Hello from Gilli Air. Welcome to the island of rolling blackouts and sketchy internet connections ( not even going to talk about how dark it is in here that I'm typing by flashlight....or I wasn't going to talk about that.) It's divide and conquer time, Carrie's going to fill you in on the fun stuff and I'm going to give you instructions on how to get here, should the need ever arise. ( and because my typing sucks and it costs us a fortune for me to write more than a few sentences) So , we left Ubud on Monday aboard the Perama tourist shuttle bus, it was a little cramped, but there was no antarctic AC running, so no ass freezing, and no locals...so no chickens or goats or REALLY obvious cleavage staring. Anyways an hour on the bus to Padangbai and then TA DA a very slow ferry to Gilli Air island , about 4.5 hours. Ok things are going to wrap up here because I am getting sucked dry by some sort of insects as I write. Because everything starts late ( around noon ) and takes so long, you get here late , so alot of the hotels are full, even though it's still low season here. So after some mucking around, we ended taking a place that was kinda crap and somewhat expensive for here. ( OK back in biz, Carrie had some repellent with her, thank god for my wife)Just a side note, cause that's what I do, no cars here, just bicycles and pony drawn wagons, that is the local taxi system.they're kind of expensive, but they sort of add to the uniqueness of the island. Which is a round about way of saying that we took a pony wagon taxi thing around a bit of the island looking for a hotel after we got off the ferry. For those that want to know and I guess those that don't, Yup, spent my birthday diving with my wife, couldn't ask for anything more. OK well we got out of crappy place first thing the next morning and found a nicer place just down the road that was cheaper and included breakfast , so everything turned out for the better. We're going to talk about the diving a little later, maybe tomorrow if we're inspired and find another internet place with less bugs and more light. Ahhh just a little tease...We had one of the most amazing dives today, that I have ever been on, up there with Whale sharks, seriously!!!!
Love you all
carrie and glen
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
White Water Rafting
Meanwhile back in Ubud~
We spent our last day in ubud partaking in additional tourist activities.
We started the day with a great white water rafting trip on the Ayung river, which flowed through a jungle/forested canyon. To begin the rafting trip, we had to traverse 550 steps down to the river. Thank goodness all we had to carry was our dry bag, helmets, and oars. We had a blast on the rafting trip, the rafts were fairly small, so our raft had Glen and I, 3 french guys, and our guide 'Mr. Frog'. The french guys turned out to be a lot of fun and we spent much of the trip waterfighting and singing an old french folk song, which apparently translates to something like 'show me the boobs of your daughter'. Along the beginning of the trip, the canyon walls have been carved with a pictorial telling of a hindu legend, which is a Romeo and Juliet type story. One of the great things about this white water raft trip, as opposed to most I have done back at home, is the water was much warmer than rivers which are fed by snowmelt! At the end of the raft trip we were served a really yummy lunch of indonesian & balinese food. Then we had to climb 250 steps back up out of the canyon!!! My calves were pretty tight the next day!!!
That evening we went to see traditional Balinese Dance at the open stage in the Palace courtyard in Ubud, It was very dramatic, with fabulous costuming. We got there just before starting time, and most seats were taken, so we ended up sitting on the ground right in front of the stage. It was really great, as we could really see all the intricate hand movements and facial gestures which are an integral part of the dance.
The next morning it was off to Gili Air where we are now.
Glen will be filling you in on our grip to Gili Air, so it's goodbye for now!
Cheery Wave,
Carrie
We spent our last day in ubud partaking in additional tourist activities.
We started the day with a great white water rafting trip on the Ayung river, which flowed through a jungle/forested canyon. To begin the rafting trip, we had to traverse 550 steps down to the river. Thank goodness all we had to carry was our dry bag, helmets, and oars. We had a blast on the rafting trip, the rafts were fairly small, so our raft had Glen and I, 3 french guys, and our guide 'Mr. Frog'. The french guys turned out to be a lot of fun and we spent much of the trip waterfighting and singing an old french folk song, which apparently translates to something like 'show me the boobs of your daughter'. Along the beginning of the trip, the canyon walls have been carved with a pictorial telling of a hindu legend, which is a Romeo and Juliet type story. One of the great things about this white water raft trip, as opposed to most I have done back at home, is the water was much warmer than rivers which are fed by snowmelt! At the end of the raft trip we were served a really yummy lunch of indonesian & balinese food. Then we had to climb 250 steps back up out of the canyon!!! My calves were pretty tight the next day!!!
That evening we went to see traditional Balinese Dance at the open stage in the Palace courtyard in Ubud, It was very dramatic, with fabulous costuming. We got there just before starting time, and most seats were taken, so we ended up sitting on the ground right in front of the stage. It was really great, as we could really see all the intricate hand movements and facial gestures which are an integral part of the dance.
The next morning it was off to Gili Air where we are now.
Glen will be filling you in on our grip to Gili Air, so it's goodbye for now!
Cheery Wave,
Carrie
Saturday, March 27, 2010
MBA or Marriage By Accident
We learned some great stuff from our bicycle tour guide!
One of the things we had been wondering was whether Marriages are arranged here. He told us that in his Parent's generation, most marriages were arranged, but now young adults are allowed to choose their mate.
He told us that there are many MBA's (Marriage by Accident) Apparently if you get a girl pregnant out of wedlock you must Marry her. If you refuse to marry her, you spend two years in Jail. This apparently works very well to avoid young, single mothers!
One of the things we had been wondering was whether Marriages are arranged here. He told us that in his Parent's generation, most marriages were arranged, but now young adults are allowed to choose their mate.
He told us that there are many MBA's (Marriage by Accident) Apparently if you get a girl pregnant out of wedlock you must Marry her. If you refuse to marry her, you spend two years in Jail. This apparently works very well to avoid young, single mothers!
Swastika!
A week or so as we are sitting on our Veranda in Sanur, drinking our morning tea, we noticed a Swastika in the center of an elaborate molding over a gate. Since then we have noticed them everywhere! We decided that obviously the Swastika must have meaning of significance, aside from the terrible association we have of it due to Hitler and the Nazi's.
We finally were able to ask our guide about it today as he is quite an accomplished English speaker. It is an ancient symbol in the HINDU religion representing the 'Circle of Life' Birth, Life, Death, and Re-birth!
I was of course very relieved to learn this, and now will have a pleasant association when confronted with the Swastika.
We finally were able to ask our guide about it today as he is quite an accomplished English speaker. It is an ancient symbol in the HINDU religion representing the 'Circle of Life' Birth, Life, Death, and Re-birth!
I was of course very relieved to learn this, and now will have a pleasant association when confronted with the Swastika.
More From Ubud, Bali
Greetings From Ubud, Bali!
We are up in the hills away from the beach in Ubud. For those of you who have read Elizabeth Gilbert's book, EAT, LOVE, PRAY, this is the town she lives in on Bali for four months. I know Glen has already told you a bit about it. It is beautiful here. A lot more people than I expected, but still has a small town feel.
Today we did the tourist thing and took a bike tour, which was great fun.
The tour company picked us up at our hotel a bit before 8:00 am and drove us to the rim of one of the many volcanoes on Bali, We had a wonderful breakfast of banana pancakes and fruit at a restaurant looking over the volcano crater. The last time this particular volcano erupted was only four months ago! I made my own fire and smoke at breakfast!!! I didn't want to admit this particular incident, but I guess omitting it would not be fair~ so I give you permission to all enjoy a little laugh at my expense, as this was such a typical 'Carrie' type move! (I don't know how Glen put's up with me!) Anyway, we went to the breakfast buffet where I picked up a plate and napkin. As always, my napkin was just sort of tucked under the plate in my hand, as I proceeded to get a bit of pineapple from the buffet, my napkin caught fire from the little candle tucked in among the fruit. Since my napkin was under my plate, I didn't even know it was on fire until my hand got hot and flames were licking out from under the side of the plate. I just put the plate down and tried to snuff the napking fire out, our wonderful guide grabbed the napkin with a pair of tongs and stamped it out!
So, after a wonderful breakfast, we loaded back in the van, and went down the road to a coffee plantation where they were growing, picking, and roasting the coffee on site and had a bit of a sampling. For those of you who have seen the movie the BUCKET LIST, you might remember that one of the things on his 'Bucket List' (Things to do before you die) was having this special coffee which was made from coffee beans that a particular monkey eats, then poohs out, then they go around the forest and pick it up & clean the beans and make coffee. They make this coffee at this plantation. They don't sample it though as it is very expensive, and sells for about $40.00 per cup!
