Advertisement
Published: April 4th 2012
Edit Blog Post
Sunrise
Amed Bali - Looking over Lombok Island - Indonesia After the disappointing few days in the Legian Beach area our time in Bali only got better. Ubud was a nice getaway from the Westernization that has ruined the Kuta-Legian-Seminyak area. Although, Ubud is not immune from the Westernization - it is really a yoga/spiritual Mecca and as a result has its own growth/tourism issues that can plague the area. The local market was a nice draw in Ubud as deals could be found! As we only had about a week left in our travels we stocked up on some nice things to bring back to the States.
From Ubud we went to Amed – this is the Bali I was hoping to see! Amed is a sleepy coastline that really doesn’t have much of a city center and is just one road along a rocky shoreline. The key here is that Amed is not overrun with tourists (yet). The prices are slightly lower than Ubud and probably 1/3 what they were in Legian. We stayed at a wonderful homestay that only had two rooms – we had the room with quite possibly the best view of the entire area. The sunrises from our balcony were stunning, possibly
Sunrise
Amed Bali the best I have seen in my life. The family was so kind and their food was delicious. The coastline at Amed is a snorkeler’s paradise. You can walk out from the beach ten meters and you will be at a reef teeming with fish. In fact, we saw more species of fish on this reef than we had in any one of our dives – the fish were so vibrant they were just incredible! Add to that the warm water, cheap gear rental, and calm waters and I don’t think I have been snorkeling in a better destination. We did have a bit of a problem with jellyfish one day, but it sounds as if that was unusual.
From Amed we went to Sanur (nicknamed “Snore” in our guidebook), which is supposed to be the “European” – read less hectic – brother to Legian/Kuta/Seminyak. Sanur was much more laid back than Legian, but it was still more resort like and touristy than Amed and probably on par with Ubud. They have a wonderful brick path along the ocean that you can use for running or biking – we did both. The beaches are far nicer than
Sunrise
Amed Bali - Looking over Lombok Island - Indonesia Legian area and the prices are probably 2/3 of the price of Legian. We ended our Bali adventure in Sanur because it is close to the airport. After a few days relaxing days in Sanur we flew to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
We only had one day in Kuala Lumpur and for about half the time it rained hard which put a damper on some plans. We did make it out to the Petronas Towers. The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004 and still are the tallest twin buildings in the world. That was their original draw for us to go visit. Upon our arrival we were pleasantly surprised as the Towers were by far the most visually stunning buildings I have ever seen. After photographing the buildings we went inside and were greeted by a shopping mall, which was probably the nicest mall I have been to in my life. We didn’t shop, but just walked through and admired the building. Somehow I mentioned to get one last bout of traveler’s diarrhea in Kuala Lumpur which seems to be about par for the course because I have gone over two weeks
Sunrise
Amed Bali without being sick. The timing could not have been worse with our travels back starting in less than 24 hours.
Kuala Lumpur is the start of our journey back home, which in total will be nearly 48 hours of travel before we arrive in Minneapolis on Thursday evening. The first leg of our journey home from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong is complete and I am writing what will probably be my final blog from the Hong Kong airport. In Hong Kong we have a 14 hour layover and then a 16 hour flight to Chicago, followed by a 5 hour layover and then finally a flight from Chicago to Minneapolis. On the plus side, my Thursday will be about 40 hours long. In fact we leave Hong Kong on Thursday around noon and we arrive in Chicago at the exact same time and date.
As our half a year trip of a lifetime comes to an end I cannot help but reminisce about what our lives have been like on the road. So many things that are “normal” while traveling will no longer be “normal” back in the States. It will be interesting
to see how obvious these things are after our arrival, but for now here is a list of “normal” world travel.
Living out of a backpack with only a few different articles of clothing
Showering next to the toilet and sink (no curtain/shower stall)
Changing where you sleep every few nights
Having every meal cooked for you (and no dishes)
Being asked if you want a “Taxi” every five minutes
Hearing the words “Cheap Price” and “Good for you, Good for me”
Hearing the words “Same, Same”
Visiting chaotic markets
Being constantly stared at
Learning new words
Eating new foods, some with wonderful flavors, others not so good
Getting massages
Drinking fresh fruit smoothies for less than $1
Not understanding the language of where you live
Unpacking and repacking your backpack
Buying bottled water (although this is common in the US, the States actually have perfectly fine tap water, whereas drinking tap water in many of the countries we have been to may have brought on serious disease)
Taking Antibiotics (at least for me) – I was probably sick as much
as healthy, if not more
Taking probiotics – trying to recover from the antibiotics (again this is only me)
Being hot and sweaty
Having someone do your laundry for you or doing your laundry in the sink
Worrying about getting sick if I eat fresh vegetables
Seeing dogs all over the streets
Watching locals and tourists abuse the land by throwing garbage anywhere that suits them
Seeing Geckos
Stinking like an armpit
Seeing Motos (scooters, small motorcycles) everywhere
Carrying around spare toilet paper
Showering two to three times a day (see above about smelling like an armpit)
Sleeping with no sheets
Cold showers
Seeing temples
Unstable power supply
Bargaining for everything
Instant coffee
Vegetarian dishes coming with pork, chicken, or fish in them
Public transportation in all forms
Driving/Riding on the opposite side of the road
Seeing 7-11 and KFC everywhere
Being frustrated standing in line as the rest of the world cuts (most of the countries don’t understand the concept of a line)
Craving good beer, dark chocolate, wine, and cheese
Traveling at all times
Rocks
Amed Beach Bali of the day and night
Seeing a family of five on a Moto (or 4 pigs, or 15 boxes, really anything that you would never imagine would fit but does)
Ants everywhere
Seeing something you’ve never seen before everyday
Having no clue what day of the week it is
Not having a cell phone
Walking several kilometers each day
Calculating currency conversion
Seeing Germans
Knowing where someone is from by their accent
Being asked if we are from California when we tell locals we are from the US
Hearing “Obama” when we tell locals we are from the US
Taking pictures
People commenting on my beard
Seeing women treated as second class citizens
Hearing the call for prayer
Seeing religious offerings everywhere
Carrying a day bag
Being asked to have our picture taken
Using an electricity converter
Always having a bag of snacks
Only wearing sandals
It has been one amazing trip!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.094s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 15; qc: 77; dbt: 0.0647s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb