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This morning John and I finally got up early again to enjoy the day. We had our breakfast overlooking the pool then jumped into the pool shortly after and all 5 of us spent a few hours there. At night we went to a traditional Balinese dance. About 50 men sat in a circle and made the music for the hour. In my opinion, they were the best part. The women dancers told a story about a Hindu God that got captured and other Gods went out to save her. If the story wasn't written on the pamphlet, we would have had no idea what was going on! At the end one of the men from the choir threw around hot coals from coconut skin. It was really cool but scary at the same time, since the coals could easily jump the little barrier they set up. I'm really happy we went, it was very different and cultural. Today (26th) we rented a scooter and cruised around the Ubud area. Our first stop was at the tiered rice terraces. It was a beautiful scene and a lot bigger than expected. On our way to a coffee plantation there was a police checkpoint. The police were checking to see if tourists had an international drivers license, and we didn't. But in a corrupt country, one thing always works to get out of a ticket, $$. Parker and Andrea had to do this the day before, so we were prepared to bribe. We started with $5 but the cop wanted us to pay $100. So we tried to barter with him since he wanted a $10 bribe. After a few minutes and the cop actually writing down John's information, we caved and gave him $10, which was still cheaper than John buying the international license. It could have been a scam to get extra money, but we didn't want to mess with the Indonesian police, two days before we are to leave the country. John and I both dislike supporting corruption, but we had to do what we had to do. Being a little flustered, we went to a coffee plantation where we got free samples. Here they had the weasel coffee too, and you actually saw the droppings they use, to make the coffee. After that quick stop we went for a cruise into the hills, admiring the volcano from a distance. We bought some passion fruit and mangosteen fruit, both were delicious. We arrived back around 2:30 pm and jumped in the pool. We walked to the supermarket to stock up on a few more things and on the way back we remembered that we would have to pass the monkey forest, with plastic bags. So we frantically tried to find an alternative route to get back. A few tourists kept stating that this one alley was a dead end. We didn't believe them, so we kept walking and luckily a local was there who guided us through 2 gates and a forest to get us onto our street. All 5 of us went out for dinner and then to a shisha bar to end the night. On our last full day in Indonesia, John and I went for a back, neck and shoulder massage. It was fantastic and I could have gone for another one! In the afternoon we went to the Ubud market and we were able to bargain hard. The sellers wanted almost triple for what we actually bought it for. Some of the sellers were quite upset that we paid so little, but then they shouldn't have agreed with our price! It was lots of fun though. We laid by the pool and slowly packed our stuff up during the day. Since we know Australia will be more expensive, we stocked up on food such as noodles and snacks here. At night we went to a bar and played pool and card games. Indonesia has a lot to offer and I'm happy we were able to see so much of the country (6 out of 17000 islands). But now it's time to get back to order and westernization, for a little bit! This morning we enjoyed one last breakfast on Gili Air. We hopped on the public ferry, which was a lot less packed this time, and headed back to Lombok. All went smooth with getting a taxi to Senggigi, a bus to the airport and another taxi to the town of Kuta. We drove through a big downpour, but it settled right when we arrived. We went in search of a guesthouse and after several we found one that would do. The guys really wanted to go surfing here, but we found out that surfing is not at this beach, but an hours drive away. And when we went to the beach it was low tide, so very far out and massive waves were crashing behind it. A man came by selling coconuts so we haggled him down to $1 for one, cheapest yet! While drinking, a local lady came up to us and started chatting about her life a bit, but didn't force us to buy anything. The beach was full of dogs and goats so it wasn't the most pleasant beach. The next day was a very relaxed day. Colin was a bit sick, so we all took it easy. John and I went to the beach, but the water was very dirty and the dogs kept coming around us. So we hung out at the homestay for the day and had our usual Nasi Goreng (fried rice) for lunch and dinner! On the 24th we headed back to Bali. Our flight only left at 11:45 am so we had a morning to get ready. We arrived at the airport and for this first time after 4 flights, Wings Air tried to charge us for being over 3 kgs on our luggage. Obviously we weren't going to pay, so we just took out our shoes and carried them on instead! Once in Bali we ate lunch, found a cab to drive us to Ubud and 1.5 hours later we were there. Parker and Andrea were already there so we had a place to go too. We set out on a mission to find a big supermarket, which was 2 km away. We stocked up and luckily Parker already rented a scooter so they lightened our load for the way back. We all went out for dinner and took it easy at