Nusa Lembongan and back to Kuta, Indonesia 2-16-10

When we arrived in Nusa Lembongan we had to walk along the shore with our bags on our back for about a mile till we reached our guest house (I had heard this one was good from others and also found it in my SE Asia guidebook). We passed several seaweed farmers along the beach (the main industry on this island is seaweed farming), settled into our place, and checked out the area. The island is pretty small with only a few roads inland.

We rented surfboards for $5 a day from a board rental shop and in the morning paid to have a boat bring us to the board rental shop and then straight out to the waves ($2 each for the ride). Dan and I surfed for 3 hours and it was amazing! The sets were nice and only 10 of us were out there sharing the waves. When we started to feel pretty sunburned we waved our boards sided to side in the air and our boat driver came back to get us.

I looked in the mirror at home and realized I was pretty burnt. We cut off some aloe leaves from the plants nearby and turned our room fan on high (no ac) to cool down. In the evening we met a couple from Australia who were on their honeymoon and we all had some drinks near the water and chatted till it was dark. The clouds spelled the work BALI in the sky. It was pretty magical.

The whole next day I stayed inside and repeated the aloe application process. In the evening, Dan and I took a motorbike to Sunset Beach and watched the sun set with a couple Bintang beers. It was a perfect evening. I took a few pictures of Dan doing backflips off a ledge onto the sand and when it started to turn dark we headed back. We only got lost once and we made it home alright.

In the morning we had a rushed breakfast and then booked it to our boat. We had to trek along the sand back to where we got dropped off on that first day. Except this time, we didn’t have a local guy following us and carrying a couple bags for us, we had to run.

We made it on the boat just in time and sailed back towards Kuta. We checked back into Kedin Inn and while I stayed out of the sun and caught up on my albums/blogs, Dan hired a driver to take him to a good surf spot, Uluwatu. In the evening we saw a beautiful sunset and then hired some long boards to go for a surf. For dinner we had watermelon shakes and fresh grilled fish. Good to be back.

At 1:30am we woke up and waited for our 2:00am van pick up. We had arranged for a driver to take us to  a volcano in the middle of the night so we could hike to the top by sunrise. We drove 2 hours away to the volcano called Agung Batur, had a light breakfast at a little stop off (banana pancakes with tea and a banana to eat), and then started hiking in complete darkness with only flashlights to light our way.  A couple hours later, Dan, Wayan (our guide), and I were at the summit and watched the sunrise from the top of the volcano, it was incredible. Wayan made us banana sandwiches, toast, hard boiled eggs, and coffee/tea. Monkeys were at the top of the volcano and we took some pictures of them and of the view of course. After hiking through the pitch black night with flashlights, it was nice to head back down the volcano and see what we had walked through.

Once on solid ground, Dan and I got into a sand volleyball game with some locals and then we headed to a thermal bath/spa nearby. We spent about an hour there and then headed back towards Kuta. We headed straight to the beach, rented surf boards, and paid a driver to take us to Uluwatu, the great surf spot 45 min away. We spent a couple hours out there with 10 foot waves and then headed back to our guesthouse. We relaxed, ate, and took a little nap and then headed to the beach to watch the sunset. Last minute, we rented long boards and had a little surf at the tail end of the sunset until it was dark out. After that, I was exhausted! Dan packed up his stuff and caught a taxi to the airport to catch his 11:00pm flight and I had the best sleep I can remember.

In the morning I caught up with my friends and family back home from an internet cafe and later met a group of girls and guys at my guest house. We went out to the bars in Kuta, first to a couple loungy places for drinks. I was surprised that the venues are actually very classy and modern looking, felt like LA. A couple hours later we headed to Bounty (which is a huge open club three stories tall) where danced all night! The following day we spent hanging by the pool and I bought a couple things I needed on Poppies 1, like sunglasses and shoes. Again at night our group got together for dinner and went out. Out of the blue I ran into Chuck (The Aussie I traveled with in Spain) at Bounty and it was great to see him! He's been in Bali for a while now... just living the dream and surfing all the time. Must be nice.

My Bali trip was amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better time. And now... Australia here I come!!

Bali, Indonesia 2-10-2010

I arrived to Bali and immediately met up with my friend Dan a hostel we had agreed on. Dan and I go back to freshman year at UF when we had a few classes together in BCN and when he first discovered I was going to travel to Bali (in April of 2009), he was coming! I set my bags down and Dan and I checked out the beach and the bars Kuta and Poppies 1 (the street we were on). The side streets here are packed with Balinese vendors selling tourist clothes and suveniers from their shops. If you need shirts, shorts, sunglasses, shoes, towels, hats, jewelery, or key chains, this is the place for you!

