At 4,095 meters, Mount Kinabalu reigns as one of South East Asia’s highest peaks.  Situated in the Northern tip of the world’s 3rd largest and tropical island, Borneo, in Sabah, Malaysia, Mt. Kinabalu is a jaw dropping environmental stunner that sprawls into the heavens!
The grueling vertical ascent of Mount Kinabalu is a trek that usually takes 2 days.  The 1st day is spent climbing to the base camp, Laban Rata, and spending a fortune on accommodation.  On the 2nd day, climbers scale to Low’s peak for a glimpse of the …

Tha Pom Khlong Song Nam is an amazing place to observe nature at it’s finest due to it’s diverse environment. The park is located on the edge of the Andaman sea tide line and waters rotate from brackish to fresh and transform from slightly murky to emerald-green clarity.  As the water miraculously turns crystal clear, tree roots, mangroves, neon green plants, and a host of never before seen vegetation are revealed.

The tangle and array of vegetation, the sparkling water, and the limestone cliffs and mountains in the background, make Tha Pom Khlong Song Nam a special …

When 2009 rolled in, I had just returned to the the United States from Patagonia to attend my sisters wedding in Phoenix, Arizona.
It was in February 2009 under the influence of a carne asada burrito that I decided it was time to record my migrationology travels in the form of online documentation. I knew next to nothing about the web world, (twitter was literally just the sound of a bird to me).  Utilizing gallons of my parents coffee and my addiction to yerba mate from Argentina, along with free internet, I …

After hearing about boating the Mekong River, there was absolutely no way I could leave the country of Laos without embarking on the water journey.  I happen to be getting a Thai visa in Vientiane and had some spare time to explore the country a little further North.  After a number of ultra lazy days in the charming town of Luang Prabang and setting up the transportation logistics, I boarded a slow boat en route to the Thai border.
For 250,000 Kip (equal to about $30) we would receive 3 days …

Migration Mark has been in South East Asia since March of 2009 and has grown to love a few serious things but mostly the extraordinarily quirky things.

1. Chili Peppers…Please!
I grew up eating food with spice and sometimes with chili.  Throughout SE Asia however, I have nurtured my ever craving lust for the succulent seeded heat of chili peppers.  I simply can’t taste food unless there is an abundance of hot chilies involved in the meal.  In my month in Indonesia, I was able to come up with 9 …

The People’s Democratic Republic of Laos had already impressed me.  The sense of community, the warmness of the people, and the loyalty.  I could observe friends and family members alike helping each other out, caring for each other,  and socializing everywhere.  It seemed to me that the people of Laos really took time to enjoy small and simple things in life like relaxing under a crimson sunset, or watching the consistent calm flow of the Mekong River go by.
I arrived in Luang Prabang early one morning to a magnificent sunrise …

The scenery on the ride was ravishing, and the bars that were imprinted on my buttocks for the next 2 days from sitting on the top of the jeep up the snake winding, unpaved road, were equally great.
As we continued to gain elevation the environment around us changed from humid tropical to mountain fresh.  Palms were converted to evergreens and even the cuisine changed from buko (coconut) juice and adobo to mountain coffee, pancakes and yogurt.

The jolt of clean air could be felt from my nostrils all the way into …

This is Part II of the Trek From Mayoyao to Batad article.  If you haven’t already seen Part I, check it out here.

I had been in Southeast Asia for 5 months.  I had hired guides to summit Mt. Merapi volcano on Java and for Orangutan Trekking in Sumatra.  I had volunteered doing construction with locals in Payatas and everyone I had come in contact with wore slippers (flip flops).  The toughest jobs where people in the Western world would be required to lace up steel toes,  SE Asians, wore slippers.
I …

This is Part I of a 2 part series of a wondrous hike through the gorgeous 2000 year old paradise rice terraces of Mayoyao where one is not just a tourist but a family friend to the magnificent rising amphitheater of Batad, in the Ifugao province of the Philippines.

I sloppily released a mouthful of bright red beetle juice saliva onto the ground as I struggled to keep my balance on the mud bogged trail.
“In Ifugao, American country music is very popular,” said my guide Efren.  “At a cafe in Phoenix,” …

The jaunt from Batad to Mayoyao took nearly eight hours and included hiking, walking down completely barren mud roads, keeping my footing while crawling over fresh landslides, swinging back and forth on creeping jeeps, and clenching on to highly unstable homemade vehicular devices.
“In Mayoyao you are not just a tourist, but a family friend,”
said Efren, my guide.  “Let’s go and register at the town (village) municipality.”  I arrived to see 3 or 4 cops drinking coffee sprawled out in the office, elevated feet, and chuckling amongst themselves.  They sprang to …