TravelStream™ news feed for member rawhideone on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/rawhideone en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:34:12 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1216034940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1216034940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1216034940/tpod.html Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:34:12 -0400 Didn't someone mention India??.... aka...you need a WHAT ?!?!?

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Tokyo, Kanto, Japan

July11When I close the bathroom door the lights brighten and pleasant music drifts in thru the speaker system.  The toilet cover opens automatically so I guess everything is all ready in here including the pre-warmed seat.  I notice on the arm panel of the toilet there are all sorts of options.  One can push a button for a fake flushing sound...one might assume that's a cover-up for what is really going on in there...there's a button for a heavy duty deodorizer scent...and then there are others...involving a stream of warm water from the toilet directed at whatever exposed part you deem necessary.  And when you finish, of course, an automatic flusher and then the cover drops, ready for the next patron.  Can you guess where I am?  Right, Tokyo, the land of automatic everything.   Like I got into a cab the other day...and tried to pull the door shut...to the admonishment of the cab driver....if I just leave it alone, the door closes automatically.  Same thing with the drink machine.  With its multitude of options...hot or icy...all I have to do is invest the money...the machine does the rest...and again the door automatically opens (and yes,  I did try to pull it open first), and once given sufficient time to take my drink out, it closes all by itself.   This is all really cool once you get used to it.  You just wait a few seconds for anything to happen....only do it yourself if the event doesn't occur.  This is the kind of stuff I expected from Japan....high tech...gadgets...a uniformed culture?...with teenagers immersed in Nintendo-like distractions.  But still a few surprises...the lack of wifi for one.  I thought that this would be the easiest place to find a hot spot...that there'd be plenty of options for wireless...but alas, there are none.  Most people here seem to use that remote receiver you plug into your computer for an internet signal or else a cell phone.  You can't even get wifi at any of the many Starbucks here. And another surprise, very few people, even here in Tokyo, speak English.  As Kyoko says, there's just no reason to practice it.  Might have better luck with some of the younger student-types although most of those that I approach don't have strong or even weak English skills.  And since all the writing (on menus, signs, papers) is in Japanese, I do feel a bit cut off from communication here.  Lucky thing to know Kyoko...we met her in Romania...she works for the Tokyo Sun, the largest newspaper.  We are staying with her in the apt she shares with her boyfriend...she's is so delightful and welcoming...so is he.   And I've been using her bicycle to get around the city.   Another surprise...to me anyway...everybody rides bikes here...old people...young people.  Not a lot of scooters or motorbikes although some...but bicycles.  And although it's flat in many places, there are also some serious hills...but roads are good...and people share the sidewalks with bicycles pretty smoothly....although I do constantly worry about knocking someone down with my bicycle.  So I use my feet a lot too.  But using the bicycles makes the inner city much quieter and the air is noticeably clean compared to other cities of this size. The food is perhaps my favorite thing about Tokyo (except of course for Kyoko).  Raw fish...raw everything...cheap sushi, sashimi, udon noodles...all feels clean and tasty.  Kyoko takes us to the Tokyo fish market.  Got to get up early....330 AM to catch the action.  I see the boats that bring the fish in, the gigantic tuna waiting to be auctioned off, and every type of shellfish I might imagine.  The enormous volume of fish and other seafood here on one day of the fish market in one city in the world really brings home the concept of overfishing and the depletion of fisheries.  Hard to imagine the amount of total biomass right here today....what it took to produce that biomass...and how much could the ocean possibly have left to offer? But I see the fish moved from the boats thru processing to packaging and selling...all the way to eating some smooth sashimi at 6 AM the same morning...a willing participant in its consumption.  Kyoko tells us that the tuna fishermen are going on strike on July 15 to protest the high fuel costs...no tuna for Japan that day...not a good situation.   Tokyo is an interesting city and I get a good sense of it on the seat of Kyoko's bicycle. The pace of life is intense...an industrialized country with people working so hard...Kyoko works 12-16 hrs per day...her boyfriend about the same.  Can't imagine too many Americans committing to those kinds of hours.  After coming to Japan by way of S America and then Indonesia, I'm challenged by the reserve people show....there's no meeting of the eyes followed by a friendly grin...a whole different culture...one filled with respect and hospitality...generous in a completely different way.     I'm grateful for all that is shared with me in the short week I'm in Japan but it is clear to me that this is not my culture...or one that I could easily live within.   And yet, with appreciation, I take home the gifts of exposure to a culture so different which only sharpens my understanding of how I choose to live in and impact our world.  July 14Time to head home...my international travels completed for this year.  A small taste of the world...so much more to explore.  Mixed emotions...does this ever have to come to an end?  And yet I'm excited about resuming the life that is comfortable to me and gives me so much joy.   A tiring trip back east...it seems like it's taking forever.  But at the end of this plane ride, I'll reconnect with Corey as she arrives home from her summer in Italy...there'll be plenty of rest and nurturing at my mom's home and friends, who have been so supportive and of generous heart, to reconnect with.   Thank you all for being an important part of my journeys this past year...your emails and encouragement and interest have been invaluable in allowing me to focus on each moment of my experience.  And it has truly been a year of experience that I'll never forget.   
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1215370740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1215370740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1215370740/tpod.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:32:57 -0400 Didn't someone mention India??.... aka...you need a WHAT ?!?!?

