Results from the quiz:
1. Bukit Lawang tho we did not make it there becasue of time and budget contraints.
Our "anonymous" poster was the only one who got this correct- but they have stumped us on thier identity!!
2. Caitlin gets extrememly frustrated with the complete chaos that is Southeast Asian transportation
I think everyone got this one right!
3. The country described was Cambodia. We loved everything about this country- the abundance of babies and USD, drinks named after Angelina Jolie, the Rock and Roll tuk-tuk and lots of ancient temples!
Winners: Mama Curry, Anonymous
4. Kate is always concerned with what time it is- unfortunately her $9 Cambodian watch is not too dependable!!
Everyone got this one right too!
5. This picture was taken at Angkor Thom in Cambodia- note the cheap rip-off shades!!
Winners: Lee Ann, Mama Miz
Double Gift Bonus Question-
You people read into this one too much- or maybe we worded it wrong. We simply wanted to ask how many different hotel rooms/beds we had slept in.
As we sit here in our last hotel room we can count 33 different rooms we have stayed in. 33 rooms in 70 days!!!
Adrianna comes the closest on this one!!
Thanks for playing and sorry it took us to long to post answers- wifi doesnt come easy over here!!!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Some more pics from Indonesia
We like to think of ourselves as young Annie Leibovitzs...however computer techies we are not, sorry about the odd placements but here are pictures from Indonesia.
The picture above is the room service bell at our hotel in Amed. The one below is our view. It was lovely...there were lots of bugs.
above and below-shots around Gili Air
Above is the Gili's and
the HUGE lizard we saw.
Then we have momma and baby monkeys in the Scared Monkey Forest in Ubud.
Far right are some kids playing on Gili Air.
Below is Caitlin's amazing shot of a butterfly in Ubud. And a monkey in Ubud-look at those hands!
A temple and volcano on Bali. It was a white out in fog when we got to the volcano spot and slowly a volcano and lake emerged..so cool!
the HUGE lizard we saw.
Then we have momma and baby monkeys in the Scared Monkey Forest in Ubud.
Far right are some kids playing on Gili Air.
Below is Caitlin's amazing shot of a butterfly in Ubud. And a monkey in Ubud-look at those hands!
A temple and volcano on Bali. It was a white out in fog when we got to the volcano spot and slowly a volcano and lake emerged..so cool!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Adventures in Indonesia: Shopping, Shells, and Ants
Bali
UBUD
Oh my followers it has been awhile. We are in the final stages of our trip…just eight days and a wake-up left (which is both a very sad and exciting thing to think about) We are currently back in Bali after a short trip to the Gili Islands. We last updated from our hotel room in Ubud and I know we promised you a crib video from our really cool hotel suite but we have not had a stable internet connection since then. We have found a little portion of the world that does not have wifi, internet, or ATMs readily available…crazy!
We must break the news to you all that we will not be seeing any Tangs on this trip. Our blog title is a lie and we are sorry (however we have seen enough darn mosquitoes to make up for the lack of tangs). However it is very hard and expensive to get to the few areas in Indonesia where there are wild orangutans and once you get to these spots you aren’t even guaranteed a sighting. With our budget and time constraints we decided it would be more responsible to stay on Bali and to visit the Philadelphia Zoo and their orangutans when we get home. (a moment of silence for the gorilla ghosts- Adrianna you know what we mean) We are very saddened that our dreams of tangs went down the drain just like our dreams of Laos.
Ok back to Bali..
Bali is Hindu which is different from the rest of Indonesia which is mostly Muslim. It is very green and lush with terraced rice plantations everywhere. So pretty. The area around Ubud and our hotels had Hindu statues everywhere. It is very interesting and different from anything we have seen so far.
In Ubud we stayed at a fabulous hotel in our own little private villa with walls around it. We had our own swimming pool and a tub the size of the titanic so we think of it as two pools…plus the public pool at the center of the resort. There was a huge bed and an outdoor shower and it was wonderful and quite fancy…however it is the wet season here and rooms are reduced so it was a deal. The whole villa experience was like a little piece of heaven that you forgot where you were..until you looked at the bottom of the pool and there was a random cartoon tile mosaic of a penguin. It was so random that you knew you had to be in Asia still. We got to the room at midnight after our flight and were greeted by staff with welcome drinks in hand. Then we were put into a golf carts with all our luggage and carted down the our villa…we were still expecting a standard bungalow or hotel room type of deal…even though the website said private pools we assumed it mean our room opened up onto the pool…a private entrance. (Wouldn’t you think the same thing??) SOOO then we pulled up to our own gate and our bellboy opened it and there was a house! And a private pool! It was a beautiful villa with floor to ceiling windows set in a big garden with so many flowers and butterflies and a fountain. We were in shocked…such a state of shock that we miss calculated our conversions and tipped the poor soul stuck with answering all our questions and driving us around in the middle of the night only about 40 cents! Opps! (No worries…we tracked him down later and fixed our mistake)
We immediately took a swim and just walked around our villa in shock that we were there. The next morning it still hadn’t set in but our breakfast arrived and was set up on our patio so we figured we weren’t going to get kicked out or anything. We spent that day in our pool and lounging around our villa…cause that is what you do when you have a villa. Duh. And we decided to take the 5pm shuttle into the central Ubud area for some dinner and shopping at the markets we read about there. Our old friend the market…we hadn’t seen a good one since Chiang Mai and had high hopes for Ubud. So we used a watch and arrived at the shuttle pick up point at the correct time and got onto it and our watch showed that the drive was exactly 25 minutes like we were told. We got into the town and got to the market just as they were closing up shop and got a few good luck, last sale of the night prices and then headed for some drinks and a walk through town. We were great on time so we found a movie store and bought 11 blackmarket dvds for $15. Still with plenty of time left we got some drinks and ate an appetizer. The watch was saying it was about 8:02Pm and since we had an hour before our return shuttle we walked back past the shuttle pick-up point and got some dinner. We then got to the pickup point about 15 minutes early. Nothing was there but then again nothing is on time in these parts of the world so we didn’t think anything of it until about 9:05 when still the other people on the shuttle were not there and the shuttle itself was not there nor were there any other hotel shuttles. Strange.