(Speaking of Bucket lists, the Giant Manta Rays we saw diving the other day were one of the things on MY Bucket List, But I digress ~ This post is getting a bit long winded!)
After the coffee plantation, where we also tasted some wonderful tropical fruits I haven't had before, we drove down the road a little bit more and got on our bikes. The tour brochure says that the bike ride is 25km downhill, no problem, all downhill I can handle that, even though I am not in the best shape ~ It doesn't however mention the 10km UPHILL, at the end of the ride! We had a great time flying down the hills of Bali, greeting the HALLOO's of the children, while avoiding the potholes, trucks, and many motor bikes! Great fun! When we got to the uphill portion of the ride, the tour company gives you the option of riding or hopping in the van. I only made it uphill for about 2-3km, Glen did the whole uphill trip in good form.
At the end of the bike ride, we were rewarded with a fantastic Lunch of Smoked Duck & Chicken, along with other Balinese specialties. All washed down with a large cold BINTANG beer. Bintang isn't really the best ever beer, but it was better than usual after the bike ride!
Finally, back in the van, and dropped off at our guest house.
After a quick shower, we walked a short bit up the road and went to a spa for a 1 hour traditional Balinese Massage. This was one of the best massages I have had, all for the grand sum of $70,000 rupiah (~$9.00).
We are going back for another one tomorrow!
Cheery Wave,
Carrie
We are up in the hills away from the beach in Ubud. For those of you who have read Elizabeth Gilbert's book, EAT, LOVE, PRAY, this is the town she lives in on Bali for four months. I know Glen has already told you a bit about it. It is beautiful here. A lot more people than I expected, but still has a small town feel.
Today we did the tourist thing and took a bike tour, which was great fun.
The tour company picked us up at our hotel a bit before 8:00 am and drove us to the rim of one of the many volcanoes on Bali, We had a wonderful breakfast of banana pancakes and fruit at a restaurant looking over the volcano crater. The last time this particular volcano erupted was only four months ago! I made my own fire and smoke at breakfast!!! I didn't want to admit this particular incident, but I guess omitting it would not be fair~ so I give you permission to all enjoy a little laugh at my expense, as this was such a typical 'Carrie' type move! (I don't know how Glen put's up with me!) Anyway, we went to the breakfast buffet where I picked up a plate and napkin. As always, my napkin was just sort of tucked under the plate in my hand, as I proceeded to get a bit of pineapple from the buffet, my napkin caught fire from the little candle tucked in among the fruit. Since my napkin was under my plate, I didn't even know it was on fire until my hand got hot and flames were licking out from under the side of the plate. I just put the plate down and tried to snuff the napking fire out, our wonderful guide grabbed the napkin with a pair of tongs and stamped it out!
So, after a wonderful breakfast, we loaded back in the van, and went down the road to a coffee plantation where they were growing, picking, and roasting the coffee on site and had a bit of a sampling. For those of you who have seen the movie the BUCKET LIST, you might remember that one of the things on his 'Bucket List' (Things to do before you die) was having this special coffee which was made from coffee beans that a particular monkey eats, then poohs out, then they go around the forest and pick it up & clean the beans and make coffee. They make this coffee at this plantation. They don't sample it though as it is very expensive, and sells for about $40.00 per cup!
(Speaking of Bucket lists, the Giant Manta Rays we saw diving the other day were one of the things on MY Bucket List, But I digress ~ This post is getting a bit long winded!)
After the coffee plantation, where we also tasted some wonderful tropical fruits I haven't had before, we drove down the road a little bit more and got on our bikes. The tour brochure says that the bike ride is 25km downhill, no problem, all downhill I can handle that, even though I am not in the best shape ~ It doesn't however mention the 10km UPHILL, at the end of the ride! We had a great time flying down the hills of Bali, greeting the HALLOO's of the children, while avoiding the potholes, trucks, and many motor bikes! Great fun! When we got to the uphill portion of the ride, the tour company gives you the option of riding or hopping in the van. I only made it uphill for about 2-3km, Glen did the whole uphill trip in good form.
At the end of the bike ride, we were rewarded with a fantastic Lunch of Smoked Duck & Chicken, along with other Balinese specialties. All washed down with a large cold BINTANG beer. Bintang isn't really the best ever beer, but it was better than usual after the bike ride!
Finally, back in the van, and dropped off at our guest house.
After a quick shower, we walked a short bit up the road and went to a spa for a 1 hour traditional Balinese Massage. This was one of the best massages I have had, all for the grand sum of $70,000 rupiah (~$9.00).
We are going back for another one tomorrow!
Cheery Wave,
Carrie
Friday, March 26, 2010
Ubud
Before I get started I wanted to talk about the names here in Bali. So if your first born, your name is Wayan, 2nd is Made, 3rd is Nyoman and 4th born is Ketut, after that it just starts over again, so 5th is Wayan again. The first couple of days on Nusa Lembongan we only met Wayans and one Ketut, we didn't meet a Nyoman until the 2nd last day. I'm not sure what that means, except if you say Wayan in a crowded room, your bound to get some attention...and if I could make all this somehow rhyme, I might be able to get a good joke or rap out of it.
We did 2 more dives on Nusa Lembongan, the coral here really is beautiful and healthy, there are thermoclimes here (underwater currents of quite cold water..my dive computer says the temp is 78F...really feels way colder than that) cold water has all the nutrients for things to grow...so lots of stuff and big. We saw a grey reef shark on our first dive ( we think , it was kind of far away and the visibility wasn't all that great), on the 2nd dive we saw a sea snake,I honestly didn't think they got that big, maybe 5ft long and it's head was probably 3 inches across. Speaking of dive computers, Carrie got me a new one for my birthday, which was great because my old one quit working after the second dive. Yup the girl is taking care of me!!!
We caught the fast boat back to Sanur this morning, which included droppimg us off in Ubud as part of the cost of the ticket, so it worked out good, we didn't have to do the bus station thing...saved us a step. We had vague information from Son ( actually spelled Sun) about a hotel by the name of "Sawa" we thought, no address, no idea about the part of town...so we just walked around abit asking people if they had heard of the place, no one really had. THEN we found Sama's bungalows, sounded close , what the heck, they only had twin beds, thank you, see you later.Just up the road was an alley with some signs to more bungalows...it's hot , our packs are getting heavy, ok let's check'em out. First one looks OK , but you know, never take the first one with out looking at the 2nd one.At the 2nd one we ask how much, hesitation...you can see the wheels turning, How much can I ask for, without them saying -no that's too much. 250,000 Rupiah?? Hmm maybe ...can we see the room? Yes OK, the room is beautiful, windows all around, big bathroom with a tub and shower and !!! hot water!!! and a WESTERN toilet!!! our deck overlooks a rice paddy and they serve you tea on your deck. Ummm yes we would like to take the room please. ( 9200 rupiah is about a US dollar)
Ok more Glen randomness, are geckoes not the coolest lizardy things ever, they're cute, they eat bugs, they are sort of mezmorising to watch, their tails drop off and yes, they sell insurance.
We have a bicycle tour of Ubud planned for tomorrow, we both took clothes to the laundry today, so we pretty much have no clothes, other than what we are wearing until tomorrow afternoon....so hence, bicycle tour, which you don't need a change of clothes for and Glen can do in his board shorts and Tevas.
Ok that's all from UBUD so far, by the way by far more tourists here than any where we've been so far...could I say far any more times?
Love from Ubud
carrie and glen
We did 2 more dives on Nusa Lembongan, the coral here really is beautiful and healthy, there are thermoclimes here (underwater currents of quite cold water..my dive computer says the temp is 78F...really feels way colder than that) cold water has all the nutrients for things to grow...so lots of stuff and big. We saw a grey reef shark on our first dive ( we think , it was kind of far away and the visibility wasn't all that great), on the 2nd dive we saw a sea snake,I honestly didn't think they got that big, maybe 5ft long and it's head was probably 3 inches across. Speaking of dive computers, Carrie got me a new one for my birthday, which was great because my old one quit working after the second dive. Yup the girl is taking care of me!!!
