Lava and coffee in Java, Indonesia

Two of the EAPSI students in my group, Allie and Nathan, are geologists studying "what the heck is actually going on inside a volcano?" So naturally, we had to take a weekend trip to an active volcano off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. 

[[Informative sidenote: The area around what is now called Krakatau - in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra - has been volcanically active for centuries. The enormous eruption of 1883 is probably the most famous. The explosion (rated a 6 on the VEI) was loud enough to hear from thousands of miles away and carried shock waves around the Earth seven times. It launched ash over 50 miles into the air while two nearby mountains dropped into the sea, causing a deadly tsunami. The sun was blotted out in the area for days and average global temperatures fell for five years. In 1927, another mountain rose up out of the sea - Anak Krakatau or "Child of Krakatau". It continues to grow by about 22 feet every year and is the current center for volcanic activity in the area.]]

Krakatau!

We flew to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, on Friday night. It took the taxi driver ages, and lots of stopping to ask for directions, before we found the hostel. I cried over dinner at a nearby restaurant when I thought a chili pepper was a baby carrot and ate the whole thing in one bite. 

After a 5:30am wake up and a first breakfast of toast and coffee, we started the three hour bus ride to Carita, a idyllic beach town on the northern coast of Java. The ride went by in a flash; it was fun to watch the bustling towns and rice fields and green hills pass by the bus window. Second breakfast was at a small restaurant near the port in Carita - chocolate pancakes and more gritty Indonesia coffee. After that, we hopped on the fastboat for a one and a half hour journey to Anak Krakatau. 

As Java disappeared behind us, a volcanic peak came into view ahead, spewing smoke into the air. I had my first and only oh crap moment: "Why exactly am I headed towards this volatile beast instead of high-tailing it away?" Then a dolphin swam by the boat, and we go close enough to see black sand beaches and amazingly blue water and waves pounding rock cliffs and trees clinging to the edges of impossibly steep slopes, and I forgot all about the fact that the ground underneath me could explode in a deadly blast of molten lava at any moment (that might be a little overdramatic).

Anak Krakatau

Our beach

While the guides set up the tents and food, we cooled off in the perfectly clear water and ate lunch on the hot, black sand. We camped on the side of the island least affected by recent eruptions; there were trees and bushes and plenty of animal life in the form of thousands of obnoxious (but harmless) ants. In the afternoon, we cruised to the opposite side of the island, which looked a lot more like Mars than anything I've seen on Earth. Here the lava poured all the way to the ocean, forming a lumpy red and brown landscape of jagged rock and scorched trees. Where the lava met the sea, new reef had formed.

We explored the coastline with masks and snorkels, diving down to look more closely at the abundance of coral in an unbelievable variety of colors, shapes, and textures. Oranges and whites were tinged with neon yellow, purple, blue, and pink. At first, life underwater seems eerily quiet and still - just your blood rushing in your ears. But then you notice the reef buzzing and popping, bright schools of fish darting through crevices in the coral, and the waves moving in and out, pulling everything back and forth in a lazy rhythm. I could have stayed in that world forever. But once we turned into prunes, we hopped back on the boat and cruised around the rest of the island, marveling at the smoke endlessly pouring out the crater.

Vegetation starting to grow back in patches

We took a sunset hike up the side of the volcano, getting close enough to feel the ground growing hot below our feet, but staying away from the toxic gases near the top. From Allie and Nathan, I learned about types of volcanic rock and "bombs" vs. "blocks." (Bombs are pieces of magma thrown out of the top that solidify as they cool, whereas blocks are chunks of rock pulled from the throat or crater during the eruption.)

Allie loves rocks

Nathan loves rocks

I love rocks

We swam, collected firewood, and chatted on the beach while the guides prepared for dinner. Jeff - the champion of the trip - led the guys in an effort to collect, break, and organize all the wood before dark. Us girls attempted to help by moving a large driftwood bench down the beach. But there were ants, so we dropped it and ran. 