We stuck up a conversation with a taxi driver and mentioned how we were waiting for our shuttle at 9pm but it was a little late. And we asked him what time he had on his phone and he told us 9:40pm. We didn’t believe him because our watch said it was just after 9. Caitlin walked up to a tourist couple crossing the street and asked what time it was..it was 940PM. We were sooo confused and it felt like some sort of twilight zone/scary movie scene/kidnapped abroad situation. Another taxi diver asked us oh you are staying at Furama right? We were even more freaked out that this man knew what hotel we were at especially because the hotel is 30 minutes from town. The watch was ticking right and keeping time but somehow we entered into some sort of time space continuum and lost 45 minutes of our life and 10USD on the taxi ride we now had to pay for. Still freaked out as to what happened we got into the taxi and headed back to our hotel.
In the Taxi, our driver took a different way than we took to get to town. It was getting super scary and our driver just kept talking and talking…just as we were planning our escape from this kidnapper we pulled onto a road we recognized. We escaped the Bali Mafia kidnapping we were picturing and were returned to our villa. Soo strange. We STILL cannot imagine what happened to the watch…it is once again working but we can never trust it again.
The next morning we headed back into Ubud for some prime shopping in the market…and boy did we shop our little hearts out. Our luggage is full and heavy and we don’t like to move it. When you shop early in the day the shop keepers all want your sale because the first sale of the day brings good luck. When you hand them the money they kinda smack you with it and then touch it on all their wares before putting it away. In Cambodia it was all about getting good karma with a sale…Indonesia is all about the luck. Shop keepers make flower water and it is good luck to flick some on all the stuff at their stand…Caitlin even got some on her. Between that and the good luck sales…we got it covered.
Next up we took a taxi (it was only a short but hot hot walk so we oped for the taxi) to the Scared Monkey Forrest on the outskirts of town. We got our tickets and headed in with a little apprehension because we have heard of the monkeys stealing from you and jumping on you…we pictured them kind of like pigeons. We had a plastic bag filled with stuff and since there was no bag check we had to take it in with us. We walked in and there were monkeys everywhere! Cute babies and their mamas, ones stealing bananas from tourists, sleeping monkeys, sitting monkeys, jumping monkeys, and then the creepy monkeys whose eyes followed us and our plastic bag. They thought were hiding food in it! When in reality it was just Joshua Mizanin’s stupid hat that he requested. Finally a few monkeys were so intrigued by the bag that they decided to check out for themselves what was in it….with their teeth and little claws. Fighting the urge to drop the bag and run we remained calm and the guides throughout the sanctuary would yell at them and they would listen. But sometimes the guides weren’t around and we had to employ our best nanny voices to save Josh’s freaking hat. Finally after the granddaddy monkey was going after us we decided to stuff the bag into Caitlin’s bag. We bent the hat and got it in and proceeded through the sanctuary. However part of the plastic was still visible and there was still potential for an attack. Debating the value of dropping the bag and running was now out of the question because the goods the monkeys were after were now in the same spot as Caitlin’s wallet and many treasures found at the market. We hightailed it to an exit and can now say we have been to the Scared Money Forrest in Ubud and lived to tell the tale. We can also say that Josh Mizanin better wear that silly hat every day for the stress and monkey attacks we put up with to bring the sucker home for him.
Back in our monkey-less villa, we spent our last evening in Ubud doing school work and watching movies and swimming in the pool. The next morning we woke up super early and were on our way to the Gili Islands!
Gili
The Gili Islands are a group of small islands right off the coast of Lombak which is about an hour and a half boat ride from the port in Bali. There are 3 main Gili Islands and we were staying on Gili Air which is the island closest to Lombak (you can see Lombak from the shore and it looks like you can swim there but apparently the currents are really strong). The islands were kind of like the Goldilocks and the 3 bears story, one was very crowded and had crazy nightlife, one was almost deserted with no nightlife, and Gili Air was in the middle and just right for us.
Pulling up to the islands was a beautiful sight. The water was all different colors of blue and the islands were lush with trees. Our boat dropped us off at Gili Trawangan(sp?) which is the busy island and we had to hire a private charter boat to drive us to Air because we had apparently missed the public boat. By private charter boat do not think we were on P. Diddys yacht as bow candy, but rather on a rickety wooden tarp covered boat that could produce motion sickness on even the strongest stomach. Finally we got to Air and waded onto shore with all of our luggage (people are starting to look at us like we are crazy with all these bags.) On the Gili Islands there are no cars or motos (or ATMS, WiFi or powerlines for that matter- a huge shock to our Flashpacker souls) so we had to hire a cimodo- which is basically a horse and very small buggy. Do not think of an Amish horse and buggy- this thing was old any tiny and we had to cram ourselves into it with our 2 backpacks, 2 rolly suitcases, 2 carryone straw beachbags (RIP to Kates) and our driver. It was quite the bumpy ride and more than once we cringed as we thought the whole thing was going to flip. Finally we got to our bungalow and some nice men carried our bags up to the room for us. We quickly threw on our bathing suits and went in search of some beach. Unfortunately there isn’t much beach on Gili Air- it is very rocky and there isn’t much space for a beach. The draw is more for the vibe and the views and the underwater attractions. However we discovered that this place is a coral graveyard. We found an area on the corner of the island where heaps and heaps of coral had washed ashore and also a large coral sandbar not too far out in the water. We spent the better part of an afternoon picking out coral and shells…and more coral. The next day we did more of the same thing not realizing we were only exploring a small part of the island. On our third day we ventured down the “happening” side of the island where there was a really nice restaurant, another good coral searching spot, and some good off shore snorkeling. After a day out in the sun we decided we deserved a nice happy hour. And let’s just say it turned into a happy night. After 8 gin and tonics we had a nice dinner and then 2 40 size bottles of Bintang beer. As this point we were our happy talkative Kate-selves (for those of you who have had the pleasure of being at Dockside with us you can imagine what these poor Indonesian bartenders had to put up with).