We caught the fast boat back to Sanur this morning, which included droppimg us off in Ubud as part of the cost of the ticket, so it worked out good, we didn't have to do the bus station thing...saved us a step. We had vague information from Son ( actually spelled Sun) about a hotel by the name of "Sawa" we thought, no address, no idea about the part of town...so we just walked around abit asking people if they had heard of the place, no one really had. THEN we found Sama's bungalows, sounded close , what the heck, they only had twin beds, thank you, see you later.Just up the road was an alley with some signs to more bungalows...it's hot , our packs are getting heavy, ok let's check'em out. First one looks OK , but you know, never take the first one with out looking at the 2nd one.At the 2nd one we ask how much, hesitation...you can see the wheels turning, How much can I ask for, without them saying -no that's too much. 250,000 Rupiah?? Hmm maybe ...can we see the room? Yes OK, the room is beautiful, windows all around, big bathroom with a tub and shower and !!! hot water!!! and a WESTERN toilet!!! our deck overlooks a rice paddy and they serve you tea on your deck. Ummm yes we would like to take the room please. ( 9200 rupiah is about a US dollar)
Ok more Glen randomness, are geckoes not the coolest lizardy things ever, they're cute, they eat bugs, they are sort of mezmorising to watch, their tails drop off and yes, they sell insurance.
We have a bicycle tour of Ubud planned for tomorrow, we both took clothes to the laundry today, so we pretty much have no clothes, other than what we are wearing until tomorrow afternoon....so hence, bicycle tour, which you don't need a change of clothes for and Glen can do in his board shorts and Tevas.
Ok that's all from UBUD so far, by the way by far more tourists here than any where we've been so far...could I say far any more times?
Love from Ubud
carrie and glen
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
If your name is David.....you might want to turn your computer off NOW!!
Wow it's stinking hot here ( hmmm could be because we're close to the equator or something) anyways cause I think I'm teflon man or maybe mirror man ( the suns rays don't affect me).. ( Carrie has a different name for me) anyways, wow I'm kinda burnt....but I look really , really , really good. It's been nice just relaxing here, alot of the tourists seem to have left.We've been diving every day and the dives have been good, with new and exciting stuff we've never seen before, on every dive..for example, and I would encourage you to google this... we saw a frogfish and a nudibranch today...very cool.
We walked the main road yesterday, which sort of goes down the middle of the island, and we saw a bunch of people dressed up for a pre wedding party on their scooters and motorcycles, driving to what looked like a temple.The women were dressed in fancy dresses, riding side saddle and the men in sarongs with white shirts and white hats, it seemed like most of the island had turned out for it.
OK is there anybody left in Austrailia, because I'm sure they're all here ...or quite possibly whistler. We've met a few nice people here, Evan from New York , a lawyer with a heart, traveling the world, Son from Melbourne, a yoga practising chef with a sunny disposition, getting away from things for a couple of weeks.
While I'm working on this very exciting post, Carrie is trying to figure out how to get our pictures online for you to see....cross your fingers, we're hoping it all works.... cause again we're old and our brains have trouble processing most anything these days.
We've decided to stay till fri the 25th and catch the ferry back to the mainland and go to Ubud, and get some hindu culture. There also is a yoga dance festival there next week ( one of the reasons Son is here) , so we thought maybe we would get in and out before the festival starts. I also would like to be diving on my birthday, so hopefully getting to the Gilli islands off of Lombok is a possibility.
Ok David... you knew it was coming...if you decided not to come , of course it was going to happen!!! So...................we ........went ..................diving ..................this morning.................to ..........a ......dive ..........site...........called........................................................................................................................
MANTA POINT. Guess what we saw at MANTA POINT, Yup dude , buckets and buckets of manta rays, they were everywhere, big ones about 15 to 18ft wing tip to wingtip and small ones about half that, they were one at a time or 5 at a time , all in 15ft of water, it was amazing. They must be used to people, or divers because they swam close enough for you to touch them, not that I did, although I think some people did.
Just for giggles...clownfish ( read Nemo) are quite territorial and aggressive, I had one yesterday swim up at me and try to brush my hand ( he touched me , not the other way around) away from his or her anenome patch... fun and suprising.
love to all
glen and carrie
We walked the main road yesterday, which sort of goes down the middle of the island, and we saw a bunch of people dressed up for a pre wedding party on their scooters and motorcycles, driving to what looked like a temple.The women were dressed in fancy dresses, riding side saddle and the men in sarongs with white shirts and white hats, it seemed like most of the island had turned out for it.
OK is there anybody left in Austrailia, because I'm sure they're all here ...or quite possibly whistler. We've met a few nice people here, Evan from New York , a lawyer with a heart, traveling the world, Son from Melbourne, a yoga practising chef with a sunny disposition, getting away from things for a couple of weeks.
While I'm working on this very exciting post, Carrie is trying to figure out how to get our pictures online for you to see....cross your fingers, we're hoping it all works.... cause again we're old and our brains have trouble processing most anything these days.
We've decided to stay till fri the 25th and catch the ferry back to the mainland and go to Ubud, and get some hindu culture. There also is a yoga dance festival there next week ( one of the reasons Son is here) , so we thought maybe we would get in and out before the festival starts. I also would like to be diving on my birthday, so hopefully getting to the Gilli islands off of Lombok is a possibility.
Ok David... you knew it was coming...if you decided not to come , of course it was going to happen!!! So...................we ........went ..................diving ..................this morning.................to ..........a ......dive ..........site...........called........................................................................................................................
MANTA POINT. Guess what we saw at MANTA POINT, Yup dude , buckets and buckets of manta rays, they were everywhere, big ones about 15 to 18ft wing tip to wingtip and small ones about half that, they were one at a time or 5 at a time , all in 15ft of water, it was amazing. They must be used to people, or divers because they swam close enough for you to touch them, not that I did, although I think some people did.
Just for giggles...clownfish ( read Nemo) are quite territorial and aggressive, I had one yesterday swim up at me and try to brush my hand ( he touched me , not the other way around) away from his or her anenome patch... fun and suprising.
love to all
glen and carrie
Monday, March 22, 2010
Shrines!
One of my favorite things about Bali are the shrines. They are everywhere. These are not temples, but small shrines where offerings are made to the gods to bring blessings & safety. First thing in the morning everyday, an offering of flowers & incense, as well as rice, and sometimes a bit of fruit is placed in each shrine, or on the porch or walkway leading to the door, the offering is sprinkled with water (By a flower blossom dipped in water) and prayed over for a very brief moment.
We have watched this ritual take place each morning since arriving the Bali & now Nusa Lombongan. Regardless of religious beliefs, Glen and I have both been very touched by this act. It seems a fitting way to begin a day ~ a simple act of recognition of the blessings in your life ~ and the hope that good fortune & good health will come your way!
Blessings to you all,
Carrie
We have watched this ritual take place each morning since arriving the Bali & now Nusa Lombongan. Regardless of religious beliefs, Glen and I have both been very touched by this act. It seems a fitting way to begin a day ~ a simple act of recognition of the blessings in your life ~ and the hope that good fortune & good health will come your way!
Blessings to you all,
Carrie
We're diving now
Ok this could take forever because I have the worn out keyboard and I have to guess at some of the letters. Ok we made it to Nusa Lembongan... to catch up, we got to Sanur at just before 4 pm ...the same time as the last ferry to Nusa Lembongan and of course it pulled away as we were paying for the tickets. It was actually allright cause they we're trying rip us off anyways, they had us paying for the fast boat and were going to put us on the slow public boat. Speaking of the ripping off stuff... you know your paying the foreigner price, they know ,you know, your getting ripped off, or at least after a while you realize your getting ripped off. But really they're ripping you off by 20 or 30 cents , maybe a dollar, in the long run maybe it makes a difference, but really in my mind it's the game you play. They play it , you play it, sometimes you lose , sometimes you win ...no harm , no foul.. we won on the bus the other day, he shrugged it off, just the way it goes.
So we ended up staying in Sanur for the night, we ended up staying at the hotel right next to the ferry dock, right on the beach, all for $20 US...who would have thought.OK not the greatest hotel in the world but close to all the happening stuff, ( not that, that mattered , cause I think we were in bed by 9 or 10 , something old like that) decent mattress, NO call to prayer and tea waiting on our veranda ( fancy huh!!)( is that the word for table outside our room?) in the morning.
So the guide book says: and I can't remember the exact quote, but it's something like: there is no dock, the ferry just comes into shore, YOU WILL GET WET!! so.... don't be a dumbass and bring your wheeled luggage through the sand...people will laugh at you. TA DAH...a whole bunch of dumbasses.
