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Published: January 1st 2009
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So you wanna be a millionnaire?! Just come to Indonesia! The exchange rate between the ZAR & Rp is like R1 = Rp1100, so everything here cost tens or hundreds of thousands of Rp! For those who have not been here yet, as a tourist you a draw a couple of millions of Rp at a time! & it takes getting used to working with this currency! Too much calculations for a holiday ;-)
Moving on, my last blog ended leaving you in suspense with regards to (wrt) our next expedition on our island hopping travels! Well we ended up leaving Kho Pha Ngang, a ferry ride & a few flights later we were in Bali - Indonesia ;-) (admittedly a week or so ahead of schedule!) But no regrets - well nearly 1 ;-) For anyone travelling in Asia now or in the future, Bangkok Airlines is great & great value for money! Even on a local 1hr flight you get an on flight meal & after checking in before boarding, they offer you 15 minutes free internet access in their dinning lounges where you can indulge in some good & free snacks & drinks ;-)
The 1
"nearly" possible regret would make great reading for ALL intending on visiting Indonesia! But not to unsettle the nerves back home - lol - I guess I will save this story for my return home ;-) or Jay can tell it when he gets there before me! I should have known though - having the same experience happen to good mate of mine! As soon as it was taking place, my mind rolled back to her story ;-) My advice (which i also received from this same mate) for everyone reading this blog - is always keep some dollars in cash with you when travelling! Everyone loves dollars ;-)
Arriving Indonesia, Jakarta, @ 12am & after sorting out this "situation", we headed to our hotel by taxi! It was the same hotel as Jana, our German "friend" who we had met as a result of this visa situation! She was in the same predicament! After checking in at the hotel, Jay realised he had left his back pack in the taxi - fortunately i had the drivers business card & all ended well! We decided we would spend the day together with Jana in Jakarta before Jay & I
headed off to Bali that evenning! We walked to brunch & had coffee at the hotel restaurant before it was time for us to make our way to the airport! Jakarta was ridiculously humid & out of nowhere a sudden storm took place on route back to the hotel! Forced us to use a tuk-tuk ;-) There is definately more to see when we return to Jakarta for our flight to Bangkok towards the end of the month.
In Bali we are based in a lane just off Poppies Lane I. Nothing fancy - just the basics. But because of the christmas/new year period, extremely over priced! Tourists are forced to pay these prices as everything is full! Our 1st night in Bali we found a restaurant where we could watch the English football! We ended up spending a good few hours having dinner & watching some footie! We also stumbled upon the 2002 Bali bombing memorial - hugely respected by all the locals! Apparently, a few weeks ago, Bali was similar to a ghost town because of the execution of the 2002 Bali bombers!
Being from Cape Town we are spoilt with beach weather, so unlike the
tourists here, we do not head to the beach when it is overcast - despite being very hot & humid & being less than 100m from Kuta beach, Bali's main beach! So we have ben keeping ourselves busy with other activities and spending time with some mates we made in Bali!
We went white water rafting! We were excited the night before & fortunately it was as good as we thought it would be;-) We rafted with 2 Aussies - good lads & good sports - taking their cricket hiding on their chins! On this trip we met 4 Americans who are English teachers in Salatiga, Java! The main island in Indonesia! They on school vacation and spending the week in Bali! After river rafting we bought a soccer ball & headed to the beach for a bit of a kick about on Kuta beach! Which is disgustingly polluted & not half as good as described in the Lonely Planet ;-( Being the good & kind people that our American friends are, they invited Jay & I to dinner at their place! Here we enjoyed a "home" cooked meal - salads, fruit salad, pasta & sauce ;-) Jay &
I took desert - chocolate ice cream loaf, MMMM ;-) In true Indonesian style though (apparently), & similar to back home in SA, there was power failure! Which fortuantely did not last too long! At dinner we met another 2 of their friends on holiday with them & the night proceeded with the usual exchanging stories, chilling & some card games!
Another overcast day on Tuesday saw us hire a combi/van with a driver & we headed to Ubud for the day with our American friends! Here we had lunch at Nomads - good food & good value! The sites we saw here was the Ubud Palace, Pura Taman Saraswati temple & the infamous Blanco Renaissance Museum! Blanco was an erotic artist who hails from Spain but is "worshipped" in Bali as this is where he resided! His house is also on display, & showing my eye for fine art, I managed to catch a snooze on a really huge & comfortable couch upstairs - lol ;-) Tueday evenning we met the Americans for dinner at an Indian restaurant where we met yet another 2 of their American/Java teaching "family". Hanging out with these guys & girls has been
real fun ;-) After dinner we whisteled to a kareoke bar nearby - fortunately there was a live band playing on this evenning & no kareoke! Saved;-))!! This did not stop the rock star Kristie from bravely asking if she could sing, to which the band agreed ;-) She even managed to pursuade Mari to "line dance" with her - some dance that apparently Jay & I are the only people who have never heard about it! We assured them nobody back home is fimiliar with it either ;-) The night ended with hubbly(hooka as the Americans call it) on their balcony.
So Wednesday, 31 Dec, we did not do much during the day & it was not beach weather either! We took it easy & chilled! We were included in the new years eve dinner plans with our American friends! Who had the last of their "family" members' joining them - fortnately it was 4 guys = some more testosterone ;-) All in all, we met 11 Americans, 1 German and an Indonesian all through just meeting with the orignal 4 on the river rafting trip! The work these people do, for the salaries they earn here compared
to what they can get elsewhere in luxury conditions, big respect! Impressive! I honestly take my hat off to them! & they are young which makes it more impressive - in a country that is in dire need of it! Between them they are English teachers & missionaries, & they have done nothing but extended their kind hearted nature on to Jay & I! & really added fun & fond memories to our trip!
So this leads me to our new years eve dinner & celebrations, but deserves a blog on its own ;-) To follow shortly ;-)
Take care
Zubs
Impressions thus far of Indonesia:
the good:
- there are a few venues that televise the English Premier League & all tourists at these venues speak the same language ;-)
- despite not much sunshine there is always something to do in Bali
- cheap & fast internet avaialble, +/- $1 for an hr ;-) = great for writing blogs!
the bad:
- traffic into & around Kuta, where we ar based, is horrific at all times of the day!
- accomodation prices are like 3 times as expensive over the festive period!
the ugly:
Bali: Kuta beach, the main tourist beach in Bali, is filthy & polluted (the sand & the water)! Not half as good as decsribed in Lonely Planet! They litearlly using tractors/bulldozers to clean the beach
Jakarta: huge rats lay dead in the gutters from the crap that they probably eat in the gutters!
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