In the morning we rented motorbikes and rode around the south west part of the island to Uluwatu, Dream Beach, and Surf Point. We didn’t find any waves, but we did see a whole clan of monkeys camping out under a tree on a mountain top. 

At one point on the ride Dan and I were riding our motorbikes down a sleep rocky/dirt gravel road and I was slowing down while holding my back brake, bad idea, and I fell over movie style in slow motion. Luckily the bike was okay and I only suffered a few minor scratches. After 4 years on a scooter in University and numerous road trips) on motorbikes (some over 140km in SE Asia), the first time I fall over is when I'm going 1 mph! (well, I guess better that than something more serious).

Back in Kuta we had dinner and then headed to the beach one block away from our guesthouse to surf at sunset. This sunset surf goes down as one of my favorite and I’m determined to one day live on the west coast somewhere with surf so I can spend my evenings watching the sun set from my surfboard.

We left in the morning for Ubud and stayed at gorgeous temple like guesthouse called Sonia’s. We rented motorbikes from the guesthouse ($4 per day), ate dinner at a place called Happy Buddha (which is an organic cafe that was recommended to me), walked around the markets at night, drank a smoothie to-go (which means a smoothie in plastic bag with a straw poking out the top), and then watched a traditional Balinese dance performance. Dan and I arrived to the show right after they had started and were instructed to sit directly in front of the stage. Front row baby!

A beautiful breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, crepes, toast, and tea awaited our doorstep in the morning. After brekky, Dan and I rode our motorbikes to a place called the Monkey Forest. The area was completely packed with monkeys and I bought some bananas to feed them. When I fed the first cute monkey,  he climbed up onto my shoulder and left me with a souvenier of smudged monkey poo on my shoulder, thanks little guy.

Another monkey jumped onto Dan’s back when we wasn’t looking and Dan couldn’t get him off! The monkey bit Dan’s sunglasses string and tore at his shirt but eventually the monkey scattered off.

I hid the bananas in my purse and would sneak out yellow treats every once in a while without them noticing. But once a big monkey got curious and started pulling at and searching into my bag! Luckily, I escaped.

After the monkeys, Dan and I rode around in search of Ketut Liyer, the medicine man from the book “Eat, Pray, Love” I read a couple months ago. In the book, Ketitut is said to be a great, gifted medicine man and helps others while only expecting a small donation of a few dollars in return. Ketitut gave me and Dan the EXACT same palm reading as each other and we were sitting side by side! He then had the audacity to charge us 500,000 rupiahs ($50 US)!! This is equivalent to someone charging $500 in the US for a 10 minute meeting (BS medicine man). But, you can’t really blame him.. he came from nothing, now is famous from the book, and has about 20 visitors a day from all over the world who come to meet him and get a reading. Good on it for capitalizing on his fame.

In the morning Dan and I took out our motorbikes and discovered some rice terraces nearby. We drank from coconuts and then headed home to pack up our bags for our van ride to Tulamben (a city known for great drive sites).

In Tulamben we checked into a nice guesthouse on the water and negotiated for a room and diving trips. Wound up costing us $20 a dive and $8 for the room, not too bad. We walked around the town of one street and 8 stores, and then watched a movie on my laptop before going to sleep.

In the morning we went diving, first to a wreck drive named the USS Liberty wreck. We saw heaps of fish, huge barracuda, swam inside the vessel, saw the captain’s wheel, it was gorgeous. We had a lunch break and then got back in the water to dive a drop-off/wall which was pretty good as well. They were both shore dives and it was great to wade into deep water and be able to just swim to a stellar dive spot not so far away. We took pictures during the dives and a recorded a couple videos too.

Dinner and a movie followed and in the morning we left for Sinor, a stopover city we’d have to stay in before taking a boat to Nusa Lembongan (a place known for its beauty, snorkeling, diving, and surf).

Sinor was cool, small place, nice shops and retail markets throughout, occupied by local craftsmen/women. I bought a green-turquoise ring from a couple Balinese ladies selling jewelry (who hadn’t made a sale all day), and then Dan and I had AMAZING massages that cost us $4 for an hour! This massage goes down as the best I’ve ever had in my life and if possible, one day I will go back to Sinor, and pay that masseuse to massage me every day for the rest of my life.

