Doha

At first you might be thinking, where in the world is Doha? Well, if you back up 200 years, it was not even a city on a map. About 100 years ago, pearl divers set up camp, off a bay, on the east side of the Arabian Peninsula. Today Doha stands where the pearl divers lived.

New Doha Skyline

Doha is the capitol of Qatar (kaa-tar), a small country that juts out of the Arabian Peninsula like a thumb. It sits between the Arabian Gulf (or the Persian Gulf, depending on which side you are on) and Saudi Arabia to the south. The original people that inhabited Qatar were Sunni Bedouins from what is now Saudi Arabia, thus the language, Arabic.

On the Corniche. Its where locals come in the evening to walk and relax.

When I visited Doha, I was amazed at the contrast of the old historical east side and the new high-rise west side of the city. The skyline that is there now was built in only six years beginning in 2005 and is still being developed! The east side is the historical side with the grand mosque, the souq wafiq (the market), the governmental buildings and the airport. Most of the people live on the east side of the bay and the financial district is on the west side of the bay.

My favorite place is the souq. The souq is a traditional Arab market with many different buildings with stalls crammed into nooks and crannies. The souq has everything from old Omani daggers to dried fruits and nuts, and Lebanese to Persian food. My favorite thing about the souq is when you walk in it is like stepping back in history. You see the Qatari men in formal dress, a white tunic styled floor lenght collared shirt-dress and a turban walking into little alleyways with their wives coverd from head to toe in a black abya.

The Souq

The shops have tons of antiques, carpets and swords. When you walk in you snif a faint smell of someone smoking a shisha pipe deep inside the shop. The souq is a melting pot of North African, Turkish, Egyptian, Persian, Arabian, Syrian, and Lebanese culture. You could be in a Persian restaurant eating under Persian stained glass and paintings, yet be looking across the alley at a Moroccan cafe.

Qatari smoking a shisha pipe

I also liked the Islamic Museum of Art. It takes you through the ages of the Islamic Empire all in one building. I learned so much, like Isfahan Persia (Iran) was regarded as one of the biggest cities on the earth by the time of the crusades. The museum also had some incredible artifacts like an 11/2 kilogram solid gold bird with rubies, sapphires and emeralds studded into it. I saw incredible coins and stamps that were held by kings hundreds of years ago!

Muesum of Islamic Art

Persian gold and sivler mask worn for battle.

Doha used to only be a small city in the United Arab Emirates but when Qatar broke from the UAE in the 1970's (before the 1970's the UAE consisted of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and modern UAE) Doha became the new capitol. After being in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai, Doha is my favorite place in the middle east. Let's see how it holds up to the rest of the Arab world.

The Souq

Volcano

On the fifth day of February 2011 my family and I went on a boat and spent one night on an island right across from at the brilliant, famous, volcano Anak Krakatau.
I woke up very tired because I went to bed at 1:00am after our flight from Singapore and a three hour drive to Carita Beach.

Our Hotel at Carita Beach

At 11:00am we walked from our guesthouse to the small local harbor and found our boat with our tour guide.

The small boat harbor across the street from our hotel.

I was so bored on the boat ride, there was nothing to do for three hours. Everyone one of us got sick except my Mom got sick. The reason why is our little boat was bouncing all over because the waves were so big and choppy.

I started dancing and singing with joy when we arrived in the bay where we were camping. Once we got off our boat and walked on to the beach of the island we immediatly begain entertaining ourselves. Taylor, Ryan and I started picking up trash around our camp site. Lame campers before us left a mess and didn't clean up. Taylor dug a big hole in the sand and we burried the trash in the hole. Then I dug an even bigger hole to make a boobie trap. The trap didn't work so well but it was fun anyway.

We made it. There it is!

My pit.

The boat crew and our tour guide set up our tents while we played. My Dad thought it was pretty strange that he was not setting up his own tent like he usually does. He said it was nice to sit back and relax instead.

I woke up the next morning and climbed out of my tent. Taylor climbed out after me. Ryan was already up and made the fire. An hour later we had breakfast and it was delicious. There were rice pancakes, toast and fruit.

Cameron's handicrafts he made from raw materials found on the island.

A mid-morning release of steam and ash. Just a typical day.

We spent the day swimming, snorkeling and playing on the island.

We packed up and sailed to Anak Krakatau and climbed half way to the top because if you go to the top you would incinerate. On the way up dust got in my eyes and I was coughing because we were breathing sulfur and ash. When we reached the top we quickly took some pictures and we climbed back down. I wrote in the sand "Cameron has been here."

On top of the first ridge. As far as we can go. Breathing was difficult with the toxins in the air.

After the climbing the volcano we went snorkeling, fishing and then sailed back. The trip was awesome!