When we left the restaurant it was pouring rain and our hotel was at the compete other end of the island- a good 15 minute walk down a dark dirt road with no lights so we decided it was a smart and safe idea to stop at the open bar next door to the restaurant. So we sat there and had 2 more Bintang’s and told the bartenders what songs they should download on their itunes and we showed them pictures of the huge lizards we had seen on the island which we thought had to be Komodo Dragons because they were just so flippen huge. However the bartenders told us they were not Komodos just “BIG f’in lizards”. Eventually the rain stopped and we decided to head back to our beds because we had an early snorkel trip to wake up for. The walk back home was quite amusing- complete with jogging, a pit-stop with nature, and one fall on the only piece of concrete on the entire island which left Kate Curry with a nice scraped leg like a five year old. We video blogged this walk home, including the fall and a select few of you at home might be able to view it but it is quite a scene so we cannot post it online.
9am came a little too early and the G&Ts hadn’t warn off yet so we missed the snorkeling boat. It’s a shame because we were guaranteed sea turtle sightings as well as some really cool coral reefs- but what are ya gonna do? It was only $8 a person anyway. So we slept off our hangover and eventually pulled ourselves out of bed- we had to switch bungalows or we might still be laying there. After we switched to air conditioned bungalow (where the air conditioner didn’t work) we ventured out for a bit of sun. We showed our face on the busy end of the island where we were quite popular. You know you make an impression on a place when 3 bars and a snorkel shop in a row all know your names and drinks of choice. It’s a little embarrassing- but what are ya gonna do. We were going to snorkel down at the coral graveyard again but the waves were too rough and it started pouring rain so we ended up walking back to the hotel drenched in rain- but we didn’t complain because it was the first fresh non-salt water shower we have had in awhile.
Bali
AMED
The next morning we left Gili to take the fast boat to Amed which is back on Bali. The boat ride was a little bumpy but enjoyable with the Bob Markley CD and Akon tunes we got to listen too- they love Bob Marley and Akon over here!! Everywhere you go its Buffalo Soilders and the shotting of sherrifs.
We arrived in Amed and were taken to our hotel. Amed is a cluster of villages set on the hillside overlooking black stone and sand beaches with plenty of dive sites just off shore. Our hotel room is up a steep set of stairs on a cliff side and we have a wonderful view of the Bali Sea. Our hotel is really just a set of three bungalows and there is a pull bell up here that we can ring for staff to come up and take orders or answer questions. It was very eclectic and unique until some jerky guest broke it yesterday…but Kate Curry apologized and it was fixed this morning.
Our first day we just hung out by our hotel and collected some black rocks (they are the new coral and shells don’t ya know?) And discovered that there are some sort of critter that lives on the roof of our bungalow and likes to stomp his feet and chase and jump all throughout the night. The staff looked at us like we were crazy when we asked what it was however we know it’s there. Our bungalow is two stories with a bed on each story however we both sleep in the downstairs bed because the unidentified things that go bump in the night is a lot closer to the upstairs bed.
Our second day here we decided that it was time to try out the motorbike again because otherwise there is absolutely nothing to do or nowhere to go here. We also needed to find internet and the ATM so we rented two bikes from our hotel. Weelllll it was rough starting out and Caitlin might have a scar on her leg for awhile to show her toughness for the time in Bali where she got into a motorbike accident. We had helmets on, no worries moms. However when people have had motorbikes around them and have been riding on them since the time they were big enough to fit in a hammock on the front they neglect to describe how the gas and brakes work. They show you which is which but give no details or tips or words to wise about pressure. However Caitlin made a quick recovery and while we both will be leaving Indonesia with battle scars we believe that we became pretty good riders yesterday. We got up to 50kms an hour even..which is saying a lot because when we left the hotel and for the first 30 minutes I am not sure we got past 15kmph. It is all hills and mountains and switchback turns here too. We set out to find the ATMs which we were told was 25k away. And while it might have been that we were not told of the mountains we would have to cross and the heavy duty traffic and trucks we would encounter on the road. Almost 2 hours later we got to an ATM annnddd our cards were promptly rejected. We were given directions to another one which took pity on our poor, rupiah-less, sweating and lost souls and dished out the money. Our trip was not in vain. We made it back to Amed in an hour and we even were able to take in the beautiful scenery on the trip through the mountains. It is soo luch and green and there are terraced rice fields and little huts and streams everywhere. Gorgeous. While we did gain some confidence on our motos, we were unable to get an pictures. But trust us it was really pretty.
Today we decided to save some money and take out just one moto to go to a snorkel sight not too far from our hotel. Going was slow getting there was we adjusted to driving with two people on the bike. Kate was our driver and it was a little wobbly but we soon got it and down the steep hill to the beach we wnt. We snorkeled and saw some really cool tiger fish, angel fish, and lots of huge blue star fish, and lots of little neon guys. And then it was time to face the mountain again. Kate’s driving expertise was not good enough to get us up the hill. Kate took the bike and Caitlin walked up. But then the driveway met the road at a steep steep incline and we faced our biggest predicament yet. With a ravine on one side and a huge hill with oncoming traffic (Moms shut your eyes for this one) we were really at a loss. Caitlin took over the driving and somehow got the bike back onto the road and Kate jumped on the back and up the road we went. We had gotten a little bit of a local audience at this point but we proved them wrong and made it up the hill and back down again and to our hotel. Whew! If we weren’t sweating from the 900 degree heat before the mountain we were after. It is amazing how different the motos drive with two people vs one. But now we know how to do…if you don’t have to enter the road with a sharp turn at a steep incline were good to go.
Well that has caught you all up on our trip. We have three more days here in Amed and then two in Sanur, and then two in Jakarta before flying home via Hong Kong, Taipei, Alaska, JFK, and the New Jersey Turnpike, ahhh!! We have another snorkel trip planned here and then some beach time in Sanur so we will keep you updated when we find internet again.