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

July 6Have you ever heard of Garra rufa?  Well they're these little fish that love to gobble up the dead skin off of your body.   And they are the latest body therapy.  This all originated in Turkey and apparently people there submerge their bodies in the streams that these fish live in to feed the fish....with their dead body cells that is.  Now there are shops in Kuala Lumpur with these big fish tanks loaded with fish ...you soak your feet in them and....there you have it...healthier feet!  So how could one resist trying it....there are three shops in the city...we see this one in the middle of Chinatown...you face out into the throngs of people combing the street for bargains while your feet are being denuded of dead tissue.  Hardly seems a relaxing therapy.  But we go to a Garra rufa shop in Bangsar...this sort of up and coming neighborhood...it's got a shop that's clean and according to Jasmin, our couchsurfing host, the fish just look healthier.   We pay our 38 ringitts (about 13 dollars) to have our feet exfoliated for about thirty minutes.  You first have to scrub them in the tub...get off all the oil and road grime...then you sit on a nice little pillow, and stick your feet into the water.  I see this man sitting calmly while the fish work on him....and then there is a family in the smaller tank on the side of the room.  Takes me a minute to stick my feet in there ...when I do the fish immediately come over to see what I've got to offer them.  And it tickles and feels weird and is kind of gross....you cant help but laugh and get a bit shkeeved out.  You feel them nibbling away...at all the corners, between your toes, under your feet....the big ones are especially intense...sometimes the stimulation is too much for me and I have to shake off my feet...disperse the fish and start over.   But after a while, I kind of get used to the sensation...I kind of like it...it's almost meditative.   I watch the other people around me go thru a similar transition...getting absorbed by the sensation...  So we spend our 30 minutes in the tank...take lots of photos because this really does seem like an absurd act...and then we're done.  Our feet are healthier?  More translucent they say... there's now room for more healthy tissue to grow?  Truth is it would take probably a year of daily treatments for those little fish to consume all my dead foot flesh...but I examine my feet closely out in the light.  Basically the same...a little cleaner and softer....but then they've been soaking for quite a while fish or not.   Worth it?  Well I've had the experience and it was delightful but I don't imagine that I'll ever have to repeat it.  But I do think about how a shop like this on 5th avenue would really be a hit.  Very little space needed....a few tanks...some fish imported from Turkey...an easily saleable concept...plenty of inquisitive walk-ins...lots of money to be made.  All I need are some people to put up the front money....any investors out there???  July 8Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...an exotic name like this...I'm expecting some ability to feel it's history...but this is a bright shiny city...as modern as NYC except for the structures...everything here has been recently built...there are skyscrapers, there are malls, and there are highways..  Our CS host says the KL has first-class facilities but a third-world mentality.  It's obvious that there is good money in this city...the "golden circle" and the hip Bangsar area make you feel like you could be in any thriving city.  But then there are the other parts...the ethnic, old-world-like parts...the multitude of Indian or Chinese open-air restaurants/markets.  Jasmin wants to make sure we try all the foods possible (seems we're eating around every corner), and see all the sights.  She diligently escorts us around the city...until I feel like I'm ready to drop from exhaustion.  But I do feel like I see the city pretty thoroughly.  I've got to admit, one of my favorite days is going out to the Batu Caves.  I'm thinking I'm going to see a cave loaded with bats but then Jasmin reminds me it's not Bat Caves but rather Batu Caves, a highly spiritual place...has nothing to do with bats.  But...the area is loaded with monkeys...and plus the caves are awesome...serious stalactite action.  You've got to climb far too many steps to get into the caves and up inside is a Hindu temple and cool rock formations (check out the photos).  This is the place the ritual of Thaipusam begins, the ceremony of Hindu penitents.  Kind of like Good Friday in Quito, people pierce their body and pull things around...they're entranced, feeling no pain, but the pictures of it look pretty wild...and it draws mobs of people.  But it's not happening right now...a different season.  Got to settle for beautiful caves and monkeys.   One high point comes afterwards, when we're cooling off with some coffee and fancy pancake/curry-like Indian food in the café below...the waiter is into demonstrating some coconut hair oil so we provide that opportunity...get a head/oil massage, a new hairdo and a welcome shoulder massage.  These guys are quite entertaining, I feel completely refreshed and well nourished...a perfect end to our enthralling visit to Batu Caves. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1215023040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1215023040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1215023040/tpod.html Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:24:19 -0400 Didn't someone mention India??.... aka...you need a WHAT ?!?!?

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Penang, Malaysia

July 1As I write this we are on the 'high speed ferry' (and that's debatable) heading to Penang, Malaysia.  Our Indonesian visas expire tomorrow...US citizens get one month to be here...which is hardly enough to fully explore this extensive chain of islands.  But we'll go to Malaysia for a week and then fly out of Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo and after a week there, it's good ole New York!! But let me tell you about our wild transition between idyllic Lake Toba and Malaysia.  First of all, I could barely drag myself away from the beauty, the food (Jennie - the one with the magic mushroom omelettes also made an amazing guacamole and vegetable taco....not what you'd expect....but exquisite), the people.   Annette, the German woman, introduces me to Alfonso, a Batak man, who started a program called Toba Dreams.  It's all about combining the music, the people, and the environment to preserve the Lake Toba area.  So it started with a rewriting of traditional Batak music and putting on a concert by musicians from Jakarta and using the proceeds to start planting trees all over the island.  His goals include promoting an environmental education program in the grade schools and awareness raising regarding the value of Toba to the Batak people and the need for its conservation.  So I spend some time with Alfonso, he shares his work and his goals with me...and his enthusiasm...he really wants me to visit the forestry station where he works but I am simply out of time.  But I get some great footage of him plus a video he helped create about the project.  Alfonso is a quiet man but so committed to his plan...his 'of course' attitude makes it evident that success is inevitable.   So it's time to go to Malaysia...no easy thing...we take a boat over to Parapat on the mainland...we wait around for a public bus to Medan, the noisy and unattractive -at least what I've seen of it - city on the coast of Sumatra.  Now a word abut Sumatran buses....probably the most skanky buses I've traveled in all year.  The seats are made for narrow people....and Sumatrans are not narrow and neither am I, there are jaggedy metal pieces sticking out in surprise places...they get beyond jammed packed...the only windows that open are along the top...AND you are allowed to smoke on them!!!    Haven't been in a country yet where you're still allowed to smoke on a bus.  And it seems like most of the men decide the bus is a perfect place to overindulge their addiction...a constant stream of lighting up, sharing cigarettes....lighting up again...and no effort made to blow the smoke out a window....And I have to say, I've only seen men smoking in Sumatra.  If the women are doing it, they're private about it...but it's a free for all on the bus with the men.   I noticed it right away the minute we landed in Sumatra at the airport...I could hardly retrieve my luggage because the smoke was so thick.  Not so on the other Indonesian islands.   Anyway I am attempting to act comfortable, squeezing my hips into a too tight space....and my shoulders....I'm hanging off the seat into the aisle and my spine is doing an S shape to accommodate the armrest.  But the woman I'm sharing my seat with is very sweet, even in our non-verbal communication, and then there's this little girl across the aisle....I break out the Peruvian finger puppet and we have a great time....she gives me a huge hug when it's time for her to get off the bus...the ladies around us are thoroughly amused and smiling and pleasant.  Even though our bodies seem closer than one should be to a complete stranger.   And then, dead stop.  Up ahead there's a bus hanging off the edge of the road over this steep drop.  Did I mention that this road climbs steadily along steep slopes masked only by the growth of abundant vegetation along the sides?  Well, the bus has taken out the guardrail and it looks like the 2 side wheels are on the edge.  Traffic is stopped in both directions....maybe we won't even get to Medan tonight?  How long might it take to clear up this traffic jam...we debate getting our bags off the bus and walking back to Lake Toba...it's a long hike but it's downhill and I'd rather be stuck there than here.   But I chat it up with people in some other stuck cars...and it is a scene...it looks like there is a big crowd of people giving the bus a heave in the right direction...and believe it or not, in some reasonable amount of time, the bus gets unstuck and we all begin to move.   And even with the squishiness, the ride is pleasant...but all too soon the group shifts...my favorite people get off and more and more and more people climb in...I'm now next to this guy with shoulders far too wide for the space....the aisles are more than full...the smoke is thick...I'm feeling totally hot and claustrophobic...every time we hit a larger town, I'm hoping it's Medan...but I find out from other passengers that it's still hours away.    Ok, no need to belabor the point here...the ride was challenging me.  But finally we arrive in Medan...still a big ugly (to me) city.  And it's dark.  And we're on a section of the road that's torn up by construction...a real mess.  And then the bus stops.  I'm expecting to be let out at some bus station...lights, maybe a little food, transportation options...but no....here's what I see here...  Totally black night...no street lamps of any sort...the only light provided by small bonfires here and there in the rubble. I see small groups of men hanging around...pretty much havoc.  We have to move quickly to retrieve our luggage off the bus.  It looks like we're holding up traffic since we stopped in what seems like the roadway of the construction zone.  Immediately we're surrounded by men trying to get us to ride on their motorbike at large sums of rupiah.  In situations like this, one has to stay cool, act like you're not over stimulated, but rather that you know exactly what you want to do.  I'm really just trying to see into the darkness and decide which of these men does not smell like alcohol...and who can actually carry both of us and our luggage on their cart.   So we settle on this young guy who believes he can do it....I'm just thankful to hop on board and have someone carry me out of this hell hole we've arrived at.  In our little cart powered by a tiny motorbike, we negotiate thick, dirty, fast-moving traffic...and little by little the scenery changes...the city is still pretty haphazard but we arrive at the hostel we were aiming for....of course, it's full...we check in at another...the room is an ammonia scented box with a nasty hole in the ground for a toilet...can't do that right now.  So we sweat our way around the neighborhood and our only choice is a fancy hotel for Indonesians.  The minute they open the door we are appeased by the feel of air-conditioned coolness...no matter what we're staying right here.   Welcome to Medan...can't wait to hop on that 'high speed' ferry to Malaysia in the morning.   July 2It's Malaysia today...new country.  And that is obvious.  We locate in Penang, on the northwestern coast.  It's an old colonial town previously controlled by the British.   It's really an island just off the coast.  And as soon as you enter Penang you can see that there's more wealth here than in Indonesia, especially Sumatra.  There are some very well maintained colonial structures, people noticeably weigh more, and there are far more cars than motorbikes.  Nice cars too...the roads up until now have been crowded with motorbikes and rickshaws....here we've got cars with AC.   The cultural mix is so interesting here.  There are the Chinese in an area which is probably the oldest part of town, little India with music blaring in the streets and Bollywood videos on display, and then the Malay people.  Each area seems to strongly retain its own culture, clearly expressed in places of worship, in food, in the music, and by looking at the faces.   There is some great food here....still pretty cheap and really tasty.  And it's my birthday.  We celebrate by going to the most upscale hotel in town for their buffet lunch.  And is that ever exquisite...including a chocolate fondue!!!  Plus all the seafood you might want to eat...grilled, baked, any way you might want it.  I think I eat about 2 dozen grilled to perfection scallops...I'm a little embarrassed to go back for more. There are a multitude of desserts...tiramisu, flan, fruits, cheesecakes, lots of chocolate.  After the meal all I can imagine doing is heading outside the door to sit by the side of the pool and digest.  It's really hot out...this luxurious place is right on the ocean...what more can you ask for.   And in the evening we decide to indulge? in a little bodywork.  Foot reflexology and a back massage.  The foot thing is big here...I personally have never had foot reflexology work but I've heard it can be agonizing if it's done right.  And I've got this guy working on my feet that doesn't hold back....some parts are ticklish, some muscles get relaxed, and then many areas are purely painful.  I can bear it because I know he's got to cover a lot of ground...he can only spend so much time in each painful spot...  He doesn't speak much English but points out all my body problems as identified by parts of my feet that hurt.  And then, my feet get a little time off and it's time to work on my neck and shoulders.  He goes right to the area of tension and reams on it....I think he does a great job but I can barely handle the intensity.  I walk out of there a year older and a new woman...well I don't know about new...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1214617920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1214617920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1214617920/tpod.html Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:25:45 -0400 Didn't someone mention India??.... aka...you need a WHAT ?!?!?