Singapore

Singapore's Esplenade at the start of the Singapore River Quay.
Even though it's hot and sunny it doesn't look like it due to all the humidity in the air.

Singapore is a very small island between Malaysia and Indonesia where an astonishing 6.7 million people live in only 270 square miles. Our cab driver told us that the city is so packed and crowded that Singapore's government will not issue any more passports to foreigners once the population reaches 7 million people. And only Singaporean's can be taxi drivers because the government thinks there are to many roads to remember and any one else would get lost.

On Chinese New Year Chinatown was so crowded, my brother said "It is so crowded that you can barely move." The good thing about Chinese New Year is, they believe it's bad lucky to have extra goods at the end of the old year so the merchants sell their goods for 50% discount or more before midnight!

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy New Year's Eve in Chinatown.

We also visited a museum that gave a nice overview of the history of Singapore. Plus, there was a traveling exhibit about the Congo and the different kinds of masks from that African region.

Our route home every evening after a day of exploration.

Walking back from dinner along the river Quay my family saw colorful flying lights in the sky. All of us were so curious that we decided to check it out. We followed the lights to a field of grass next to the river and shops. We asked a young lady what is all this. She told us, "Every night people gather to fly their kites." "Kites?" "Yes, these are remote controlled kites with no strings but they look and act like real kites." She explained how they worked and how much the kites cost? She said "One kite and its remote control costs $400 Singapore Dollars or $366 USD."

The next day we visited the kite store. We asked the staff to show us how it all worked. The kite is built with a stabilizer in the back to prevent it from flipping over and a propeller in the front to make it move. The young man said "What makes the kite so durable is the brace, the brace is metal with two rubber pieces on the end which connect it to the front of the kite so when it crashes the propeller doesn't break. If you think of a football helmet and how it has two braces to protect the players face, the kite has one brace on the front of it to prevent damage. He also said "My friend was flying his kite and it crashed on the road, and before he could get to it a pickup truck ran it over, but after a day of work on the kite he fixed it with a new brace!"
Looking at the kites was a lot of fun, but my Dad said they are too expensive to buy and ship home. My experience in Singapore was so cool and amazing that we decided to go back soon.

South South East Asia

Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur was our next stop after Thailand. Eventhough Malayasia is connected to and considered part of South East Asia it didn't look or feel like the Asian countries to it's north. China was Chinese, Vietnam was very Vietnamese, Cambodia was Cambodian and Malaysia well... it was Muslim/Islam, Indian/Hindi and Chinese/Buhdist. 1 Malaysia, three distinct cultures.

Every where around the city we saw posters, billboards, bumperstickers, t-shirts, magazine covers, coffee mugs, key chains, etc, with a thick number 1 colored like the Malaysia flag and the word Malaysia after so it reads 1Malaysia.

On our first day we explored Merdeka Square where we found a government building that made us feel like we should be in Arabia not SE Asia with beautiful Moorish/Mogul design. Across the street is the Royal Sangalor Club that looks like it was brought directly from Amsterdam. This building remains from the Dutch occupation of Malaysia. It was and still is today an exclusive club for gentlemen to sip scotch, talk politics and play an occasional game of cricket. So if you look to your left you might think you are in Arabia and if you look right, Amsterdam yet all the while you are in Kuala Lumpur. 1 Malaysia.

The Royal Sangalor Club

A few blocks from Merdeka Square is Chinatown. Chinatown doesn't need any explaination since it looks and feels just like any other Chinatown around the globe. Food stalls, imitation bags, watches and sunglasses for sale, Chinese medicine stores, tailors and right in the middle of all this Chinese culture we found a large and brightly decorated Hindu temple. 1Malaysia.

Hindu Temple right in the middle of Chinatown.

The "newer" part of town, the part where a ferocious appitite for development is satciated by tearing down "old" and building new, bright, fancy, tall buildings such as the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. This part of KL looks and feels like any other major city with international corporate highrises, megamalls, high-end retailers, and restaurants. The biggest difference here from say New York City is the women. Muslim ladies covered from head to toe alongside Indian ladies dressed in saris with red dots on their foreheads alongside western women in suits going to and from their daily activities. The men dress like typical men but it's their face and skin color that distinguish on culture from another.

Petronas Twin Towers

All the development

Shopping, shopping, shopping

It's quite an intriguing place. A great place to "people watch".

Kuala Lumpur

Every city has a different feeling. Beijing felt claustrophobic, Copenhagen felt friendly, Ulaanbaatar felt like Anchorage, and Hong Kong felt lively. When we arrived in Kuala Lumpur it felt like "every man for himself." KL has three major kinds of ethnic groups, Hindu, Chinese, and Malay. When we were there we did not encounter many friendly people (I can only think of four) and I didn't feel like we were accepted by people. I think that a lot of people shrugged us off like, oh you westerner, which was the fist time in all of Asia we have experienced that. Every time I or someone in my family would try to talk, people would interrupt us like they had a better thing to say. I bet if you went to KL you wouldn't feel that because you would have come from Alaska. I say that because we haven't been in developed countries for some time. In China and other places in Southeast Asia everyone really liked us because they don't see many whites and they would always say that we have a good family.