Love to all!
Three more nights in Amed and then we should be able to post pictures to show you all how pretty pretty the Gilis were!
UPDATE: Well since we typed this posting up last week things have happened. We got sick of Amed. It is so pretty and laid back and relaxing. And nothing to do got a little boring for us at this point in our trip. Plus our bungalow was in the wilderness with many many critters running about and so many ants. Literal ants in the pants! So we came to Sanur a day early. Tomorrow we fly to Jakarta and have two nights there and then we are home bound. We will update you from Jakarta on our final days in Amed and Sanur.
UPDATE2: The pictures are taking really long to upload here...we will try to post more from our hotel in Jakarta. check back for more pictures!
UBUD
Oh my followers it has been awhile. We are in the final stages of our trip…just eight days and a wake-up left (which is both a very sad and exciting thing to think about) We are currently back in Bali after a short trip to the Gili Islands. We last updated from our hotel room in Ubud and I know we promised you a crib video from our really cool hotel suite but we have not had a stable internet connection since then. We have found a little portion of the world that does not have wifi, internet, or ATMs readily available…crazy!
We must break the news to you all that we will not be seeing any Tangs on this trip. Our blog title is a lie and we are sorry (however we have seen enough darn mosquitoes to make up for the lack of tangs). However it is very hard and expensive to get to the few areas in Indonesia where there are wild orangutans and once you get to these spots you aren’t even guaranteed a sighting. With our budget and time constraints we decided it would be more responsible to stay on Bali and to visit the Philadelphia Zoo and their orangutans when we get home. (a moment of silence for the gorilla ghosts- Adrianna you know what we mean) We are very saddened that our dreams of tangs went down the drain just like our dreams of Laos.
Ok back to Bali..
Bali is Hindu which is different from the rest of Indonesia which is mostly Muslim. It is very green and lush with terraced rice plantations everywhere. So pretty. The area around Ubud and our hotels had Hindu statues everywhere. It is very interesting and different from anything we have seen so far.
In Ubud we stayed at a fabulous hotel in our own little private villa with walls around it. We had our own swimming pool and a tub the size of the titanic so we think of it as two pools…plus the public pool at the center of the resort. There was a huge bed and an outdoor shower and it was wonderful and quite fancy…however it is the wet season here and rooms are reduced so it was a deal. The whole villa experience was like a little piece of heaven that you forgot where you were..until you looked at the bottom of the pool and there was a random cartoon tile mosaic of a penguin. It was so random that you knew you had to be in Asia still. We got to the room at midnight after our flight and were greeted by staff with welcome drinks in hand. Then we were put into a golf carts with all our luggage and carted down the our villa…we were still expecting a standard bungalow or hotel room type of deal…even though the website said private pools we assumed it mean our room opened up onto the pool…a private entrance. (Wouldn’t you think the same thing??) SOOO then we pulled up to our own gate and our bellboy opened it and there was a house! And a private pool! It was a beautiful villa with floor to ceiling windows set in a big garden with so many flowers and butterflies and a fountain. We were in shocked…such a state of shock that we miss calculated our conversions and tipped the poor soul stuck with answering all our questions and driving us around in the middle of the night only about 40 cents! Opps! (No worries…we tracked him down later and fixed our mistake)
We immediately took a swim and just walked around our villa in shock that we were there. The next morning it still hadn’t set in but our breakfast arrived and was set up on our patio so we figured we weren’t going to get kicked out or anything. We spent that day in our pool and lounging around our villa…cause that is what you do when you have a villa. Duh. And we decided to take the 5pm shuttle into the central Ubud area for some dinner and shopping at the markets we read about there. Our old friend the market…we hadn’t seen a good one since Chiang Mai and had high hopes for Ubud. So we used a watch and arrived at the shuttle pick up point at the correct time and got onto it and our watch showed that the drive was exactly 25 minutes like we were told. We got into the town and got to the market just as they were closing up shop and got a few good luck, last sale of the night prices and then headed for some drinks and a walk through town. We were great on time so we found a movie store and bought 11 blackmarket dvds for $15. Still with plenty of time left we got some drinks and ate an appetizer. The watch was saying it was about 8:02Pm and since we had an hour before our return shuttle we walked back past the shuttle pick-up point and got some dinner. We then got to the pickup point about 15 minutes early. Nothing was there but then again nothing is on time in these parts of the world so we didn’t think anything of it until about 9:05 when still the other people on the shuttle were not there and the shuttle itself was not there nor were there any other hotel shuttles. Strange.
We stuck up a conversation with a taxi driver and mentioned how we were waiting for our shuttle at 9pm but it was a little late. And we asked him what time he had on his phone and he told us 9:40pm. We didn’t believe him because our watch said it was just after 9. Caitlin walked up to a tourist couple crossing the street and asked what time it was..it was 940PM. We were sooo confused and it felt like some sort of twilight zone/scary movie scene/kidnapped abroad situation. Another taxi diver asked us oh you are staying at Furama right? We were even more freaked out that this man knew what hotel we were at especially because the hotel is 30 minutes from town. The watch was ticking right and keeping time but somehow we entered into some sort of time space continuum and lost 45 minutes of our life and 10USD on the taxi ride we now had to pay for. Still freaked out as to what happened we got into the taxi and headed back to our hotel.
In the Taxi, our driver took a different way than we took to get to town. It was getting super scary and our driver just kept talking and talking…just as we were planning our escape from this kidnapper we pulled onto a road we recognized. We escaped the Bali Mafia kidnapping we were picturing and were returned to our villa. Soo strange. We STILL cannot imagine what happened to the watch…it is once again working but we can never trust it again.