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

TukTuk, Sumatra, Indonesia

A somewhat sleepless night due to being awakened by a raucous man at our door...I guess he thought our room was his room...it was 3 in the morning and he was either drunk or high on Jennie's omelette with magic mushrooms...right there on the menu at this really nice restaurant...it's totally legal here and she said a lot of young male tourists order up the psychedelic omelettte.   Well finally this invader believed he might be at the wrong door and he went away...only after he had woken up about every one in the place by banging on the door and yelling.  So we decide to move on down the road to the Tabo Inn cottages....   We're staying on Lake Toba,  a naturally beautiful crater lake in north central Sumatra...should be a tourist haven and I guess at one time it was...but with the bombings in Bali around 2003 devastating tourism and a subsequent crash of the Indonesian economy, Lake Toba is still beautiful but with a deficit of tourists.  Which makes it perfect to visit in my mind...the facilities are in place...although a bit shabby...every place looks like it was built in the 70s or 80s and has not quite been kept up.  But if you travel here, I'd highly recommend a visit to the area.  The Batak people are delightful and you can easily spend a few days getting to know them and enjoying the quiet.  So Tabo Cottages are right on the lake...lovely, peaceful energy...run by a couple...an Indonesian man and a German woman and their family....the food is healthy...you can sit around all day, eat and swim and talk to people and never even leave the area.  The family is headed to a Batak wedding the next day and we are invited to join them.  The Bataks are the people of the area....strongly retaining their cultural heritage of music and dance and tradition.  I guess they used to be a pretty wild bunch, practicing headhunting and cannibalism...not any more though.    Now, a Batak wedding is a full day affair...maybe longer.   During the day, everybody is dressed in traditional outfits...there is a sort of big town meeting.  While the couple sit there saying nothing, the grooms family buys the bride from the bride's family.  May sound a bit disturbing except it's more a display of tradition than an out and out sale.  But money and goods do get exchanged...they reflect the wealth of the two families...each family has a microphone to pass around...it goes on for hours with the whole community present, everybody sitting on the ground (on tarps), and eating peanuts and the fermented grain drink (the one every culture seems to have...that tastes like sour yeast).   Then there's a meal, then each part of the family is honored...they take their seat near the couple and get a few prayers and recognition and then it's time for the gifting of the cloths (which I have a lot of photos of).  EVERYBODY has brought a traditionally woven cloth and brings it up to the couple, wrapping them in it, then putting rice on the couples head, then their own and then tossing some over their shoulder to the crowd, while saying their prayers for the couple and/or good wishes/words of wisdom.  All the while the band is playing this lively Batak tune...people are doing the Batak dance which I would be happy to demonstrate for you - it looks very much like an emo dance...very subtle).   Every once in a while a group busts out dancing some more radical steps...all while the couple receives blankets.  Meantime there are a few ladies behind the couple peeling off the blankets after they get loaded on and folding them into a sack.  You have to remember it's really hot out here and the couple would be smothered in blankets if these women were not doing their job.  It's so cool to be a part of this scene....we're the only non-Indonesians here...felt a little odd walking in but after lots of long questioning stares, then a few smiles followed by exchanged greetings, I feel more than welcome.  It's really a very emotional event and I'm wholly touched to watch this community expression of support for this new family.  There are tears expressed, laughter, and lots of dance....  We stay for a few hours, want to get home before dark....don't really like driving those motorbikes after dark....and then head back to the Tabo Cottages.  And after a tasty dinner in our favorite seats on the lake, it's time to retire to the super-suite, where they offered us a perfect room (including a huge breakfast), for only 150.000 rupiahs (that's about 15 dollars)....sounds really cheap although the place we were staying in previously was only 4 dollars each night.  Sumatra may be a little rough around the edges but with a place like this, I can't imagine wanting to leave soon.    
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1214235720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1214235720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1214235720/tpod.html Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:51:01 -0400 Didn't someone mention India??.... aka...you need a WHAT ?!?!?