Dinner was an amazing array of barbecued fish, prawns, steamed veggies, rice, noodles, tempeh, and watermelon; I have never been so pampered on a camping trip. To quote Allie, we were 'glamping' (glamorous camping). We spent the night around Jeff's expert fire, enjoying a few Bintang's and a bottle of Jim, also supplied by Jeff. He's invited on all my future camping trips.

Late in the night the clouds finally disappeared, revealing a spectacular Milky Way and thousands of bright stars. I dove into the water and found myself surrounded by bioluminescent dinoflagellates, twinkling blue with every move I made. I swam through the sea of tiny neon lights and thought I must be dreaming.

The next morning was another 5:30am wake up, a sunrise hike back up the volcano, and a delicious breakfast of omelets, toast with strawberry jam, orange juice, and coffee (of course). Breakfast also confusingly included Oreos and chocolate wafers, but we hoarded those for later.

We cruised over to the original Krakatau island for more snorkeling on one of the best reefs I've seen. It was about thirty meters wide from the shore to where it dropped straight off into oblivion, and contained even more brightly colored fish (the boat driver was dropping crackers into the water). Eddies of pumice stone floated on the surface, another reminder of past volcanic activity. 

Rainbow over the island

One last look at Anak Krakatau

Flying fish followed our boat on the sleepy journey back to Carita, and we all napped off and on during the bus ride to Jakarta. We dropped the rest of the group at the airport, but Nick and my's flight wasn't until 9:30pm, so we had the drivers bring us back to the hostel. From there, with a hand drawn map and directions from the hostel owner to lots of old temples, markets, and neighborhoods, we set out into the city and promptly became completely lost in the sights, smells, and chaos of Jakarta.

Mopeds and tuk-tuks everywhere

Chinese temple

Being lost was fun and entertaining. As we wandered random streets, everyone on the sides of the road (and driving by on mopeds) called out to Nick, "Hey Mister!!! How are you Mister?" I felt like I was walking with a celebrity. Nick must have said, "Hello!" at least one hundred times. We finally decided to ask for directions to Pancoran Street, which was supposed to have lots of shops and food stalls. A few helpful men flagged down a tricycle taxi for us, but we got lost in translation and ended up at Panjoraman Street instead. 

"Hello Mister!"

Tuk-tuk ride

Through lucky wandering, we found a wonderful walking street with endless vendors playing music, selling handmade jewelry, and making food. This road led straight to the center square of the city. We sat on the museum patio and watched street performers, dancers, musicians, food vendors, tourists, and locals alike enjoying the end of Ramadan and the election of a new President with carnival rides, balloons, and fireworks. A friendly woman sat beside us with her son and his girlfriend. She taught history and Indonesian culture to grade schoolers in Jakarta, and happily bought us a yummy dinner of something unidentifiable but delicious and strawberry ice pops. [[Update: I determined that dinner was called Cilok and contained boiled tapioca dough in peanut sauce.]]

Pedestrian street near the city center

City center

When it sadly was time to head to the airport, another stranger found us on the street and helped us flag down a Bluebird Taxi; everyone we met was so unbelievably friendly and helpful. Halfway to the airport, we realized we screwed up the time change and had three hours before our flight. We browsed airport stores, drank tea and coffee and played cards, bought chocolate bars (quickly becoming a traveling tradition), and fell asleep as soon as we got on the plane. 

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Camping on an island beach for the night was a wonderful experience and a perfect way to spend the last weekend of the EAPSI trip. The rest of my travel stories will be from my post-program adventures. But until then, look for for a few final updates on lab and life in Singapore!

Thanks for reading:)
Ann

The (Borneo) Jungle Book

A bunch of people from the EAPSI group went to Siem Reap, Cambodia last weekend, but I'm planning to travel there in two weeks, so Nick and I decided to fly to Borneo on Friday.

[[Quick geography: The island of Borneo is held by three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Malaysian Borneo is called "East Malaysia" and is divided into two states: Sabah and Sarawak.]]