We're staying at a pretty nice place on the beach, the island is a little more developed than we expected, but still it's very nice...hmmm seem to be doing alot of staring at the screen so I will get out of here with this: Saw Nemo today, I was very excited to see him , we exchanged pleasantries, he said to say hi and hoped everything was well...great fish!!
love you all
glen
So we ended up staying in Sanur for the night, we ended up staying at the hotel right next to the ferry dock, right on the beach, all for $20 US...who would have thought.OK not the greatest hotel in the world but close to all the happening stuff, ( not that, that mattered , cause I think we were in bed by 9 or 10 , something old like that) decent mattress, NO call to prayer and tea waiting on our veranda ( fancy huh!!)( is that the word for table outside our room?) in the morning.
So the guide book says: and I can't remember the exact quote, but it's something like: there is no dock, the ferry just comes into shore, YOU WILL GET WET!! so.... don't be a dumbass and bring your wheeled luggage through the sand...people will laugh at you. TA DAH...a whole bunch of dumbasses.
We're staying at a pretty nice place on the beach, the island is a little more developed than we expected, but still it's very nice...hmmm seem to be doing alot of staring at the screen so I will get out of here with this: Saw Nemo today, I was very excited to see him , we exchanged pleasantries, he said to say hi and hoped everything was well...great fish!!
love you all
glen
Nusa Lombangan ~ OR: Just another day in paradise!
We are currently on Nusa Lombongan, a small island off the coast of Bali. I think Glen is telling the tale of our journey, so I will just say this is a lovely village. We are in a small cottage just off the beach. We are on the West facing side of the Island, so the sunsets are incredible.
There are a lot more tourists here, despite the small size of the island, so the people are not quite as excited to see us, but still very nice!
We went on our first dives today, and the reef was the most incredible thing I've ever seen diving. The visibility out into the deep was not great, but was fine for upclose viewing. Thousands of fish. I was very excited to see clown fish (Think finding NEMO) I guess clown fish are not that exciting really, but since I have only been diving in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Panama, clown fish are new to me since they aren't found those places. Also many different types of corals and some big blue starfish which were pretty cool.
The local economy here, aside from tourism & diving, is mainly the harvesting of seaweed. Everyone has a long boat, which they push out to the reef with a pole (No motors) where they farm the seaweed. They bring it in, and lay it on tarps to dry. They then keep only half the seaweed, and tie the other half to ropes, which they take back out to water so the seaweed can re-grow. Apparently, most the seaweed is sold to the cosmetics industry. I was a bit worried when I saw all the seaweed being harvested, but when I learned more about it from a local lady who explained it to me, it seems it is farmed very responsibly, so that it isn't being depleted as a resource!
Not a lot to do here, but dive, read, and look out over the water. Which is exactly why it is perfectly wonderful!
Cheery Wave,
Carrie
There are a lot more tourists here, despite the small size of the island, so the people are not quite as excited to see us, but still very nice!
We went on our first dives today, and the reef was the most incredible thing I've ever seen diving. The visibility out into the deep was not great, but was fine for upclose viewing. Thousands of fish. I was very excited to see clown fish (Think finding NEMO) I guess clown fish are not that exciting really, but since I have only been diving in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Panama, clown fish are new to me since they aren't found those places. Also many different types of corals and some big blue starfish which were pretty cool.
The local economy here, aside from tourism & diving, is mainly the harvesting of seaweed. Everyone has a long boat, which they push out to the reef with a pole (No motors) where they farm the seaweed. They bring it in, and lay it on tarps to dry. They then keep only half the seaweed, and tie the other half to ropes, which they take back out to water so the seaweed can re-grow. Apparently, most the seaweed is sold to the cosmetics industry. I was a bit worried when I saw all the seaweed being harvested, but when I learned more about it from a local lady who explained it to me, it seems it is farmed very responsibly, so that it isn't being depleted as a resource!
Not a lot to do here, but dive, read, and look out over the water. Which is exactly why it is perfectly wonderful!
Cheery Wave,
Carrie
Flies in my beer!
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly,
I don't know why she swallowed a fly,
Oooh! Yes, actually I do, It is because the fly went swimming in her BINTANG (Local beer), and she didn't look in the glass before taking a swig!
This has happened twice now! Although the fly didn't actually get swallowed, as I felt it in my mouth and spit it out! You would think this kind of thing would only happen to a girl once, but apparently my learning curve on this is a bit slow, especially after the first beer!
I don't know why she swallowed a fly,
Oooh! Yes, actually I do, It is because the fly went swimming in her BINTANG (Local beer), and she didn't look in the glass before taking a swig!
This has happened twice now! Although the fly didn't actually get swallowed, as I felt it in my mouth and spit it out! You would think this kind of thing would only happen to a girl once, but apparently my learning curve on this is a bit slow, especially after the first beer!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Random stuff
We're in Borobudur now, site of the world's largest buddhist temple.. and it's pretty impressive. I think Carrie is going to fill you in on our travels and, crap, we've been busy, I just wanted to touch on some stuff that I thought was funny or wonderful or both.
So we're in Yogayakarta that 1st night, we dump our packs off at the room and set off to explore the area and grab some food. We meet Tree..or the 3rd born , he's trying to sell us tours and stuff ,but he's very nice about it , not pushy and really, he helps us get our bus up here.Next Glen and Carrie trick is to see if we can do the public bus thing back to the airport in Yogyakarta. I know, I know it's seems like we're traveling alot and we are ,but it's been really quite fun and well we are off to Bali tomorrow and you know what that means ...YES, DIVING BABY!!!!! although it will be a miracle if we make it to Nusa Lembongan by tomorrow, so it's public bus in the morning from here to Jombor station in Yogyakarta, taxi from jombor to the airport, flight to Denpensar, bali, feel free to get a map if you want.Taxi to minibus station, minibus to Sanur on the coast and then ferry to Nusa Lembongan ( I think I'm spelling that right) Hmmm... actually I guess I'm just telling what we have planned.
OK back to Yogyakarta, so we walk around and decide to have some dinner at the New Superman restaurant, recommended by the lonely planet. Menu is huge, we order, we talk about whether we want to stay here or go to Borobudur, dinner comes, 2 girls ( german or dutch maybe ?, doesn't really matter, not locals) come in and take the table ,kitty corner to us, we hear this rattling in the eaves of the restaurant and this HUGE rat drops out of the ceiling onto the floor next to the girls, they scream , we laugh because we know if it had dropped next to us we would be screaming too, I'm serious about the big thing, we're talking small cat size or big large mouth bass like on those fishing shows, not that I watch those things.
Carrie IS A ROCKSTAR, She was grabbed again by locals, serious about the grab thing too. this time by a group of muslim ladies, dressed head to toe in clothes, on the steps of the temple and had pictures taken with her. It's kind of great, I'm not sure whether it happens with other caucasian tourists and we actually haven't seen alot of tourists so far, but we've only seen it happen with Carrie so far...so therefore Rockstar!
Our room up here in Borobudur is beautiful, we have a little sitting area just outside our room with a view to a rice paddy out back. We saw an Indonesian bird scaring machine today..A guy smacking to wooden sticks together... aww come on it wasn't that bad.
OK the first call to prayer , here anyways, is at 4:30 in the morning, with 4 or 5 more throughout the day, and the REALLY loud guy here...WHEW..is not melodical at all, they call him karoake man, just brutal and he goes on for a long time, it seems.
We walked around a buddhist monastery yesterday in the rain, it was beautiful, we noticed the gate was open and the gaurd said we were free to walk around and then it started pouring, we both got drenched. We ended up in a bell tower I guess you would call it, waiting for the rain to subside..one of those soul warming moments in life.
On the way out to the monastery, probably 4km away, I'm pretty sure we said hello to every person on the way there, and yup I mean hello in english, after a while it's a little surreal and makes you sort of proud to be human. It wasn't just kids , who all want to say hello, it was toothless old ladies, chubby construction workers, dirty bike mechanics, teenage muslim girls waiting for the bus, food vendors on the side of the street, you can see it their face. They want to say hello , but they're holding back...so you say hello and a big smile comes over their face and they say hello enthusiastically back.Needless to say we're loving it here.
I'm off now , I want to see what Carrie has written, my ass is starting to hurt and well that's all I can think of right now. Hi and love to all.