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, Indonesia

All my clothes smell like musty river water.  Even after a thorough washing in some hard core detergent....sort of like they've been in a swamp too long.  And forget my boots...the ones that were new in January...wet too many times.  And in the jungle things don't ever really dry out.  So there's an accumulation of swampy water, hot sweaty feet, and no drying sunlight for days on end.  Actually it started in the Galapagos when they regularly got wet and sat on the boat deck only to get wetter.  But now they're intolerable.  Their last great act was a trek in the Sumatran jungle to seek orangutans and other assorted primates.   We connect with this guy Udin, minutes after we get off of the plane in Medan, Sumatra.  I was never aware of the fact that Sumatra is part of Indonesia...thought of it as it's own country...and the culture is very unique, just as it was in Java and Bali.  My primary focus in Sumatra is to go up north to see the orangutans.  I mentioned earlier that they are extremely endangered...their jungle home is being cut for palm oil plantations...the tree has a productive life of about 30 years and then it's cut for wood.  It's cheaper for palm oil companies (most if not all, being foreign companies) to cut down jungle on a new tract of land to plant more trees for palm oil rather than create a sustainable palm oil plantation.   So there goes the home of the orangutan...there are very few left...it's thought that they probably won't make it into the next decade. So we drive on up to Bukit Lawang, a town at the end of the road, after that there's only jungle.  If you hike in a ways you can visit the preserve that was established for the rehabilitation of orangutans...those that were rescued as pets or from other assorted places ( by the way, did you know that Ellen DeGeneres had/has a pet orangutan.  I know I'm going to investigate...time to give that pet up).  Apparently pet orangutans are very cute and social while they are young...and although an adult orangutan may still be great company, they are very active - they get into and tear up everything - and usually end up being kept in barred enclosures...very seldom is appropriate habitat created for the mischievous and strong pet.  So there are wild orangutans and semi-wild which are those that have been released.  The feeding station on the preserve provides bananas and milk to the newly released orangutans until they get bored with the lack of variety and get back into the groove of searching out their own food from the forest.   A little bit about Bukit Lawang.  It's a small town right on a river, the size of which is perfect for tubing...wide and shallow.  But about four years ago the town suffered a catastrophic flood....a dam upstream had been created by logged timber blocking the flow...the dam broke and the water level rose over 40 feet in a very short time.  Over 500 people died in the flood...the town was devastated....people watched others and their homes float downstream amongst logs and other debris.  We talk to one guy who witnessed and survived the flood...he just happened to be slightly upland when it happened.  He describes seeing the electrical poles crash down into the flood and watching the whole town light up during the night.  The town still has a tragic air about it...the event is still very present in conversation and awareness.   But on weekends, the river has families picnicking along the shore and all the kids tubing downstream.  It's so hot and muggy in this lowland part of the jungle that the river provides perfect recreation.   So we connect with Udin who is going to guide us on a 'trek' thru the jungle for a couple of days...that would include a night camping along the river and tubing back down...sounds fun, no?   It all starts with a visit to the feeding station.  We made out way up there the day before...you walk upriver a bit, then cross in this dugout canoe on a rope that seemed a little precarious me to, then we climbed an excessive number of steps but it was all worth it when we were surrounded by orangutans...they are so cool...they live up in the canopy but gracefully swing their way down to the feeding platform for milk and bananas and come right thru those of us watching them.  They have the mental ability of an 8 year old...they interact with the feeders who pour them cups of milk that they drink just like you or me.  They are completely fascinating to me...I could sit and watch them for hours....making faces, scratching, eating, making their way thru the jungle.   Although they seem very safe to be around, I get a little rush of adrenaline when one seems to walk right up to me...actually passing me to get somewhere else...but I don't budge....it seems like moving fast in any direction might be unwise.  When they get that close the reality of their size and wildness and their beauty is thrilling. When the feeding is over the trek begins in earnest.  And it seems like a never ending series of up and down hills...steep hills...and quite immediately I'm drenched...truly drenched,...in sweat...it's dripping in my eyes, ears...my clothes are soaked through.  Is the whole day going to be this difficult?  The climbs are so steep that my knees and thighs are starting to wear out...I try to use my hands to pull me up or keep me from sliding instead of hiking down.  At one steep part I start slipping on the wet clayey ground...got my arms braced against 2 trees on the side of the trail so I don't crash...but my body slides right between the trees and it feels like my shoulders do a 360...end up with an impressive bruise...check it out in the photos.   It's a tough hike.  But we get to see the king of the jungle....this huge male...he weighs about 90 kg...that's about 200 pounds I believe.  He's a wild one...never been anybody's pet...he has a territory of about 1 square km...the females within his area are his mates...he gets them pregnant and then is off by himself again...the babies are raised by the mothers.   So there he is up in the tree....looking serious and large and powerful...dark face...strong features...don't want to mess with this guy.  Well, we're watching and trying to get some good photos...he's down far enough where we can see his expressions...he's watching us intently.     And then, as we're right under him, he starts shaking the tree and coming down towards us...seems a bit irritated by the attention and wants to let us know it.  Not wanting to confront a large irritated orangutan, we all scurry down the trail...well more than scurry...I know that it's a serious adrenaline rush powering my scurrying!!  My foot gets caught in a thorny vine...I just about trip as I make a rapid dash away from this king of the jungle.  Nobody gets hurt...I think we probably amused him with our frantic response.   We watch a bit more...he is joined by another...they swing...we exchange glances... I can't believe I'm in the Sumatran jungle interacting with wild orangutans...beyond amazing.   Well after a lot more up and down steep trails we finally reach the top of the final descent...I can see the river below us that we'll be camping on.  Quite a steep descent it is!  Seems to go on and on...we cross one small stream that is the final downfall of my boots...water-logged by now.  After descending the slippery slope, the river needs to be crossed. Since I'm wearing most of the clothes I brought I'm thinking I ought to take some of them off to swim.  But truth is they're already saturated with sweat...a swim might serve to refresh them a bit.  Plus I desperately need to submerge my body to drop my core temperature after the day of jungle hiking.  One thing though...since it was so rainy the night before, the river is thick with golden silts...erosion from the upland... But we waddle our way across it... sit in it for a while to cool off.  And there, on the opposite bank is our home for the night.  Actually it's a piece of plastic or two...very ingeniously supported by bamboo strips...of course there is no mosquito netting...or barrier between me and any other insects for the night...but it's all ok because Udin says there are no mosquitoes down here by the river.  Now I've never heard of a hot jungle without mosquitoes but I'm tired and there's really no choice but to be comfortable here.  Maybe comfortable is the wrong word.  The 'tent' is set up on a bed of large cobbly rocks...and our 'mattress' is about 1/16 of an inch thick...not exactly going to keep my bones cushioned from the rocks I'm sleeping on.  And then, it starts to rain....downpour actually.  But it's all still a big adventure...I'm thinking it's going to be one LONG night with a downpour like this.  Then the river starts to rise...pretty rapidly.  I never think it's a particularly great idea to sleep right next to a river on the side of a canyon.  And it's coming up fast...rocks that were visible when we arrived are submerged.  Udin acts like it's no big deal but with the history of this town and my own sense of dis-ease, I scope out the higher ground and plan for an escape if my feet start to get wet during the night.   And a couple of other things...no mosquitoes???  Well something is leaving welts on my legs...and then there are the red ants...that bite just because they're mean...and with my toes stinging from the ants sinking their teeth into them, I put my saturated boots (and socks) on for the night.  And after some dinner, I suppose it's time to make believe I'm going to sleep.  I've got my wet and muddy pants for a pillow....I'm sleeping in wet clothes and the ground is pure torture.  I'm awake thru most of the night...ok,  I got a little sleep here and there but I'm checking my watch at least every half hour...is this the worst nights sleep of my life?  I'm trying to decide if this falls in the top five....no actually the top three probably...... Morning comes....I'm ready to go back...but for some reason we have to hang around the camp all morning (and the red ants) before tubing back.   The monkeys make up for the ants (sort of) and the tubing back is great...way easier than hiking...end of another challenging event ...always worthwhile after it's over.  BUT a suggestion for those of you who attempt the same trip...if I were to do it again, I'd hike for the day, and then tube back for the evening when I was hot and dirty...forget the night sleeping on rocks, forget being eaten alive, just get in the tube and float back to the start and call it a day...and find a dry bed with a mosquito net over it and dream about the orangutans you saw that day...... 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213884840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213884840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213884840/tpod.html Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:27:16 -0400 Didn't someone mention India??.... aka...you need a WHAT ?!?!?