We flew into Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak. It was a bit eerie to fly Malaysian Air the day after their second tragedy of the year. But everything went smoothly, and we even got served dinner on one of the flights (we had a stopover in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia). Because Sarah wasn't with us on this trip, we hadn't planned anything, including a place to stay when we arrived around 10:30pm on Friday night. Nick had looked into a potentially cool hostel right on the river downtown, but promptly forgot the name as soon as we got in the taxi. Our taxi driver insisted on the idea that we wanted to go to the Treehouse Hostel and dropped us off in some quiet, industrial part of town. We started wandering and ran into a group from Melbourne who pointed us to the more central part of the city.

Temples lit up through the city

As Malaysia has a large Muslim population and Ramadan is underway, Kuching was fairly quiet at night. However, the part of town we stayed in (Jalan Green Hill) held all the cheap accommodations, so naturally there were three rowdy clubs right outside the hostel window. It reminded us too much of going out in Singapore, so we walked down the road to a relaxed, outdoor bar and a bucket of Tsingtaos. 

Our hostel was advertised as a bed and breakfast, but breakfast consisted of white bread and instant coffee, so we ate a pad si-io breakfast of champions at a nearby food stall instead. Before heading to the national park, we had a time and a half at the grocery store trying to decide on meals for the next day. We ended up with ten eggs, a pepper, cherry tomatoes, two bottles of wine, and several variations of kaya bread.

Dinner and dessert for breakfast

Kubah National Park is just 20km outside of Kuching. We originally planned to stay at the forest hostel near the park headquarters, but our taxi driver dropped us off at Matang Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (inside the park, about 15km away from the headquarters), so we just decided to stay there in the longhouse. 

Longhouses are pretty much how they sound. There is usually one long central hallway and small rooms lining one or both sides for individual families to use. Many indigenous people in Borneo live longhouse style, where an entire community will reside in the same building. Some Bornean tribes are even still nomadic, living off the land and practicing molong or 'never taking more than you need.' However, many of these tribes have seen their land destroyed by deforestation or have been settled and superficially converted to Christianity or Islam. 

The Matang longhouse

Although Kubah is home to a variety of jungle species, it can be hard to spot animals throughout the park, simply because it is huge and the animals are shy. The park will also close certain trails when groups of orangutans are in the area in order to avoid encounters (this was the case with the trail to the waterfall when we arrived). However, Matang Wildlife Center is the perfect place for animal watching. Matang supports many injured or sick animals that have been found in the park or confiscated from illegal trading/ownership operations. Some of my favorite animals included the stork, the clouded leopard, the bearcats, the orangutans, the gibbon, and the sun bears. OK that was pretty much all the animals, except for the gharials - those things are freaky.

Scary crocs

Stork!

Orangutans are critically endangered in Borneo due to increases in deforestation coupled with a flourishing illegal trade market. Bornean jungles are primarily being removed for timber, mining operations, or to make way oil palm plantations. Additionally, young orangutans can fetch a few hundred dollars when sold as pets, and orangutan skulls are usually worth about $70. The increased deforestation gives poachers even more access to endangered animals once living deep in the jungle.

At the rehabilitation center, young orangutans are trained to climb trees independently, build nests, and find food. They are slowly brought deeper and deeper into the park until they can be released back into a semi-wild state. However, some orangutans become incredibly attached to their trainers and other people and will return to the wildlife center whenever possible. Sometimes Matang even breeds orangutans and releases small family groups. Aman, one of the dominant male orangutans, is famous for having his vision restored by bilateral cataract surgery in 2007. Watching him move through his enclosure with such grace and strength, his long dreadlocked coat swinging back and forth, was a mesmerizing experience. With his wrinkled hands and shaggy mane, he looked like a cross between Chewbacca and the kind of old, tired hippie you might find at a Panic show. 

Aman spent quite a bit of time staring at us like this

Working on a nice hole in the ground

Sitting in strange positions

We spent the weekend wandering the park and playing in a wonderfully cool river just down the road. It was clearly a popular spot, crowded with local families grilling food, swimming, and taking turns on the rope swing.