night. Today for Colin's birthday, we figured we would take him to Gili Air, a beautiful island off the coast of Lombok. After breakfast we took a taxi for 30 minutes to the harbor. We arrived 5 minutes late to getting on the next public ferry, so we had to sit and wait 30 minutes until 35 more people paid to go. The local boat was packed, since it had passengers, food and supplies for the island. The ride was only 20 minutes and then we went in search of accommodation. We had a place in mind, but it was a far walk. On the way we asked a few different places for their prices and it was a lot more than expected! So we walked for about an hour and found the bungalows. Unfortunately they only had a fan room left, which in this weather is almost unbearable. Then we walked back and started asking everyone, but everywhere seemed to be full. Luckily we found one place that was a very good price. We then found out their is a festival this weekend and that's why prices were inflated. We were all sweating from the walk so we first jumped into the nice, clear ocean water. In the afternoon John and Colin went snorkeling. They saw sea turtles, eels, and many many fish. I will have to check it out for myself tomorrow! For sunset we went to a place for happy hour beers and enjoyed the red skies. Afterwards we met up with Colin's friends, Parker and Andrea, that happened to be here at the same time. We all enjoyed some Bintangs at a restaurant with tables in the sand. On our way back we noticed plankton glowing in the water so we went and disturbed them more to see the gorgeous glow. The next day started about the same: breakfast and enjoying our coffee looking out to the ocean. The guys went for an hour snorkel and saw some more turtles, manta rays, and jellyfish. In the afternoon a thunderstorm approached, making us hide out for a few hours. We walked to the other side of the island hoping to snorkel there, but the tide was very far out and it wasn't coming in anytime soon. So we decided to walk around the whole island which took no longer than 1.5 hours. Our night was very similar to yesterday, sunset beers and dinner on the beach. On our last full day, the morning was routine again and I went for a quick snorkel. I saw a sea turtle and figured that was enough for me! So the guys went out for many more snorkels and I laid on the beach. At night I went to a yoga class with Parker and Andrea and met the guys after for beers and dinner. Colin and I wanted to find a nice place for surfing, but the reef break did not look easy or consistent and it was a far paddle to get out there. We decided to just have a chill day in the sand. We spent the morning on the beach, swam and chatted lots. The sand here is black in some spots, but white in others making it a very unique beach. For lunch we went to our new favorite restaurant. In the afternoon Ashleigh spoiled herself to a three hour spa session consisting of a bunch of fancy treatments. Colin and I, in the meantime went for a hike in the heat to a nice viewpoint. Afterwards we did some fishing and both caught a small fish. To cool off we jumped from the dock a couple times and then enjoyed a cold Bintang, while playing pool. For sunset we wanted to go to a nearby temple, but by the time Ashleigh returned and we finished our game, the sun was almost down. Since it was too far to walk, we sat by the beach and enjoyed one of the nicest sunsets ever. The colors were amazing and the view across to Bali was pretty good, considering it's almost always wrapped in clouds. We had another excellent meal at the local restaurant and relaxed for the rest of the night. It was a good day in Senggigi. The mission for the day was to find a nice beach near Labuan Bajo. After breakfast we walked down to the main road, where Colin picked up fishing gear for a couple bucks. We walked along a paved road and after a good half hour we turned into the forest to get down to the beach. We had the whole beach to ourselves and the water was refreshing on such a hot day. Colin made a couple local fishing roads (line, hook, water bottle) and we tried our luck, with no success. We hung out on the beach all morning and in the afternoon Colin almost caught a curious box fish. We walked back to town in the afternoon, picked up a snack and some beers and relaxed on the rooftop. It was a nice relaxing day, and we are excited for the next island already. The next morning we left after breakfast and walked the few kilometers in the morning heat to the airport. We arrived drenched, checked in and chugged some water, before boarding our first flight to Bali. The flight was fine, we hung out at the airport for a few hours, before boarding our delayed flight to Lombok. It was only a thirty minute flight, and high turbulences kept the flight interesting. We arrived in Lombok and decided to hop on a bus to Senggigi, a beach town almost two hours away. We arrived just after sunset, and walked around to find the best place for the night. The third place was a winner and we got a good deal on our room. For dinner we found an amazing local restaurant serving huge portions and they even gave us a free item from the menu as well as a discount - we will be back for more. We got up around 6.30am, had a decent breakfast and then walked to the tour agencies office. We picked up mask-snorkel-fins and then went to the harbor. The weather was perfect, no wind, blue skies and already high temperatures. We left close to 8am and cruised out towards Rinca Island. The natural