Mt San Gorgonio

We backpacked Mt San Gorgonio last weekend with Dakota. It was her first backpacking trip and she finished the entire trip like a champ!

Louis, Peter and I left Saturday morning at 5AM, Mt. San Gorgonio is located near Redlands by the 215 and 15 freeway. It is within the San Bernardino National Forest so dogs are allowed on trail. A permit is required for overnight camping, we had to fax in the permit to the ranger's station 5 days before the hike. We arrived at the ranger's station at 8AM and picked up our permit. The drive from the ranger's station to the camp site is about 30 miles. From Hwy 38, make a right into Fish Creek Campground, the roads are rocky, high clearance vehicle is recommended, however, we made it in okay with our Mazda Protege. 

The elevation at Fish Creek is 8160 feet, Louis is prone to altitude changes so he took the hike slow with Dakota. From the parking lot to Fish Creek campground is 2.6 miles. Water is abundant first week of August within the first 2.6 miles, the hike was easy and the weather was perfect, it took us 1 hour to get to the first camp ground. Half a mile from Fish Creek campground to Fish Creek Saddle is the last water supply before Fish Creek Saddle. We filled up our water packs full and set out for Fish Creek Saddle. The hike from Fish Creek campground to Fish Creek Saddle was 2.3miles but the altitude gain was tremendous and it felt like a very difficult hike since most of the trails were exposed to sun. 

Dakota hiking behind Peter on the way to Fish Creek Saddle campground

We got to Fish Creek Saddle campground around 1:30PM, the next nearest water is on the way to dry lake and the water source looked murky and filled with algae from far away. We decided we had enough water between the three of us to climb Mt San G, and opted not to refill at the lake. 

 Dakota chilling at the campground before we set out for the Mt San Gorgonio climb

On to way to the peak

The beginning of switch backs and climb, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into!

 Perfect weather, breezy 70 degrees.

Rain clouds moving in

On our way to the peak we spotted the1950s military cargo plane crash site. The cost of salvaging the plane was too much, the debris' been left here at the crash site since the incident.

 The last half a mile of the hike was tough, the switch backs seemed never ending. Make sure to go right for the peak and follow the sign.

 Peak photo. It was 6.5 miles from Fish Creek Saddle to the peak at 11502 feet above mean sea level. Near the top, I definitely felt the altitude and had trouble breathing. We had to slow down our pace considerable. Dakota was too preoccupied by chipmunks to take a good group photo.

 Louis proposed at the top! He was suffering from a mild case of altitude sickness. The speech he had prepared went out the window and he got straight to the point. :)

Dakota with her backpack ready to explore the woods

Dakota at the top of Mt San Gorgonio

By the time we got back to our camp site at Fish Creek Saddle it was 7:30PM. It took us 5 hours to hike 13 miles up to the peak, not too shabby. We went to sleep and woke up next morning at 6AM. Because we are running low on water at this point, we skipped breakfast and decided to hike down to Fish Creek camp and refill. The hike down to Fish Creek camp took much less effort and we were out to the parking lot within 2 hours. 

 Once last family photo before the parking lot.

Dakota

Louis and I adopted a dog last weekend from a private animal rescue group in Lake Forest. Her name is Dakota and she is 3 years old and is an American Staffordshire Terrier mix.She was rescued by the private rescue from a high kill shelter in Ventura County. Apparently she was left by her owners in the shelter and has a bit of separation anxiety. Poor thing. 

We've been looking for a dog for awhile, someone to jog and backpack with but never quite found the right one. My friend Josh and I found her outside an adopting event outside Pet Smart, she was sitting quietly in the corner, waiting patiently for someone to adopt her. Since Louis was away at his pistol class that day, we took her home for a test trial while waiting for Louis to come home. We were amazed how calm and well behaved she were, we immediately fell in love.

 Dakota saying Hi to Louis in the back yard

 Sleepy Dakota

 Getting sleepy playing in the backyard

We are planning on a backpacking trip in a couple weeks after Dakota gets settled into our home. I'm so excited to have another running buddy. 

Mainland China

I spent the last leg of my Southeast Asia trip visiting friends and family in China. After making a quick stop in Hong Kong (eating delicious food and shopping) I flew to Fuzhou airport to spend some time with my extended family. Funny thing is, I can't seem to find any of my family photos from the trip...

Coffee and dessert with childhood friends

Indonesia- Bali

The plane ride from KL to Bali was a little under three hours. Since Bali is south of the equator, the weather was much cooler, the island has a strong resemblance to Hawaii.

First meal of the trip, food is cheap here if you are willing to look for street food. A piece of meat, some veggies (usually kale) and an egg served with rice is roughly 1 dollar to 1.50. 

We stayed at The Haven in Seminyak, Bali. The area is very touristy, filled with restaurants and shops for tourists. To get away from the crowd, Azrina and I decided to explore the city on foot.

The lush trees and tropical plants amidst the Balinese architecture made the walk very pleasant.  

We found the beach, the waves were definitely more intimidating than Tioman Island waves in Malaysia!

