Kupukupu Barong Beach Resort Bali Tuban

... had suggested I stay. Asking the driver how much for the bemo ride, he asked if I wanted a public bemo or special charter. I was happy with 'public’ as it should have been cheaper. He told me the price was 20,000rp – and we took off. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had been scammed and that I had chartered a bemo – and watched a few locals took advantage of having a free ride as they jumped off an on. Grrrr ...

We are back in south east Asia for our tenth and final month of McOdyssey. We purposely left the very relaxing Indonesian Island of Bali until the end and are traveling at a much slower pace as we enjoy the last part of our trip. I can hardly believe that we will return to Canada in three weeks.

We sadly pulled ourselves away from our good friends the Smiths and Australia nine days ago and arrived here in Padang Bai, Bali, Indonesia. After spending the last nine months camping ...

... are covered in that same buttery sauce of tomato, chilli and cream. Impossible not to like! If you are bent on showing how tough you are and want it fiery hot, then the Prawn Goa Curry will test you out! More subtle is the Allepy Prawn Curry. A variety of fish dishes are available with similar treatments although the Fish Tikka Masala is hard to go past if you like rich creamy Indian sauces. Indian restaurants have always been a haven for ...

I woke up not believing that my 8 weeks in Ubud were coming to an end. I could not believe they had slipped by so quickly! It feels weird to come to the end of 8 weeks when a lot of the people here have their entire trip lasting only 8 weeks or even less. Miryam's trip was 8 weeks, Julia's was only 6. Suzanne's is 8. Here I am at 8 weeks thinking that for others, this would be the very last of my time. I cannot believe how quickly the time passes out here. I can't believe that ...

... and the view stunning, with Lake Batur a shimmering crater lake at the volcano's base. Although still active, there have been no eruptions since the 90's. For the more active! I'm told the 3 hour hike to the top of the volcano to witness sunrise makes for an amazing experience, be ready to leave your hotel at 2am though! For the less active a downhill bike ride makes for a thrilling experience too. Near by you can find the Agri-tourism centre, here they have examples ...

... all the same, i tried to snap some photos but i don't think it gives it justice, the interesting thing is the hindu new year is on the 26th this year and i found out this current festival has nothing to do with the new years as the hindu year only has 220 or so days the holiday floats and its actually incredibly lucky of me to have arrived as the both come together once in a life time. the quiet day So from what i ...

... they were actually quite heavy. We had been carrying with us a beach-ball with the Canadian flag on it since we had left for our trip nearly two months ago. Today Lisa decided that she wanted to give the ball away to the little girl that lived at the home-stay where we were staying. The family had two children: a boy of six and a little girl was four years old. The little boy had awakened us nearly every morning with his crying and temper-tantrums. The little ...

July 15, 2008 I witnessed one of the most unique rituals in Bali called "Ngaben," or cremation. This event was special because it was the royal cremation of the body of Agung Suyasa, head of the royal family of Ubud who was considered to be their King and two other members of his extended family. It was the most spectacular royal funeral in Bali in at least three decades. The timing couldn't be anymore perfect for me. I arrived in Kuta, near the southern part of Bali, on the ...

... he never moved, so I pretty much forgot about him, or her. Yesterday, from my shower, I looked outside and that spider was gone!! Where did it go? Yikes. I asked about the huge spider from the nice people who look after me at my guest house, " oh, that spider, don't worry not poisonous..." Still, that was a pretty big spider. I have not seen it since, and decided to keep those bathroom windows closed just in case its as curious about me as well. I have found my Zen. I ...

... Afterwards we made the trek up to the temple. It's much darker than what I remembered as it appears to have been renovated. There are tons of stray dogs and chickens running around. We walked around taking photos but since the temples were so dark, it wasn't as quite magnificent as the Batubulan temple that was decorated. By now it's about 2pm and we stop to have lunch. Ughhhhhh....to my dismay, it's a buffet ...