Sunday, July 02, 2006

Travels in July 2006

Dear friends,

I will be in australia 6-30july, sydney n melbourne areas!

I will be doing a short retreat & volunteering in a monastery off sydney & then travelling to melbourne to visit friends, sightsee (the great ocean road!)..

6july : sydney
7-20july: monastery (may not be checking mobile or emails during this time)
21-29july: on-e-road and melbourne

Will be back to spore 30july, and intown for most part of august.

~~

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Endau rompin weekend (10-11june)

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Group size : 7 (Stanley, Sophia, Bernie, Ramesh, Seetha, Ting2, Me)
Season : Aiya, just missed e durians. August would be ideal fruit season!
Cost : Approx S$120/pax (all inclusive: 1nite chalet accm, transport, meals, activities)
Activities: Easy waterrafting, orangasli village visit, longboat ride, trek to tasik biru.
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Endau rompin is great as a weekend getaway fr singapore. The forest is 200million years old, pristine and beautiful.

One highlight of endau rompin (fr peta) is Tasik Biru (aka Blue Lagoon). This is a fresh pool of water, in the most gorgeous blue. The water is as good as it looks!
Just 10min from tasik biru is a scenic confluence of 3 rivers, and the place is teeming with schools of fish!
According to the park ranger, just slightly further upstream, the water has been tested to be the cleanest / purest in malaysia!

Also nearby is a medicinal spring, believed by the orang asli (local native folk) to have healing powers.

The trek to Tasik biru is rather relaxing & easy, first a 30min boat ride from park HQ, followed by 1.5hr of gentle trails. Only beware of leaches ;)

One interesting account at the orang asli village, that peacocks have a peculiar trait of neatness. The peacock cannot bear to see any rubbish or twig out of place in its grazing field or forest path. Using its neck (not its beak!), it would remove the object to 'neaten' its place. To hunt peacock, the orang asli locate the path of the peacock and place sharp blades into the ground, and gets peacock dinner! I wonder how true... havent found anything on a quick websearch.