Blogs from Indonesia, Asia - page 8

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Asia » Indonesia March 4th 2023

Bali is in the ‘Coral Triangle’. It has some of the richest maritime ecosystems in the World and is obviously a Mecca for divers. It also has the highest concentration of spas in the world for its size, 1200+ so for me and ideal place to visit. A traditional Balinese massage is characterised by long, slightly firm strokes focused on pressure points. It is however, quite a small island and we are quite a big ship. So there is no port for us, instead we are to have our first tender experience of this voyage. (You go ashore on one of the ship’s tenders.) From our balcony on deck 11, at least twelve storeys up, the swell really doesn’t look too bad. The ship isn’t moving at all. But looking at the coast you can see ... read more

Asia » Indonesia » Sulawesi » Ampana March 1st 2023

World Cruise 6 Publishing on 1st March as we arrive in Bitung on Silowesi, Indonesia. Sunday 19th / Monday 20th February 33S. 26 degrees C 151 E Arrived Sydney 5am. Cpt wanted to dock before ferries started running. R very excited and dragged me out onto balcony to see Harbour Bridge as we approached. Impressive sight I must admit. Ship all tied up at Circular quay by 6 am. Some excursions departing 7 am doing immigration on way out. All passengers needed to leave ship before anyone could return. If not going on trip needed to collect ticket and disembark as called. . We had arranged to go to Jennifer’s hotel which we could see from our just one block up from quay. She was due in from Melbourne at about 9.30 so we were in ... read more

Asia » Indonesia » Sulawesi February 13th 2023

One benefit of living and working in the Netherlands, especially working in academia, is that you get plenty of holiday and it is perfectly normal to take four or five weeks off in one go. So that’s what we did. I’d always always always wanted to travel around Indonesia and had planned multiple trips that never took place. The first time was supposed to be during my year-long round-the-world trip when I was 22, but the Bali bomb went off while we were in Malaysia, a few days before our arrival in Bali. Therefore, the Indonesia part was skipped and we went to Australia a month sooner. Planning this most recent trip, therefore, was more a process of exclusion because I probably know the Lonely Planet Indonesia section off-by-heart and it was tough to decide what ... read more
Prambanan Temple, Java
Waiting for the boat over to Bunaken Island, Sulawesi
Tumpak Sewu Waterfall, Java

Asia » Indonesia » Lombok January 8th 2023

We spent the next week at Hotel Gengong in Candidasa, a lovely beachfront hotel. New Year's eve included a very good meal at Vincente's the local restaurant and then an amazing fireworks display, about 50 feet from our balcony, compliments of the local Silver businessman staying at the hotel. It was impressive! We enjoyed a day trip to a local bee farm that was set among a gorgeous botanical garden. They raised both Asian and Balinese bees. The Balinese bees were tiny, the size of very small ants and produced a sweet and sour honey used mainly for medicine. The Asian bees produced an excellent sweet honey. Continued on to Tanganan - a traditional village - Before the 1970s was known by anthropologists to be a secluded society in the archipelago, known for its gamelan selunding ... read more
View from our room in Candidasa
Offering at Gunung Kawi Temple
Family Temple gate on Galungan

Asia » Indonesia » Bali December 26th 2022

Wonderfully, colorful, culturally fascinating Bali. A Hindu island in a predominantly Muslim country. Their ability to stay true to their culture and religion, even with the massive amount of tourism they have endured. It is impressive! This is our 4th visit to Bali, the first introduction to SE Asia in 1989, returning for 2 months in 1995 and our last short visit in 2008. As we planned our return, we wondered how much change we would see. We reserved our accommodation at Alam Indah, where we stayed in 2008. It is south of the Central area of Ubud, and a much quieter section. A few restaurants have been added, alot more motorcycles, and cars! Traffic is horrendous. But we are told this is a school holiday and there are many people from the neighbor island of ... read more
Tamblingan temple
Taman Ayun Temple
Handera Gate - actual pic. 'Gate of heaven'

Asia » Indonesia » West Papua » Raja Ampat Islands December 22nd 2022

Here is the last blog of 2022! So allow me to wish all of you a wonderful New Year 2023! May this New Year be full of discoveries and many more trips for all of you!! But first, here is nearly my last trip of 2022. It won't be the last one as we spent Christmas in Bangkok....with a lot fo eating, friends and shopping obviously!! Right after celebrating my 49th birthday at home in Bali...here I am on my way to Sorong in West Papua. This is the boarding place to Raja Ampat...the last big diving mecca missing on my little diving world experience. It's also the start of 365 days of a lot more of crazy trips before reaching my own half century! You only live once, so better try to enjoy it while ... read more
Manta on 4 different dives...
Huge and cute nudi!!
That is a very very small pigmy seahorse...

Asia » Indonesia » Flores » Labuanbajo December 16th 2022

It has always been my dream to see komodo dragons, and also to swim up close with manta rays. Bizarrely, I got to cross off two from the bucket list on the same day while visiting the Komodo islands, never mind the fact this once in a lifetime tour also included spectacular elevated scenery of the magnificent islands, and an idyllic visit to pink beach. What a day, what an island, what an experience! Flores is just an hour or so flight time out of Denpasar airport, and travellers quickly discover they have arrived in another world. There seems to be some kind of obsession (on Flores in particular) for locals, both male and female, to want to be photographed with a foreigner. Well, I'm not young and I ain't no rockstar, but in Flores all ... read more
Komodo Islands
Komodo dragon
Lovely ocean

Asia » Indonesia » Lombok » Gilli Trawangan December 1st 2022

A fortnight in Lombok has been quite the surprise packet, after the all too familiar chaos and charm of a return visit to Bali. A long drive out to Padang Bai is required to board the fast ferry across the Lombok strait, and it can be quite a precarious trip as the strait is very deep and prone to inclement weather. Our fast boat navigated the choppy seas without drama, and within two hours arrived at Bangsal, the main port in the northwest of the island. The differences are stark on arrival, with gojek riders nowhere to be seen, nor for that matter the prodigious traffic that is the only downside of visiting Bali. I hooked up with a driver for the long trip south to Senggigi, it was a serene drive on calm and open ... read more
Beautiful view
Waterfall
Lovely waterfall

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Canggu November 15th 2022

The rich and powerful have descended with much fanfare on beautiful Bali for the G20 summit, which is being hosted by Indonesia for the year 2022. Perhaps it's just a coincidence, as your humble travel correspondent has embarked on a five week adventure to this wonderful part of the world at the same time. Mind you, the massive carbon emitting convoys I bear witness to on the streets every day as the elites shuttle from the G20 venue to their five star accommodation in Nusa Dua is something to behold, and doing wonders for local traffic conditions at the same time! I'm sure it comes about at the conclusion of another exhausting day emitting copious carbon from their lying mouths, as the elites insist on pontificating in a superior tone about what they have in store ... read more
Gorgeous Nusa Penida
Beauty of nature
Tropical fish

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Sanur October 18th 2022

Well, we left our beloved Gili Air Sunday and are back in Sanur. The night before we left was filled with live music on the beach, our favorite beer, Bintang and much care for this place we have grown to love even more. We said goodbye to some of our new friends who are hopeful we will return. It was hard to leave this place of peace and our way of being here. We will be back soon and look forward to sharing this place with others. Once back on the Island of Bali, we were quickly reminded of the sounds of traffic and business of life. I think I have finally got the traffic rules (said with a laugh) down. There are lines on the road to separate the 2 flows of traffic, similar to ... read more
Last Bintang on Gili, large and small just because
Akaya Bali hotel.
upstairs common area. very cool place to chill




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