The next morning we headed back into Ubud for some prime shopping in the market…and boy did we shop our little hearts out. Our luggage is full and heavy and we don’t like to move it. When you shop early in the day the shop keepers all want your sale because the first sale of the day brings good luck. When you hand them the money they kinda smack you with it and then touch it on all their wares before putting it away. In Cambodia it was all about getting good karma with a sale…Indonesia is all about the luck. Shop keepers make flower water and it is good luck to flick some on all the stuff at their stand…Caitlin even got some on her. Between that and the good luck sales…we got it covered.
Next up we took a taxi (it was only a short but hot hot walk so we oped for the taxi) to the Scared Monkey Forrest on the outskirts of town. We got our tickets and headed in with a little apprehension because we have heard of the monkeys stealing from you and jumping on you…we pictured them kind of like pigeons. We had a plastic bag filled with stuff and since there was no bag check we had to take it in with us. We walked in and there were monkeys everywhere! Cute babies and their mamas, ones stealing bananas from tourists, sleeping monkeys, sitting monkeys, jumping monkeys, and then the creepy monkeys whose eyes followed us and our plastic bag. They thought were hiding food in it! When in reality it was just Joshua Mizanin’s stupid hat that he requested. Finally a few monkeys were so intrigued by the bag that they decided to check out for themselves what was in it….with their teeth and little claws. Fighting the urge to drop the bag and run we remained calm and the guides throughout the sanctuary would yell at them and they would listen. But sometimes the guides weren’t around and we had to employ our best nanny voices to save Josh’s freaking hat. Finally after the granddaddy monkey was going after us we decided to stuff the bag into Caitlin’s bag. We bent the hat and got it in and proceeded through the sanctuary. However part of the plastic was still visible and there was still potential for an attack. Debating the value of dropping the bag and running was now out of the question because the goods the monkeys were after were now in the same spot as Caitlin’s wallet and many treasures found at the market. We hightailed it to an exit and can now say we have been to the Scared Money Forrest in Ubud and lived to tell the tale. We can also say that Josh Mizanin better wear that silly hat every day for the stress and monkey attacks we put up with to bring the sucker home for him.
Back in our monkey-less villa, we spent our last evening in Ubud doing school work and watching movies and swimming in the pool. The next morning we woke up super early and were on our way to the Gili Islands!
Gili
The Gili Islands are a group of small islands right off the coast of Lombak which is about an hour and a half boat ride from the port in Bali. There are 3 main Gili Islands and we were staying on Gili Air which is the island closest to Lombak (you can see Lombak from the shore and it looks like you can swim there but apparently the currents are really strong). The islands were kind of like the Goldilocks and the 3 bears story, one was very crowded and had crazy nightlife, one was almost deserted with no nightlife, and Gili Air was in the middle and just right for us.
Pulling up to the islands was a beautiful sight. The water was all different colors of blue and the islands were lush with trees. Our boat dropped us off at Gili Trawangan(sp?) which is the busy island and we had to hire a private charter boat to drive us to Air because we had apparently missed the public boat. By private charter boat do not think we were on P. Diddys yacht as bow candy, but rather on a rickety wooden tarp covered boat that could produce motion sickness on even the strongest stomach. Finally we got to Air and waded onto shore with all of our luggage (people are starting to look at us like we are crazy with all these bags.) On the Gili Islands there are no cars or motos (or ATMS, WiFi or powerlines for that matter- a huge shock to our Flashpacker souls) so we had to hire a cimodo- which is basically a horse and very small buggy. Do not think of an Amish horse and buggy- this thing was old any tiny and we had to cram ourselves into it with our 2 backpacks, 2 rolly suitcases, 2 carryone straw beachbags (RIP to Kates) and our driver. It was quite the bumpy ride and more than once we cringed as we thought the whole thing was going to flip. Finally we got to our bungalow and some nice men carried our bags up to the room for us. We quickly threw on our bathing suits and went in search of some beach. Unfortunately there isn’t much beach on Gili Air- it is very rocky and there isn’t much space for a beach. The draw is more for the vibe and the views and the underwater attractions. However we discovered that this place is a coral graveyard. We found an area on the corner of the island where heaps and heaps of coral had washed ashore and also a large coral sandbar not too far out in the water. We spent the better part of an afternoon picking out coral and shells…and more coral. The next day we did more of the same thing not realizing we were only exploring a small part of the island. On our third day we ventured down the “happening” side of the island where there was a really nice restaurant, another good coral searching spot, and some good off shore snorkeling. After a day out in the sun we decided we deserved a nice happy hour. And let’s just say it turned into a happy night. After 8 gin and tonics we had a nice dinner and then 2 40 size bottles of Bintang beer. As this point we were our happy talkative Kate-selves (for those of you who have had the pleasure of being at Dockside with us you can imagine what these poor Indonesian bartenders had to put up with).
When we left the restaurant it was pouring rain and our hotel was at the compete other end of the island- a good 15 minute walk down a dark dirt road with no lights so we decided it was a smart and safe idea to stop at the open bar next door to the restaurant. So we sat there and had 2 more Bintang’s and told the bartenders what songs they should download on their itunes and we showed them pictures of the huge lizards we had seen on the island which we thought had to be Komodo Dragons because they were just so flippen huge. However the bartenders told us they were not Komodos just “BIG f’in lizards”. Eventually the rain stopped and we decided to head back to our beds because we had an early snorkel trip to wake up for. The walk back home was quite amusing- complete with jogging, a pit-stop with nature, and one fall on the only piece of concrete on the entire island which left Kate Curry with a nice scraped leg like a five year old. We video blogged this walk home, including the fall and a select few of you at home might be able to view it but it is quite a scene so we cannot post it online.
9am came a little too early and the G&Ts hadn’t warn off yet so we missed the snorkeling boat. It’s a shame because we were guaranteed sea turtle sightings as well as some really cool coral reefs- but what are ya gonna do? It was only $8 a person anyway. So we slept off our hangover and eventually pulled ourselves out of bed- we had to switch bungalows or we might still be laying there. After we switched to air conditioned bungalow (where the air conditioner didn’t work) we ventured out for a bit of sun. We showed our face on the busy end of the island where we were quite popular. You know you make an impression on a place when 3 bars and a snorkel shop in a row all know your names and drinks of choice. It’s a little embarrassing- but what are ya gonna do. We were going to snorkel down at the coral graveyard again but the waves were too rough and it started pouring rain so we ended up walking back to the hotel drenched in rain- but we didn’t complain because it was the first fresh non-salt water shower we have had in awhile.
