Indonesia
Travel Blogs from Indonesia
Woodcarvers Worshops & Wyan's House
Wyan, who works in the Pradha cafe is an amateur woodcarver on the side, and offered to take me to see some 'Master Woodcarvers' in Ubud. This town is known for its art, and I'm not really into paintings so much, but when he mentioned wood carving ...
Colourful crater lakes... and a robbery
Early on Monday morning 12 September we said goodbye to our super hosts in Ruteng and boarded the bus to Moni, the village from which to explore Kelimutu, the extinct volcano famous for its three coloured crater lakes. We had decided to skip Bajawa, ...
Gili T.
... it sounds like she struggles trying to support everyone on her basic “locals” salary. I learned that to rent a flat in Indonesia ones is required usually to pay a year up front, in some cases it could be an even longer commitment. It bummed ...
Jakarta, Bogor and Yogyakarta
... beaches we know. Thousands of people covered the dark sand and people go into the water with all there clothes on. Most of Indonesia, especially the island if Java is islamic but not so strict. Dave and me were celebrities and pretty much the only white ...
Ubud
... world and bribed our first police officer. Some people end up handing over up to 200,000 to make "solution". Oh well, this is Indonesia, the police and government officials are as corrupt as hell. On our way to Batar we met a dude on a motorbike and he ...
Village of the whale hunters
We had been drawn to Lembata Island by the prospect of visiting the unique village of Lamalera, where the traditional practice of harpooning whales and dolphins for subsistence still survives. So, on Friday 16 September, after two nights in the ...
Surf 'n Fail
Since air asia has their hub back in good ole KL of M, I had to travel two sides of the triangle to get down to Bali, nevermind, at least I'm here now, in the southern hemisphere for the first time. I still haven't seen the southern cross but I'll keep ...
Dengue fever!!
So to update everyone Jackie ended up being in bed for a whole week unwell waiting for it to pass so we could finish our diving, but it never did. When almost a week had passed we finally decided we needed to get her checked out in a hospital so I ...
Dirty Ol' Jakarta
... 's no point 2) Don't trust anyone except yourself- turned out I could've gotten a visa on arrival after all. The difference between Indonesia and Malaysia is striking. The first thing that hits you is the crush. There're a lot of people in Indo, and they ...
Face to face with a person of the forest
We got up at about 8am after sleeping like logs. We walked out on to our porch way to a totally different scene. Last night it had been so dark we couldn't see anything but now this morning we were overlooking the river and the village on the other ...
Welcome to the cheap seats
... there. Ewa and Graeme were on their honeymoon after getting married in Poland (Ewa is Polish) and had decided to explore Indonesia for 3 weeks. They were such a lovely couple and we hit it off straight away so when we arrived in Bukit Lawang ...
Life and death in paradise
There hasn't been too many times in my 31 years that I've feared for my life, but yesterday's approach and entry to this narrow anchorage I did. Woowee it was a doozy, especially at low tide and coupled with a computerised sea chart that was a hundred or ...
A weeks worth of Dining & Drinking in Kuta
And a quiet sunday afternoon here, so here are some of the gratuitous dining and drinking photos from the past week. -------------------------------------- HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you Happy Birthday To YOU Happy Birthday dear Maaaa-AaAA-rc HAPPY ...
On Top of the World
Tonight I had already booked a midnight hike to Mount Merapi, the local active volcano. The van filled with seven others arrived at 10:30PM and drove an hour and up into the mountains. Not a smooth drive to say the least. Our fee was sold to us as ...
Chill Time
Today was another relaxing day. I woke for the 9:00am yoga class, had breakfast and a shower before catching a becak. I didn't mention before but a becak is the local transport, taxi substitute which is a cart attached to a bicycle that they guys line ...
In Search of Strong Current
The next few days seem to be all about finding the strong current aka tons of fish. First attempt was aborted leaving us to dive Crystal Boomie which in the end was a huge success. We zigzagged the reef for the full hour, seeing giant Travellys circling ...
Triumph and Troubles in Java
... and asked for the next available ticket on the next available flight going to anywhere! So, here we are, about to board a Garuda Indonesia flight!! Yikes!!! Not a good time to mention Garuda's safety record!! So, if you don't hear from us again, it was ...
Ready for Asia
... was as blatant as can be between the efficient operating system in Dubai to the inevitably delayed and confusing functionality in Indonesia. For example the flight I booked upon arrival in Jakarta to get me to Yogyakarta was scheduled to depart at ...
Motorbike Ride around Pulau Weh
... ), spiders, cockroaches, geckos, other lizards, moths, bats, and we're pretty sure a snake. Coffee still has grounds in Indonesia, so it’s a stiff drink. It’s made like they’re mixing instant coffee into hot water, but it’s ...
Bali - Indonesia
Hi There All, Ohhhh bet it's getting much much colder for those of you back in the UK! Not long now until Santa pays you a visit.......The drunken christmas parties are probabaly already well underway! After sadly leaving OZ we landed Singapore and spent ...
Stinky Batam
BATAM Andy and I, compelled to spend a day at the beach, decided on a whim to take a boat to Batam, an Indonesian island conveniently accessible by ferry from both Singapore and Johor Bahru. Batam caters mostly to Singaporean holiday-goers, ...
O come all ye travellers
Now this is more like it. Peace and tranquility, gorgeous tropical surrounds, organised locals, great food, entertainment and culture. Thank you Riung! Riung is a tiny fishing village (pop. 1,200) nestled amongst coconut and banana palms on the northern ...
One day in Kuta is enough....
... Homestay turned out to be pleasant enough, with friendly people. The next morning we set off on our mission to buy an Indonesia guidebook... what a struggle! We were hoping to pick up a secondhand Lonely Planet, but could not find an edition more recent ...
Motorbike riding in the sun and the wind..no rain!
... did not get the chance to go to school, because their families could not afford school fees. Whether southern Africa or Indonesia, the main victims in the battle for survival in underdeveloped countries are always the children. The one chap, Sandhi, ...
A little luxury in Bali..
Arriving in Kuta, Bali after a full day travelling we checked into the Simpang Inn which is a lovely little hidden hotel off the main street. We got a huge room with bathroom, fan and balcony and the hotel has colourful gardens and a great swimming ...
Nyippe Celebration!
Nyippe is tomorrow, but that is the day of rest. Today is Nyippe-eve? I'll call it that. Today is Nyippe-Eve! It's like New Years Eve, and today is the day for the party! All the Ogoh-Ogohs that have been in preparation for ...
Kelimutu (Ende to Moni to Bajawa)
... comfortable, with worn out seats and every available space filled with peoples stuff. The ears take a bashing with continuous overloud Indonesia-vision song contest like music blaring out of the stereo. We had a verygood driver and the only dangerous ...
Paradise Island
I caught the speedboat to the Island of Gili Trawangan for 2 days to escape the hassles of Kuta. This took 2 hours at high speed and I got completely soaked on route as the boat smashed through the waves! The boat broke down about halfway along and I ...
Last day in Jakarta, Heading off to Bali tomorrow
... 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 ...
