Indonesia

Thursday, November 19 continued..... Back to Bangkok we went on a 2 hour flight. After going through immigration and customs (once again) and tracking down the shuttle, we were off to our hotel for the evening. We had a 6:15 am flight the next day to Bali, so we opted to stay close to the airport. By the time we got to the hotel it was around 3:00 pm. It was quite a nice hotel, though it looked like hardly anyone was staying there. We went for a quick dip in the pool, had an early dinner, took some sleeping pills and called it a very early night.

Friday, November 20. Today was a day of planes, cars and boats. Travel day. Destination Gili Trawangan aka “Gili T.” We were up bright and early. We had scheduled a 3:30 am wake-up call, but someone from the hotel came to our room, mistakenly, around 1:45 am to drop of a charger. Neither Keith nor I were able to get back to sleep. We took the 4:00 am shuttle back to the airport, checked in, had some breakfast at Burger King and then boarded our 4 plus hour flight to Bali. We arrived in Bali, went through immigration and customs and met a man who gave up our tickets and transfer vouchers to Gili T. Next we took a small smelly plane to the island of Lombok – a 35 to 40 minute flight. We were once again met by a man (as an aside, I had pre-arranged all of the transfers) who drove us to the harbor where were we would be taking a fast boat to the island of Gili T. It about a 35 minute drive up and down a large mountain and through the jungle where we saw monkeys on the side of the road. We finally got the harbor and went for a short 10 minute boat ride over to Gili T. The boat literally dropped us right on the beach in front of our hotel. 12 plus hours after our journey had started, we finally made it to our destination. Gili Trawangan is part of the Gili Islands, three small islands off the larger island of Lombok. Gili T is the largest of the three islands and has a population of about 800 people. The islands were discovered only 30 years ago. Gili T has become known as a bit of a party spot known for its diving and magic mushrooms. There are no paved roads or motorized vehicles on Gili T. The only modes of transportation are foot, bicycle and horse-drawn tuk tuks. The island is encircled by a beautiful white beach and the water is gorgeous. There are now a number of bungalows and villas as well as cafes and restaurants on the island. We checked into our hotel were we gave us a delicious welcome drink (a common occurrence when checking into a hotel in Southeast Asia). As an aside, the juices all over Southeast Asia are delicious – I think it comes from the abundance of fruit that grows in this area of the world. We then went and checked out our room. It was quite nice. The bathroom was partially outside which proved to be quite an experience. We wanted to see sunset so we walked about 7 minutes or so to the area where sunset was supposed to be the best. Though there were many people there, the sun tucked behind the clouds and there really wasn't much to see. We were both starving so we decided to have some dinner. Along the “street” there are a number of restaurants with fresh fish. You pick out your fish and they grill it right there for you. After dinner we were both exhausted from having gotten up so early so we headed back to hotel to shower and call it a night. We then encountered the downside to having a bathroom that's partially outside. There was a small scorpion on the wall and a large cockroach in the shower and somehow a long millipede had made it into our room. Also, we discovered that the water coming out of the bathroom sink as well as the shower was salt water. Apparently it's very difficult and expensive to get fresh water out to the Gili Islands. Fortunately there was a freshwater tap with a bucket, so we were able to rinse off a bit of the salt water. Keith and I both had a restless night sleep.

Saturday, November 21. After breakfast we wandered around town – a one “road” dirt strip about ½ mile long. We dropped off some laundry, Keith bought a bathing suit and we grabbed some water, diet cokes and Oreos. As a side note, Oreos and Pringles can be found all over Southeast Asia. We spent the rest of the day by the pool, lounging about and relaxing. Around 4:00 pm we set off to walk around the entire island – a 2 hour walk. The journey was very nice. The beaches have lots and lots of different coral and good shells. Apparently before tourism reached the island, they used to bomb fish – meaning they would throw sticks of dynamite into the water to kill the fish. This caused the coral to break up with the result being lots of dead coral on the beach. We arrived at the “sunset” spot in time for sunset, though once again the sun had ducked behind the clouds so there really wasn't much to see. We showered, had some dinner and called it a night.

Sunday, November 22. After breakfast we had decided to see the other Gili Islands and do some snorkeling. We set out on a pirate type boat with seven other people (we were the only Americans once again). The day was spent sailing around Gili Air and Gili Nemo, the two other Gili Islands and snorkeling. The snorkeling was very good and the water was extremely warm. We saw lots of brightly colored fish and two salt and pepper colored eels battling over home turf. Lunch was fresh fish – delicious. It was nice to spend the day out on the ocean. Since the temperature was so warm on land, it was nice to be in a spot where there was a constant breeze. We arrived back at the hotel around 4:30 pm, showered and then headed out. We had a few cocktails, some dinner and called it a night.