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Solo, Java, Indonesia

Maybe the snake charmer isn't exactly the right name for this guy...actually the 'snake slapper' would be more appropriate....well it all starts with a trip to Solo - or Surakarta being its real name...in Java.  It's about 2 hrs east of Yogyakarta and is the center of the universe for batik making.  It's also a zone red for travelers because it's the home base of an extremist Muslim group and there has been some action here in the past.  But we're going to check out the batiks....and the market is very cool...although it's sweatingly hot and there is no room to walk, let alone shop or actually try on things.  I hang in there pretty well until I can't take how closed in it is anymore and I head out the back to the food vendors.  As I look down the row of vendors, I don't see anything that I recognize in particular. But so far whatever I've ordered has been pretty good...except for the dish of livers, and then there was what seemed too be like tough fatty tissue in gravy...and then there's the fermented soy which I tasted in error...should've smelled it first, that would've done the trick.   But other than those things, I've enjoyed the spices that are used in food here, the veggies, whatever the carts have been selling.  So I sit down and order what I see somebody else eating...it's tricky here - not speaking the language at all...I don't recognize just about any of the words.  My only vocab consists of terimah-kasih (thank you), and Sampay jumpa (see you later), and Selamat Datang (welcome), and parasiwata (tourist), and a few other phrases that I mostly forget when I need them.   Anyway, over lunch I meet these 20-somethings that are just intrigued with who I might be...they join me and we have a chat that works out pretty well.  It's funny...sometimes here you feel like a movie star.  I see very few other tourists in Java and people will come up to you and ask to take their picture with you....or they'll send their kid over to you to practice a few English phrases.  People at first look at you like you might be a bit of an alien but then, if you smile and offer a greeting, you will always get a big smile and your greeting returned.  People generally love to have their photo taken...and if you can share a conversation, they really want to know a few things about you.  Well, after a delightful lunch, which in fact my new friends treated me to...which was very sweet of them, I do a bit more shopping...then back to the hostel for me.   The evening takes an unexpected direction when we join these people from the hostel to go eat snake meat.  I didn't know exactly what to expect...I thought we must be going to some restaurant they wanted to check out.  So we end up on this dark street with a little tienda...hardly resembles a restaurant to my western eyes....and there's a sign identifying it as the snake place.  After this point its all about the snake man.   I see a bunch of snake heads on the floor next to a hatchet and above which is a bloody counter.  Undoubtedly where the snakes have met their demise.  Then the snake man, who's clearly in charge of everything including all the snakes, starts pulling cobras out of a wire cage...first one, slaps it down on the cement floor, then another... and these are good-sized cobras...he keeps his SANDALLED foot on the tails and starts slapping them on the back of their head with his bare hand.  In their anger, they do the hiss and puff out the neck wide thing that cobras are known for...it's quite a scene.  He's so casual about it...smoking a cigarette and chatting at the same time with the Indonesian man we are with who does some translating for us.   Off in the corner there are a bunch of skinless snake bodies hung up...ready for the fryer.  Below that is a bloody plastic bucket full of snake guts.  So he keeps messing with the cobras...slap slap and hiss...all very threatening...I've never seen cobras do their thing this up close...wild...  Then he goes back to this other cage and pulls out this huge python...wraps it around his arm and his neck...offers it to us....I just rub its skin...don't really want it around my neck...although I'm sure snake man would rescue me from an eager constrictor if I needed it.    He shows us his snake wounds...two fingers that are warped and messed up b because when the snake got him, he had to cut out some flesh to get the venom out.  I take a few hand pictures...but they come out a bit blurry.  Also a hunk taken out of his ankle to remove venomed flesh.  He's very cool about it all...hazards of the job I guess.   Then a woman arrives by scooter with a bag full of ...you guessed it!...more cobras!!!  He takes them out one by one...counts to about 12...I guess they were just captured from somewhere and she's delivering the goods.  I notice some Red Bull-like drink on the counter that they consume here.  He says that when you chop the head off you mix the blood with some of this energy drink and it'll cure whatever you've got...diabetes, heart problems...anything.   This scene is pretty far out...I'm thinking a snake dinner is going to happen but it seems everybody in the group has gotten a little squeamish...looks like we're passing on the dinner...moving on to something less alive.  And that's fine with me...especially when someone else delivers this large turtle...larger than Apollo...about a foot in diameter.  He's already shown us all these shells of dead turtles  so I know that the prospects for this one do not look good....and I don't want to hang around and witness that action... I believe that I've just hit my boundary of tolerance.  So we head on over to a more docile scene...it's tofu and fried vegetables for dinner...plus a tiny and well spiced, crunchy eel to liven it all up.  Enough fine dining for one night....where's that Kentucky Fried?  because chopping snake heads off is one thing...but chickens?  I eat them... so I guess I must be ok with that.... 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213767420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213767420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213767420/tpod.html Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:10:42 -0400 Didn't someone mention India??.... aka...you need a WHAT ?!?!?

