Blogs from Indonesia, Asia - page 507

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud February 19th 2008

Geo: -8.51927, 115.263It's only noon so I really don't have much to report on doing yet, but I'm actively trying to slow down and not gage the success of my day by how many activities I put into it. I've been reading in my Vagabonding book about the new trend of 'slow travel', instead of hitting the town each day with a list of sights, it's about living in the town/village and being with the people who live there; Experiencing the culture and really letting it affect you, rather than hitting the hot photo ops. I'm trying to get the hang of it, but I confess I still did make a little list of things I wanted to do when here at the Internet cafe today. It's a process, right? LOLI met a really great lady ... read more

Gamelan Dancers 2 at the Commnuity Center in Ubud

Arrived in Ubud, on the island of Bali!

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud February 18th 2008

Bali Airport

SuzetteSP

Geo: -8.51927, 115.263Well I've arrived here safe and sound in Bali! My flight was delayed an hour leaving Jakarta, and I made a little video while I was waiting there to show y'all how gorgeous the airport is there. (I still haven't uploaded any pics or vids yet, I know, so I'll really try to upload some tomorrow. I just don't want to spend more than a few minutes at a computer!)My flight landed in the town of Denpasar and then it was a hour taxi ride up to Ubud up in the hills (away from the volcano Mom, but it isn't really active anyway). Ubud is SO quaint, it reminds me a little of Woodstock in upstate NY only the southeast Asian version. =) It's got a zillion little art studios all along the little ... read more

Oh, there is a 1 hour time change?

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud February 18th 2008

Lotus Flower, Lotus Temple, Ubud, Bali

SuzetteSP

Geo: -8.51927, 115.263I only flew from one island to another (Java to Bali) yesterday, it was a 90min flight - and I crossed a time zone? Who knew, I guess that is one of the little things you miss when the announcements aren't made in English. Well, no worries, I don't have a meeting to get to or anything. I guess I'll just each lunch when I'm hungry...LOLOK, every wall of every building I've been in here in Ubud has a gecko on it, a real live gecko. I think of it now, because there are two scurrying about on the wall in front of me in this internet cafe / artists studio. Gotta love it, I said good night to the little one that was on my wall last night in my hotel. Good thing ... read more

red neck representing

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud February 17th 2008

fire dance

anx

Yea, so I went for a walk yesterday. The road went in a circle, which i assumed went around the whole village, but just took me in a different village entirly. As i walked through the dirt road near the rice paddies i started to realize im not in the right part of town. Instead of turning back, i thought maybe if i kept going in this direction i would end up back 'home'. Well i was right, but 3 hours later in the 35 degree heat, i was wishing i did turn back. I finally get back to Ubud, where locals kept asking me 'transport?' 'transport?', i declined each time...i've made it this far, i am sure i can make it all the way. Finally after 4 hours, and nearly fainting a few times, i ... read more

pics, first batch

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud February 16th 2008

my guesthouse

anx

Here are some pics guys.... read more

Bali

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Kuta February 16th 2008

Me (Ubud, Bali)

megsimone

Dalton and I left Houston with bellies full of buffalo burgers on Sunday, Feb 10, 2008. Flying through Phoenix, we arrived without incident at LAX, where I ran into a friend from Brazil, Guilherme. I couldn't believe he recognized me from across the airport after 7 years. Guilherme was on his way to Australia and we promised to catch up via email. We arrived in Taipei to bad news and not even the free custard steam buns could lift my spirits. While we were flying, the President of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, had been shot and was in critical condition. As I was to fly to Timor on Friday, this posed a bit of a problem. But we soldiered on, and were upgraded to Business Class on our Taipei-Bali flight. Dalton took to it and declared ... read more

Last day in Jakarta, Heading off to Bali tomorrow

Asia » Indonesia » Java » Jakarta February 16th 2008

Fruit Cart, Jakarta, Indonesia

SuzetteSP

Geo: -6.18619, 106.806I'm nearly over my jet lag, but not quite. I'm still getting up at 6am and trying to stay awake past 8:30pm, I'm doing a little better every day. Indonesia is exactly 12 hours ahead of Boston/New York. So it's 11:15 AM on Sat the 16th here, and it's 11:15 PM on Friday the 15th there. Not an easy time change to get over. Maybe it was the Airborne's I took every few hours on the flights, but knock on wood, I've not gotten a cold from the traveling/time change/climate. This place it definitely tropical, it rains everyday, but only for 15minutes. I was out yesterday when one the downpours happened and it was like God opened up a floodgate, you can't believe how much water fell and how quickly it all happened. Everyone ... read more

monkey lovin.

Asia » Indonesia » Bali » Ubud February 15th 2008

anx

Ok, so my jet lag is completly gone...well mostly i guess. i am not waking up at 5 or 6 am anymore, and can make it to a reasonable hour. Everything here in Bali, is pretty cheap. I am a millionaire!! Seriously....1 million rupiah is like 150 bucks. I love going to the bank machine to take out a million rp. A meal is roughly 50000, so like, 5 bucks. a big giant beer is 18000, so almost 2 bucks...i found a nice guesthouse overlooking some rice paddies (and a pool to which i do not have access too) for 60,000. Its 9200 to the canadian dollar, so you can get the idea. So, i am on kind of a tight budget. I need to make my money stretch the entire 3 months, and one thing ... read more

Flores Island, the flower of indonesia by Reni Susanti

Asia » Indonesia » Flores February 15th 2008

rooster in action

beereni

I just came back from Flores, and it was one of the best place on earth where you can see lake, mountain and sea scenery from one stand point (if you understand what i mean:)). I started from Labuan Bajo, then Seraya island (about 30 min-1 hour boat ride) from Labuan Bajo, then moved to Bajawa via Ruteng, found a megalithic village in Bena with its hotspring nearby... nice people... then heading thru Ende, Moni to see Kilimutu Lake (the gourgeous three color lake up in the mountain), and finally Maumere flying back to Bali. You can reach Flores by flight from Denpasar Bali, starting from east coast Labuan Bajo to the west coast, or viceversa. It's possible to do the overland tour in 7 days, better more days so that you can explore more and ... read more

back to where I started

Asia » Indonesia » Java February 15th 2008

mevoila

I made it out of East Timor just before the attempted coup. But I didn't make it out with what I went for...a 60 day visa. I only mangaged to get 30 days, not enough to make continuing a mountain bike/surf trip practical. So to make a long story short I returned to Empang via Sumba to recover my surfboard and then bussed and ferried back to Java. I've stopped in Solo, Central Java for a few days to rest and soak up some Javanese culture. I chose Solo because it is one of the major batik producers, which I wanted to check out, but mainly because it's not really a tourist destination so the "Hello, Misters", "Becak, becak" which can become overwhelming in most other cities are pleasantly absent here. I walk down the ... read more

Brief history of Indonesia

The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent negotiations, recurring hos...more history

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