Ubud

Ubud was a touristy city with lots of charm and culture. During our time here we were able to explore, venture out for a volcano hike, and walk through several beautiful temples and rice fields.

 

We first went to the local markets that offered everything from clothing to instruments. We were able to practice our bartering skills after searching out asking prices and comparing the ones from the central markets to those on the outskirts. Quite often the central ones were ridiculously overpriced, but with confidence and firmly insisting “this vendor offered this to me for this much cheaper”, we were all pretty successful. I really enjoyed talking with the market vendors and seeing how low they would go.

 

With Steve being a pretty avid climber, he and Danielle had already done their fair share of volcano hikes. He found us a good one that was at our skill level, and we left to hike it at 1:30am. We anticipated seeing the sunrise from the top, so we thought that leaving early would be worthwhile, but unfortunately the clouds blocked the sunrise! However, we still got to see the canyons that had steam coming out, and the wild monkeys that were running around all over the place.

While Alex went his first Asian massage with Steve, Danielle took me for a Birthday pedicure! What a great friend 🙂

 

We also planned out a tour to see several ancient temples. We were all required to wear sarongs as we walked through them, so that our knees were covered. My favourite one had a holy water bath, where tourists were allowed to soak in the holy water. This temple also had a huge koi fish pond, that was full of hungry fish you could feed. The temples were surrounded by beautiful jungle scenery, which is exactly what I pictured Asia to look like.

 

Ubud was home to thousands of stray dogs. You could not walk down a street without seeing one. They tended to gather in packs at night, and you could often hear them howling or fighting. We found a place called BAWA – Bali Animal Welfare Association. In the midst of all the animal neglect, it was nice to see that someone had started a positive place for animals. Luckily we found this place, because the day we found a kitten that we thought had been run over by a moped, but was still alive, we all didn’t know what to do. Steve suggested we ask the person at BAWA, and they asked us if we could try to grab the kitten with a blanket or wait with him until an animal ambulance arrived. When Alex ran back to get him, he realized that he was just severely malnourished, and his matted fur had made him look squished. Anyways, long story short, we brought him to the office and bought a couple cans of food for him. This is literally the only place we have been where there would have been anything we could do for this poor little guy.

 

Finally, I think it needs to be said how saddened we are by the flight to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down. After reading about how some of the younger victims were on they’re way to Bali to explore after a stopover at KL – the same itinerary that Alex and I just had – it really put things into perspective. Our thoughts are with them and their families.

 

 

 

 

Gili Islands and Kuta Beach

Our travels in Indonesia began after a one night layover in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After getting totally ripped off by a cab then staying at a hotel where people screamed in the halls all night long, we were regretting that we didn’t just tough it out in the airport for the night. We travelled over to the Gili islands immediately upon arrival, where we met up with Danielle and Steve! We travelled by way of “fast boat” which was a one hour speed boat ride, compared to a 4-5 hour ferry ride that was our other option. It was very bumpy and choppy to say the least.

The first island we stayed on was called Gili Trawangan. Here we swam in the bluest waters we had ever seen. The first night we walked across the island to watch the sunset with some Bintangs. The combination of the lit up sky and the tidal pools at low tide was beautiful. The following morning we snorkelled with too many turtles to count. The bigger ones were so calm that you could just float overtop of them a few inches from their shells. They were eating sea grass and looked like cows grazing in a field. The snorkelling was easy because you would walk up to one side of the island and the current would carry you all the way around, so you didn’t even have to swim. At the part where the ocean all of a sudden turns much darker on the surface, there is a massive drop off in the sand below sea level. Watching the fish and turtles swim down into the abyss was both eerie and humbling (it makes you feel very small).

Unfortunately, coming back in from the water, I was hit by a wave and got a big sand burn on my back. One of many small injuries I’ve collected traveling here. That night we all hung out in a little bungalow on the beach (essentially a flat wooden surface above the sand, with a table, cushions, and straw roof. Lots of stray cats joined us for dinner.

We watched the sunset a second time, and ended up walking back in the dark. We navigated our way through herds of cows and little frogs jumping all over the place. The full moon guided us back – a journey that Danielle, Steve and Alex were much more confident about taking than I was. Walking through the dark jungle with a dim flashlight? Not my forte.

After another day of lounging on the beach and eating Indonesian noodles (Mie goreng), we headed over to the second island – Gili Air. This one was less touristy than the other, so it was a nice change of pace. We stayed in large bungalows made completely of bamboo, and were woken up every morning by the dozens of chickens running around. We could see them run underneath us through the cracks of the floor. Lots more beach lounging, stray cats, and a really nice dinner on the sand at this island.

Finally, we made our way over to Kuta beach in Lambok (not the same Kuta you would find on the island of Bali). Right when we got there we were given motorbikes to make our way around the island with. When Alex was taking the bike for a test drive, he crashed it into the ditch. After a heated bartering session with the owner of the home stay he ended up paying $250 for the damage to the bike. Luckily we got to the beach and several young puppies came to hang out with us for the day, and made us feel better. We fed them coconuts.

