http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/wheres-kevin/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from wheres kevin en-us Sat, 26 Dec 2009 23:35:28 +0000 Sat, 26 Dec 2009 23:35:28 +0000 Have you ever ridden a motorbike in a foreign land densely populated completely and utterly unlike your native country Have you ever taken yourself to where the obscure organized tours only sometimes lead and beyond Have you ever narrowly escaped death only to be stopped by the police without a valid license asked to pay a small fine and sent on your way Have you done all this on the last da http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Borobudur/blog-415158.html a quick note about the photos they do not follow chronologically with the story. The story below recounts events and travels from April til June. If you scroll down to the last part titled 'Weekends with Irwan' places depicted in photographs are in bold print. All travel accounts and photos were taken in East Java Lawang Tretes Trawas Malang Tuban Gresik Jember and Kalibaru.PrologueIt is http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Malang/blog-398191.html The best day of our life will probably pass us by without us realizing.Was it the morning after I lost my virginity and tasted appreciatively the sour memorable lick of pink grapefruit when for the first time I listened to Etta Jamesrsquo At Last and felt the words were mine Did it come about on holiday in a small fishing village on Cretersquos south coast posing with my sister and my best http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gili-Air/blog-389219.html Flatmates FleeI returned to a quiet house. The lights off the rain eased released its muffling embrace relaxed its hypnotic drum a bass beat upon the roof slowed to an ebb of tap tap tap falling from the leaves and eaves. A jet plane had vanished early Sunday morning into the cloud cover taking with it two EF teachers my flat mates Mick and Kelly. They've made a runner Don passes me a n http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Surabaya/blog-351702.html A not so fair trade coffee a not so famous scientist less than perfect weatherSeveral major domestic airlines connect the archipeligo including Garuda Batavia Mandala Merpati Adam and Lion. You might recognize these names from news headlines. A disproportionate number of fatal air accidents occur in Indonesia. Planes slide off the end of rainsoaked runways or collide into the side of volc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gili-Air/blog-366283.html At 4am a bluebird pulls up to the gate. For the next half hour en route to Juanda as the meter ticks away Teghan recounts the previous late night out when shersquod met with a few friends at the Lido to wish our collegue Dave farewell. She didnrsquot drink too much and left around midnight. She noticed a motorbike pull into the barrsquos car park only to turn around and exit just after her http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/Gunung-Agung/blog-363001.html GWM looking for the right guy in the wrong townFew of the young men resemble their profile pics. In a crowded mall the far side of the city our protagonist meets with one such man. Hersquos a good two feet shorter than expected and still dressed in his drab brown work uniform. ldquoSales Executiverdquo refers to his new job selling light fixtures at a householdware department store. He earns http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Surabaya/blog-324117.html I could have filled a suitcase with all what I failed to pack a sweater toothpaste toothbrush shampoo razor and lotion a swimsuit sunscreen translation dictionary and travel diary whose pages I could fill with all the sidetrips I forfeited either for lack of time or money to hot springs buffet dinners boat dives guided day trips to distant hilltop villages where old women weave ikat a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Flores/Bajawa/blog-341459.html Motorbike Train Bus Ferry Bus Motorbike Plane Plane Motorbike Bemo Foot SighIt proved impossible even months in advance to secure a flight to Bali the first weekend of the long awaited Lebaran holidays. At ten in the evening less than an hour after finishing work I arrived at Setasiun Gubeng crowds milling dark and rusting locomotives screeching to a halt unloading dazed http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Flores/Maumere/blog-335771.html Heroes Tragic and ComicThis could be Rotterdam or anywhere chilling in a shopping mall coffee shop half the temperature that bathes the city outside its sliding glass doors guarded by a pair of goons in blue and white pressed uniforms until you take a closer look. The products and prices are western made in China Korea Japan western as itrsquos come to be known lipsticks yoga mats silk http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Java/Surabaya/blog-317452.html Saya Mau Sewa SepedaReports arrive of a washed out bridge along the TransSumatran forcing a circuitous detour connecting Lake Toba to regions south. Kay who speaks for her partner on all matters cringes at the though of a twentyfour hour busride. The Scotsman explains that he made the journey from Bukittingi in six hours first by road to Padang thence flying Air Asia to Medan where he caught http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Bukittinggi/blog-304609.html Medan English Lesson with a Happy EndingItrsquos a day faster and with Air Asia itrsquos actually cheaper to fly KL to Medan Indonesia's third largest city a quick hop across the Straights of Malaka but I need to reach it by sea want to relive bygone days of explorers and spice traders. The ship however is oblivious to any romantic notions a low aluminium hull tosses its cargo from port http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Sumatra/Medan/blog-286664.html Kuala LumpurThe closest I've ventured yet toward the equator. Magenta paints a wispy horizon of the broadest sunset I've ever seen as the plane skims over the orderly regiments of palm tree plantations. I lug a thirty kilo suitcase along the curbs of Chinatown to a relatively quiet and windowless guesthouse the far end of Central Market. My shirt smells of sweaty cheese. Asians find westerners sme http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-274909.html The same day stretches six weeks long waking sleeping itrsquos the same denying routine denying necessity progress change accepting sunlight escaping cold watching an apartment blockrsquos shadow creep up the block like a giant sundial tracking the dayrsquos journey. Ants pass aboard buses crowded into minivans on three wheeled bicycles laden with boxes. Measuring time with qu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-261097.html New Year's Unmet ResolutionsIt's not as I'd expected. The apartment is not yet finished the electricity unwired hot water tank and kitchen appliances missing. I remain with Joan in his old flat the rent contract now under Sergio's name. Joan has run into money problems. He paid the contractor the full cost for the kitchen appliances but the contractor put half that towards his employees' wages http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-249576.html There are rules in Kunming as in all towns in all societies but the young expats a tribe of drifters don't much adhere to them. One guy I forget his name remains behind bars caught with a large possession of drugs a few months ago. A girlfriend paid him a visit. I forget her name too. She invited Joan but he declined. Like most in Kunming he had distanced himself from the pusher told me in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-243074.html Two weeks to cross south China aboard a sleeper train from Kunming to Guilin an expected two hours later than listed in the time table. A bus parked in front of the station departs for Yangshuo an hour's drive down a highway resembling a long parking lot. I'm greeted by a pushy hostel staff member who quickly arranges my onward bus ticket to Shenzhen before booking me into an empty discount dor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-244709.html Uuuuh Joan moans as we enter the PSB office on Beijing Lu this guy's a prick he informs me under his breath. Within half a minute I've gathered as much. Standing across from him seperated by a desk the officer speaks as though to an assembly. I respond in a likewise trumpeted voice I plan to travel around Yunnan Guizhou and Guangzhou. He seems satisfied. I fill out the form and hand ove http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Ruili/blog-245862.html In Tibet's ShadowBefore six the following morning in a cold darkness after the moon sets and the sun rises four Brits a Czech and I stand at the depot awaiting a bus that does not come. Shortly past nine we pile into a minivan for the joureny south into Yunnan. We've been warned of a four hour section along an unmettled road and keep an anxious eye out. We climb into the mountains headed west fr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Zhongdian/blog-241658.html SichuanTibet Highland Highway Kangding Litang XianchengSaturday October 20th I am thirty today a long day beginning at Xinnanmen boarding the coach for Kangding gateway to Tibet 2560m above sea level six grey hours drive west of Chengdu. The passengers are dressed in head to toe gortex and equipped with fancy cameras. I burry into a copy of Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad from which I le http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Litang/blog-236107.html