In KL they are very proud of their origins and don't need help from other races. I have noticed that when you are a first world country or a country that hasn't had a major catastrophe in the last 80 years the people are very confident.

The second point is that there is a large Hindu population that we encountered. As a race, Indians are rude by western standards but they think that it is fine. So we endured a lot of pushiness and nonresponsive looks. We had nicer responses from the Muslims than the Hindus.
It is strange because although the people in KL were not that nice, in Melaka everyone was really nice. I think that because Melaka is smaller, people are more friendly and they have a long history with westerners. KL was established by Chinese and Malays while Melaka was est. and grown by the Dutch and Portuguese so Melaka has had to depend on westerners to sustain its economy. Over all I still think that Malaysia is great.

My thoughts on Thailand

Every time I sit down to write about our trip in Thailand I get a case of writers block. It's even comical to me using that term to describe my case since I never have considered myself a writer. However, the nature of my life this year, on this RTW adventure leaves me no choice. If I want to remember things we have done, places we have been, memories we have made I must write. So, therefore, I can self-diagnosis "Thailand Writers Block."

Thailand Writers Block, defined by me, is a lack of desire, willingness and words to describe our least favorite month and our least favorite country in all of Asia. So since I still suffer from Thailand Writers Block I will post a bunch of photos and you can write comments like; "Looks like a fab time to me." "What's wrong with you Marne?" "I loved Thailand, can't understand why you didn't." "Oh those beaches are amazing, are you crazy?" And to all that I say "everyone is entitled to their own opinion." Enjoy.

Fishing in Ko Samui Thai style.

Beach snacks, fresh grilled corn on the cob. Ko Samui.

Heading into a cave on Ko Lanta

Barely fitting through this hole.

Waging world war in a game of Risk.

Mastering the art of fire yo-yos. No fire for novices. Only after one month of dedicated practice.

Renting our very own tuk-tuk! Captain Robert on the handle bars. Whoo Hoo!

Heading to Ko Phi Phi on the boat.

Ko Phi Phi

Football with the resort staff. No english needed, only a ball.

The too crowded beach. Unfortunately most were like this.

Taking the plunge.

Snorkel Cameron.

Our last night in Ko Phi Phi. It was a good day.

THE END

Koh Phi Phi Snorkling

When you think of Southern Thailand you think of long beaches, clear water and fish that swim right next to you. After a two weeks in the northern and central part of Thailand and two weeks at the beaches we had not experienced that yet, until we went on a chartered snorkeling boat on Ko Phi Phi.

Ko Phi Phi Don

We set off for a fun day at 10:30am and cruised for a half hour to our first spot. When we arrived the captain told everyone that they could jump in and swim around. So I ran up to the top deck and jumped off. We guestimated it was 15 feet to the water below. When I was in the air I thought, "Why am i doing this?" When I hit the water I relaxed. It was awesome! After we swam and jumped off the boat a few more times we sailed to a different spot and snorkeled.

AHHHHHHH!

Totally Awesome!

I was one of the first people to jump in at this spot. I saw a lot of fish for a couple of seconds but then they disappeared. Too many people jumped in the water and the fish swam away. Most people swan to beach for a walk to the other side but my family and I stayed put. We waited for about five minutes and then the fish returned. We saw tons of fish. Fish that were fluorescent green and yellow, fish that would blend in to the rocks and fish that swim right next to you. I also saw sea urchins that were the size of basketballs and a giant clam that was two to three feet long!!

We stopped at two more spots but they didn't have as great conditions for snorkeling as the first one did. One was a really small cove that was really shallow in some spots, really deep in others and not many fish. We did see a cave but it was surrounded by corral so we didn't go in fear of cutting ourselves. The other one I did not snorkel in because we saw five jellyfish that were huge and I didn't want to get stung.

Jellyfish the deck hand pulled out of the water.

At the seconded to last stop one of the deck hands started to throw bread to the fish while people were snorkeling. The fish swarmed the food and swam away, they did this over and over. It felt really weird to have hundreds of fish brush up against you at the same time. A few even bit me in their frenzy for food.
From there we sailed to one more island, kayaked to the beach and walked around. We watched the sun set on the ocean and then headed back. It took about an hour to get back to the dock so we got to see the island at night. It was pretty. We got back at about 8:00pm, returned to our hotel and changed clothes for dinner and decided that today's adventure redeemed our visit to Thailand.

A great day!