Blogs from Indonesia, Asia - page 505

London, New Delhi, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Darwin, Sydney, Phnom Penh, Hanoi, Kunming, Macau, Kota Kinabalu, and now Ubud - that's the list of places I've been to twice since I began my travels, though only a handful were because of actually wanting to return rather than having unavoidable admin motives. Ubud required revisiting in order to meet up with LA Woman, whose itinerary for 2008 was otherwise rarely going to be coinciding with mine. Ubud in rainy season was a rather different prospect to when we had visited last September. An oppressive heat and humidity weighed on the town, discouraging activity and permitting only sweaty forays out for lunch and dinner. Regular monsoonal downpours created cataracts down the stone stairs of the guesthouse's gardens - at least their coming brought with them a blessed breeze ... read more

Everywhere we have been in Bali we have had many opportunities to interact with the people. Even when few words were exchanged William was there with the camera and people were willing to let us photograph them. People were interested in talking with us no matter how much english they could speak and liked to practice with us. We enjoyed their interest though it was often motivated by their need to promote their service or product. It amazed me that they never had an attitude about our not speaking their language (only in France, right?). In Ubud and other populated areas in the southern third of Bali many guys (young and old) hang around the streets waiting to be hired to drive you somewhere with their bike or car. I would always smile at them and ... read more

Geo: -8.51927, 115.263So, this is not a tourist thing. I was given specific instructions on how to dress and act in order to attend a ceremony in the Village Temple in Ubud. There are ceremonies all the time, I think sort of like how Christians and Jews visit church and Synagogue weekly, though I'm not sure the Hindu ceremony's are weekly - I haven't figured out their schedule yet. In any event, I had to wear a sarong - no pants in a temple, even for the men. I needed long sleeves and a sash/belt for my waist. I did my best with what I had, my guesthouse had a sash I borrowed, but my plain white linen shirt was a poor comparison to the elaborate lace and sequined shirts that the ladies of Ubud had ... read more

Dag allemaal, Het is al lang geleden dat we nog eens een internetverbinding tegengekomen zijn, vandaar onze afwezigheid in blog-land. Onze excuses voor de verjaardagen die we zonder mailtje voorbij hebben laten gaan en de misschien spannende dagen voor onze familie, zonder nieuws van ons. Nogmaals sorry maar voor een tijdje zaten we helemaal afgesloten van de wereld. Vanuit het overtoeristische Kuta op Bali zijn we zo snel mogelijk naar de Gili Islands vertrokken. Drie idyllische eilandjes zonder gemotoriseerd verkeer, het leek wel alsof de tijd had stilgestaan. De paardenkarren die mens en goederen over de stoffige paadjes vervoeren, de ruisende zee die op elk punt te horen is, het was zalig. We hebben weer van de gelegenheid gebruik gemaakt om uitgebreid te gaan snorkelen en te duiken. Vijf duiken brachten ons naar vijf verschillende sites ... read more

Nur ein paar Bilder im Moment... read more