Blogs from Lombok, Indonesia, Asia - page 18

With Ubud in our sights we said goodbye to our friends at Bali Agung and took our pimped out ride up the hill. We arrived at Villa Mandi to find ourselves in the middle of a rice field, with an onsite Indian restaurant made of bamboo and our very own cow next door. In the intense heat of the hills we took refuge in a games pub where we thrashed out 3 games of ping pong until the sweat dripped from our hard tanned bodies ..... (Greenep-3 Kelly-0)!! David managed to keep both of his flip flops on for another couple of motorbike rides through the mountains but I did hear a suspicious high pitched squeal coming from somewhere behind me ... maye it was the monkeys?! Our new friend iPong (later known as iPad) kidnapped ... read more

More things that begin with B Bintang, beer, bucket, beach. As I write this entry I am sipping a Bintang beer by the beach that the restaurant staff have helpfully placed in an ice bucket. Reminds me that this trip ‘is not a holiday’. Although, speaking of buckets, earlier today we were rubber gloved up and hand washing batches of laundry in a bucket; so it’s not all relaxation and pleasure. Onion boats Our bikes survived their short journey across the straits of Melacca on an ‘onion boat’ – so named because it occasionally carries onions. I suspect when it does carry onions, the onions pay a lot less for the trip than our bikes did. The onions certainly don’t have to argue as much with their shipping agent about prices at the ... read more

10.3.2012 Felt a bit groggy this morning and Sophie woke up with a sore throat. I was raining so we read and napped all morning. Sophie finished her book 'The Clockwork Angel'. Which she is massively addicted to, there is a seeries so she'l probably have her head in them for the next few weeks. We went for a walk and used the computer. It ended up being a massive skypeing seession. We spoke to Cathy, Spen and Dave and Zoe. By the time we had finished that it was tiime to go the night food market - our new favourite place. This time we had chicken cashew, spring rolls and chicken satay. 11.3.2012 We hired snorkels and fins today. We walked down the beach about 100m and waded in. The water was so clear, the ... read more

Hier ein Bild für eure gestressten und überarbeiteten Gemüter: Ihr schlagt morgens die Augen auf und hört…Wellenrauschen und das sanfte Rascheln von Blättern, gepaart mit zarten Klängen von wunderschönem Vogelgesang und dem lustigen Ruf eines Geckos. Ihr tretet hinaus auf eure Terrasse, fühlt die warme Sonne auf eurer Haut und atmet die frische, salzhaltige Luft ein. Nach einem Frühstück beschließt ihr, am weißen Strand immer der Nase nach zu laufen. Ihr spürt die rundgewaschenen Bruchstücke der Muscheln und Korallen unter euren Füßen… nach anderthalb Stunden gemütlichen spazierens kommt ihr schließlich wieder an eurem einsam im Regenwald ruhenden Bungalow an… Das ist Gili Meno. Mehr gibt es zu dieser traumhaft schönen Insel einfach nicht zu sagen. Entspannung pur…... read more

The other Kuta Beach…. I’m spending the weekend in Kuta! Not the big, famous beach in Bali, but the small quiet beach on the neighboring island of Lombok. It has rained this whole weekend, which is a bummer, but that has given me a lot of time to reminisce, to think about tourist development, and to make some comparisons. This is what I’m musing about as I walk around this small village…. I made my first trip to Bali somewhere around the year 2000. I spent the better part of the three weeks wandering through the smaller villages and less developed areas. I don’t know why, with so many famed tourist destinations, I spent my first trip to a new place on the road less traveled – but, it was the right choice. I found Bali ... read more