been in Vietnam for more than 14 days and we did not have a temperature according to the “official” and they left….and we went back to bed. The check was because there was a new case of Coronavirus in Vietnam.

The description above makes it sound like we had a bad day, but it was just all part of travel in the remote areas of Vietnam.

March 1st and 2nd – Day 7 & 8: When we left the Bac Ha market we headed to Ha Giang – a 4 hour drive. We stayed at the Phoenix Hotel which was a brand new North American style hotel and was fancier than any place on the loop that we had stayed thus far. It seemed out of place in such a small town and we wondered how long they would last with so few tourists. They had obviously laid off staff due to the lack of tourists as the front desk clerk also brought our bags to our room and took our food order in the dining room (there were only 8 of us in the whole large dining room).

Ha Giang is the beginning of the scenic motorbike loop which I had read about. It would be an exciting ride as the road winds around the mountain, with many hairpin turns plus there were many spots where the road was not in good shape. We were glad we were in a car and thanks to Hung, our driver, we were able to stop at the same lookouts that the bikers stopped. We kept seeing the same young people en route and it was nice to chat with them.

As we walked up the path to the Road of Happiness Lookout, we could hear noise in the rocky mountain above us. A grandmother appeared with her grandchildren (Josie said they were H’Mong living in the mountains). The youngsters were carrying their siblings down the steep rock – they were shy, but curious. Just watching them come down made me nervous but Josie said the mountain is their home and they learn how to climb as soon as they can walk. The grandmother watched as Josie talked with the youngsters. When we got back to the bottom of the lookout, Josie went back with food for the children. The parents would be working so we often saw grandmothers taking care of the children.

On March 2nd after the first part of the loop, we arrived in Dong Van and stayed at Lam Tung “hotel”. By this point in the trip we were use to rock hard beds and very small rooms but our room at the Lam Tung had an unusual smell and I woke up with bug bites. It was not a good night’s sleep and we were glad it was only 1 night. We had no problem getting up and out of the hotel early for the next leg of the Ha Giang Pass.

Feb. 29th & March 1st (Day 6 & 7 of the Loop) We headed out from Sapa early so that we could spend more time in Bac Ha (a 3+ hour drive north east from Sapa).

We stayed at Huy Trung Homestay and also had dinner and breakfast with Mr Trung, his family and a couple from Holland (Roger and Melanie). There were 4 rooms in the homestay and we stayed in a room called “Happy” …..and we were very happy with our room. Mr Trung has put a lot of thought into what would make the rooms comfortable for guests. He was very proud to show us around.

Mr Trung also arranged a 3 1/2 hour motorbike tour of the area with 3 local fellows (all three were Thai majority). The motorbikes were once again a great way to travel to the villages, and with locals we saw so much more. Josie came with us so she could translate as the fellows did not speak English plus we enjoy our time with Josie.

We made sure we were in Bac Ha on a Sunday as we had heard that the Sunday market was one of the best ethnic markets in all of Southeast Asia. The ethnic minorities from the surrounding villages and hills come by foot or motorbike to socialize, eat, drink, smoke, get a haircut, and buy produce and meat or bid on a buffalo (there was a buffalo auction). It was so colourful as the local women and children dressed up in their best outfits. It was bustling with locals which made it so much fun to observe all of the action.