Blogs from Indonesia, Asia
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JAVAN MASSAGE. A massage is like a haircut...one of those things you need to do regularly...but often wait until you really need it...like when your hair is suddenly unruly...and it affects your wellbeing...muscles or hair knotted. And like a haircut...similar but different techniques...each time a new experience...result subjective. There we were at Pondok Tinggal... traditional Javanese style digs...in the village of Borobudur ...an oasis...a place for me to battle the wickedness of the World that had attacked my gut...a place to recover. Let me be clear...I'm no wimp...I'm a tough old rooster...never keep a good man down. But when its raining non-stop...no afternoon shower and fine up this day...no rush...got two more days here...might as well smell the flowers...and do as little as possible. So when Bari...the waiter...when serving iced strawberry jui... read more
Claiming rights
Vacations only go exactly as planned when you pay for an all inclusive. We experinced that first hand on our last vacation destined for Gili Tarangwan. Gili T. (as many call it) is one of 3 tourist destination islands north of the island of Lombok, neighbouring Bali. Our original schedule was as follows: take a evening train to Guangzhou, then a 1:50am plane to Singapour, wait around for 6 hours then a 3 hour flight to Bali followed by a 3 hour speed boat to Gili Tarangwan. However half way through our train ride we noticed that Helen had no passport. We had to think on our feet; the only solution we could find was if her mom took a following train to meet us in Guangzhou, otherwise Helen couldn't leave the country and our vacation ... read more
Shipwrecked in Sanur Few would argue that Bali holds available a number of experiences and opportunities to get the heart racing. The abundance of bungee jumping, parasailing or jet skiing type activities on offer are seemingly endless. I found myself recently dead in the middle of this type of experience. Only I did so without forking out hundreds of dollars for a flimsy bungee cord. I had a canoe. Kuta I have found is like looking into the mind of a teenager. It’s loud, busy, has a major shopping focus, and is full of more alcohol, partying and recreational drugs than my parents at home need to know about. After a day or two inside such a whirlwind, you can understand why I opted for the quieter, more relaxed option of Sanur. Little did I know ... read more
Matt feeding the Monkey
The flight into Bali was short and sweet as we arrived on a new continent. We paid for our visas, had our passports checked and then who knows what happened for the next 15 minutes after that....... We were asked so many times, can I carry your bag, where you going, you need a taxi, that the 15 minutes from leaving passport control now seems like a blur of fast moving objects around us. We decided that we were just going to 'wing it' when we arrived and didn't have any where booked to stay, we didn't even have a map or a guide book for help. So Matt haggled with one of the million taxi drivers to take us into Kuta, 50,000 Rupiah (Rp), £1 = 14,000Rp so around £3.50 and so off we went. ... read more
02 - Over theTop End
We had a great start to our holiday. The gods and wind were on our side today and we flew straight to Bali without having to stop for refuelling in Darwin. In the end we arrived about 2 hours earlier than expected. On arrival at Bali we cleared customs and of course, because we were so early our lift was not there. In the end we decided to get a cab to the hotel. It nearly broke the bank costing the grand sum of Rp50,000 or $5. We checked into the hotel and we got our ground floor room as requested which opens up into beautiful tropical gardens and the three pools. The gardens lead down to the pool area and then onto the beach with the boardwalk running along the beach to Kuta itself. It ... read more
Here we go again. Off to Bali for the first time on Saturday. The dates are a bit messed up, on the trip because of the UTC times but all will be well. Look out for uddates on a daily basis.... read more
rice terraces in Ubud
Today is my last day in Bali, Indonesia. I came here alone for a total of 12 days and it has been quite and relaxing. The first time on this trip that I've actually been vacationing! Ubud: January 30 - February 1 I got a transfer straight from the airport in Denpasar to Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali. Here I stayed at a lovely homestay called Ubud Dream on Monkey Forest Rd. The place is run by a very sweet family. They were busy preparing for the Galungan festival, so I didn't get a chance to really sit with them, but they were very welcoming. I spent my time here walking around (as usual) and visiting a few sites. I saw the monkey forest, which is littered with crazy monkeys that aren't afraid of people ... read more
Firstly, sorry it's taken me so long to write something! The Internet at Tasikoki hasnt been very reliable! I'll try to start at the start: I was alittle nervous about arriving into Indonesian customs carrying all of those medical supplies, but there was no problem at all and they sent me straight through. I had two people from the centre meet me. I was very glad of that because as soon as we step out of the airport terminal there was a sea of faces staring at me! My driver Antony helped me get an Indonesian sim card and credit so that I could let Tris know I arrived ok. I also sent Dad a txt which he received but didn't tell Mum about! It was about an hour and a half drive from the airport ... read more
smoking near a pregnant woman in a mall
The last few days were spent in Bogor, a city about an hour outside of Jakarta that was the first to implement a policy banning smoking in public spaces. In 3 days we had meetings with the City Health Department, walked through a local clinic (where many people had TB—good thing I get tested for it after each trip), talked with the chief of the civil police, visited an anti-tobacco NGO, and met with the local media. We were at the NGO when the media came for our meeting We just wanted to ask them a few questions about their coverage of the policy and enforcement and community reactions, but they ended up photographing and video recording us, furiously taking notes when we were the ones looking for information. The journalist from an online news source ... read more
DAWN OVER BOROBUDUR
BOROBUDUR: Universe on Earth. To reach enlightenment at Borobudur...claims to be the largest temple in the World... the largest Buddhist...the Universe on Earth...the pilgrim must cross a river...wading in waist deep water...visit a small temple...wade across a 2nd river...2nd temple...then Borobudur...the object of the quest. On entering the temple site...a ritual is to be followed. I had travelled from the land of Oz...but a few hours away...I knew I had problems...would I achieve my quest? The wading seemed out of the question..! On leaving Candi Sewu (see Previous blog), the only vendor within coo-ee, ...cold drinks...we sweating profusely...faces red as...iced tea for Den & Joe...Bintang for me...pulled from icy water under one of the piles of carved stones...I need this. This was only my second beer in Java...don't tell Cockle...but it ended up being my last. ... read more