Bali
AMED
The next morning we left Gili to take the fast boat to Amed which is back on Bali. The boat ride was a little bumpy but enjoyable with the Bob Markley CD and Akon tunes we got to listen too- they love Bob Marley and Akon over here!! Everywhere you go its Buffalo Soilders and the shotting of sherrifs.
We arrived in Amed and were taken to our hotel. Amed is a cluster of villages set on the hillside overlooking black stone and sand beaches with plenty of dive sites just off shore. Our hotel room is up a steep set of stairs on a cliff side and we have a wonderful view of the Bali Sea. Our hotel is really just a set of three bungalows and there is a pull bell up here that we can ring for staff to come up and take orders or answer questions. It was very eclectic and unique until some jerky guest broke it yesterday…but Kate Curry apologized and it was fixed this morning.
Our first day we just hung out by our hotel and collected some black rocks (they are the new coral and shells don’t ya know?) And discovered that there are some sort of critter that lives on the roof of our bungalow and likes to stomp his feet and chase and jump all throughout the night. The staff looked at us like we were crazy when we asked what it was however we know it’s there. Our bungalow is two stories with a bed on each story however we both sleep in the downstairs bed because the unidentified things that go bump in the night is a lot closer to the upstairs bed.
Our second day here we decided that it was time to try out the motorbike again because otherwise there is absolutely nothing to do or nowhere to go here. We also needed to find internet and the ATM so we rented two bikes from our hotel. Weelllll it was rough starting out and Caitlin might have a scar on her leg for awhile to show her toughness for the time in Bali where she got into a motorbike accident. We had helmets on, no worries moms. However when people have had motorbikes around them and have been riding on them since the time they were big enough to fit in a hammock on the front they neglect to describe how the gas and brakes work. They show you which is which but give no details or tips or words to wise about pressure. However Caitlin made a quick recovery and while we both will be leaving Indonesia with battle scars we believe that we became pretty good riders yesterday. We got up to 50kms an hour even..which is saying a lot because when we left the hotel and for the first 30 minutes I am not sure we got past 15kmph. It is all hills and mountains and switchback turns here too. We set out to find the ATMs which we were told was 25k away. And while it might have been that we were not told of the mountains we would have to cross and the heavy duty traffic and trucks we would encounter on the road. Almost 2 hours later we got to an ATM annnddd our cards were promptly rejected. We were given directions to another one which took pity on our poor, rupiah-less, sweating and lost souls and dished out the money. Our trip was not in vain. We made it back to Amed in an hour and we even were able to take in the beautiful scenery on the trip through the mountains. It is soo luch and green and there are terraced rice fields and little huts and streams everywhere. Gorgeous. While we did gain some confidence on our motos, we were unable to get an pictures. But trust us it was really pretty.
Today we decided to save some money and take out just one moto to go to a snorkel sight not too far from our hotel. Going was slow getting there was we adjusted to driving with two people on the bike. Kate was our driver and it was a little wobbly but we soon got it and down the steep hill to the beach we wnt. We snorkeled and saw some really cool tiger fish, angel fish, and lots of huge blue star fish, and lots of little neon guys. And then it was time to face the mountain again. Kate’s driving expertise was not good enough to get us up the hill. Kate took the bike and Caitlin walked up. But then the driveway met the road at a steep steep incline and we faced our biggest predicament yet. With a ravine on one side and a huge hill with oncoming traffic (Moms shut your eyes for this one) we were really at a loss. Caitlin took over the driving and somehow got the bike back onto the road and Kate jumped on the back and up the road we went. We had gotten a little bit of a local audience at this point but we proved them wrong and made it up the hill and back down again and to our hotel. Whew! If we weren’t sweating from the 900 degree heat before the mountain we were after. It is amazing how different the motos drive with two people vs one. But now we know how to do…if you don’t have to enter the road with a sharp turn at a steep incline were good to go.
Well that has caught you all up on our trip. We have three more days here in Amed and then two in Sanur, and then two in Jakarta before flying home via Hong Kong, Taipei, Alaska, JFK, and the New Jersey Turnpike, ahhh!! We have another snorkel trip planned here and then some beach time in Sanur so we will keep you updated when we find internet again.
Love to all!
Three more nights in Amed and then we should be able to post pictures to show you all how pretty pretty the Gilis were!
UPDATE: Well since we typed this posting up last week things have happened. We got sick of Amed. It is so pretty and laid back and relaxing. And nothing to do got a little boring for us at this point in our trip. Plus our bungalow was in the wilderness with many many critters running about and so many ants. Literal ants in the pants! So we came to Sanur a day early. Tomorrow we fly to Jakarta and have two nights there and then we are home bound. We will update you from Jakarta on our final days in Amed and Sanur.
UPDATE2: The pictures are taking really long to upload here...we will try to post more from our hotel in Jakarta. check back for more pictures!
Friday, March 12, 2010
No fear we are here!
Sooo we are alive!! Apparently Indonesia has a thing against free wifi and internet in general and doesn't care that we are pretty famous bloggers however we are currently sitting in a Dunkin Donuts where our stature of traveling students/backpacking bloggers is respected. So we will have update soon as we can load some pictures but didn't want people to worry more. Stay tuned, we ave not gone luddites!
Love ya!
Love ya!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Singapore Slings!