Swimming hole

Sunset at the river

We ate dinner on Saturday in the longhouse with Tom and Tina and their son Eliah from Germany. Eliah is two years old and has been traveling his whole life (Tom and Tina left Germany by car two years ago and drove all the way to Cambodia). They have one more year of travel planned before returning to Germany when Eliah starts school. We played rummy and drank gross wine while bats flew around our heads scooping up mosquitoes.

On Sunday afternoon, we took a bus back to Kuching. We wandered the main street, walked around the enormous mosque, and browsed the food stalls. We ended up with a picnic dinner by the river consisting of rambutan fruit, peanut and molasses pancakes, and various meat on a stick - possibly chicken, fried sushi, and fish (although it could have been pigeon, rat, and/or cat).

Muslim temple

Sarawak river (most homes are on the opposite bank - frequent ferries to cross to the city center)

Getting down on some mysterious street vendor food

After an awkward encounter with immigration at the Kuching Airport (we had somehow immigrated into Western - peninsular - Malaysia and not East Malaysia, so we didn't have crossing stamps and of course I had already thrown out my old boarding pass), we managed to make it back to Singapore in one piece with money left over for the first time. We had the luxury of all the chocolate and coffee we wanted in the airport!

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Note: My camera died at the beginning of this trip, so props to Nick for being a huge dork and taking lots of pictures with his iPad. 

Bali kicked my butt

I'm in the lab right now, waiting to spin down some induced cells. There's so much I could be doing, but I can't pipet and I can't think because my thumb is the size of a golf ball and throbbing like an 808 drum. So let me tell you the story of my weekend (while typing with nine fingers)...

Danny joined the Dream Team for a trip to Bali this weekend. I was feeling a little sick on Thursday, but chalked it up to a minor sore throat and cold. We touched down in Denpasar around 11:40pm on Friday night, and spent the next two hours making our way slowly through immigration and customs and paying for our 30 day Visas. We took a taxi to a guesthouse in nearby Kuta. I knew it was a surfer party town, but it was definitely not what I expected. The streets are crowded, winding, and narrow. Motorbikes zoom by in all conceivable directions, and traffic slows to a crawl when a four-wheeled vehicle tries to squeeze through. Kuta has more tattoo parlors, surf shops, and public drunkenness than I've seen in any other small town. The party was in full swing when we arrived around 2am, so we headed downtown, grabbed beers at the nearest minimart, and posted up on the sidewalk to people watch.

$1 = 11700 Rupiah = We were millionaires!

Crazy Kuta is slightly more mellow in daylight

Saturday was for surfing!! After moving our stuff to a cheaper hotel down the road, we headed to Kuta Beach, which is very popular and known for excellent breaks of all sizes. Turns out Kuta Beach is also known for hawkers, and we were immediately inundated by people trying to sell us jewelry, towels, sarongs (OK I bought one of those), and surf lessons. Did we really look like such lost, easy prey? Anyway, we took the guys with the pet monkey up on their offer for three surf boards for two hours and one surf lesson for Sarah. Nick, Danny, and I headed straight for the water, but Sarah was the first to successfully ride a full wave (yay for lessons!). After getting beaten around a bit and flashing every nearby swimmer (wrong bathing suit), I finally managed to get back in the rhythm and stand up reliably. At the end of two hours, I was sore and sunburned, sustained a big ol' shiner and cut on my eyebrow, and had my lifetime fill of seawater.

Kuta Beach

With a few hours left in the day, we decided to go snorkeling. Too bad beaches that are good for surfing are inherently terrible for swimming. We had the wonderful idea to hail a taxi with no destination in mind, just Get us to the best snorkeling beach for under $10. Welp, 15 minutes later we wind up at Nusa Dua. I'm sure it's lovely at times, but at low tide it becomes a deserted swamp. Even the single restaurant was closed, so no fruit smoothies. We hopped the next taxi back to town and went for gelato - always the best decision in times of crisis. At sunset we wandered the beach and watched hundreds of baby sea turtles be released and make their epic journey towards the water.