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia

June 18What an amazing adventure I had this evening...unexpected as they usually are.  Yogyakarta, (promounced joeg-ja-karta), which is a city in Java, has a bird market right in the middle of town, near the Sultan's palace.  I thought I'd check it out...never been to a bird market before...expected a bunch of caged birds for sale.  My main objective was to not breathe too deeply so as to avoid inhaling some avian flu.  So I weave my way around the palace grounds...a little bit about all that first.   Yes there is a very important leader here...and it's a Sultan.  I guess there are three cities in Java that have sultans ...a long tradition of sultanry.  And there is a town within the city that's walled in with these thick white cement walls that's sort of like Sultanland.  It's a small city within the bigger city and it not only contains the palace but also the Water Palace, which is where the Sultan used to hang out with his concubines.  It's a few bathing pools...very royal looking...water flowing from the dragons mouth.   The Sultan would have a concubine for every land he conquered...in one case 27 women representing him as a superpower conqueror of 27 lands.  So he'd bathe with them periodically as well as other assorted activities I'm sure...and when they had children together, that child would be 2nd level in the caste system because s/he was a blue blood...not bad really.   So this Sultanland, the community, also has lots of small houses within it to provide homes for the many, many  people serving the sultan's needs...like hundreds of people.  Those people were, and still are, provided housing free of charge as long as they pass the family job from one generation to the next.  We meet the family who serve a custodial role for the Sultan...specifically the cleaner of the toilet bowls in Sultan land.  And this guy proudly tells us about his family having passed down that job for 7 generations and how his older brother will inherit it when his father dies.  And that allows the whole family to remain in Sultanland free of charge....clearly there's a certain amount of prestige in serving the sultan in any way.    People around here seem to be proud of their Sultan....he is the third of his series...he has his royal elephants and this one only has one wife while the previous ones had more.  The present one has no sons (only 5 daughters), so when he dies-he's only 57 now- his 40 year old brother will inherit the job instead of his son.  I don't exactly know how the Sultan relates to the President of the country (whose name I really like...Cecelio Bambang Yudho-yuno)...I imagine the Sultan is largely royalty however he collects taxes and seems to dictate a lot of what happens.  Anyway, enough about Sultanville for now.  Back to the bird market... So I finally find the bird market and I'm looking around...it's very congested...narrow places to walk, loaded with people, bird cages, and what stands out immediately is the food for the birds, etc.  There are tanks of crickets and big roaches...there are rice baskets swarming with big ants (and rice)...there are sugar cane stalks hollowed out with maggots inside...all potential bird food.  There are twists and turns to this market...you squeeze your way thru the stalls...I'm the only non-local that I see...and as I weave my way around I start to see more than just birds.  I see turtles and then monkeys.   This man comes up to me asking me the routine questions...where are you from...how long have you been in Yogyakarta...and then starts giving me a personal tour of the place, showing me all the corners that hold animals.  I see a baby monkey in a cage...looking tiny and scared...I play with its hand...tears a little piece of my heart...I'd like nothing more than to release it and take it somewhere else.  I ask the guy what will happen to this monkey.   He says someone will buy it and train it to do things for him.  I ask how I might go about bringing this monkey into the USA if I should want to....is that possible?  He assures me that he can do it and I begin to realize that he's thinking I might be interested in smuggling some of these animals abroad.   Now I've read books about the trade in exotic pets...it's mind boggling how much it goes on and how animals are mistreated in the process. Anyway, I decide to go with the flow...see how far I can go with this...learn a little bit about how the illegal trade in exotic animals works...it happening right in front of me.  So my guide now starts to show me all sorts of stuff I would not have seen otherwise...stuff that's under canvas and behind doors...I see some huge snakes, iguanas, small bats, way too big bats hanging upside down and tracking me as I try to take their picture.  I see animals that I can't really identify, like this thing that's about a foot and a half long with a snake-like head and four limbs - it's supposed to be related to the Komodo Dragon - and a long and narrow forked tongue that it keeps lashing out to sense me.  What breaks my heart is that its face is bruised and bloodied because it's working so hard to get out of its cage, pressing its mouth around the wires.   As much as I am totally fascinated and surprised to be so close to where this kind of stuff happens, seeing these animals stuck in cages experiencing pain, imprisoned, and with perilous destinies...it is so sad ... heartbreaking....and it makes it hard to continue this absurd tour I've found myself on.  But my guide continues to reveal details to me... He tells me about how he handles his customer in Germany who deals in exotic pets - shows me this guys card.  He says that no longer can you successfully smuggle birds out of the country...you used to be able to pay people off at the airport, but now the way to do it is to smuggle the eggs across.  And you don't even have to carry them....he has a friend make him fake shoes and he puts the eggs in a carved out, well-padded heel and then sends them across undetected.  He says he knows where to go in the jungle and, at night, he listens to the sounds of the animals...the birds.  Then the next morning, knowing exactly where their nests are, he goes and swipes their eggs.  It only takes about 4 days to send them by air to the dealer.  All seems pretty far out to me.   But this guy says he can get me any type of bird I might want.  He leads me down all these alleyways to show me these prized and illegal gotten cockateels.  They are beautiful, big white birds with yellow plumes on their heads...he's telling me how they will mate and produce eggs.  Or they will be sold to someone at ten million rupiahs locally...that's about one thousand dollars...lots of money here.   We continue our weaving thru these back laneways of the bird market...he continues to lift canvas flaps and uncover beautifully colored birds...I can't remember their names...but most are from the jungle.  He tells me how to set them up at home....how big the cage should be...how to place it on soft ground so they can scratch it up to lay their eggs there without breaking them.  How and what to feed them...all the details of bird care.  Its as though he's still interested in their welfare once they get to their destination...which, for me, is an odd mix with dealing in their illegal trade...seems somehow incongruous. I want to walk around the bird market a bit more...that little monkey is calling me back, like I could ever possibly share in or ease it's pain...  The dealer says that maybe he could arrange to bring a small monkey across....with it slightly drugged and well fed and given milk every 4 hours, he can keep it quiet...and he might be able to pay off friends at the Indonesian airport too help him get it out of the country.  I'm more than done with this charade...I've learned enough... the images of these trapped animals is not easily forgotten...the striking reality of the situation is almost unmanageable.  My guide provides me with all the contact information I might need to request a shipment.  I head out of this underworld of animal trade and back into the busy streets to contemplate my part in this seemingly absurd picture.   
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213334580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213334580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213334580/tpod.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:21:27 -0400 Didn't someone mention India??.... aka...you need a WHAT ?!?!?