So we're in Yogayakarta that 1st night, we dump our packs off at the room and set off to explore the area and grab some food. We meet Tree..or the 3rd born , he's trying to sell us tours and stuff ,but he's very nice about it , not pushy and really, he helps us get our bus up here.Next Glen and Carrie trick is to see if we can do the public bus thing back to the airport in Yogyakarta. I know, I know it's seems like we're traveling alot and we are ,but it's been really quite fun and well we are off to Bali tomorrow and you know what that means ...YES, DIVING BABY!!!!! although it will be a miracle if we make it to Nusa Lembongan by tomorrow, so it's public bus in the morning from here to Jombor station in Yogyakarta, taxi from jombor to the airport, flight to Denpensar, bali, feel free to get a map if you want.Taxi to minibus station, minibus to Sanur on the coast and then ferry to Nusa Lembongan ( I think I'm spelling that right) Hmmm... actually I guess I'm just telling what we have planned.
OK back to Yogyakarta, so we walk around and decide to have some dinner at the New Superman restaurant, recommended by the lonely planet. Menu is huge, we order, we talk about whether we want to stay here or go to Borobudur, dinner comes, 2 girls ( german or dutch maybe ?, doesn't really matter, not locals) come in and take the table ,kitty corner to us, we hear this rattling in the eaves of the restaurant and this HUGE rat drops out of the ceiling onto the floor next to the girls, they scream , we laugh because we know if it had dropped next to us we would be screaming too, I'm serious about the big thing, we're talking small cat size or big large mouth bass like on those fishing shows, not that I watch those things.
Carrie IS A ROCKSTAR, She was grabbed again by locals, serious about the grab thing too. this time by a group of muslim ladies, dressed head to toe in clothes, on the steps of the temple and had pictures taken with her. It's kind of great, I'm not sure whether it happens with other caucasian tourists and we actually haven't seen alot of tourists so far, but we've only seen it happen with Carrie so far...so therefore Rockstar!
Our room up here in Borobudur is beautiful, we have a little sitting area just outside our room with a view to a rice paddy out back. We saw an Indonesian bird scaring machine today..A guy smacking to wooden sticks together... aww come on it wasn't that bad.
OK the first call to prayer , here anyways, is at 4:30 in the morning, with 4 or 5 more throughout the day, and the REALLY loud guy here...WHEW..is not melodical at all, they call him karoake man, just brutal and he goes on for a long time, it seems.
We walked around a buddhist monastery yesterday in the rain, it was beautiful, we noticed the gate was open and the gaurd said we were free to walk around and then it started pouring, we both got drenched. We ended up in a bell tower I guess you would call it, waiting for the rain to subside..one of those soul warming moments in life.
On the way out to the monastery, probably 4km away, I'm pretty sure we said hello to every person on the way there, and yup I mean hello in english, after a while it's a little surreal and makes you sort of proud to be human. It wasn't just kids , who all want to say hello, it was toothless old ladies, chubby construction workers, dirty bike mechanics, teenage muslim girls waiting for the bus, food vendors on the side of the street, you can see it their face. They want to say hello , but they're holding back...so you say hello and a big smile comes over their face and they say hello enthusiastically back.Needless to say we're loving it here.
I'm off now , I want to see what Carrie has written, my ass is starting to hurt and well that's all I can think of right now. Hi and love to all.
BOROBUDUR
We are currently in Borobudur. Home of the largest Buddhist Temple in the world. (It is an ancient temple, built by hand, with incredible intricate stone carvings of amazing detail, especially for the time when it was created.) Absolutely beautiful, and definitely worth taking the time to come here.
So, to back up a bit, we traveled here by bus on Thursday after paying a visit to the Sultan's Palace in Yogyakarta. We are staying at the LOTUS II, a lovely guest house recommended by lonely planet. We have a huge four poster bed covered with a lace mosquito net ~ a romantic fantasy bed except for the blue bedspread with cows printed on it! Our bathroom is larger than our whole room in Yogyakarta was, and we have hot water ~ yay! We have a balcony overlooking rice paddies. I sort of thought that a swarm of mosquitoes would rise from the rice paddies when evening fell, but they haven't really been a problem, although I am diligent about repellent anyway! We are served tea, meals, and semi-cold beer on our balcony.
The only downfall to this wonderful place is that when the call to prayer from the nearby Muslim Mosques begins, which is broadcast over loudspeakers, the mosque closest to us has a horrible chanter, truly. There must be 3 or 4 mosques close by, and the ones further away have lovely chanters, but the one next to us is just terrible! I can't imagine that it is easy to bow in reverent prayer to this man's voice! In addition, the early morning call to prayer is at 4:30am!!!
Yesterday afternoon when we arrived, we walked to a couple small temples in the village, and were able to walk around the grounds of a beautiful buddhist monestary. We got caught in the afternoon rain, and even though we had raincoats, ended up soaked to the bone by the time we got back to the LOTUS. All those people offering us rides all day completely dissappeared! So we walked home in a raging downpour singing SINGING IN THE RAIN & RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD.
Our experience with the friendly people here continues to be very positive, although there is somewhat of a circus atmosphere around the temple here in Borobudur with people selling wares of every kind ~ Buddhist temple ashtray anyone? There was even some kids carnival rides & arcade games! Luckily all these people are kept away from the temple itself. The temple brings a LOT of money to this village, with as many as 90,000 people visiting on Festival days, luckily there was nothing like that number here today!
The people here, especially the children shout Hello as we walk by. I am sure we say hello to everyone we pass! It turns out I am something of a curiosity here with my pale white skin. I have been asked to take pictures with quite a lot of the people here. Mostly Muslim women whom I look like a giant standing next to. (Vanessa, if you are reading this, you would feel tall here!) Even Glen gets comments from the men about how tall he is. I was worried about not being covered from head to toe, as many women here definitely are, but after being asked to pose for pictures with these lovely women, my worry is gone. I am just a curiosity! (People have asked for pictures with Glen and I together also.) We are finding that most people DO NOT think we are married. I guess the idea of an interracial marriage is a bit foreign too them.
Well, I guess I will close for now. Tomorrow we are off to BALI!
Salamat Malam (Goodnight)
Carrie
PS. Did I mention this wonderful room with such hospitable hosts cost the grand sum of 150,000 rupiah, (about $17.00)!
So, to back up a bit, we traveled here by bus on Thursday after paying a visit to the Sultan's Palace in Yogyakarta. We are staying at the LOTUS II, a lovely guest house recommended by lonely planet. We have a huge four poster bed covered with a lace mosquito net ~ a romantic fantasy bed except for the blue bedspread with cows printed on it! Our bathroom is larger than our whole room in Yogyakarta was, and we have hot water ~ yay! We have a balcony overlooking rice paddies. I sort of thought that a swarm of mosquitoes would rise from the rice paddies when evening fell, but they haven't really been a problem, although I am diligent about repellent anyway! We are served tea, meals, and semi-cold beer on our balcony.
The only downfall to this wonderful place is that when the call to prayer from the nearby Muslim Mosques begins, which is broadcast over loudspeakers, the mosque closest to us has a horrible chanter, truly. There must be 3 or 4 mosques close by, and the ones further away have lovely chanters, but the one next to us is just terrible! I can't imagine that it is easy to bow in reverent prayer to this man's voice! In addition, the early morning call to prayer is at 4:30am!!!
Yesterday afternoon when we arrived, we walked to a couple small temples in the village, and were able to walk around the grounds of a beautiful buddhist monestary. We got caught in the afternoon rain, and even though we had raincoats, ended up soaked to the bone by the time we got back to the LOTUS. All those people offering us rides all day completely dissappeared! So we walked home in a raging downpour singing SINGING IN THE RAIN & RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD.
Our experience with the friendly people here continues to be very positive, although there is somewhat of a circus atmosphere around the temple here in Borobudur with people selling wares of every kind ~ Buddhist temple ashtray anyone? There was even some kids carnival rides & arcade games! Luckily all these people are kept away from the temple itself. The temple brings a LOT of money to this village, with as many as 90,000 people visiting on Festival days, luckily there was nothing like that number here today!
