TravelStream™ news feed for member alyttle on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/alyttle en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:00:52 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alyttle/2/1257496787/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alyttle/2/1257496787/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/alyttle/2/1257496787/tpod.html Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:00:52 -0500 Sunshine and Shopping

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Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Yesterday I went on a tour to Ubud. I snook off and went to the nearby Monkey Forest which I really enjoyed!
This morning at 1:00am after a few hours sleep, I then got up and went with Szilvia and Zoltan to Mount Batur, which is a volcano that rises 1700m above sea level. The hike was 9km long, and was impressive, especially since we started hiking at 3:00am, and then watched the sun rise at 6:00am from the top. When we returned at noon I took a much deserved shower (we were covered in sand) and slept.

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Kuta, Bali, Indonesia

I kept debating what to do this day... go snorkelling, or go to get a free 90 minute massage that came with my trip, and spend the day in Kuta. The second option won out. No regrets. The massage was great.... why didn't I do more of this??? :)

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Kintamani, Bali, Indonesia

I went on a tour that brought me back towards Mt. Batur. The couple I went hiking with had already gone on this tour, and didn't feel I would be seeing the same things again. I was happy I went. In the morning, we saw a The Barong Kris Dane, which is essentially a play about a fight between good and evil. The Barong is a mythological animal representing good and there's a mythological monster representing evil who is defeated despite many attempts at winning. We then went to Mas and watched wood carving (and of course had a chance to buy some pieces made from eboy, sandalwood or mahogany), and then went to Kintamini Village and Tampaksiring (The Fountain of Youth and the Holy Spring).
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Hong Kong, China

My colleague from work gave me a wonderful list of must-sees and maybe-sees. I tried to squeeze a lot in. First, I went to Kowloon Park, of which my hotel was on the edge. I fell in love with the flamingoes. I know this is not why people travel to Hong Kong, but I wanted to watch them for longer! Then, I started tackling the list of things to do. I bought a subway pass and went to Mong Kok for the Ladies Market, the Temple Street Night Market, Jade market and Sai Yeung Choi Street which is known for buying electronics. Then, I went over to the Hong Kong side, shopped at Marks & Spencer's (!) and then took the Peak cable car back up to the peak to see it from night time. Finally, I took the Star Ferry to cross from Hong Kong to Kowloon, and briefly returned to the Temple Street Night Market.

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Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Today I went on a half-day tour of Hong Kong Island which started at 8:00am! Yikes. The half-day part ended up going past 2:00pm and they showed us quite a bit. We started off by going to Man Mo Temple before taking us to Victoria Peak. Then, we stopped at Aberdeen for a sampan ride, Stanley Park and finally stopped at Repulse Bay (briefly). In the afternoon and evening I walked around Kowloon.

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Hong Kong, China

Whereas Bali was green, calm (other than obsessive horns honking on the roads!) and generally everybody there had a similar standard of living (the biggest difference was the money put into each family temple), Hong Kong is nothing similar. The signs of money are very obvious-- though there are extremes, calm is NOT the word for Hong Kong and the horns were not being honked--- there was more order to everything in a strange kind of way. I arrived pretty late, so I walked around and saw the Star Ferry Harbour and the view of Hong Kong Island, some parts of Kowloon and went by a few stores that were open as late as 11:00pm.

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Besakih, Indonesia

Yesterday, I took a shuttle bus to Kuta. I did some shopping there, and of course spent some time along the beach and watched a beautiful sunset. I met up with a couple there who had been on some of the day trips with me, so we had dinner there, and ended up having a really nice evening sitting talking.

Today, was a unique experience! I showed up for a full day tour to go to see a village and then a temple, Pura Besakih. It turned out that I was the only person there! I couldn't believe that they went ahead with the personal tour... so, it got adapted a little-we skipped lunch, and I also got to shop in Celuk at two stores-- one with paintings, and another with silver.

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Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia

So apparently I'm loving watching the sun rise and set here. It is spectacular. Yesterday, I went to Nusa Dua which is known as being the rather 'institutional' row of 5 star hotels with nice beaches. The description couldn't have been more accurate. Then, I spent the afternoon in Kuta before crashing very early.
I'll add some pics. Some are of curious sea creatures. I got nervous once I found out the first fish I saw when I got here is a Trigger fish which can get very aggressive... we seem to run into one another every so often (or some friends of his/hers!), and now I just panic and swim quickly!

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Lovina, Bali, Indonesia

Yesterday, I went on my first all day tour. We went through rice fields through Pupuan and Antosari and drove to the northern part of the island. Though we passed through three crater lakes, it was raining, so the views were a little less spectacular. But, it was soooo green.

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Tanjung Benoa, Indonesia

Yesterday, I got up early and watched the sun rise. Crazy!!! Then I went for a swim, and on my way back to the beach, saw some fish... I have no idea what kind one of them was...

Then, I went on my first of five tours. It was only a half-day tour, but it didn't feel very brief! The tour was to 3 temples, and included a monkey forest. The macaques were cute, but definitely got quite loud with one another! Where there are tourists, there are opportunities for shopping! Many, many booths lined the streets!

Finally, we went to Tanah Lot Temple to watch the sun set. There had been a wedding ceremony, so it was quite crowded.

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