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Indonesia: The Highlight Reel
At long last, the blog is alive again... Some of you have been wondering where I went (thank you, it's nice to know people actually read this) and where I went is ON VACATION. But, I'm back in Bangkok now with a journal full of notes...
Our travels started in Kuta, one of the sites of the unfortunate and recent bombings. For that reason, I'll refrain from more jokes about Aussie beer guts and braided hair. We then went North, through Bedegul and Munduk, and spent several days on the northwestern coast in a town called Pemuteran. Meeting up with some French girls on their way to the eastern coast, we shared a ride to the tiny beachside village of Lipah and traveled from there to Gili Air in Lombok. There, we found paradise... From Gili Air we returned to Bali for our flight back to Bangkok, spending an extra day in Ubud to catch up on last minute shopping and gorging ourselves on imported cheese at a restaurant we have come to revere... Here are the story snippets:
UBUD
Ubud is the cultural and artistic center of Bali, with the constant mellifluous sounds of gamelan music floating in the air, frangipani petals behind everyone's ear and on the breakfast plate, and the delicate craftsmanship of Balinese carving and painting at every turn. A great place to start our vacation...
BIG BUM
In Ubud, I was told I have a big bum. "It's good," was included in the same sentence (thank God). For this reason alone, Bali is my new best friend. It's still not fun to hear that I have a big bum. I know I have one, but it's one thing to know it and another to hear about it. Makes it more real. I'll never again ask Benjamin, "Does this make my butt look big?" Because, now I know that in fact, it does... and everyone knows it. I'm thinking about taking up residence in Bali and feasting on chocolate and french fries to keep up appearances...
BEDUGAL
Unfortunately, we stopped overnight in Bedegul. We went there to see 'the most picturesque and photographed place on Bali'. What we found was a tourist trap. We were the only ones who got off the bus from Ubud to Lovina. "What are those crazy Americans doing?" people wondered. I know this because later in our trip, we met up with a couple of French girls, Marie and Sandine, who told us so. There was not much of a town and the temple, which is supposed to emerge from the water of the lake, was on land and crowded with people getting their photos taken with a boa constrictor.
Our hotel was interesting, though. Having arrived on Saturday, it would have been nice if someone told us that the hotel becomes a church on Sunday. We were awoken early in the morning to the joyous singing of Christians who like to get up at 7 a.m. It made an interesting soundtrack to my dreams, and then waking to find it was real, I felt completely disoriented. The other highlight of our hotel room was a propane tank in the bathroom -- used to heat the hot water. Showering was a brain-cell-killing-affair with propane fumes and Christain tunes to blame...
MUNDUK
We left Bedugal after one night, having found an awesome driver to take us to the more remote Northwest coast and Pemuteran. The drive took us through Munduk, a very scenic place with waterfalls and forests full of cocoa bean trees and coffee trees, along roads that wind through rice terraced hillsides spiced with the aroma of cloves drying in the sun...
On the way, we pulled over for a drink at a friendly cafe and were greeted with a handful of 'Dodol', special North Balinese "cakes" made of black sticky rice and peanuts wrapped in corn husks. They are little tubes of pleasure. I spent a good 1/2 hour learning how to roll the Dodol (it's not very easy) and having mastered that, the woman who owns the cafe asked if I would like to weave the basket they are sold in. "It's time to go," I told Benjamin seeing an immense amount of work in my near future (she's got a good thing going -- getting tourists to do some of her work). Benjamin wanted to leave me there to make some traveling money, but luckily my new "boss" thought better of it. "You will miss her," she told Benjamin... and so, we were off to the hot springs, where our driver saved a drowning child.