The people here, especially the children shout Hello as we walk by. I am sure we say hello to everyone we pass! It turns out I am something of a curiosity here with my pale white skin. I have been asked to take pictures with quite a lot of the people here. Mostly Muslim women whom I look like a giant standing next to. (Vanessa, if you are reading this, you would feel tall here!) Even Glen gets comments from the men about how tall he is. I was worried about not being covered from head to toe, as many women here definitely are, but after being asked to pose for pictures with these lovely women, my worry is gone. I am just a curiosity! (People have asked for pictures with Glen and I together also.) We are finding that most people DO NOT think we are married. I guess the idea of an interracial marriage is a bit foreign too them.
Well, I guess I will close for now. Tomorrow we are off to BALI!
Salamat Malam (Goodnight)
Carrie
PS. Did I mention this wonderful room with such hospitable hosts cost the grand sum of 150,000 rupiah, (about $17.00)!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
whew
So , we're here in Yogyakarata after a little bit of travel, I think I will back track a little and catch you up slightly. Carrie gave you an idea of the flight here...at least I got some sleep , I don't think she slept at all on the plane. It was a good idea we got a hotel and transportation set up before we got to Jakarta, we just hopped into our limo ( actually a toyota mini van) and he took us to the wrong hotel and then eventually the right one, we ate and went to sleep by 7 and slept for 12 hours and pretty much did the same thing the next night, in bed by 8.
We did a little sight seeing in Jakarta, I have to say it's pretty nice for a big city, I mean there's gobs of cars and bikes and traffic, but it's pretty clean and the people are really nice....actually all the locals we have met, for the most part have been really nice. It's been kind of odd, they just sort of walk up to you and start up a conversation, and well you expect them to be selling something or wanting something from you and they don't .....WEIRD!! We met this guy Pot on the street in Jakarta and he ended up showing us the backpacker district in Jakarta and helped us book tickets at the train station to Yogyakarta, he didn't ask for anything, so we bought him a soda. Back to Jakarta for a sec, we both commented on how safe we felt there, we might come back a little before our flight and do a little more exploring...well probably not, only if the diving really sucks, or the rest of the country does.
OK so we got up really early today because we went to bed at 8..we're not that damn old yet. So we got lots of sleep and we heard the call to prayer at 5 or 6...it's early whatever it is. So we got on our train to Yogyakarta at 9 this morning, 1st class... which is sort of relative, niceish seats, lots of leg room, frostbite AC of course and meals which was good. Ok before you get on our ass for 1st class, it was only $23 each , for a 9 hour train ride..in my mind it was worth it. The train ride itself was beautiful and THE RICE PADDIES!!! are so cool, especially the terraced ones and I cannot imagine how much hand work must go into maintaining one of those fields... ridiculous.
So we walk out of the train station here and this guy accosts us, trying to get us to go to his hotel or whatever, we try to get rid of him...he ends up showing us how to get to a hotel we wanted to stay at and leaves...again weird!! OK so this is rub it in stuff, beer is $1.40 at the bar , not sure from the store, our room is $10 and it's not bad , not the best but it does have a flush toilet and dinner for 2 with 2 big bottles of beer was $7.00. We haven't seen much of the city yet , we just walked around a little, it seems ok. Well that's all I got for now, hope you're all well and good
We did a little sight seeing in Jakarta, I have to say it's pretty nice for a big city, I mean there's gobs of cars and bikes and traffic, but it's pretty clean and the people are really nice....actually all the locals we have met, for the most part have been really nice. It's been kind of odd, they just sort of walk up to you and start up a conversation, and well you expect them to be selling something or wanting something from you and they don't .....WEIRD!! We met this guy Pot on the street in Jakarta and he ended up showing us the backpacker district in Jakarta and helped us book tickets at the train station to Yogyakarta, he didn't ask for anything, so we bought him a soda. Back to Jakarta for a sec, we both commented on how safe we felt there, we might come back a little before our flight and do a little more exploring...well probably not, only if the diving really sucks, or the rest of the country does.
OK so we got up really early today because we went to bed at 8..we're not that damn old yet. So we got lots of sleep and we heard the call to prayer at 5 or 6...it's early whatever it is. So we got on our train to Yogyakarta at 9 this morning, 1st class... which is sort of relative, niceish seats, lots of leg room, frostbite AC of course and meals which was good. Ok before you get on our ass for 1st class, it was only $23 each , for a 9 hour train ride..in my mind it was worth it. The train ride itself was beautiful and THE RICE PADDIES!!! are so cool, especially the terraced ones and I cannot imagine how much hand work must go into maintaining one of those fields... ridiculous.
So we walk out of the train station here and this guy accosts us, trying to get us to go to his hotel or whatever, we try to get rid of him...he ends up showing us how to get to a hotel we wanted to stay at and leaves...again weird!! OK so this is rub it in stuff, beer is $1.40 at the bar , not sure from the store, our room is $10 and it's not bad , not the best but it does have a flush toilet and dinner for 2 with 2 big bottles of beer was $7.00. We haven't seen much of the city yet , we just walked around a little, it seems ok. Well that's all I got for now, hope you're all well and good
Most Polite People on the Planet Earth!
Wow! So many things to write about, I could write a novel, so for now I will just share this observation~
The people here in Indonesia are the most Polite & Helpful people on the planet earth! (At least that I have had the pleasure of meeting so far)
We are used to travelling in central America, where helpful people want to sell you something.
Here in Indonesia, even if they want to sell you something, they are too polite to be overly pushy.
When we were in Jakarta we met a man named 'Pot' (drop the t at the end.) We were out looking for Jalan Jaksa- a neighborhood not far from our hotel when we passed him on the sidewalk. He escorted us there keeping up lively conversation. He never tried to hustle us or sell us anything, just wanted to practice his english and learn about us. This wonderful man, 53 years of age, no teeth & looking far older than his years, in addition to Indonesian, can speak very good english, japanese, and dutch. After escorting us to Jalan Jaksa and pointing us to a restaurant, he left us alone.
Later we passed him on the way to the train station, and he again walked along with us and led us to the correct ticket window to purchase our tickets for today's trip to Yogyakarta. We ended up offering him a cold drink as the heat & humidity were oppressive. He chose green tea, as it is good for his health.
This experience has been typical. We have encountered some 'sales' people, but only one has really been annoying, mostly they leave you alone if you ask them to, or they just quit trying to sell you anything, and enjoy polite conversation instead! They are very happy to help you learn a few words or phrases in Bahasa Indonesia.
I could go on for pages telling you about our experiences in only the few days we have been here, but for now I will say.
Selamet Malam,. (Good Night)
Carrie
The people here in Indonesia are the most Polite & Helpful people on the planet earth! (At least that I have had the pleasure of meeting so far)
We are used to travelling in central America, where helpful people want to sell you something.
Here in Indonesia, even if they want to sell you something, they are too polite to be overly pushy.
When we were in Jakarta we met a man named 'Pot' (drop the t at the end.) We were out looking for Jalan Jaksa- a neighborhood not far from our hotel when we passed him on the sidewalk. He escorted us there keeping up lively conversation. He never tried to hustle us or sell us anything, just wanted to practice his english and learn about us. This wonderful man, 53 years of age, no teeth & looking far older than his years, in addition to Indonesian, can speak very good english, japanese, and dutch. After escorting us to Jalan Jaksa and pointing us to a restaurant, he left us alone.
Later we passed him on the way to the train station, and he again walked along with us and led us to the correct ticket window to purchase our tickets for today's trip to Yogyakarta. We ended up offering him a cold drink as the heat & humidity were oppressive. He chose green tea, as it is good for his health.
This experience has been typical. We have encountered some 'sales' people, but only one has really been annoying, mostly they leave you alone if you ask them to, or they just quit trying to sell you anything, and enjoy polite conversation instead! They are very happy to help you learn a few words or phrases in Bahasa Indonesia.
I could go on for pages telling you about our experiences in only the few days we have been here, but for now I will say.
Selamet Malam,. (Good Night)
Carrie
Monday, March 15, 2010
Jakarta ~ OR: The lanes are just a suggestion
Just a quick post as the internet here at our hotel is freakin expensive. (As is the beer!)
We arrived safely in Jakarta yesterday afternoon & took a cab from the airport to hotel.
Traffic was just as expected - TONS OF IT! The one observation I have to make regarding traffic here is that while the roadways are very well marked, obviously the lane markings are 'Just a Suggestion' as a three lane road actually has about 7 lanes of traffic! And as in Panama, probably the most dangerous thing we will do here in indonesia is try to cross the street! Despite the chaos, it does seem very civil, with very little honking or aggressiveness! I am not really sure how that works!