The next day Steve took us one by one on the other motorbike to a beautiful lookout point over a beach with huge waves. I was the first one to be dropped off, and while Steve went back to get the others, a huge herd of water buffalos surrounded me. They were some of the most docile creatures I’ve ever seen. This day also happened to be my birthday, and Alex surprised me with a pre-planned vegetarian feast and a homemade birthday cake. The dinner was at a place called Mario’s, and our hosts were some of the sweetest people I’ve met the entire trip. To top it all off, he got me a bracelet with an elephant charm (because we are heading to an elephant sanctuary at the end of our trip). So, he’s out of the doghouse for the motorbike incident.

A funny side note that happened at that dinner was when Danielle helped me put the bracelet on. I guess the charm must have fallen off onto her plate, and she ended up eating it! Luckily she found it before she swallowed it.

Overall Indonesia has had the most beautiful beaches so far. Can’t wait to see what happens in Bali, where we are heading via ferry right now.

 

Blog 1 – Perth to Bali

After an incredibly long 40-hours of travel, we finally arrived at our first hostel in Perth, only to find that
we were locked out! This was bound to happen considering we lucked out on our
15-hour flight from San Francisco to Sydney, when we discovered that the plane
was merely half-full, leaving full rows of seats for us to sprawl out on and
sleep like babies. Since we arrived at the hostel at 2am, we assumed that our
friend, who we were supposed to meet at the room, would be sleeping and we
would have to pound on the door to wake her up. Unfortunately, after sneaking
in through the underground parking due to not being in possession of a key, we
discovered that there had been a misunderstanding about which hostel we were
supposed to meet our friend at. In the end, we ended up paying big bucks to get
a room at the only hotel in town that had a 24-hour front desk open.

The next day was much better, as we spent a few hours lying
on the beautiful beach, and then were able to meet up with several members of a
European Contiki tour, which we had taken two years earlier, for a reunion.
After a lot of catching up and sharing stories, we headed to a bar in town,
only to be shut down at the door for not having our passports. I guess in Perth, driver’s licences
do not make the cut for suitable ID. After much deliberation, objection and a
claim that the doormen were “racist” (considering there were children in the
“bar” that now appeared to look more like a family-friendly restaurant), a trip
back to the hostel was made to retrieve the passports. The night got better and
better from their, as more members of our tour continued to show up
unexpectedly. A classic Contiki sleepover ended up commencing, as we still had
so much catching up to do, it didn’t seem to make sense to part ways to sleep
in our own beds.

We had a fantastic breakfast the next day at a restaurant
called Blue Water, which was quite expensive, much like everything else in Perth. We ended up
returning to this restaurant two more time though, and have since decided that
if one of us notices the other making a “too-expensive” purchase, we will use
the codeword “Blue Water” to remind them that we are on a tight budget and
cannot afford such luxuries! A couple of our Contiki friends told us that they
were heading to Bali the following night, and suggested we come with them.
Since we had heard so much about how beautiful and inexpensive this place was,
we decided that this was a great opportunity for a spur of the moment decision
to go on an unexpected adventure with two of our closest friends from the tour
(they had made the effort to come all the way out to Vancouver and visit us the
previous summer). We ended up booking VERY cheap flights, and made arrangements
to stay at a hotel right on the beach. As I’m writing this blog post, we are on
the plane to this fascinating destination.

The night continued, and turned into what one might call a
typical Contiki night, in which everybody wakes up the next morning to dwell on
how much fun the night before was. We played a lengthy game of
“Never-have-I-ever”, which always seems to be more hilarious when Aussi accents
are involved. We ended up going dancing, and having another late night, in
which nobody was allowed to leave to go back to their room until they gave a “toast”
about how much they loved the group.

Day three included going into town and exploring the very
modern City of Perth.
We got to climb eucalyptus trees, and walk through “King’s Park”, in which we
ultimately got a spectacular view of the city that seemed to be made entirely
of glass. A couple of generous members of our group offered to put us up for
the night in their room since they new how much of a budget we were on, and
lots of extra room. We went to bed early, but were woken up by a member of the
group that was upset we were sleeping and not “appreciating Australia” –
twice. We still managed to get a fairly good sleep though, which was much
needed after the preceding three days.

Finally, today we got to say our goodbyes, and spend most of
the day relaxing on the beach and playing in the waves. Kirsten and I got our
fair share of take-downs from the waves, and decided that we looked way to
ridiculous to the diners at the prestigious restaurant overlooking the area of
the beach we were occupying. After a “Mexican shower” (which is basically a
moist cloth), we caught a cab to the airport, and boarded this flight that I am
currently writing you from. Were looking very forward to the next week we get
to spend in Bali – as it is a new experience
for all of us. Stay tuned for our next set of adventures from Asia.