PEMUTERAN
Pemuteran is a place devoid of much but resorts that line a black volcanic sand beach... we were lucky to find a cheap one and spent a few days laying by the pool and the sea. The best part of it was that our bungalow had an attached, outdoor bathroom. It is something to sit on the toilet and star gaze all at the same time. Taking a shower in a garden under the blazing rays of sun is nice, too. However, projectile vomiting in an outdoor bathroom is not romanticized, in any way, by the beauty of the environment. One night, I found myself shitting on the toilet while puking in a bucket at the same time: there is no time to star gaze whilst doing this. I believe I got food poisoning from the "resort" where we were staying. Once established, it is impossible to go elsewhere to dine (all restaurants are at the resorts), so I was forced to continue eating potentially poisonous food the rest of our stay. Benjamin, 'The Royal Food Taster', got sick as well. For this, we have deemed the place, "The Barf Bungalows".
Another note on our accommodation: the place had crazy, angry statues all about. Even the dolphin was leering, baring teeth, eager to devour souls. And dolphins, perhaps thanks to the New Age set, are supposed to be our gentle friends from the sea...
Luckily for us, we met our French friends Marie and Sandine here and continued our travels with them for about 4 days to the East Coast and onto the Gili Islands in Lombok... It was lucky because Benjamin and I were in need of 'outside influence'. After months of traveling as a duo, it's important to make friends who can add something more to a conversation when topics run dry...
It was also in Pemuteran that I discovered that my bathing suit has been deteriorating over the last several years while living in the dark corners of my underwear drawer back at home. I washed it in the sink after a swim in the pool and lined the porcelain with a coating of elastic that had fled my suit for more light... Taking my bathing suit out of its hiding place was akin to removing an ancient document from a temperature controlled environment. It seemed to start disintegrating with the light of day...
LIPAH
We joined Marie and Sandine on a journey to the East Coast and landed in a tiny beachside village called Lipah, population 50. From our hotel room, we had an amazing view of the inlet known as Lipah, with ocean waters in front, colorful fishing boats on the beach, and a volcano looming behind. We snorkeled amidst a coral garden and tropical fish at a Japanese fishing boat wreck just off the coast. We also witnessed our special Balinese 'smoked duck' dinner while it was still alive. I don't like seeing my food alive before I eat it, much less the blood pouring from its slit throat. Thank God it was dark at the time...
Lipah is a wonderful little beach town, less frequented than others. It's also a town full of horny men. Benjamin ended up with 'three wives' in Lipah because Marie and Sandine used him as their salvation from come ons by the locals. It's all in good fun, though. All I can say is, any woman looking for a little attention should go to Lipah. There seems to be a shortage of local women in the village and all attention is bestowed upon the foreign women. It was actually a nice change of pace from my previous travels, seeing foreign men with Asian women hanging on their arms from China to Cambodia...
"It's raining men," was the theme of the night they played live music at the bar down the road (the only one in town, I believe). The local guys were out in force, most of them named something like Bob, Marley, and Ziggy.
The four of us chartered small fishing boats to transport us to the Gili Islands from Lipah. A 2.5 hour journey (which actually took 4 b/c of rough seas) was a much better option than the intensive bus/boat/bus/boat 10-hour voyage from Bali's main harbor, Padangbai. You can read more about that adventure on the main site in 'travel essays'. The story is called 'Death Boat'.
GILI AIR
aka: Paradise. Gili Air is a tiny island off the coast of Lombok (Bali's neighboring island). It has a population of around 300 and the scene was mellow, relaxed, the ultimate get away. There aren't even roads... just sandy tracks in the sand that can only be traveled by bicycle, foot, or pony-drawn cart.
We spent a lot of time hanging out on burugas -- thatched wood platforms with pillows on the beach. In the warm, turquoise waters that ring the Gili Islands, we snorkeled amongst coral gardens, colorful fish of all shapes, sizes, and patterns, sea turtles and giant clams. We ate seafood and took walks on the coral-strewn, white beaches of Gili Air -- it only takes one hour to circle the entire island.
In short, we really did nothing and the days seemed to stretch into months -- the perfect respite for weary travelers...