People are very nice here!
Stay tuned for more.
Cheery Wave,
Carrie
We arrived safely in Jakarta yesterday afternoon & took a cab from the airport to hotel.
Traffic was just as expected - TONS OF IT! The one observation I have to make regarding traffic here is that while the roadways are very well marked, obviously the lane markings are 'Just a Suggestion' as a three lane road actually has about 7 lanes of traffic! And as in Panama, probably the most dangerous thing we will do here in indonesia is try to cross the street! Despite the chaos, it does seem very civil, with very little honking or aggressiveness! I am not really sure how that works!
People are very nice here!
Stay tuned for more.
Cheery Wave,
Carrie
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Hong Kong! or Trains, planes & automobiles!
I am soooo tired and in a bit of a sleepless haze, so this probably won't be the most creative or entertaining post ever!
I am currently standing at a counter in the Hong Kong airport. I had to buy something from the little store to use the free internet, so I am drinking a diet coke. It is 3:30 in the afternoon, PST, so it has been 27.5 hours since David and Emily dropped us off at the Pasco airport. We have two hours until our flight to Jakarta, and I think a six hour flight before we arrive there.
Yesterday, we left pasco and arrived in San Francisco. We had 8 hours to kill in San Francisco, so rather than sit in the airport we decided to go down to fisherman's wharf. Our day trip in San Francisco ending up being a series of rides. First we took the 'DOOR TO DOOR' van from the airport to fishermans wharf. Basically a flat rate taxi to where you want to go. ($17.00 pp to fisherman's wharf). The day was sunny but only about 55 F, so a bit brisk. We walked along the waterfront a bit & had something to eat at BOUDIN's SOURDOUGH BAKERY & RESTAURANT. Glen was not too excited about diving into the crowds of tourists at Pier 39 and we were cold, so we took a Cable Car which was supposed to take us to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Center. However, part of the trolley line was down, so the cable car took us only half way, then we took a shuttlebus to the BART station. We then took the BART which was about a 30 minute high speed train ride back to the airport.
Really, all I cared about doing was riding the Cable Car so I am happy. It was pretty cold though, and we were dressed for Jakarta not San Francisco, so I couldn't talk Glen into hanging on the outside with me.
Anyway, here we are in Hong Kong after a 15+ hour flight. I haven't really slept, so I am now going on about 33 hours without sleep.
It is warm here in Hong Kong, and hazy (I believe the word is pollution!)
CATHAY PACIFIC airlines rocks though! Great service, the food was even good.
The plane had video monitors in front of each seat, you could watch movies, play games, etc.
I wasn't able to do much sleeping, but I did watch THE BLINDSIDE, EVERYBODY's FINE, and UP IN THE AIR. I recommended them all. (I cried buckets watching EVERYBODY'S FINE)
OK, Well this is probably a bit boring, just thought I would say hi, while there is internet available.
MUCH LOVE,
Carrie
I am currently standing at a counter in the Hong Kong airport. I had to buy something from the little store to use the free internet, so I am drinking a diet coke. It is 3:30 in the afternoon, PST, so it has been 27.5 hours since David and Emily dropped us off at the Pasco airport. We have two hours until our flight to Jakarta, and I think a six hour flight before we arrive there.
Yesterday, we left pasco and arrived in San Francisco. We had 8 hours to kill in San Francisco, so rather than sit in the airport we decided to go down to fisherman's wharf. Our day trip in San Francisco ending up being a series of rides. First we took the 'DOOR TO DOOR' van from the airport to fishermans wharf. Basically a flat rate taxi to where you want to go. ($17.00 pp to fisherman's wharf). The day was sunny but only about 55 F, so a bit brisk. We walked along the waterfront a bit & had something to eat at BOUDIN's SOURDOUGH BAKERY & RESTAURANT. Glen was not too excited about diving into the crowds of tourists at Pier 39 and we were cold, so we took a Cable Car which was supposed to take us to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Center. However, part of the trolley line was down, so the cable car took us only half way, then we took a shuttlebus to the BART station. We then took the BART which was about a 30 minute high speed train ride back to the airport.
Really, all I cared about doing was riding the Cable Car so I am happy. It was pretty cold though, and we were dressed for Jakarta not San Francisco, so I couldn't talk Glen into hanging on the outside with me.
Anyway, here we are in Hong Kong after a 15+ hour flight. I haven't really slept, so I am now going on about 33 hours without sleep.
It is warm here in Hong Kong, and hazy (I believe the word is pollution!)
CATHAY PACIFIC airlines rocks though! Great service, the food was even good.
The plane had video monitors in front of each seat, you could watch movies, play games, etc.
I wasn't able to do much sleeping, but I did watch THE BLINDSIDE, EVERYBODY's FINE, and UP IN THE AIR. I recommended them all. (I cried buckets watching EVERYBODY'S FINE)
OK, Well this is probably a bit boring, just thought I would say hi, while there is internet available.
MUCH LOVE,
Carrie
Friday, March 12, 2010
T minus 1 day
Hi all , before we start, I do believe you should all go buy the new dave matthews and tim reynolds in las vegas cd, if for nothing else, the acoustic version of kashmir. Sorry just needed to show my dave love. So , it's the day before we leave and ...well I've been packed for hours now..I'm ready to go, knowing that I have probably forgotten something, I almost forgot to pack underwear, too old to do the commando thing..oh oh oh try not to picture it..yeah I know not pretty. I was able to cram everything into 1 backpack, so I'm only going to take a small day pack with me on the plane. ( I sort of wonder sometimes whether anyone cares about these sort of things..cause for the most part I'm not sure I would, but It's our blog so....I guess I can be as boring as I want to be)
So we leave tomorrow around 2 and get to San Francisco at about 4pm and then we have 8 hours there, so we think we might go down to fishermans wharf and do touristy stuff. We leave SF at just after midnight and get to Hong Kong around 6am the NEXT DAY, I think it's 15 hours in the air...blah blah blah , wow almost boring myself, ok we get into Jakarta at about 2pm on monday mar 15 with our backpacks hopefully. I 'm not sure about Carrie, but I have a hard time sleeping on planes , so I'm not sure how much sleep I'm going to get by the time we get there. We have booked a hotel in Jakarta for 2 days when we get there, so we can recover from the flight and maybe plan what we want to do from there.
Speaking of sleep..probably not going to get much of that tonight either, it's almost addictive, the feeling I get when I travel, especially this time, because I have never been to Indonesia before and well.... it's not the most stable country in the world. To be honest though, everywhere I have gone has never been as bad as people have said it would be, and well ... I think that's the whole point of travel, to get you out of your comfort zone, to experience things out of the ordinary and see how you react, to learn things about yourself..ok cliche, but to be a better person and really isn't that what we're all trying to do?
Oh what the hell , .. I'm a little tipsy.. Carrie has been the best wife ever, I drag her around the world to these 3rd world countries with sketchy sanitation, large sharks, bugs, bugs and more bugs and she has always been willing to be by my side...maybe not real comfortable, but trusting me enough to go through the experience with me, and I love her for that and am always amazed at how lucky I am to have her as my wife. Does this qualify for embarrassing ?
Well that's all for now... hmmmm... not the funniest post in the world...mushroom walks into a bar and says hey bartender, can I get a pint of beer? bartender says we don't serve mushrooms here!! mushroom says; hey come on , I'm a fun guy (funghi).
So we leave tomorrow around 2 and get to San Francisco at about 4pm and then we have 8 hours there, so we think we might go down to fishermans wharf and do touristy stuff. We leave SF at just after midnight and get to Hong Kong around 6am the NEXT DAY, I think it's 15 hours in the air...blah blah blah , wow almost boring myself, ok we get into Jakarta at about 2pm on monday mar 15 with our backpacks hopefully. I 'm not sure about Carrie, but I have a hard time sleeping on planes , so I'm not sure how much sleep I'm going to get by the time we get there. We have booked a hotel in Jakarta for 2 days when we get there, so we can recover from the flight and maybe plan what we want to do from there.
Speaking of sleep..probably not going to get much of that tonight either, it's almost addictive, the feeling I get when I travel, especially this time, because I have never been to Indonesia before and well.... it's not the most stable country in the world. To be honest though, everywhere I have gone has never been as bad as people have said it would be, and well ... I think that's the whole point of travel, to get you out of your comfort zone, to experience things out of the ordinary and see how you react, to learn things about yourself..ok cliche, but to be a better person and really isn't that what we're all trying to do?
