Bali, Lombok & The Gili Islands...

After a long journey, crossing by ferry and then more hours on our cramped public bus, we eventually arrived in Bali. We where dropped off in Kuta, which is a 'lively' resort. Now I use the term lively loosely, its more like the equivalent of Australia's version of what Benidorm is for England. After one evening there, it was all too much for us, even me and John felt super old in Kuta. It was a resort full of young, wild and drunken Australians and that was definitely not what we where wanting, especially in order to embrace Balinese culture. So, the next morning, we hopped on a bus and headed North to a place called Ubud. 

Ubud was true Bali for me, the small town is filled with traditional houses, people are traditional and orthodox on their beliefs and means of following Balinese tradition. The place is laidback and has lots of interesting places to explore and most of all, has delicious food to offer. We spent a couple of days cycling around the main area of Ubud and pushed further into the outskirts, visiting temples and taking in the lovely luscious lands of what I felt was the true Bali. The open green fields glow as the sunshine beams down and the air swells around you. I felt like Lance Armstrong at one point, battling up a huge hill in the pouring down rain, feeling my calf muscles burning but knowing that it was all worth it. These are the experiences that I love and what makes the journey worthwhile. After a couple of days, we opted to head over to a place called Padangbai for a night then get the ferry over to Lombok. Padangbai is a small harbour town, it is more a place to stay to rest and await your journey across to Lombok or the Gili's. We where lucky enough to find a gem of a guesthouse, the actual room was more like our own house, with a downstairs, upstairs and balcony included. The one night we chose to stay, a local wedding was happening next door and the mix of traditional Balinese music and hardcore trance music blasted on until the wee hours. It's funny such an eclectic mix that the locals seem to enjoy! 

We opted to catch the public ferry across to Lombok, mainly for the reasons of it being the cheapest option to travel. We could have paid more and arrived at our destination in 90 minutes, but no we opted to travel with all the local people on the huge ferry which took 5 hours to cross 25km! The journey was interesting, as I boarded the enormous car ferry, I noticed that for the whole ferry, there was only one small dingy life-raft boat on board, considering there must be around 200 people on board that day, the small lifeboat probably holds 30 people. This was my small concern but kept thinking positive and was super thankful I am a decent swimmer when it comes to the sea. After spending hours of doodling in my notebook, playing chase with the cockroaches running around my feet and having a nap in my chair, I was happy to see the green hills of Lombok infront of me. Once we left the ferry, it was minibus time to head up to a place called Senggigi, North West of Lombok. This is a coastal town, which offers good waves and time to rest and take in Lombok's beauty.

As we hopped off the minibus, we where greeted by a man called Abdul. He offered us a package to scuba dive on the Gili Islands and also stay in Senggigi for few days, which was perfect for us. We usually don't book anything in a package, more do everything as we go really, but this sounded good and the place to stay looked nice too. We stayed in a local village area with a traditional room and this is the place where our lessons began in the Indonesian language. All Abdul's friends hungout at the guesthouse and his friend Dedi owned the place. We would sit and chat to them for hours and worked on perfecting our knowledge of the Indonesian language. We spent the next three days, wandering around the place, eating local street food and engaging with locals. By the end of our time in Senggigi, I could have a small conversation with local people, asking how they are, saying my name, asking their name, saying my country of origin, asking where they come from and talking about food or the weather. I could order my food and drinks in Indonesian and ask for the bill, also being able to understand the numbers...I can count one to ten in Indonesian, this is something I am immensely proud of!

We headed over to Gili Trawangan, the furthest of the three Gili Islands, by a small fisherman boat. The boat should probably carry maybe 30 people, on the day I crossed over, I was crushed on with 50 people and was surrounded by stock of beer, water and other things being delivered to the islands. The waves where rather choppy and each slammed into the boat as we crossed the open water. Thankfully, I arrived safe and sound to Trawangan and the initial quietness and open sands welcomed me happily. We wandered along the track around the island and bumped into a local guy who worked at a guesthouse. In the end, we walked with him and went to check out and stay at this guesthouse called Dua Nina. It was clean and basic and a good price for us too. All water on the island is cold and the water is sea water, as there is no fresh water on Trawangan, so plenty of ice cold sea water showers.
Gili Trawangan is surrounded by white sands, calm and tranquil and the means of transport is only bicycle or horse and cart. The way of life is slow and this is something I enjoyed. I would wake each morning and walk around half of the island, find a secluded spot on the beach under a tree and enjoy reading my book. In the evenings, we would visit the food market, a small court with local benches and eat traditional Nasi Goreng, washed down with an ice cold Bintang Beer, perfect! The plan was to stay for 3 days or so, catch some beach time, do some snorkeling, scuba diving and relaxing then head back to Bali. Well, that was until the next day, the news arrived that the huge car ferry that we had travelled across on had crashed off the coast of Lombok. The strong winds and waves where dangerous and forced the ferry to roll and crash into rocks. Thankfully, nobody was hurt and all managed to survive.