surroundings are postcard worthy, the clear turquoise water backed by the green hills look almost fake. We have never seen the sea so calm, we even spotted a couple dolphins playing nearby. After a relaxing two hour ride, we arrived on Rinca, an island part of Komodo National Park. A ranger picked us up and escorted us to the office. Along the way we spotted some deer and a couple macaques. Right after the gate, we already saw our first Komodo Dragon waddling awkwardly across the dried up riverbed. It was bigger than we expected, but still far away. We signed in, paid the hefty entrance fees consisting of a bunch of random charges adding up to $30 each and then a ranger was taking us on a short trek. Near the park buildings we saw a few other dragons camouflaged, laying under the trees. They were easy to miss and we almost got startled by a female dragon. The ranger was always keeping a safe distance and had a long fork-shaped stick as his weapon of choice in case of protection. We admired these massive lizards from a close range and were hissed at a few times. A small young one was climbing a tree nearby, that's how they survive the first years, in fear of getting eaten by their own mothers. Two large male dragons were chilling in the shade and we gave them some company. We only had to back away once, and we did so quickly, to avoid becoming dinner. Komodo dragons on the island kill all other animals such as monkeys (which they can swallow whole), deer, their own babies and even big buffalo. Their saliva contains a ton of bacteria slowly killing the prey. At times a dragon will follow the kill for weeks and then eat it all, being full for a few weeks. After we had enough of these creatures we went further into the island on a hot trek. We got up to a nice viewpoint, but otherwise had little action. We stopped at the nest where the mothers lay their eggs each year. It is almost hatching season, but we didn't see any little dragons. Colin spotted a snake along the trail, it ended up being a small viper, the most poisonous snake on the island. On the way back we saw a few more lazy dragons hanging out near the park office. We really enjoyed our trip to the island and it was nice seeing the Komodo Dragons, which are endemic to these few islands here near Flores. After lunch we cruised to an island near the city. The white sand beach, and turquoise water made for some great pics. We snorkeled around the inner reef for an hour, spotting the usual tropical fish. The reef was quite shallow and the visibility was good. We found a unique cove, where the reef opened up into a small channel and the abundance of fish was impressive. On the way back Ashleigh and I spotted a black tipped reef shark, and we slowly (not really that slowly) got out of the water. It seemed very curious and came right up to the shore, but luckily didn't nibble at our toes. The shark was quite small, and it stayed in the area for a while as we observed it from the beach. We swam for a bit, and then headed back to Labuan Bajo. A storm was building up in the distance, so we hid out on the hotel rooftop restaurant. We had a nice dinner, played some cards and then the rainstorm hit. After the downpour we walked to the store and called it a night. It was an amazing daytrip, well worth the money and we saw a lot of animals, both on land and underwater. Having the places basically to ourselves made the experience even better. Today we flew to the island of Flores. Before our flight we hung around the pool at the hotel until we had to go on our 20 minute walk to the airport. The flight with Wings Air was up in the air quite fast and 1.5 hours later we were on the island of Flores. We saw some dark clouds lingering in the distance so we had to walk quickly into town, which was about 2 km. We checked out a few hotels, one was closed, one was too run down and the third was just right. Our standards have risen now and we feel like we need air conditioning in this humidity. Since it was already 5 pm by the time we settled in, we had some dinner at the hotel and I had my new favorite drink, avocado juice with chocolate syrup! After dinner we met with a captain of a boat who would take us to Rinca island, where we could see the Komodo dragons. Apparently the national park fees have been inflated by over 1000% since January 2015, from $2 to $30! We were quite shocked by the price but we did our research after and confirmed it was true, crazy inflation Indonesia has had this year. We paid the captain and then went for a walk around town. The guys grabbed a beer and I had a chocolate milk from the supermarket and we sat by the harbor watching the lightning storm to end off the night. After breakfast we went down to the beach and walked along it for a while. The beach itself was pretty empty, the water on the other hand was packed with surfers. We hid out for lunch and had a few beers, before going back to the hotel for a swim in the pool. Our friend Colin was supposed to arrive the next day, but since his flight got rescheduled to two days later, we decided to just stay in Kuta and relax. We walked around in search of a better place. We wanted a modern room, with air con, towels, a pool, breakfast included and in a quiet area. Since we couldn't find anything on booking.com meeting this criteria and still stay within our budget, we wandered around asking at random guest houses instead. We saw some rundown places with tons of mold and a fancy hotel that costed $200 a night. Our last stop was at a