Asian Finale

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We are coming to an end of our time in Asia, as of May 10th we fly to Spain for our European tour. The end of our time in Thailand was a little sketchy because I got really sick, apparently with Dengue Fever. This is something I would not recommend! I spent most of our time in Phuket lying in bed, which thankfully was at a nice hotel, where we had all the amenities for about $30/night. I didn't feel too bad about this because the only thing Phuket seemed to have to offer was another nice beach and rampant sex tourism!

Our next stop was in Singapore, which was a great city/country. It was very Western there, maybe even more so then Hong Kong. Everything is clean and the people are friendly and well mannered, which could be because of the many many fines that are listed everywhere (very hefty fines for littering, spitting, drinking in public, and even jaywalking). We spent our time in Singapore using their amazing train system to head to all the regular tourist spots, the National Museum, Little India, Singapore Zoo, Clarke Quay, the malls of Orchid Road, the Singapore Flyer, and of coarse, the very unique Merlion Statue.

Our final destination in Asia is Bali, Indonesia. After a small mix-up with days and times we met up with my cousin John in Kuta, where we were picked up in a van stocked with beer for the drive up to Amed. We had an action packed couple of days doing 4 dives, including a WWII wreck USAT Liberty which was the highlight. From there it was down to Ubud, the cultural center of Bali, for some river rafting and run-ins with monkeys. On our way into the Monkey Forest in Ubud, John was nice enough to buy me a bushel of bananas, he then handed them all to me and proceeded to walk a few meters ahead of me waiting for the monkeys to swarm. I was not ready for how hungry those monkeys were! First thing I felt was one crawling up my back, grabbing the bananas right out of my hand, despite my better efforts to hold him off. I looked up to see the rest of his family heading straight in my direction, so at that point I tried to get rid of the rest of the banana's as quickly as possible before I was overwhelmed!

After a few days of many many Bintangs and all kinds of activities, it was time for John to head back to work in Jakarta, and Hawley and I headed to Kuta for some more sun and surf! We are staying in a nice hotel here again for the remainder of our stay, taking advantage of all the cheap stuff before we head to Europe and break our banks. Hopefully I can improve on my surfing while Hawley perfects her tan and gets in some last minute bargains. See you in Europe!

Joe and Hawley

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Photos

Koh Phi Phi
If only the water wasn't so damned hot!

Phuket
Complimentary arrival drinks at our nice hotel