When John went to do his scuba diving, we found out that Abdul had conned us in a way, well...he used to work with Lombok Dive but a few months back he stopped paying them. Thankfully, Monay the guy who owns and runs the diving school gave John the day of diving, then asked for his help to go back to Lombok with him and go to see Abdul. John ventured over around 5pm, that night he never returned, I was anxious and worried, on both the situation with Abdul and also the sea conditions incase he tried to get back on a boat. Thankfully, he called after 9pm and I was updated on all what had happened in the past couple of hours. Basically, when they arrived back, John was not the only person confronting Abdul, there was two German girls there screaming at him and then later two Americans came in too. All ended up down the police station and it all came out that Abdul used to be a successful business man and respected by everyone, however, within the past few months his gambling addiction had wasted away all his money and most of his friends. We where the least affected as we where only owed two dives, so Monay said he would help his old friend out and give them to John. However, the other four people he had conned where owed over 1000 pound. That evening, he managed to get somebody to buy half of his business so he could pay them the money. Even though he had in a way robbed from us, John said he couldn't help but feel sorry for Abdul, as he was a man who was at rock-bottom due to his addiction. I was happy the next day when John arrived back to Gili Trawangan, safe, ready to dive and on the look out for turtles!

The safety standards and records in Indonesia are not the best and there doesn't seem to be any type of concern or worry about the lack of safety they have in place. With this accident occurring, the harbour master had ordered that no boats, small or large where to leave dock for at least the next 3 days. By day 3, the boats where still not running back to Bali, this is when I began to feel slightly worried and anxious in order to catch our flight. Luckily, we still had time so instead of chancing the slow ferry back, we opted to pay more and when possible catch the fast boat straight back to Bali. After spending a week on the Gili's, we headed back to Bali and had a couple of days in hand to enjoy Ubud once again before catching our flight to Oz. Once, we where back in Ubud again, I felt extremely happy and relieved. The whole time we have been in Indonesia, the weather has been overcast with intervals of tropical rainfall, however it is still hot, a humidity that draws you to tiredness. I prefer the weather to be overcast, as it is manageable and you are able to walk around and enjoy the beauty of the place much more. Ubud was my favourite place in Bali, it is filled with tradition, amazing people and tasty food. Each night, we ventured to a local restaurant, which a local woman owned and ran, she was the one and only chef and cooked everything from scratch! The deserts are my favourite thing about Bali, Lombok and Gili foods, the 'Da Wa Wa', which is simple pancake pastry rolled into a sort of springroll shape and filled with fresh coconut and palm sugar, delicious!

Indonesia is a spectacular place in terms of natural beauty and traditional life. The people and cultures are calm and welcoming. The food and music is mesmerising and most importantly the language is becoming my favourite to learn. Considering the whole of Indonesia consists of 17508 islands and the population is around 233 million people, I should be able to interact and use my second tongue (now Indonesian) to get by on my good ole travels.

Exploring one of many temples in Bali...

After my rain shower on the bike...

Open fields of green in Bali...

Resting after my cycle marathon around Ubud...

A typical afternoon of rain in Bali...

Perfect end to my evening...fresh bread and a nice pot of tea!

Hitting the road again...

Enjoying the sights and fresh air...

Chilling in our beautiful guesthouse...

John having a jam with locals in Senggigi...

Playing 'The Beatles' on his bass...

Enjoying the beauty of Gili Trawangan...

The traditional horse and carts on the island...

Needing a vanilla ice cream to cool be down...

Enjoying the island...

My daily walk along the beach...

Watching time pass me by...

One of the wrecks on the island...

The delicious food back in Ubud...

Tucking in to my tasty feast...

The traditional celebrations and decorations outside people's homes in Ubud...

Outside our home in Bali...tradition and beauty!

Mount Bromo...