Monday, November 23. After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and headed off on a speed boat to Bali. The boat ride over to Bali was a bit scary. It was an 1 ½ hour ride on a speed boat which held about 20 passengers. We hit some very rough seas and I (and I think Keith) was a bit nervous – especially given that the day before a ferry had sunk going from an island off Singapore to Sumantra due to rough seas. It was a rough rough ride and we were both very relieved to arrive in Bali. When we arrived in the harbor we had an hour drive to Ubud – the town where we were staying in Bali. Ubud is a bit inland, but boosts a large cultural scene. After checking into our hotel we went to wander along the main street. The shops had many beautiful handcrafts. We had some lunch and Keith went to get a haircut. It was a bit of a scary experience as the girl didn't have a firm grasp on what she was doing and there was somewhat of a language barrier. Thankful only one side burn got a little butchered. We then went over to where our friend Rachel was staying, but she was still out for the day. We went back to the hotel for a swim and then checked by Rachel's place again, but she was still not home. I went back to the hotel for a shower and Keith went to get a massage (he was sore from hanging onto the boat – he said he felt like he had orangutan arms). Finally we met up with Rachel and went out for dinner. It was VERY nice to see someone from home and just to be around another person.

Tuesday, November 24. After breakfast Keith and I went to check out Pasar Seni, the main market which sells clothing, wood carvings, silver jewelry and a wide range of souvenirs. It was a little overwhelming but I managed to purchase yet ANOTHER watch (I think it's watch #3 or #4) as my watch had fallen off in Bangkok and shattered. After going through the market we walked through town a bit and somehow managed to get lost. After two hours of walking and asking multiple people for directions, we finally made it back to the hotel. For the afternoon we had planned to go to the Elephant Safari Park. We got a driver and headed out. The Park was fabulous. The Park began as a rescue center and now houses 27 elephants, including three baby elephants. You could feed and play with all of the elephants. We watched a “talent” show where the elephants did everything from dunk basket balls and drop kick soccer balls to pulling a rope to hoist a flag. We then went for an elephant ride which takes you through the jungle and ends in a small swimming pool. Our elephant's name was Ola. It was cool though Keith was happy when the ride was over. After some lunch we headed back to our hotel. We went for a swim in the pool, showered and met up with Rachel (who had spent the day at the spa). We had FABULOUS dinner at a restaurant that was set in the lush tropical jungle. We then called it a night.

Wednesday, November 25. Happy 1st birthday to my niece Lauran! After breakfast we met up with Rachel and headed over to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary where there are literally hundreds of long-tailed Balinese macaques who have no fear of people and roam wild. My Lonely Planet says the following: “The monkeys are both consummate comedians and pathological kleptomaniacs....” The monkeys were quite aggressive at times. One was particularly interested in Keith's bottle of water. He grabbed it from Keith, managed to unscrew the cap, picked it up with two hands and drank out of it. Another one jumped on Rachel's head (not sure if it was her earrings or her bag that he was after) and didn't seem to want to let go despite our best efforts to get him off. Finally Keith had to give him a smack on the ass, which did get him off of Rachel, though he expressed his unhappiness by showing Keith his pearly whites (and they do have pretty fierce looking teeth). There were monkeys of all different ages and sizes. The Sanctuary itself was quite beautiful with huge trees, moss covered rocks, temples and stone carvings. After a couple of hours at the Sanctuary we decided to go see a little more of Bali. We hired a driver and went to see one of Bali's still active volcanoes. It was an impressive sight to see. We had lunch looking over the volcano and then headed to a coffee plantation where they grow coffee beans, cocoa and a variety of spices. They let us try a couple of different coffees, some cocoa and some herbal tea. It was delicious. They also had a couple of lombaks (?), an animal similar to a meerkat but bigger, which eats the coffee beans when they are ripe, poops them out and then they make a special coffee out of those beans. Interesting. We stopped and took a few pictures of the rice fields on the way home. Our driver dropped us off at Pasar Seni (the main market). We all purchased a few items at the market and then wandered back to our hotels to shower. We met up with Rachel for dinner. We had decided to go a restaurant on the other side of Monkey Forest Sanctuary where we could watch a traditional Balinese dance called Barong. The path going through the Sanctuary was very dark and I was a bit nervous that the monkeys were going to come out and get us, but we had a flashlight and fortunately it appeared that all the monkeys had gone to sleep for the night. The restaurant was nice and I had some delicious Balinese wine. The food was so so. Keith ordered the duck, a local specialty, though what he got was essentially a fried duck carcass which was more reminiscent of a bat than a duck. Fortunately he also ordered some spinach mashed potatoes which were absolutely scrumptious. The dance was colorful and interesting – like nothing I had ever seen before. It told a tale of two kings fighting over a woman and men turning into animals. After some dessert we headed back to our hotels and called it a night.