Penang is known as the food capital of Malaysia. Grant and I, being food motivated people through and through, were really excited to eat our faces off. Our hostel was located within Little India in the city of Penang. As…
Perhentian Island – Volunteering, Snorkeling, and Geckos
We were very excited to find out that a campground on the beautiful Perhentian Islands had two volunteer vacancies that Grant and I would be filling for a month. It sounded too good to be true: bioluminescent plankton, turtles laying…
Kota Bharu – Markets, BBQs, and Photoshoots
We flew from KK to Kota Bharu without a problem. We finally made it to peninsular Malaysia! While trekking around Borneo, we heard that the island culture is different from the mainland, so we were interested to see the differences for…
Mabul – SCUBA, SCUBA, SCUBA II
Semporna, Sipadan, Mabul, and Kapalai. This is the holy grail for scuba divers. Semporna, a kind of sketchy and rag-tag town, is the departure point for about a a dozen islands and nearly a hundred unique dive sites. Mabul is…
Kinabatangan River – Crocodiles, Orangutans and Elephants
Borneo is one of those islands that make you think about dense jungles, diverse wildlife, harsh terrain, and untouched backcountry. It truly is a gorgeous island. Our next stop on the island is a guest house right on the edge…
Sandakan – Bosou, Orangutans, and Rehabilitation
We arrived in Sandakan after a bit of trouble finding space on a bus. We ended up hitching a ride from a local to the next town and stopped at a road side stand for her favorite local snack, bosou,…
Kinabalu National Park – Summitting, Birding, and Waiting
Kinabalu National Park is two hours inland from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Borneo. It’s headquarters is located at about 5000′, and the weather, compared to the sweltering heat of the jungle and coastland, is excellent. Kinabalu National Park is home…
Borneo Homestay – Volunteering, Building, and Beaching
We left Cambodia in such a rush, and unfortunately, skipped Phenom Phen and all the nice beaches because we had already signed up to do a homestay in Borneo via HelpX. (HelpX is an awesome website for signing up for…
Angkor – Temples, Ruins, and History
Angkor Wat and the area of Angkor is a beautiful, sweeping landscape full of history. The rulers of Angkor started construction about 1000 years ago and over time built an incredible city. Originally, the temples were built with the Hindu…
Don Khong – Relaxing, Teaching, and Homestay-ing
We arrived at Don Khong a day earlier than our volunteering gig began so we could spend a day exploring around the local islands. The island we would be staying on is part of the 4000 Island area in Laos.…