We are coming at you from the Singapore Airport. Free wifi..nice place although they won’t let us check in yet so we are just sitting here waiting. However we are first in line for check-in!! woo woo! See above. I think we last left you a few days into our time share. We were sad to leave after our week at the hotel. We honestly didn’t do that much besides sit by the pool, catch up on some school work, and watch weird movies we found on TV. The Net 2.0 or Zethora the Space Adventure anyone?? The Boy is the Striped Pajamas was terribly sad and we wouldn’t recommend it. And there was a wonderfully awful Keither Sunderland movie with devil possession and weird mirror black hole things. All had terrible endings. We would go see our girls the Rock Angels play every night and got about ten shoutouts to the beautiful Kates each set..they even played Bon Jovi for the entire state of NJ one night; we would then return to the room and leave the Olympics on all night to catch up on what we had missed.
When we left the hotel we got many goodbyes, some hugs, and a few even wanted us to book our next trip before we were allowed to leave. We cannot thank Mrs Yanez enough for her generosity!! She is truly the best!! We left Lumut and took the overnight bus to Singapore. We were expecting 14 hours but were surprised it was only 10. And let me tell you, the customs leaving Mayalsia and entering Sing were very modern, efficient, and fancy. Crazy to compare it to our experience leaving Vietnam and entering Cambodia…two totally different worlds. Entering Singapore we immediately noticed a difference…while Malaysian is very developed and had excellent road organization and the insistent honking ended in Cambodia, Singapore is even more so and very modern and well run. There were so many trees and highways…not many people on them at 430 AM but we could tell Singapore was different. It doesn’t have an Asian feel to it at all..kind of a European feel mixed with some British tropical Colonial accents we would say. There was a little India, Chinatown, Arab City, and a fancy downtown area and each had their own little feel with buildings with wooden shutters.
We got to our hotel and checked in early and took a nap because neither of us slept on the bus. Our hotel was this tiny little little room with a glassed off portion that served as the bathroom….there was a halfway modesty frosting on the bottom portion however it did not provide much modesty. We heard Singapore was famous for it shopping so we had our first meal in almost 24 hours and headed out to Little India to get it started.
Ohhh a funny story about free KFC. In Lumut we were waiting to board our bus and had little Malaysia Rinngit left so we decided that one of us could walk to the KFC we had seen and pay in credit card so we didn’t have to take money out. Caitlin stayed with the bags and Kate went off with the promise she would be back in 15 minutes. If she had not returned in 15 minutes then Caitlin could worry but would just have to wait longer. (It was a long walk through the port town, over roads, and through dried fish stalls with no means of communication back and forth anything could’ve happened people!) Impressed with making it to KFC in 6 minutes, Kate quickly ordered and went to pay with CC and would be back in the allotted time. The drinks were poured and in their bag (yes you get drinks in bags here) and the potato wedges were in one too…she was just waiting for the popcorn chicken… And then the credit card machine broke…the people at KFC tried and tried and couldn’t get it to work. It was getting stressful with about 5 workers working on the problem and about 10 customers staring at the person who would use cc at KFC and finally they whispered “just go. Take it.” Now Kate was trying to figure out a way to run to an ATM or to Caitlin to get her credit card from her and was stressing and sweating and scared the bus was going to leave without her..and wondering if maybe they could throw the popcorn chicken in the bag for free too. But finally they pushed the bags and said “just go. Go go go.” Defeated with no popcorn chicken…but carrying free Miranda oranges and potato wedges from the kind Malaysian people Kate returned to the bus station just in time to board and get on the road to Singapore. Back to little India.
Little India turned out to be not the shopping we were looking for..however it was a super charged version of Walmart or Target. So we next hit up Chinatown..where our taxi driver told us just to buy gifts from there and tell our families we went to China. And then we went to Orchard Road the fancy part of town. Raffles Hotel is the most famous and first hotel in Singapore, named after the first Dutch settler in Sing, it is also where the Singapore Sling was invented…when in Singapore.
We got to the Long Bar, a really cute british colonial wooden place with palm fans that swayed back and forth..not around. There were peanuts on the table and a nice crunch as you walked around the bar too. We sat down and opened the menu. $17.76 people!! For one drink. It was shocking…however we were there and it was the drink to have and our money running out issue is a distant third to our love of the finer things in life and ability to justify over-spending (an art form that we have perfected). So two Singapore Slings it was. We drank our dinner.
It was super sweet and the beakers of beer the men next to us had looked more our speed but it’s not every day you can drink a Singapore Sling in Raffles Hotel in Singapore right?? We walked around the courtyards of the hotel for a little after that and pretended we stayed there before returning to our hotel and turning into school work and bad movies on the Asian Star movie channel for the evening.
Oh but we before we did that we hit up a food court. Singapore is known for its food and its shopping. While the shopping not exactly what budget travelers in us are in the market for however we did partake in the food stalls. After drinking our dinner budget down we stopped at one and snacked on some dim sum and satay..it was so cheap and delish. Here is a picture, they really are like the mall food courts of anything editable and Asian:
The next morning we headed to the airport for our flight to Bali....wait.until.we.blog.about.our.hotel.!!!! It is soo lovely here we might never leave! More on that later!! Lots of Love!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Final Countdown,,,
Wow…we can’t believe this it is the end of February already. We are spending the week at a hotel given to us by Mrs. Yanez as a part of her timeshare. When Adrianna approached us with the offer from her mom, the idea of a hotel seemed lovely and we scheduled it near the end of our trip--forever away. Well….here we are at the time share. While it feels like we have been away from home for just days and months at the same time, we cannot wrap our brains around the fact that we are almost finished with our trip. It really is crazy.
While we know we have done and seen so much that we only dreamed of for so long…it hasn’t set in yet. Even as we were zip lining, temple climbing and evading Thai immigration officials we were always so focused on our next task, next city, next country that our adventures have never really been absorbed. Sure elephant riding is cool but when you start worrying about where you are going to sleep that night sets in two seconds after you dismount…you never really take in the “how cool was that?!” factor. We are starting to process it all now.
Even as recently as the bungalow de cockroach…this timeshare hotel seemed so so far away. And now that we are here we realize that there are only three weeks left…one country and a city state, three hotels and backpack transfers, only one more beach town…its crazy people. While it is hard to wrap our brains around what we have done…it might be harder to think that we are almost home.