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Lovina, Bali, Indonesia

June 12Crack of dawn on a spider boat out to visit with the dolphins and then some snorkeling on the reef.......all sounds  great except that last night was a night of hellacious hot....the hotel is great....even has a swimming pool and, with breakfast included, it costs a mere $6 per person.  Swimming pools around here seem to be common...seems like an extravagance but labor is cheap and it's hot enough around here to use it all year.  However the fan on the ceiling, which is essential even in the most basic hotels, rotates in s-l-o-w motion...which means no breeze...which means that the windows have to be wide open to avoid suffocation...which means the mosquitoes are in charge for the night.  Now normally there are a few mosquitoes, but between the fan and a light sheet, you can deal.  But without either you're just food for them.  So I personally was up most of the night, scratching and sweating, and tossing and complaining.  Plus I've got all the jellyfish allergens in my blood so add onto those a pile of mosquito bites and all I can do is take Benadryl to knock myself out.   But I'm still awake every 15 minutes...I even contemplate trying to sleep in the pool with my body submerged to the neck....my head resting somehow on the side.  Eventually 5:45 AM arrives and I hear our boat driver calling us.  Next thing, we're on the boat in the dark looking for dolphins.  I guess the dolphins have been awake for hours and they're great as always...full of energy and the sunrise is spectacular...but the most amusing part is the crowd of spider boats out there loaded up with tourists circling  the dolphin family, probably disturbing their rest time and interrupting some critical life cycle.  Myself, I can hardly keep my eyes open...the Benadryl is still making me sluggish and sleepy....my goal is to keep my butt in the boat and not nod off and fall over the side...the boat is barely wide enough for me to fit into it, the sides squeezing me a bit...but one lapse of consciousness and I'd be over the edge....and, especially as we head back to land...the waves are rocking me out.  But I make it back, drop onto the bed, postpone the snorkeling for another hour and get pulled into a comatose-like sleep. A nap and 3 cups of Balinese coffee later we're off to snorkel....you can't fall asleep in the water and the views are magnificent.  The water is perfect body temperature, a clear blue brilliance, and the reef is rich with activity.  Once again, I'm delighted to be immersed in this marine world...all I have to do is float and it all plays out beneath me.  I see this organism that looks like a very large, bloated sand dollar with a patchwork of colors on its exterior...never seen that before.  Snorkeling...always worthwhile...getting back in the boat, not as easy...no ladder...got to boost my body up over the side...which is pretty high...I'm bigger than the guy pulling me in...it's a struggle...but a few grunts and groans and scrapes and bruises later...we're headed back to the island of Bali and Dewa to see the rice-paddied landscapes as we drive back down to the south.  June 13The Balinese cremation ceremony...I've been hearing about it...trying to understand the ritual as it is practiced here...with the language barrier I'm getting mixed understanding.  But the opportunity arises to participate in a cremation ceremony.  It's important to understand here that the Balinese seem to welcome visitors into just about every aspect of their lives.  When you visit a temple, you often witness ceremonies.  They go on around you as daily life does and you get to learn about Balinese culture.  No place I've traveled has offered this direct look into family and community life.   It's as though the Balinese really want to share their culture...they want you to learn about it.   They are a very non-judgmental group...their version of Hinduism...Balinese style...is so much a part of their daily activities and the way they interact with everybody in the world around them.  Prayer and making offerings are a large part of every day.  And creating good karma through right relationships...I was on a beach the other day and a woman was offering me a massage...I was not ready for it at the moment...but she decided to give me a sample of her ability to show that she knew what she was doing...not that I doubted that.  But she said to me..."I will give you good massage...if not, it's my karma, not yours".  Like it would come right back at her if she was a phony.  Living a life based on karma is a powerful act.   I was talking to Dewa the other day, asking him about whether the rats were a problem in the rice paddies.  And he says - of course...and I ask what is done to control them.  He makes it VERY clear that they do not kill them.  He says something like "If we kill one, two will come, if we kill two, three will come...it is not right to kill them."  What they do instead is no surprise....they make offerings and pray for a good harvest and pray that the rats will respect their needs and lives.  And then, if it is to be so, so it will be.  I just loved his answer because for me it epitomized the perspective of Balinese Hinduism that forms the framework of the lives of these people.   So back to the cremation ceremony.   We don our sarongs and join a family at their home, who are celebrating the death of a man that died a few days ago at about 55 years of age.  They welcome us in as family...like they know us or something...there is a massive feast of traditional food going on...we are offered to share the meal with them.  The brother of the man to be cremated talks to us about the cremation, making us feel totally welcome...the children are curious and playful...and the women, who are busy preparing food and offerings, are a bit more shy, but completely welcoming as well.    After about an hour of celebrating with family and neighbors, the box with the dead man in it is removed from the family altar in their backyard (which you can see in the photos) and placed up on a new, mobile altar (maybe shrine is a better word) to be carried through the streets.  The procession, including offerings piled high on the heads of the women, is like a parade...lots of people, all beautifully dressed...with musical accompaniment - the traditional gongs, gamelans and things that look like metal pots...it all ends at the cemetery where a structure of bamboo awaits for the actual cremation of the body.   But first, the body of the man is removed from the box and many blessings are made.  His body is circled by family and friends and he is showered with flowers, and blessed water, woven cloths, and many prayers with the family gathered around him.  The atmosphere is solemn but celebratory at the same time.  A few members of the family collapse, expressing their grief...they are carried to the side and tended to.  It is preferred that people do not cry or show their grief at these ceremonies...it is believed that this will slow the individuals passing to his next incarnation.  But it is also recognized that some people can't control their grief as well as others...no judgment is made...it is understood that everybody will be trying their best.   After the prayers, the fire under the bamboo structure with the mans body inside of it is lit with gas torches....the fire rises up under the body...it is time for us to leave so that  the immediate family can be alone and together with each other ...after the burning, they will gather the ashes and they will be sprinkled in the sea.    The elaborately decorated shrine that he was carried in on will also be burned...it looks like a work of art to me but it would not be appropriate to use it for anything else.  Even our sarongs cannot be worn again...they must be washed after a cremation.   We leave and reflect on the beauty of this experience...the open heart with which it has been shared.  And the respect for this traditional culture that only increases with exposure and learning...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213151760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213151760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1213151760/tpod.html Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:33:52 -0400 Didn't someone mention India??.... aka...you need a WHAT ?!?!?