After a long journey across Java, we eventually arrived late at night to Mount Bromo. As we where staying in a homestay, we where ferried up the volcano chugging away in a bus that remarkably resembled the Scooby-Doo Bus! As we chugged along, we ventured further into the clouds, quite high up that you instantly felt the cold chill in the air as looked down into the white mist. Once we reached our basic cabin, we went to the local village hall for a nice cup of tea before bed, then went over what was going to happen once we woke up. 


The coldness in the air was something new to us, it instantly caught your body and you felt the chill from your nose all the way to your toes. In a way, this is the closest feeling of home I have felt, in terms of weather. As we where so high up in altitude, it was difficult to get warm, therefore, I became five sizes bigger as I piled on the layer upon layer to insulate myself. We even opted to buy two wooley hats from a local seller. We justified the buy, as saying to ourselves it will be good to use in future for when we head to NZ. Plus, we needed it on the trek and the early morning journey to keep ourselves warm. We settled into bed around 10am, I felt bad as I hadn't had the chance to actually buy John anything for his birthday. So while he got ready for bed, I composed a small poem and created a little birthday card for him to open in the morning. Once we where snuggled in the tiny cot of a bed, it was still super cold, I even slept with two pairs on socks on! As the alarm clock buzzed at 3am, I sleepily dragged myself up and sang 'Happy Birthday' to John. Then, we had to get ourselves ready and the jeep collected us just before 4am, this was the start of the trek. 


The jeep rummaged upwards on the volcano, then it stops at a base level, the rest you have to trek up, at this time we are still in darkness. It was a great experience, the lovely cold air smothering you as you trudge up the hill and await the sunrise to follow. Once at the top of the viewpoint, reaching 2770m in the sky, there are only a small number of people and a couple local villagers who have somehow managed to set up a shop selling fruit and hot tea and coffee. The viewpoint overlooks three volcano's, Mount Bromo, Tengger and the last and most spectacular Semeru. The Semeru is still smoking and displays a spellbinding picture bursting through above the clouds. Everybody waits and the feeling of anticipation that filters through the air is electric. I felt calm, relaxed and happy, this was an amazing place to be at sunrise and one that I will never forget. As the sun began to rise slowly, the sky grew lighter in colour and the presence of the landscape began to appear. We took some pictures, then spent most of the time enjoying a local cup of tea, sitting and just watching the volcano's in the distance. Everywhere you look the landscape is beautiful and I ensured I spent the time taking it all in. 


As the time rode on, we headed back down towards the jeep just before 7am, then we ventured across the land over to Mount Bromo. At the base the jeep drops you off, then you hike across the elevating hill and hike up the crater of Bromo itself. This was a tough walk up the crater but most definitely worth it. As I reached the top of the steps climbing up the crater, the sight of the inside of the volcano and the wide circumference of the volcano was mesmerising. The inside of the volcano almost looks like a round green lake, when you look closely you can see small whispers of smoke lifting through. The land is a sullen blackish brown colour and when you look across the landscape you almost feel as though you are on Mars. There is quietness that surrounds the land, everything is calm and seems untouched. The baron colour and whisps of smoke and sands makes it almost eerie in ambiance. You have to be really careful with your footing, as the edges of the crater is quite narrow and one false move and I may be sizzling in that luscious green lake below. We spent some time sitting on the edge of the crater, looking down into the ibis of the lava hiding underground, thinking about this natural feature growing from our earth. After reflecting on the whole experience of Mount Bromo, we felt content, happy and truly inspired by this natural active volcano. We then headed back to base and the jeep ferried us back to the homestay. 


Here we enjoyed breakfast, more tea and had time to take in the last sights of Mount Bromo. Then, it was time to pack and get ourselves ready for the journey to Bali. Feeling happy and fulfilled by the magical sights we had seen, we now looked forward to exploring Bali and taking our time to get to know the island and enjoy the 'Balinese' culture. So, for John's birthday, he expressed it was one of the best things to wake up and do, something I know both of us will always remember and cherish when thinking back to the smoldering landscape across the famous 'Mount Bromo'...

As darkness lifts, the clouds smolder through...

The sky grows lighter and our view appears...

The landscape is enchanting to observe...

Admiring the three active volcano's

Overlooking the vast landscape...

The smokey volcano in the distance...

Feeling the morning chill and staying warm in my new hat...

The sun is slowly appearing...

Observing the sun in the distance...

Enjoying our morning tea and coffee..

Enjoying my cuppa on top of the viewpoint...

Hello mr sunshine...

Walking across the base of Mount Bromo...

Trekking upwards towards the crater...

Peering into the abyss...