BACK TO BANGKOK
We're back in Bangkok, heading to Southern Thailand shortly to continue our beach bum lifestyle... Not sure that this kind of living makes much to blog about, but keep looking!
Our travels started in Kuta, one of the sites of the unfortunate and recent bombings. For that reason, I'll refrain from more jokes about Aussie beer guts and braided hair. We then went North, through Bedegul and Munduk, and spent several days on the northwestern coast in a town called Pemuteran. Meeting up with some French girls on their way to the eastern coast, we shared a ride to the tiny beachside village of Lipah and traveled from there to Gili Air in Lombok. There, we found paradise... From Gili Air we returned to Bali for our flight back to Bangkok, spending an extra day in Ubud to catch up on last minute shopping and gorging ourselves on imported cheese at a restaurant we have come to revere... Here are the story snippets:
UBUD
Ubud is the cultural and artistic center of Bali, with the constant mellifluous sounds of gamelan music floating in the air, frangipani petals behind everyone's ear and on the breakfast plate, and the delicate craftsmanship of Balinese carving and painting at every turn. A great place to start our vacation...
BIG BUM
In Ubud, I was told I have a big bum. "It's good," was included in the same sentence (thank God). For this reason alone, Bali is my new best friend. It's still not fun to hear that I have a big bum. I know I have one, but it's one thing to know it and another to hear about it. Makes it more real. I'll never again ask Benjamin, "Does this make my butt look big?" Because, now I know that in fact, it does... and everyone knows it. I'm thinking about taking up residence in Bali and feasting on chocolate and french fries to keep up appearances...
BEDUGAL
Unfortunately, we stopped overnight in Bedegul. We went there to see 'the most picturesque and photographed place on Bali'. What we found was a tourist trap. We were the only ones who got off the bus from Ubud to Lovina. "What are those crazy Americans doing?" people wondered. I know this because later in our trip, we met up with a couple of French girls, Marie and Sandine, who told us so. There was not much of a town and the temple, which is supposed to emerge from the water of the lake, was on land and crowded with people getting their photos taken with a boa constrictor.
Our hotel was interesting, though. Having arrived on Saturday, it would have been nice if someone told us that the hotel becomes a church on Sunday. We were awoken early in the morning to the joyous singing of Christians who like to get up at 7 a.m. It made an interesting soundtrack to my dreams, and then waking to find it was real, I felt completely disoriented. The other highlight of our hotel room was a propane tank in the bathroom -- used to heat the hot water. Showering was a brain-cell-killing-affair with propane fumes and Christain tunes to blame...
MUNDUK
We left Bedugal after one night, having found an awesome driver to take us to the more remote Northwest coast and Pemuteran. The drive took us through Munduk, a very scenic place with waterfalls and forests full of cocoa bean trees and coffee trees, along roads that wind through rice terraced hillsides spiced with the aroma of cloves drying in the sun...
On the way, we pulled over for a drink at a friendly cafe and were greeted with a handful of 'Dodol', special North Balinese "cakes" made of black sticky rice and peanuts wrapped in corn husks. They are little tubes of pleasure. I spent a good 1/2 hour learning how to roll the Dodol (it's not very easy) and having mastered that, the woman who owns the cafe asked if I would like to weave the basket they are sold in. "It's time to go," I told Benjamin seeing an immense amount of work in my near future (she's got a good thing going -- getting tourists to do some of her work). Benjamin wanted to leave me there to make some traveling money, but luckily my new "boss" thought better of it. "You will miss her," she told Benjamin... and so, we were off to the hot springs, where our driver saved a drowning child.