Oh what the hell , .. I'm a little tipsy.. Carrie has been the best wife ever, I drag her around the world to these 3rd world countries with sketchy sanitation, large sharks, bugs, bugs and more bugs and she has always been willing to be by my side...maybe not real comfortable, but trusting me enough to go through the experience with me, and I love her for that and am always amazed at how lucky I am to have her as my wife. Does this qualify for embarrassing ?
Well that's all for now... hmmmm... not the funniest post in the world...mushroom walks into a bar and says hey bartender, can I get a pint of beer? bartender says we don't serve mushrooms here!! mushroom says; hey come on , I'm a fun guy (funghi).
Monday, March 8, 2010
ANTICIPATION
ANTICIPATION *** EXCITEMENT *** FEAR!!!
Yep, I said it - FEAR!!!
I am always fearful when we are getting ready to strike out on travel to less developed parts of the world. I am a worrier! What if something happens to someone here at home, and we can't get back to help them! What if something happens to us while we are there, and we don't come back home! Indonesia is mainly Muslim, something of an issue for a woman. Indonesia is notorious for sinking ferries, derailing trains, and planes that fall from the sky. And what about those Squat Toilets (Also a much larger issue for a woman than a man.) I am definitely worried about the squat toilets! So, Yes I am afraid!
All that said. I CAN"T WAIT TO GO! I know it will be astoundingly beautiful & wonderfully relaxing.
I love sitting in a HOT Humid place reading a book while looking at beautiful scenery.
I love seeing the smiles on the faces of the children and friendly locals.
I love the quiet peace and wondrous beauty of scuba diving.
I love seeing a strange new place together with Glen.
AND Yes, I love the empowerment which comes from facing the things I fear and becoming a better person for it!
Hopefully no one will get sick, injured, or mugged. If we see sharks when we are diving, hopefully they won't be threatening. Hopefully there will be no transportation mishaps, monsoons, or earthquakes! And if any of those things happen, hopefully we will arrive back home safe & sound to be with the people we love, and many tales to tell!
So, until we see you again, keep us in your thoughts ~
You will be in ours!
Carrie
Yep, I said it - FEAR!!!
I am always fearful when we are getting ready to strike out on travel to less developed parts of the world. I am a worrier! What if something happens to someone here at home, and we can't get back to help them! What if something happens to us while we are there, and we don't come back home! Indonesia is mainly Muslim, something of an issue for a woman. Indonesia is notorious for sinking ferries, derailing trains, and planes that fall from the sky. And what about those Squat Toilets (Also a much larger issue for a woman than a man.) I am definitely worried about the squat toilets! So, Yes I am afraid!
All that said. I CAN"T WAIT TO GO! I know it will be astoundingly beautiful & wonderfully relaxing.
I love sitting in a HOT Humid place reading a book while looking at beautiful scenery.
I love seeing the smiles on the faces of the children and friendly locals.
I love the quiet peace and wondrous beauty of scuba diving.
I love seeing a strange new place together with Glen.
AND Yes, I love the empowerment which comes from facing the things I fear and becoming a better person for it!
Hopefully no one will get sick, injured, or mugged. If we see sharks when we are diving, hopefully they won't be threatening. Hopefully there will be no transportation mishaps, monsoons, or earthquakes! And if any of those things happen, hopefully we will arrive back home safe & sound to be with the people we love, and many tales to tell!
So, until we see you again, keep us in your thoughts ~
You will be in ours!
Carrie
Saturday, March 6, 2010
one week to go ...loving it
AHHHHH.....Love a refreshing alcoholic beverage to start your evening off right, OK before we kick this pig off, I wanted to say something about the Olympics. I have never, NEVER!! been more proud to be a Canadian, and especially a Vancouverite than during the Olympics. I cried when Canadians won or lost ( OK I know I cry at the commercials too, but this is different...really) I have never watched more curling in my life ...and probably never will. Watched the best hockey game EVER, especially since we won, cried then too. I think Vancouver did a wonderful job putting on the Olympics, even with a few minor glitches, and made us all proud canadians....and made everybody around the world think we travel by sea plane ALL THE TIME!!!I didn't really understand the fascination.
Well I think ( huh didn't use anyways!) we're mostly ready to go , speaking for myself, all I have to do essentially is pack...which might be a challenge. We're going to try and not take everything we "might" need... you know like splints for broken bones or pills for some weird disease we have really no chance of contracting. Speaking of disease, we went to the health district, to get our shots updated and get a prescription for malaria ( which by the way was close to a zillion dollars...no really a zillion with a "z") I love the travel nurse there, a wonderful woman, she's been there for all the 10 years since I started to travel every year. Her job , other than the shots and stuff, I think , is ... to scare the crap out of you so that all you'll do is stay in your room and take pictures from your balcony. Don't get me wrong she does it very nicely...and well I guess it's her job, but seriously if you did what she said all you would do is stay in your room and eat pringles...not really the point of travel as far I'm concerned.
I'm at that sort of excited, scared of the unknown, knowing you're forgetting something and trying not to worry about it, don't be an idiot, of course there will be toothpaste there to buy stage. (although I understand, only through the guide book that personal waste removal will be a challenge...ok I know toilet paper is cutting down trees, but I like toilet paper ,especially Charmin and I really wish the rest of the world would get on board with the whole TP thing.)So as a diver it's been a back and forth thing about what to take, all that crap weighs alot and takes up alot of space, on the other hand do you want entrust your life to some rental stuff that somebody just barfed into yesterday.Also this whole charging for the second bag thing...well... blows, which means I'm probably going to be one of those annoying people with the humongous carry on bag that takes up half of the over head bin, but I save a bunch of money, especially cause I think we're going to do a fair amount of airline travel in Indonesia.
We really haven't planned anything as far as what we doing in Indonesia, other than we want to go to Bali , Sulawesi ( for the butterflies ) and Borneo ( for the diving and Orangutans ) Apparently Jakarta is a little flooded right now..so we probably won't stay too long there.There is a train that travels the length of Java, so that might be an option for us...love trains and it would allow us to stop in Yogiyakarta ..ok spell check hates me, anyways (ah hah ) supposed to be beautiful Yogi whatever you call it. Well that's all I got for now, we're off to dinner.
Well I think ( huh didn't use anyways!) we're mostly ready to go , speaking for myself, all I have to do essentially is pack...which might be a challenge. We're going to try and not take everything we "might" need... you know like splints for broken bones or pills for some weird disease we have really no chance of contracting. Speaking of disease, we went to the health district, to get our shots updated and get a prescription for malaria ( which by the way was close to a zillion dollars...no really a zillion with a "z") I love the travel nurse there, a wonderful woman, she's been there for all the 10 years since I started to travel every year. Her job , other than the shots and stuff, I think , is ... to scare the crap out of you so that all you'll do is stay in your room and take pictures from your balcony. Don't get me wrong she does it very nicely...and well I guess it's her job, but seriously if you did what she said all you would do is stay in your room and eat pringles...not really the point of travel as far I'm concerned.
I'm at that sort of excited, scared of the unknown, knowing you're forgetting something and trying not to worry about it, don't be an idiot, of course there will be toothpaste there to buy stage. (although I understand, only through the guide book that personal waste removal will be a challenge...ok I know toilet paper is cutting down trees, but I like toilet paper ,especially Charmin and I really wish the rest of the world would get on board with the whole TP thing.)So as a diver it's been a back and forth thing about what to take, all that crap weighs alot and takes up alot of space, on the other hand do you want entrust your life to some rental stuff that somebody just barfed into yesterday.Also this whole charging for the second bag thing...well... blows, which means I'm probably going to be one of those annoying people with the humongous carry on bag that takes up half of the over head bin, but I save a bunch of money, especially cause I think we're going to do a fair amount of airline travel in Indonesia.
We really haven't planned anything as far as what we doing in Indonesia, other than we want to go to Bali , Sulawesi ( for the butterflies ) and Borneo ( for the diving and Orangutans ) Apparently Jakarta is a little flooded right now..so we probably won't stay too long there.There is a train that travels the length of Java, so that might be an option for us...love trains and it would allow us to stop in Yogiyakarta ..ok spell check hates me, anyways (ah hah ) supposed to be beautiful Yogi whatever you call it. Well that's all I got for now, we're off to dinner.
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