Well we made it out of Borneo and to Singapore and then onto beautiful Bali which is the highlight for us so far. (Pics will follow - the connection we have isn't fast enough to load them up)
Singapore was another surprise - intensely modern, really a western city and if the future is a completely consumer society then this is that future. The taxi driver that took us from Kota Johor airport in Malaysia (cheaper to use than Singapore’s Changi Airport) told us that if you don’t have money in Singapore no one will speak to you. Whilst a bit blunt it is pretty true. Yet Singapore is super clean, organised, works very well, is expensive but compared to Asia is streets ahead. The museums there are great as well particularly the Museum of South East Asia Civilisations which we spent most of a day in. (However we refused to pay £3.50 for a small bottle of water). There is a large expat community and therefore you can get every type of food and WINE! All in all a great place to visit and experience as much to see yet another way that a society organises itself based on setting an attitude and carrying it through with real drive and determination. For example it was decided to clean up the river after a century plus of it being used as a depository for every thing imaginable - it is now so clean that it is being used as a reservoir to store Singapore’s water. If something is in the way it is knocked down - and they have transformed their society and environment as a result. It is the one place we have seen so far with every restaurant full (and there are thousands of restaurants) plus the hotels were very busy. Talking to a taxi driver on our way out gave another side to the story - you have to buy a flat (around £200000) and the government arranges the loan, school has to be paid for, people work 12+ hours a day, the cost of living is rising quickly (rice price again as well as other foodstuffs) and generally people find it tough. There was a queue of over 200 taxis waiting for a customer at the airport and he was pretty fed up.
Yet it has a vigour and vim that catches you and what a great place to carve out a career if you are young.
However being old wrinklies we moved on yet again not really knowing what to expect of Bali - everyone says what a wonderful place it is and how great the people are and there is always a concern that with such a reputation we may be disappointed.
We arrived on the late flight from Singapore after midnight and got to the hotel at about 2 am - Ian woke early and wandered down to the beach at 6.30am and it was full of Balinese (Sunday morning) enjoying themselves - he arranged a surfing lesson and at 10.30am was in the water - brill. He booked another lesson for the next day but lo and behold he couldn’t move his arms or legs so we hired a car to travel around the island. Got a good deal at £8 a day inc insurance (petrol is 25p a litre - read and weep) and we proceeded to explore.
Bali is difficult to write about because everything you have read or heard about Bali is true - it is stunningly beautiful - the people have a great sense of humour - and the weather is delightful not humid. The accommodation is good (we stayed in a bungalow with four poster bed, huge partly outdoor bathroom which had a garden in it, outside terrace with massive day bed and chairs, breakfast (including banana pancakes) for £10 a night - and the sea was so close I could throw a stone and hit it and finally there was great snorkelling 5 yards out from the beach.(After staying at this place in Amed we thought long and hard as to what else you would need to beat it but gave up) In the evening there are little bars on the headlands you can watch awesome red and aquamarine sunsets with grey mists coming down from the volcanoes at the centre of the island like Chinese dragons. The paddy fields are emerald green and you can positively feel the rice growing and on the beach there are massive waves pounding in and you can see white horses as the surf booms up.
The quality and range of food is top notch and yet it is cheap - we can’t spend more than £7 on dinner for us both a night. It is a long way but if you ever get a chance to go to Bali take it - it is special and we have seen some pretty amazing places so far to compare it with.
So how have we been spending our time? We hired a car and drive around most of the island for 5 days - and saw temples, volcanoes, paddy fields, beaches, wonderful woodwork including complete wooden houses for sale, lakes, and more temples.
We also bought our own snorkelling kit - the first real expenditure we have made in the 6 months we have been away so far - £35 in total for us both - and we got our moneys worth the first time we used it in Amed. Being able to roll out of bed into the sea and see the fishes in the coral was another memorable experience - interestingly first thing in the morning there were some fish as big as terrier dogs using their lips to pull away pieces of coral/rock to get at whatever they wanted on the sea bed. They looked tough cookies and we gave them a wide berth.
(Short digression - it is 7am on Saturday morning as I am writing this outside on our veranda and the gardener is picking the frangipani blossom for the daily offering placed outside the renovated losman we are staying in. There is a spirituality here which is evident everywhere you look and is part of the attraction of Bali)
Back to what we have been doing - Carol has been body boarding - i.e. a 3 foot board that you lay on and can ride the surf in - she looks very much the beach surfer chick babe!!! Ian has been surfing - longest time up 9 seconds, however has fallen off millions of times and is amazed that there is and sea left as he thought he had swallowed it all. He looks like a wrinkly trying to be cool!
Quick mention on the food highligts front - black rice pudding with coconut milk - it is a slightly different rice and seems to be cooked with brown sugar or molasss or treacle so it is thick - then pour on the coconut mik so it has awhite top - this pudding is delicious and is now in Ians top 3 pudongs of all time -YUM.
So life for us is reduced to food, beach, surf, sleep - but tomorrow we move on again when we catch bus and boat to go to some very small islands of less than a square kilometre off Lombock - the Gilli Islands. We have just booked an hotel and they told us to get a donkey cart from the pier to the hotel!!!????
Hope all is well with you - will report to you soon - traffic and donkey carts permitting
Ian and Carol
Indonesia's Flag
Map of Indonesia