On the move*

Low tide at sunset*

Saturday night we avoided the raging clubs (not really our style) and headed for a popular surf bar called Espresso with a live band covering 90s grunge music. We played the card game Asshole for hours (straight through a town-wide power outage), until we all got tired of Sarah winning every time :P. After the bar, we swam in the hotel pool and met Rory from Australia. He told us wonderful stories about his travels by sailboat around the world.

Hotel balcony

On Sunday, I woke up at 11am feeling like death. I should have taken the hint, but I just thought I stayed up too late and decided to power through. We failed at finding a car hire to take us to both Ubud and Uluwatu. If we had done any research, we would have known they were in completely opposite directions. Ubud is a town in the center of the island, known for rice paddies, hilly terrain, excellent jungles, and many Hindu temples. Uluwatu is a cliff on the Bukit peninsula in the south. The views are amazing, and surfers riding the famous break "Padang Padang" are right below. But we opted for inland, and got a driver to take us to a silver-making shop, a monkey forest, a 1000 year old Hindu temple, and the town of Ubud for some wandering and shopping.

Temple entrance

One of many stone statues with crazy eyes

Xylophone?

These offerings (made of Frangipani, incense, and woven palm leaves) are created please the many Hindu gods and demons, and are found on every doorstep and street corner

I was pounced on by dozens of monkeys, which was really fun until one started ripping out my nose ring! Having monkey fingers up my nose is something I will never forget.*

By Monday morning, we were ready to head home. Bali had kicked our butts and taken our money. We were sunburned, sore, and sick. We paid to get in and get out and nearly got 150000 Rupiah swindled by some jerk at a money changing shop. But, in true Dream Team fashion, we had just enough cash left to get snacks and water at the airport. And, in true Ann fashion, I found 90000 Rupiah more in my pocket after doing laundry.

Fantastic sculpture seen en route to the airport

Oh... let's end this story full circle: the thumb! I was feeling so ill on Sunday and Monday as well. Fever, aches, swollen lymph nodes, and no energy. I thought I just had the flu and needed sleep. I slept during the afternoon on Monday, but felt even worse. Then I started to notice some throbbing and swelling in my right thumb. By the next morning it was a golf ball. I went to the NUS Health Center. They said the "flu" was probably my body fighting this infection from some minuscule cut. The doctor lysed my thumb and drained it (incredibly gross and painful) and gave me antibiotics. So it turns out I didn't necessarily get too little sleep or have too many Bintang beers (though that possibly contributed). All I needed was maybe one more shower or some antibacterial soap. My parents are probably pulling their hair out right now - sorry guys!

Moral of the story? Uh... Bali is dirty, so have some hygiene.

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Well, thanks for reading y'all! Finishing up the work week tomorrow, then headed to Borneo for more jungle adventures - stay tuned ;)

Love,
Ann


*Photo credit to Sarah S!

We're all moving to Thailand!

Sarah, Nick, and I went to Krabi, Thailand for a long weekend. It was... amazing. As soon as we arrived, we joked about never leaving. On Friday night in Krabi Town we stayed in a typical backpacker hostel with 10 beds per room and lots of smelly Irish boys. We got Pad Thai and Chang beers at the night market on the river, then explored the downtown area and stumbled upon a hilarious local music competition. We ended the night in the hostel bar, where we met a group of folks from England just returning from Chiang Mai. They were taking full advantage of the "free shot for singing karaoke."  

Krabi night market

After a 5am bed time, we slept late on Saturday morning and grabbed a pickup truck taxi over to the Ao Nang pier. From there, the only way to our ultimate destination, Tonsai, was by longtail boat. They are called longtails because the prop is attached directly to the inboard engine by a long driveshaft. To turn, the driver shoves the enormous, noisy engine back and forth, which moves the "tail" and the propeller.