Birthday Boy!!

On the edge of the crater on Mount Bromo...

Admiring the landscape, it almost feels like Mars...

Taking in the sights of the active volcano's...

Immersing myself in the clouds...

The enchanted landscape that was a magnificent experience for me...

Jakarta to Jogja...

As I arrived safely and soundly into the hustle and bustle of Jakarta, I touched down in the evening air, filled with darkness, noise, life and non-stop hassle. Well...sometimes hassle is a good thing, I think it gives the experience more motion and my answer to it 'smile and keep on walking', always seems to work for me. When your tired, hot and sweaty and almost frustrated walking down narrow streets of Jakarta city centre, all you can do is smile and I always start singing a little song to myself, knowing that soon enough I will be happy in a room, sitting down and relaxed. We managed to barter a room for the one night we where staying and then ventured out to catch a bite to eat on the street. As it was getting late, we managed to doze off to sleep around 1am and we woke up not so fresh as a daisy at 5am in order to catch our train to travel across the country of Java. Jakarta is vibrant and never seems to sleep, however, in ways it reminds me so much of Mumbai and the madness that goes with it. There is a great deal of poverty here, the land is not so clean and certain streets, more or less the place we stayed in was rather 'seedy'. Why use such language you may ask, as I woke at 5am I could here from the next room, a lady of the night leaving with her male companion! That's the sort of place we where staying in, can't really complain though, we had our own bathroom with a real toilet, not squat and it was cheap, good enough for me. 


So, as we headed out in the bristle of dawn, we flagged a tuk tuk ride to the train station, then at the train station, we somehow worked out which platform to go to and awaited our train. We ended up chatting to two Indonesian woman who gave us the advise of 'Hati Hati' which is beware, as many people pickpocket or try to rob you at this train station. I literally sat on my backpack on the floor and did not move until the train arrived. Well, when it did arrive an hour late, this is normal in Indonesia, almost reminiscent of Indian train times. We boarded our 'business class' seats, which was a wooden bench for two people to sit on and a window which air could filter through, I dread to think what economy class looked like. We settled in for the ride, then realising we where the only non Indonesian people on this whole train, was a funny experience. As I said, I always like to do what the locals do and how they travel. Every stop the train makes, so many sellers hop on the train trying to sell everything from food, drinks to toys and plants! We ended up chatting to the people around us and managed to learn words in Indonesian and the guy who was next to us loved The Beatles, so next minute he is blasting out Beatles songs from his phone and singing along, was a memorable experience. 


After 9 hours on the train, we arrived into Yogyakarta, which is otherwise known as Jogja. We settled in a lovely homestay called Utar. It was family run, where the grandma made breakfast, the children served the breakfast, the father cleaned the rooms and the mother sorted all the washing. After a night there, we where chatting to the owner and he explained he was the 'Secretary to The President of Indonesia' through the week and in the evenings and weekends he helped out at home. Now I realised why every picture around the place was of the Presidential Palace in Yogyakarta or of important people in uniform. They where a lovely family who gave us lots of information and assisted us in getting to our next destination. While staying in Yogyakarta for a few days, we headed out in the city. We explored the sights and wandered around the endless street markets they have here. Reflecting on this city, it oozes arts, every corner is filled with artwork and they actively promote creating art or being musical or performing in anyway. I looked back to one morning we spent looking round a gallery, it was university students work and the tutor explained what they do here and also how its a really free, open and supportive community. This is something I appreciated and admire, as the Indonesian people take huge pride on their arts, not only representing themselves but also their culture, country and national identity. 


After we had rested enough in Yogyakarta, we booked to venture over to a place called 'Ganung Bromo or as we know Mount Bromo'. This is a vast active volcano that is situation in the East of Java. We worked it so that we could arrive at Bromo then do the trek to the viewpoint and also to the crater of Bromo on the morning of John's birthday. This would be a brilliant way to spend his birthday and one to remember. So, with the excitement growing with this new adventure, we quickly booked to head over there and finally said our farewells to the lovely family in Yogyakarta. All I needed to do now is sleep and await my 12 hour bus ride to get there...

Shattered and fatigue in Jakarta...more one beer will help me sleep!

The secretary to the President of Indonesia...oh and our homestay owner

Walking around the spacious Palace of Yogyakarta

Saying hello to the wildlife in the cage...

Hitching a ride back into town

John taking over and offering a lift...this may be his new profession 'Cyclo Taxi'

It's harder than it looks...those where the words of John offering rides around the block