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Heyo! We’ll try to make this short and sweet!
After Koh Phangan, we did a painful border run into Burma to renew our visas which included a monsoon boat ride in a small motorized canoe—fun times! Thereafter, we decided we would take a small hiatus from each other—not because we were in a fight or because we were sick of each other---but because we thought it would be nice to have some time to ourselves and maybe do some things that we couldn’t being around each other. So, Izabela went to Krabi and Kris went to Phuket. We cried, and hugged as we saw each other off on different local buses. 2 days later we were enjoying a fruit smoothie TOGETHER in Krabi!. Yup, we suck. Apparently we need each other. It was rainy, depressing and the worst idea we could of come up with at that time in our trip.
RAIN RAIN and more RAIN led us to sit our asses down in front of the computer and buy some tickets to Bali, via Kuala Lumpur (stopping over for a couple of days). So the next morning we minibused it over to the airport to catch our
hiatus
Izabela's view of sad Kris as he sits and waits for his bus to Phuket while Izabela departs to Krabi. first ever, but not last Air Asia flight. It was surprisingly comfortable for how much you actually paid.
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur without knowing what to expect and finding ourselves back in a town very similar to Mumbai (in our eyes). We even met a family from Mumbai who were just coming back from a vacation in Bali. We had great conversation over our travels and perhaps one day we’ll meet again in Mumbai. We had some good food, Kris got a haircut for $6 at a Japanese inspired fast food version of a hair salon, and Bella got eaten up alive by stupid bedbugs. Kris, oh yeah, Kris miraculously was left unscathed while the whole right side of Izabela was welted. In all, we disliked the city, and would probably never go back again. We found it to be dirty, and over-obsessed with candy and chicken.
Off to Bali (which is in Indonesia for those not geographically sound)!!
Another Air Asia flight got us there in a couple hours, and thankfully away from the bedbugs (NEVER stay at The Village). We checked into a recommended LA Inn on Poppies I in Kuta, however after two
Mumbai in KL
Neil and his very friendly family from Mumbai and Goa. stinky nights (from the drains), we moved across the street to AP Inn, it’s partner. Equipped with a swimming pool, friendly staff, and a super chilled out atmosphere we stayed there for 10 days while Kris learned how to be a surfer dude. We probably wouldn’t have stayed that long, but Kris was struck with sunstroke on the 2nd day and thus he was a little under the weather. We met some really cool locals at Dunkin Donuts and on the beach where Izabela would sit and watch as Kris learned the tricks of his new passion. We went clubbing to a place called Bounty, which is unreal to say the least. Kris played some drums with the local bongo drum band and also did a little dance for all to see. Good time, cheap drinks, and with every level of the place offering a new vibe, it was hard to leave.
Some Vancouverites told us about a skateboard competition happening just outside Kuta called "Base". So, with nothing else to do we went to go check it out. The skatepark was amazing, and for all those who love the sport, they would have been impressed. The skaters weren't
BASE
The skatepark in Kuta. that good, but hey we're in Bali right!?
We also had a day at WATERBOM, which is what a water park should be like. Ironically, the slides were made by a company based in Richmond BC! It was just the two of us, and we had a blast, maybe because we both hadn’t been to one in ages. The best one was probably the “boomerang” where we sat in a joint tube, and got shot thru a tunnel and into a massive half-pipe sending us flying into the air as we swished over a bump.
We also had dinner with Mali from Bali, one of Kris’ mom’s friends, and her son Jade. It was a great restaurant and really nice to see some friends of family. We found out that Kris knows them thru more than just his mom.
Other than that, Kris surfed, Bella chilled and sun-tanned, we ate cheap food and then decided it was time to move on and see the well praised Gilli Islands. It would have been a great journey if it didn’t take 13 hours and multiple stops at cafes where a dozen locals tried to sell you something (ie: you
have to buy mosquito repelent and coils because 2 people just got taken off the island for dengue fever......sounds scary, but we knew better that they were all just LYING! How sad is that!? Some people fell for it and gave them money for coils and others knew the scam like us.) But, as soon as we got to the islands via boat we realized why so many people told us to come. The islands are picturesque and Trawangan quickly became our home for a week. Quiet, and extremely chilled out, this place allows no cars or dogs, and had the best snorkeling and diving. Diving was probably the highlight for Kris as he saw a 2m white-tip reef shark, turtle, cuttlefish, pufferfish, lobster, some Nemos, and lots more with the most beautiful coral he had ever seen. Bella unfortunately had a little ear problem on the first dive that wasn’t as colorful or alive as Kris’ 2nd dive, but we did see a majestic silver sea snake weaking around us.
The snorkeling was amazing because the water was unbelievably clear and the life underwater was magically dancing in front of our eyes. We took a glass bottom boat
Kris won the race!
...and Bella checks to see if her top is still doing its job. around the 3 islands, stopping 4 times to see 6 turtles, a Japanese shipwreck, boxfish, and plenty of other colorful fishes.
We also met an English couple from London, who just recently got engaged and are moving to Australia to try out a new life together. We instantly bonded and became good friends as we stayed two doors down from each other at Big Bubble, having breakfast, lunch, pool time, beach time and dinner together almsot every day. We all loved the island, epsecially the fact that there were NO MOSQUITOS!
Unfortunately, it got boring on the island with so little to do, and now were back in Kuta trying to figure out how to spend the last 5 days of our trip in cheap land before we venture off to the land down under.
We hope you enjoy the pics, and we’ll post another blog in a few weeks. July 7th is creeping up on us, but we’re having a ton of fun, and a month still seems far away to us. Hope all is well back home and around the world, take care,
Izabela and Kris
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maria
non-member comment
amazing
hello my lovelies!!! bella it's mariaaaa!! sweet jeeeebuss your trip looks unreal. it makes my heart happy to see that you are out enjoying the world. i'm still up in whistler and can't wait to see you guys when you get back. enjoy the crap out of your time left out there in the big blue yonder. take care my little adventurers. mia maria