Dan and I both had gado-gado for dinner (steamed veggies with a peanut sauce dressing) from an organic restaurant, but Dan got sick from the food and suffered all night from food-poisoning. We attributed my iron stomach to my bouts with food poisoning in Cambodia and other stange foods and bacteria I’ve had throughout my months in SE Asia.

Luckily Dan felt better in the morning and we hopped into a van (smaller version of jeepneys) to take us to the shore, where the long tail boats awaited. We had bought our boat tickets the day before and were ready for some big surf in Nusa Lembongan. As we were waiting to depart I realized I didn’t have my phone on me! I called our guesthouse owner, she found my phone on my bed and held it for me as I raced there on the back of someone’s motorbike to pick it up. I was back just in time to buy some grilled corn on the cobb from a lady on the beach and then we boarded the boat and relaxed for the next couple of hours riding to Nusa Lembongan.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2-2-2010

Within an hour of arriving in Malaysia I met up with my friend Eric and his sister, Sheeba at the airport in Kuala Lumpur. Eric has traveled most of the world already, and before I left on this trip, he and I made plans to meet in Asia. Luckily, his sister had some vacation time of her own from work in London and we all were all able to meet up on the other side of the world.

Eric and his sis arrived at the airport an hour after me. From the terminal we caught and hour long bus trip into the city and checked into our gorgeous hotel (my new traveling companions have amazing hook-ups everywhere!) We had a quick wardrobe change and went out for a nice dinner and some nightlife. The loungy bar we were at after dinner was nice, but when Eric asked the cocktail waitress where we should go, she gave us an encyclopedia’s amount of information on the club / bar scene in KL. After the conversation we could have written a travelers’ guide about the night life… we knew where to go, on what days and  at what times.

A taxi swept us away and pretty soon we were walking into the entrance of Zouk, a hip-hop club in KL. The place was pumping with music and everyone was dancing! We spent the next few hours jumping and dancing in a circle with our new dance crew. We had formed a group of 10 great dancers (excluding myself) and would all take turns dancing in the center. Most of them knew how to break dance and everything!

In Malaysia the three main demographics are Indians, Chinese, and Malaysian. The cultures mix well and there are not many problems with racism. All walks of life come together at night to party and the club we were in was very diverse! I felt more like I was in a club in Miami than in Asia! We danced until 3 or 4am and although we were done, the club was still going off.

In the morning we had the most amazing complimentary buffet breakfast (fruits, make your own omelets to order, hashbrowns, pancakes, waffles with whipped cream, syrup and berries, toast, yogurt, tea, coffee, you name it!). We walked through China town and India village, tried some nice food, bought knock-off sunglasses, watches, visited Sheeb’s sister company (she works in London and they have another office in KL), got a view of the city from the 78^th floor, and then checked out a humungous mall before heading back to our hotel.

We had another phenomenal breakfast the following morning, where I stuffed my face (not knowing if I’d ever see this much free food while backpacking again) and then we all left for the airport to catch our little flight to Langkawi (a resort-like beach island). Again, the power siblings had a business connection and we stayed at the nicest resort on the island (and the nicest place I’ve ever stayed in my whole life)!

When we arrived, traditional Chinese music was playing by women in ornate outfits and we were served chilled coconut milk to drink from beautiful coconuts. Our suite had a huge complimentary fruit basket in it (that was replenished everyday), along with complimentary wine to enjoy, and a fantastic balcony with a view of the ocean and islands around us.

 

We settled in and headed downstairs to our private beach where we ordered food, drinks, and sorbet, but mostly just lounged in the sun. A beach attendant would come around every so often and offer us sunscreen to use, extra towels, water, and would even offer clean our sunglasses (all complimentary)! I felt like royalty.

Back in our room we got ready for the evening but before we left I put some bananas outside our window for the monkeys (when we checked in they said not to leave the balcony door open since monkeys live in the trees outside). We took our minimalist rental car for a spin and had some dinner in town (food at the resort was a bit overprice, as one would imagine).

The next day we drove from the north of the island to the west to check out a nice beach. We rented a four-seater wave runner and took off towards the horizon. Before we left we were instructed to stay at least 300 meters away from the island (as the wave runner owner pointed at the islands to the right) and besides that, we were free to roam.

Eric drove out first and after 10 minutes or so we switched around and I was driving. The jet ski rode so fast over the water and we were flying! I weaved us in-between islands and got right up close to the cliffs, close enough that we saw monkeys on the rocks! Sheebs took the wheel next and rode us around for a while and started to bring us back to shore.