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

My body is beyond itchy today.  This morning I wake up...it's about 5:30 AM and I'm scratching all over the place.  I'm thinking that some savage mosquito must have snuck in under the mosquito netting and it getting its belly full.  But I'm feeling strings of welts on my skin.  Could it be bedbugs?  Or something like chiggers...or scabies?  The place we're staying in seems clean and well kept so I'd be surprised if it were any of those.  Plus I wasn't itching the night before.  I finally get up, inspect the itchy spots and notice the welts are pretty linear in places and they are popping up all over.  Then it hits me...those darn stinging jellyfish yesterday in the ocean.   While it was happening, it felt like sharp little burns and, in some places, the sting lasted longer than others.  And especially when they got underneath my bathing suit, they got a prolonged opportunity to travel around and dig in.  Well I thought that as long as I could deal with the immediate stinging I'd be done with it after that.  But I guess my body took about 14 hours to fully react and now it's all out on fire.   All the histamines have kicked in...I look like I've got chicken pox...glad I had a mask on, at least my face isn't itchy.  And of course when you obsessively scratch in the humid tropics, your skin pretty quickly wears out...so now I'm getting a little raw in spots.  More than anything, it's all just driving me crazy.  I took some pictures so you could all commiserate...not quite the same as being in this skin though.  I just took some Benadryl...hopefully it'll numb me out and I'll be able to sleep.  It may take two to accomplish all that.   So today we head back to Ubud from Padangbai, the beach town responsible for both my delight and misery....I've got some connections I want to make in Ubud.  So I rent a motorbike...it only costs 5 dollars a day here but the driving is a bit treacherous...it seems you can drive anywhere you want on these things.  Did I mention that they drive on the opposite side of the road here?  And it's sort of a free for all.  You can go whichever way you want on a motorbike...drive on sidewalks...anything.  You've just got to be very careful...and yet drive offensively....cause if you wait on the defensive you'll get cut off all over the place.  I try to stick near other motorbikes esp when I'm making a turn cause that's a very tricky proposition.  And the whole while I've got it in mind that motor vehicle accidents (esp motorbikes) are responsible for more tourist injury and death than any other one cause.  I sure can understand why.  Well, all that said, it's great to be scooting along thru the countryside of Bali.  I keep reminding myself to pay attention to the road and not to the multiply distractive displays along the way....rice fields, people doing all sorts of assorted daily tasks, artwork, animals...a rich visual distraction.   I head out to the Green School.  It's a new international school being built as a sustainable community.  I met this guy in a restaurant and he told me about it...it's about 14 km outside of town so I go to check it out.  It's really very impressive...I interview some folks out there that have been creating this unique environment.  It's built out of bamboo only (and there are some very enormous and creative bamboo structures out there), all food consumed will be grown on-site, there are alternative energy systems in place including a vortex generator (I had never heard of this either but it takes stream energy and creates a vortex to spin a turbine to create energy), plus a methane collector and they're planning to build a gasification plant (which is about as cutting edge as you can get and expensive!!).  The idea is to create a self-sustaining school community which will serve as a model for the rest of the world as well as to provide alternative education for ex-pats and local Indonesian kids.   So I get a tour of the place...it is truly incredible...although I do have some reservations about the elitism of this type of private education.  I meet the mastermind  behind the school...actually he's the funder and the driving force...an interesting character...rather brash, either just not particularly socially graceful or feeling outside of the need for social graces.  Anyway we get in this long talk...I'm pretty candid about my concerns regarding this type of set up...and pass along some invaluable insights that I can't resist voicing, about contribution to the community and who we are really serving here...plus some thoughts about science teaching.    I find his brashness kind of amusing...he feels like a downstate New Yorker to me....he gets all enthused about my concept of teaching science totally experientially (even though it's largely a concept not supported by the NYS education system) so he offers me a job teaching science there.   Although I'm amused by this guy, I really wouldn't want to work for him...and besides there's that elitism issue.  I wonder, how many Indonesian kids are going to be benefiting from this school?  I'll have to follow the progress as it all unfolds.   I scooter my way back to town and track down the SOS woman.  That's the Sumatran Orangutan Society - the goal of which is to save the habitat of the orangutan.  There are only two places in the world that the orangutans live, northern Sumatra and Borneo.  And because we use palm oil in a huge array of products that we not only use for personal care but consume (including Girl Scout Cookies!!), we're all contributing to the tearing down of the rainforest of the orangutan.  In the very, very near future there won't be anywhere for them to live...in fact they're talking about having to euthanize some of those that have been rehabilitated (having been retrieved from homes, esp in China, where they are a fashionable pet).  But there's just no where for them to go.  The rainforest is torn down to grow palm trees for their oil and once the tree is no longer productive, it is cut down, the wood sold, and another area of rainforest gets cut down for the next crop.  I think there are something like 700 left in Sumatra and about 5000 in Borneo...that's it...no more anywhere else...on the verge of extinction...creatures that have pretty much the same gene pool as humans.   I learn a lot from Joyce the orangutan activist...she's volunteered all over the world in all sorts of programs...not just conservation.  Her passion for her work is so striking...and her desire to make a difference, to contribute in some way to sustaining our planet is tangible.    An amazing day...and then there's the drum circle.  A pile of people from the community in the park in a big drum jam.  Plenty of instruments to share...I get there a little late...I was captivated by the story of the orangutans....but I grab a shakere and later a drum and it's a great scene...facilitators from 6 different countries and drummers from the international community  of Ubud.  I hang in till the end...still a little daylight to scooter around some of the back roads...but as it gets dusky the air becomes thick with bugs and they get in my eyes and mouth so I decide to call it a day....a full one...lots to think about...and lots of scratching to do tonight...always... 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1212992340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1212992340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rawhideone/5/1212992340/tpod.html Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:08:32 -0400 Didn't someone mention India??.... aka...you need a WHAT ?!?!?

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Padangbai, Indonesia

Been feeling generally overheated since getting here...like I'm constantly sweating and sticky...I swear, even the bath water is sticky.  But today my core temperature is cooled down.  I grab snorkel gear and head over to what's called The Blue Lagoon...a cove along the coast with blue water.  It involves some climbing up, up, up and then down again...these steps are like 12 inches high....doesn't do my knees any good.....but I get down to a bay that looks like it's right out of a travel magazine....there's a warung (that's a family-style restaurant), and always plenty of people selling things already on the beach.  There are also a bunch of Australians.... I guess it only takes about 4 hours to get here from some places in Australia so it's a very popular place for the folks down under to vacation here...and right now it's getting closer to Australian winter...why not head to Bali?   Since I'm all hot and sweaty from the walk over I try to dodge the vendors for a moment - unlikely - and get right into the water.  I've found that if you say 'not right now, maybe later' to their requests to buy, they're pretty cool, or at least more likely to back off.  Perhaps it's culturally insensitive to flat out say no.   Well, the blue lagoon is another great place to snorkel.  Except right from the start I've got these pinprick sensations on my skin....just like a hot spark from a fire landed on my skin...lots of hot sparks.  And some of those sparks get stuck under the edge of my bathing attire and keep sparking.  It reminds me of when I took a bunch of students snorkeling in Florida and the first few in were ouching because these one-celled jellyfish-type creatures with stinging cells were setting their skin on fire (remember that AS and EF?)  Well there I was again amongst the stingers...all you can do is act like it's not happening and enjoy the experience...and it's a good one.  Lots of different fish swimming amongst the coral...perfect temperature water...no vendors trying to sell me anything. I really don't fault these vendors...they do have beautiful things to sell...sarongs, wood crafts, paintings...and more.  And they sell their work far below any amount we might pay in the states...far below what anyone's time is worth.  And I'm happy to contribute to the local economy...I am being treated so well by the people in this country...everyone smiles, everyone says hello...people are kind and generous...their spirituality is at the core of the way they interact with you.   One woman who is trying to convince me to get a massage tells me how good it will be for my muscles and how, if she uses her magic coconut oil, I will have smooth Balinese skin.  And if I use it on my stomach it will cure any ailment I might have...or over my sinuses-they will be cleared...and she provides me with a sample of her massage technique...and I have to admit my neck and back are a little tight...but she's got me....So I get myself an hour massage for 50,000 rupiahs-that's about 5 dollars -for an hour.  Crazy, no?  I also buy some of the coconut oil because I'm sure ill find some ailment to treat...plus it's supposed to prevent the stingers from stinging...besides I'm all about having some of that silky Balinese skin.  And then, after my massage, which is delightful I might add, I'm surrounded by all sorts of other vendors.  Although they're the most persistent vendors of any country I've been in so far, they are not offensive....most of them are really pleasant to engage with, even if you don't buy.  And at this point I have bought enough sarongs, and paintings...I don't want to weigh my suitcase down any more yet.  But it's all very tempting.... I head back to my hotel...the Topi Inn...a very nice place to stay in Padangbai if you ever get here...right on the beach....8 dollars per night for two people...all open air, plenty of fans....good people...staffed by family...I have myself a meal of fresh grilled mahi-mahi and get ready to snorkel out at the reef in the afternoon...not a bad day.  
]]>