small guesthouse. It was perfect! The room smelt nice and we got every thing we wanted. We haggled down to a price that we were comfortable with and switched right away. We lounged by the nice pool for the rest of the day, played cards and enjoyed our holiday. The usual thunderstorm rolled in late at night and that was another day in Bali. The next full day looked similar to the rest: eat, swim, relax. We went souvenir shopping as well and I got a new shirt since the rest are all dirty. Oh the 13th, we had to check out and we switched hotels so we could be closer to the airport. Instead of taking a cab, we walked the few kilometers and arrived soaking wet. Our friend Colin finally arrived in the afternoon and we picked him up from the airport. We walked back to the hotel, dropped his bags and then went for a little walk towards Kuta. The little walk turned into a very long one and we walked all the way to our favorite dinner spot in Kuta. We stopped at the insanely overcrowded beach and then sat down for a few Bintangs. Three hours later we were still having great chats, but the restaurant was closing so we decided to take a taxi back to our hotel. The driver had watched too many action movies, his driving was terrible, but he got us there in one piece. It was time to say goodbye to beautiful Lake Toba and start our journey to Bali. We took the ferry across after one last delicious breakfast at our usual restaurant, connected to a minibus and four uncomfortable hours later, we arrived at Medan Airport. We said goodbye to Alex, he was heading back to Canada. It was a great few weeks traveling together with him and we will have many good memories. The drive into the city center was brutal. The driver first dropped off all the locals and drove near our hotel twice, but didn't drop us off until two hours later. We were not impressed. People are either very friendly or straight out rude to tourists. Either way, we got to our hotel, checked in and then went in search of a Citibank (supposed to give out the most cash). We did find one before dark, but it only gave out the usual $300, so we had to take what we got. There weren't any restaurants in our area, but we did find a Pizza Hut. We treated ourselves to a pizza, something we have not had in months. After dinner, we had to figure out our flight to Bali. Lion Air cancelled and rescheduled our flight three times and at the time our itinerary was impossible. We were supposed to arrive in Jakarta around 6pm, but our connecting flight already left at 4pm so an impossible connection. I had the hotel staff call and we finally got a working itinerary for tomorrow. The next morning we had breakfast, and walked to the train station. We are happy to leave this crazy city, full of noise and garbage. The train to the airport set us back a good chunk, considering it's only half an hour away, but there was no way we could handle the traffic clogged roads to the airport instead. The modern train took us to the new airport, we checked in and wandered around for a bit, before going through security to our gate. Almost six months later and we are finally crossing the equator again to the Southern Hemisphere. The first flight to Jakarta went well, except for a complete chaos when exiting the aircraft. Locals don't get the simple principle of people in the front go first then the ones in the back follow, row by row. We took the free shuttle to terminal three, but couldn't find an A&W, so we cruised back to terminal two to satisfy our craving. We were surprised to see one, but they seem to be everywhere in Indonesia so far. After lunch we waited for our connecting flight. It was delayed, but we still beat the thunderstorm when leaving. We arrived in Denpasar, Bali and decided to not take a taxi and walk the few kilometers to Kuta Beach. It's very touristy here, but overall the vibe is much better than on Sumatra. Touts seem to only offer their service once and the honking is limited to taxis. It started to rain, but we arrived in time. Since it was already so late, we decided to just have a snack for dinner and call it a day. See you tomorrow Bali! This morning Alex, John and I enjoyed another great local fresh fruit breakfast and made our way to Lake Toba, 2.5 hours away. The roads again were very curvy while going around the lake, which is a crater from a volcano that has erupted a long time ago. The lake is pretty deep almost 500 meters. We arrived a few minutes too late to catch the 11:30 ferry to the island of Tuk Tuk so we had some lunch and organized onward tickets. The ferry took just over an hour and dropped us off right at the guesthouse. The rooms have a great view of the lake. We enjoyed a few beers and started to finally relax. We tried out a restaurant for dinner, and it was the biggest portions we have had yet! We knew from dinner we would be returning for every meal. For the next two days all we did was: breakfast, tan, swim, lunch, go for a walk, dinner and chat. I didn't swim much since the one time I jumped in, I didn't jump far enough out so my foot got beat up by some rocks, just a few scratches though. It was a great place to relax and wind down. It was low season here so there was barely anyone around, exactly what we wanted! On our last night here, we finally witnessed a thunderstorm. The lightning was almost blinding, it was so bright and it went on for hours. Luckily our rooms had a covered porch where we watched the storm at night. |
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