 The wave runner owner came racing towards us all frantic looking, “where did you go? I was looking all over for you”. “Is our time up?” I said, “We have 10 more minutes, right?” He didn’t know how much time we had left, but I think he thought we had taken off for good with his prized possession. He was relieved we were heading in soon and told us to have fun as he headed back to shore. Sheebs jumped off into the water with my camera while Eric and I did big doughnuts around her. We were flying!!

On the car ride back we stopped at a waterfall and hiked to the top of it were there were little rapids flowing over large smooth rocks. We slid down them into pools of water while soaking up this gorgeous landscape of forest, mountains, and views of the island. Monkeys were all around this area and when we left and I tossed my empty coconut shell into a rubbish bin and watched as a monkey ran over and stole it.

A cable car was nearby so we floated up 705 meters to see the rest of the island from above and watch the sunset. The view was beautiful and the sun set could not have been more perfect. We had some Indian food for dinner, which was amazing, and took it easy watching a movie on Eric’s computer at night.

The three of us were flying back to KL the next day, but had a few good hours to enjoy the beach. We had breakfast near the pool and then took out kayaks to paddle to an island near ours. Sheebs and I laid in a few inches of water, sunning ourselves, while Eric searched for fish and coral reefs with his mask he had (he didn’t find very many).

On the way to the airport we stopped on the side of the road and ate some pretty gross meatish soup and tried a desert-like soupy drink as well. The sweet desert was alright, but was hard to enjoy after the unappetizing soup.

Back in KL we dropped off our bags at our little guesthouse at 10pm and then got ready for a big night. We had been talking about a huge last night in KL for days and now was that time. We were staying near the bar district and only had to walk two block before hearing music. Tired from our 5 hour delay at the airport, we devoured some red bulls and were ready to go!

We did our own pub crawl, having a drink and taking a shot at each bar until the bars shut down. The nightlife here was incredible (again) and each bar/club we went into had a different feel to it. Some were more Indian influenced, others were filled with Chinese or Malaysians; it was very unique. The bottom floor of each bar is more loungy and relaxed while the upstairs of the bars blast music and are filled with active party-goers looking to have a good time. Our trio eventually came to an end but we had one of the best nights out of my trip! Sad to leave these too... we’ll have to have another reunion in FL.

Off to Indonesia next!

Bustling city and fresh markets in Naga, Philippines 2-1-10

It took us a while to find accommodation in Naga, seemed as if everything was booked up when we arrived. We checked out a few rooms in three different hotels that were available. In Asia they let you know which rooms are offered and let you run up to check them out before deciding. Of the three rooms in three hotels, one had a strange smell, one had a rock hard bed, and the third seemed pretty decent and clean (lavish compared to the other two). We booked in, set our stuff down, and headed out to explore the city.

Bakeries are everywhere in Naga! Doughnut shops, fast food restaurants, and sweets galore. I ducked into a popular bakery (it had #1 Bakery newspaper clippings all over the walls), just to check it out, and left with 10 different kinds of baked goods! I picked up some pianonos, which is like a chiffon roll filled with different fruity flavors, sugared crispy rolls, twisted jelly filled delights, a couple cookies, a raison-apple something, all 10 for less than $1.50.

Naga also has one of the largest and nicest fresh food markets I’ve seen on my trip yet! Of course we saw the ripe fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, chicken, etc… except this fish market went on forever! Over six streets were dedicated to the sale of fish, squid, crabs, shell fish, and other sea life (mostly fish though). It was nice to walk and discover the city by foot. The chaos of motorbikes, tricycles, and jeepneys reminded me of Manila; but on a smaller scale.

We left early in the morning to catch a two and a half hour van to Legaspi and from there we both flew back to Manila. When we got in we found a massage spa near our guesthouse and each had a one hour massage for $4. I really don’t know what I’m going to do without these massages once I leave Asia, I’ve become so accustomed to having cheap, great massages! Cam’s flight back to London left in the evening and I had a morning flight to Malaysia and some time to relax in the evening. The Australia Open was on and our hostel crew was glued to the TV for the rest of the night.

I had a 4:00am wake up call (my phone alarm has been my best friend and worst enemy), 45 minute taxi ride to the bus station, 2.5 hour bus ride to the airport, to get to the airport 2 hours early for my 9:45am flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The entire trip all I was thinking was, “I can’t wait to sleep on this plane”.