Blogs from Indonesia, Asia - page 516

Nach etlichen Tagen des Wartens auf die nachweihnachtliche Wiedereroeffnung des indonesischen Konsulats konnte ich heute - nachdem mein 60-Tage Visum (170 RM) gestern ausgestellt worden war- endlich die Faehre nach Sumatra nehmen. Das ist zwar die klassische Variante, von etlichen Generation Traveller genutzt, aber heutzutage ist es eigentlich wesentlich sinnvoller und kaum teurer nach Medan zu fliegen. Die Fahrt im eiskalten Speedboot ist naemlich wenig romantisch und dauerte 6 Stunden (150 RM). Nachdem es noch einmal fast eine Stunde gedauert hatte bis alle Immigrationsformalitaeten geklaert waren, konnte ich mich erst gegen 15.30 Uhr auf den Weg vom Hafen Belawan nach Medan machen. Diese knapp 30 km waeren auf der wunderbar zu fahrenden Autobahn ganz gemuetlich gewesen, leider machte mich ein hoeflicher Polizist, nachdem ich schon ca. 4 km gefahren war, darauf aufmerksam, dass die Str... read more

Turen fra oen Samosir var en af de frygteligeste oplevelser for os begge! Vi havde bestemt os for at blive paa Sumatra (Indonesien) i yderligere nogle dage for at se hvad mere denne spaendende oe havde at byde paa. Derfor ville vi begive os til vestkysten hvor der angiveligt ville vaere nogle flotte og dejlige sandstrande. Vi ville foerst stoppe i Bukitingi hvor vi havde laest at der ville vaere en lokalbefolkning med faerdigheder indenfor soelv og guld smykker!!! :D (fra Marie-Louise). Efter en dag eller to ville vi saa tage til Padang for at ligge paa stranden og tage nogle snorkelturer ud til koralrev. Naah, turen startede som sagt ikke saa godt. Vi havde bestilt billetter til en 15 timers lang bustur, som vi opdager er fyldt af technolarm (nogle ville muligvis sige musik - ... read more

COMMON BIRDS ARE RARE IN THE FAR EAST -- Chhanda Bewtra One of the joys of birding in a new country is to ‘discover’ the common ‘new’ birds (so-called ‘trash birds’) easily seen all around. I have always enjoyed seeing them in my trips to India, Africa and Australia. And I was expecting a similar bonanza in Indonesia during my recent trip there. But I was sadly disappointed. Indonesia is a huge country of 18,000+ islands and zillion miles of shoreline spread along the equator. It has the rainforest second only to the Amazons and the country straddles the famous Wallace Line dividing Asian flora and fauna from that of Australia. My trip was not a strictly birding trip. We were mostly busy in scientific meeting, sight seeing, eating, beachcombing and shopping. Still, I carried ... read more

Merry Christmas from Bali!!! Our flight arrived late at night on the 18th into Denpasar airport - where we were met in arrivals by a guy with our names on a board! How exciting! Bruce (Sel's uncle) had very kindly arranged for someone to pick us up and take us to the hotel (Sri Rathi) in Ubud. Such a contrast to our Singapore hostel where there were 20 other beds in the room! Beautiful garden, pool and good breakfast! It was great to meet up with Bruce again and to meet little Joey and Nita! We spent a few days in Ubud wandering around the numerous little shops selling arts and crafts - a lot of hand carved wood and stone etc. And we had some amazing food for ridiculously cheap prices! In a restaurant called ... read more

We decided to do a combined blog for the whole of Bali as we didn't do much there and didn't take many pics (all of them are of Ubud!) as we wanted a nice place to relax for Christmas and New Year. Lovina We waited in Probolinggo for 2 hours before the air con tourist bus turned up to take us to Bali during this time Neil kept himself amused by teaching a 16 year old boy some funny and rude English phrases and slang. In response the boy wrote everything down very carefully in his little notebook and promised to practice! The bus was not a great one, again the air con stopped working and even though it was a full-size bus (as opposed to a mini bus) it was very cramped for us foreigners ... read more