Rice field in the middle of the city

I love the Balinese doors

Local soccer game

Day 2: We hire a taxi driver to drive us around the touristy spots of the island

Tanat Lot Temple, the temple sits on a large rock off shore and has been known as a popular tourist destination. 

Local kid on vacation taking a photo with Azrina, apparently they’ve never seen a Malaysian before...

Lunch

The rice cakes marinated in peanut sauce, delicious!

Green beans and tempeh, according to Azrina, the tempeh is Bali is tastes much better than in Malaysia.

 

We also visited Uluwatu, another sea side template and a few local beaches, Padang Padang and Nusar Dua. I got lazy with my camera and did not take any additional photos.

Day 2: Bike tour at Ubud $40 per person

On the way to Ubud, the tour guide brought us to a coffee farm famous for its Luwak Kopi. Luwak Kopi is made from beans of coffee berries which have been passed through the digestive track of the Asian Palm Civet, who looks more or less like a weasel, washed and roasted. It’s apparently the world’s most expensive coffee.  The beans are supposed to taste less bitter and more aromatic.

Coffee beans defecated by the weasel. 

The little girl who lived on the farm

Our sample of the coffees and teas at the farm

Getting ready for our bike ride after breakfast

The local kids posing for the camera

 Harvested rice bushels

 The kids knew what to do with the cleaver

Lunch with an ice cold Bintang

Siem Reap, Cambodia

We caught an early flight from KL to Siem Reap on Tuesday morning. The flight took about three hours, we were pleasantly surprised with how new the Siem Reap airport was, it looks like tourism has been bringing in good money for the area. We are staying at a place called Mekong Ankor Palace, they sent a free tuk tuk to the airport to pick us up. This would be the first and only free service we would be receiving in Cambodia. Once we arrived at the hotel we coordinated with the hotel for a tuk tuk driver and a local tour guide for the temples. The cost of the tuk tuk driver was $25 a day and was suppose to be our transport all day, we found out later the driver actually stops working after sunset. The tour guide was also $30 a day, we decided to skip the guide for the first day and only have the guide around for the temples on day 2 and 3. USD is a common currency used in Cambodia, this is probably due to the poor currency value of the country.

Day 1 Tonle Sap Lake and Apsara Dancing

Tonle Sap Lake is one of the largest lake/river in Cambodia. One of the most unique features of the lake is the water flow changes directions between the dry season and the monsoon season. During the dry season the lake is fed by the Mekong River, once the monsoon season hits the water pushes up from the Mekong River and uses the lake as a reservoir.  The lake is home for many ethnic Vietnamese and Cham communities. Much of the lake is occupied by these people as their permanent residence. The entrance fee for the lake was a hefty $20, at this point, I am starting to feel wary of all the $20s I’m spending. Isn’t Cambodia suppose to be an affordable place to travel to?

Our ten year old boat driver bringing us out to the lake

View of the boat houses on the lake. These villagers live in extremely poor conditions and depend heavily on the tourism industry.

The entire lake lacked the feel of authenticity because it was heavily dependent on tourism. Everywhere we went, people were asking for money. Also, our tour guide did not speak very much English, therefore much of the history and description of the people living on the lake were left out during the tour. The entire trip went on without much discussion of the area and we were often brought to boats seeking for additional donation for the lake and surrounding area. It made the entire trip uncomfortable and left us feeling trapped and irritated.

Beggers on the river

We purchased a three day $40 pass for Ankor Wat and all of the surrounding temples. We ended our first day by going to Phnom Bakheng hoping to catch the sunset.

Phnom Bakheng without the sunset

We caught the first big storm of the rainy season shortly after returning from Phnom Bekeng. The rain prevented us from doing anything outdoors on the first day, we decided to watch a traditional Apsara dance in a nearby hotel. The dance included an all you can eat Americanized buffet dinner. The total for the dinner and show cost $12 USD. The food was mediocre, but I really enjoyed the traditional dancing.

Day 2: Bayon, Ankor Wat

Bayon temple is one of the largest temples within Angkor Thom. The most distinctive feature of the temple is the four faced Buddha. The photo below is one of many four faced Buddha in the temple. 

There is a dress code for several of the temples currently still being worshipped by locals. Women can only go in the temple if their legs are covered above the knee. Our tour guide Bob failed to tell us this prior to leaving the hotel. It turned out I was the only person in the group who was dressed appropriately to visit these temples. Miscommunication is becoming a reoccurring problem with our tour guide.

The hindus were obsessed with framed doorways, intricate carvings on the stones and linga.

Ta Prohm, best known in the Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider 

Entrance of Ankor Wat

Bob, our tour guide telling us the story of the Churning of the Milk for immortality for the hundredth time...

Michelle had to rent a Sarong to climb to the top of Ankor Wat.

Incomplete carvings inside Ankor Wat. 

We lost Michelle among a big group of Asian tourist

We ended our day at Banteay Srei Temple, better well known as the lady temple. The temple is within the outskirts of Siem Reap. It took us approximately 40 minutes to get to the temple via our Tuk Tuk. With no shade in sight, the temperature was becoming unbearable, it made it difficult to concentrate on the beauty of the architecture.