PEMUTERAN
Pemuteran is a place devoid of much but resorts that line a black volcanic sand beach... we were lucky to find a cheap one and spent a few days laying by the pool and the sea. The best part of it was that our bungalow had an attached, outdoor bathroom. It is something to sit on the toilet and star gaze all at the same time. Taking a shower in a garden under the blazing rays of sun is nice, too. However, projectile vomiting in an outdoor bathroom is not romanticized, in any way, by the beauty of the environment. One night, I found myself shitting on the toilet while puking in a bucket at the same time: there is no time to star gaze whilst doing this. I believe I got food poisoning from the "resort" where we were staying. Once established, it is impossible to go elsewhere to dine (all restaurants are at the resorts), so I was forced to continue eating potentially poisonous food the rest of our stay. Benjamin, 'The Royal Food Taster', got sick as well. For this, we have deemed the place, "The Barf Bungalows".
Another note on our accommodation: the place had crazy, angry statues all about. Even the dolphin was leering, baring teeth, eager to devour souls. And dolphins, perhaps thanks to the New Age set, are supposed to be our gentle friends from the sea...
Luckily for us, we met our French friends Marie and Sandine here and continued our travels with them for about 4 days to the East Coast and onto the Gili Islands in Lombok... It was lucky because Benjamin and I were in need of 'outside influence'. After months of traveling as a duo, it's important to make friends who can add something more to a conversation when topics run dry...
It was also in Pemuteran that I discovered that my bathing suit has been deteriorating over the last several years while living in the dark corners of my underwear drawer back at home. I washed it in the sink after a swim in the pool and lined the porcelain with a coating of elastic that had fled my suit for more light... Taking my bathing suit out of its hiding place was akin to removing an ancient document from a temperature controlled environment. It seemed to start disintegrating with the light of day...
LIPAH
We joined Marie and Sandine on a journey to the East Coast and landed in a tiny beachside village called Lipah, population 50. From our hotel room, we had an amazing view of the inlet known as Lipah, with ocean waters in front, colorful fishing boats on the beach, and a volcano looming behind. We snorkeled amidst a coral garden and tropical fish at a Japanese fishing boat wreck just off the coast. We also witnessed our special Balinese 'smoked duck' dinner while it was still alive. I don't like seeing my food alive before I eat it, much less the blood pouring from its slit throat. Thank God it was dark at the time...
Lipah is a wonderful little beach town, less frequented than others. It's also a town full of horny men. Benjamin ended up with 'three wives' in Lipah because Marie and Sandine used him as their salvation from come ons by the locals. It's all in good fun, though. All I can say is, any woman looking for a little attention should go to Lipah. There seems to be a shortage of local women in the village and all attention is bestowed upon the foreign women. It was actually a nice change of pace from my previous travels, seeing foreign men with Asian women hanging on their arms from China to Cambodia...
"It's raining men," was the theme of the night they played live music at the bar down the road (the only one in town, I believe). The local guys were out in force, most of them named something like Bob, Marley, and Ziggy.
The four of us chartered small fishing boats to transport us to the Gili Islands from Lipah. A 2.5 hour journey (which actually took 4 b/c of rough seas) was a much better option than the intensive bus/boat/bus/boat 10-hour voyage from Bali's main harbor, Padangbai. You can read more about that adventure on the main site in 'travel essays'. The story is called 'Death Boat'.
GILI AIR
aka: Paradise. Gili Air is a tiny island off the coast of Lombok (Bali's neighboring island). It has a population of around 300 and the scene was mellow, relaxed, the ultimate get away. There aren't even roads... just sandy tracks in the sand that can only be traveled by bicycle, foot, or pony-drawn cart.
We spent a lot of time hanging out on burugas -- thatched wood platforms with pillows on the beach. In the warm, turquoise waters that ring the Gili Islands, we snorkeled amongst coral gardens, colorful fish of all shapes, sizes, and patterns, sea turtles and giant clams. We ate seafood and took walks on the coral-strewn, white beaches of Gili Air -- it only takes one hour to circle the entire island.
In short, we really did nothing and the days seemed to stretch into months -- the perfect respite for weary travelers...
BACK TO BANGKOK
We're back in Bangkok, heading to Southern Thailand shortly to continue our beach bum lifestyle... Not sure that this kind of living makes much to blog about, but keep looking!
posted by Cheryn at 5:09 PM
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