Longtails at the Ao Nang pier

Our fearless captain

Tonsai is on the mainland, but separated from any roads by high limestone cliffs on three sides and the Andaman Sea on the fourth. It's a sheltered nook with no vehicles and no power lines (all electricity is run by generator, which is on from about 6pm to 6am each night). Tonsai is tiny, so it was easy to wander up and down the beach and the one road to find a place to stay.

Walking down Tonsai beach

Limestone cliffs surrounding Tonsai

We found a bungalow - suitable for my standards at ~$3 a night, but one too many cockroaches for Sarah's liking - and spent the day exploring the beach. We ventured through the jungle to Railay, the next town over. It's a little more touristy (i.e.: the bathrooms have toilet paper) because the beach is nicer for swimming and sunbathing. We played in the waves, wandered the peninsula watching the crazy troop of monkeys in the trees, and explored Phra Nagn cave. Phra Nagn, AKA the "penis cave," is exactly how it sounds. It's essentially a shrine to fertility, decorated with at least a hundred wooden penises of varying sizes and designs. Local women come to the cave in hopes of increasing their fertility - I stayed far away.

Railay beach

Monkeys everywhere! And not shy at all

Yep... those are supposed to be penises.

Sarah on Phra Nang beach

As of now, Tonsai seems to have escaped the tourist crowds. There are no cheesy shops selling trinkets and t-shirts, just a few very cheap bars and restaurants. This is probably because the beach is a bit rocky and covered with pieces of coral, and everything seems to cater to climbers (not known for their expensive taste). I ate some seriously amazing coconut curry and had a mango mojito at the Sunset Bar next door. Courtesy of the friendly bartenders, we tried a couple types of vodka: one steeped for a year in the roots of a local tree, and the other steeped in a jar containing a cobra and a scorpion. They were... interesting. I released sky lanterns, listened to a really fantastic guitar duo, got my butt kicked at pool by Nick, held the tiniest kitten I've ever seen, and failed horribly at a variety of wooden puzzles. Sarah even got dragged behind the bar to serve drinks. All in all, one of the best nights of the adventure thus far!

Can you spot the scorpion and snake?

Bright and early on Sunday morning (after another night of 3-4 hours of sleep and a breakfast of Ritz crackers and something resembling a Twinkie), we took a longtail out to one of the many limestone towers jutting out of the ocean. From there, you can dive off the boat in your bathing suit and climbing shoes, swim right up to the wall, and climb as high as you want (or can) up the cliff. I've only been climbing a handful of times, but this was far and away the best experience. There's no fear because you will only fall into beautiful, warm water. Well, actually there is a little fear - sometimes the handhold you reach for is already inhabited by a crab!

Nick making his way up

Two climbers on the wall!

Sunday afternoon turned into a full on tropical storm, so we took shelter in a cafe and waited for the longtails to start running again. After the storm let off a bit, we waded out to the boat through chest deep waves with our bags above our heads. We met Michelle from Holland during the trip back to Ao Nang. She's just a few weeks into her yearlong adventure around the world - solo! She led us back to a hostel near town and we all went out to dinner and to watch the Holland vs. Mexico World Cup game.

Monday morning we chanced upon a bus going to Krabi airport for only 150 baht. We luckily made our 11:50am flight (we all thought it was at 11:20am, which we would have missed). We also managed to have just enough baht left over to buy Oreos and a water bottle in the airport. Great success.

Thailand is all about kittens and crazed joy

(I think this is the only facial expression I made all weekend.)

We were a little depressed on the flight home. The only bad thing about the trip: it reinforced for the nth time my dislike of cities. Singapore is just too clean and bright and busy for me; I'm out of my element! Now I have the travel bug and want to get out of town every weekend. So... we're all moving to Thailand.

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PS - I don't want y'all to think I don't do any work in the lab. After we got back around 4pm on Monday I went into work until 10pm! It's just not super exciting to write about. I'll be sure to include a post soon with some figures and a description of my project (feel free to skip reading that one).

PPS - Thanks to Sarah for the photos of me in this post!