In honor of our more than half way there blog we have decided to play a game to see who has been paying attention…the first correct answers mean gifts friends…so be sure to comment your answers. (Have we mentioned how much we love comments yet?? Annnddd tonight if our night off from our bar gig and that we might be a little bored waiting for our live Olympic feed on ESPN Asia to start at 2AM??)
Question 1) Guess the destination
This stop (It will be our first in Indonesia) is a popular tourist destination on the Western side of Indonesia…we might see some tangs here and activities include trekking and tubing. It is 78 km north of Medan and is famous for a tangs rehab center that is still recovering from a flood in 2003…where in the world are Kate and Caitlin?? (automatic 2 point reduction if you don’t sing that to the Carmen SanDiego theme.)
Question 2) Guess the Kate
Which Kate gets the most frustrated on long bus rides and the overall South East Asian attitude towards time and transport efficiency?? (A moto and 100 lbs of Bananas on a private express bus?? Sure why not?)
Question 3) Guess the Country
This country’s primary mode of transportation was tuk tuks. Many children and babies. Hollywood connections. Our excursions brought us to ancient worship sights, sea life, and to bustling markets. The currency here begins with an R but USD are the main currency…even dispensed in ATM’s.
Question 4) Guess the Kate.
Which Kate is always wondering what time is it at all hours of the day and night?? (Do clocks offend people here or something???)
Question 5) Where are we??
Please correctly identify which country the Kates appear to be in.
Double Gift Bonus Question::
How many different hotel rooms have we slept in since January 5th?? Closest answer wins..(we might have to really think about this one ourselves)
GAME ON!
While we know we have done and seen so much that we only dreamed of for so long…it hasn’t set in yet. Even as we were zip lining, temple climbing and evading Thai immigration officials we were always so focused on our next task, next city, next country that our adventures have never really been absorbed. Sure elephant riding is cool but when you start worrying about where you are going to sleep that night sets in two seconds after you dismount…you never really take in the “how cool was that?!” factor. We are starting to process it all now.
Even as recently as the bungalow de cockroach…this timeshare hotel seemed so so far away. And now that we are here we realize that there are only three weeks left…one country and a city state, three hotels and backpack transfers, only one more beach town…its crazy people. While it is hard to wrap our brains around what we have done…it might be harder to think that we are almost home.
In honor of our more than half way there blog we have decided to play a game to see who has been paying attention…the first correct answers mean gifts friends…so be sure to comment your answers. (Have we mentioned how much we love comments yet?? Annnddd tonight if our night off from our bar gig and that we might be a little bored waiting for our live Olympic feed on ESPN Asia to start at 2AM??)
Question 1) Guess the destination
This stop (It will be our first in Indonesia) is a popular tourist destination on the Western side of Indonesia…we might see some tangs here and activities include trekking and tubing. It is 78 km north of Medan and is famous for a tangs rehab center that is still recovering from a flood in 2003…where in the world are Kate and Caitlin?? (automatic 2 point reduction if you don’t sing that to the Carmen SanDiego theme.)
Question 2) Guess the Kate
Which Kate gets the most frustrated on long bus rides and the overall South East Asian attitude towards time and transport efficiency?? (A moto and 100 lbs of Bananas on a private express bus?? Sure why not?)
Question 3) Guess the Country
This country’s primary mode of transportation was tuk tuks. Many children and babies. Hollywood connections. Our excursions brought us to ancient worship sights, sea life, and to bustling markets. The currency here begins with an R but USD are the main currency…even dispensed in ATM’s.
Question 4) Guess the Kate.
Which Kate is always wondering what time is it at all hours of the day and night?? (Do clocks offend people here or something???)
Question 5) Where are we??
Please correctly identify which country the Kates appear to be in.
Double Gift Bonus Question::
How many different hotel rooms have we slept in since January 5th?? Closest answer wins..(we might have to really think about this one ourselves)
GAME ON!
Friday, February 19, 2010
This is a jam for all the fellas...
Ok people it is 1:40am here in the M to the alaysia as Bridget likes to call it. We have had quite the day. We are here at the Swiss Garden Hotel and Spa courtesy of Mrs. Daria Yanez and family!! Google it people-its nice!! We got here around 2pm and were in the pool by 3. Our room is so nice- it has hardwood floors, a balcony, separate sink and shower area and the best water pressure yet. We are ready to make this our home base for the next week!
Ok so we had a nice day laying out by the infinity pool complete with its own waterfall. Then we headed back up to the room, showered and did some school work then gussied up for dinner. Unfortunately the resort was celebrating Chinese New Year still and all of the menus are fixed priced and weren’t appealing to us so we decided room service pizza and contraband liquor was a delightful dinner for two girls in dresses with earrings and mascara- we made an effort people!!
So there might have been more liquor than pizza which would explain the rest of the night. The one bar here was advertising a band called the Rock Angels and we thought it would be fun to check them out. So after a few drinks and a few games of Guess the Lyrics on the Ipod (we studied the lyrics to Bust a Move- hence the title) we headed to the bar. When we walked into the bar the band was on stage singing some Lady Gaga hits and we were surprised to find everyone sitting quietly listening like they were in a lecture hall or something. That is not our nature. We sat down, ordered some gin and tonics (which were 16MR- the same price as a plain soda) and started dancing in our seats. After a few songs the trio of singers realized what kind of girls we were and pulled us up on stage to sing and dance with them. Throughout their sets they kept pulling us up onstage to dance or having us sign along with them (we butchered Kelly Clarkson but redeemed ourselves with Nsync) and by the end of the night we had created our own fan base at the resort (people came over to say goodnight to us before they left) and we had earned our own spot in the Rock Angels group. The girls are here every night except Monday and are going to learn Whitesnake for us!! They really love us!!
So we had worked up quite a sweat after our fourth set with the band and decided a dip in the pool would be nice. Not to let a closed pool deter us we jumped right in. It was very refreshing!!
WE will post pics of the resort tomorrow, but here are a few of our midnight swim!
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