This gallery contains 25 photos.
We checked into a $32 a night ‘hotel’ in Bandung a week ago, and the negotiating point where we booked was a free breakfast. The next day we woke to four pieces of untoasted bread spread with butter and chocolate … Continue reading
"Excuse me Miss, will you take a picture with our students?" "Yes, yes of course! Come on over!"
Group shot at Prambanan
This all started out very innocently. Amando and I were at the Holy Spring Temple walking around taking photos. There was an adorable child playing with something so I waved hi. I took one step to walk away, and the child’s father said, “Scuse me, Miss, can we take photo with you?” I obliged. But wait, there’s more!
Java, as you would have guessed by the name, has excellent coffee. Traveling is tiring so we need it to stay awake and it varies from place to place. After a couple weeks backpacking we’ve gone from the hustle and bustle of Yogyakarta, by bus to the timber fallen mountain village of Kaliurang, an eight hour train ride to the hip design city of Bandung, and another train ride to Jakarta, we’ve also had a chance to eat the varying cuisine the region offers. But wait, there’s more!
This gallery contains 49 photos.
We have spent the past week (our last in Indonesia) traveling throughout central and western Java. We had planned to go to east Java to see Mt. Bromo, but it is erupting and raining a lot, so we skipped that … Continue reading
Amando, driving on the left side of the road
I rode a friend’s dirtbike a couple times when I was 16. Flash forward ten years when I almost crashed my friend Alan’s Vespa into a car in the same driveway. That was my last attempt on two wheels before renting a scooter and putting my fiancee on the back. The guy who rented it to me ($9 total for 3 days plus gas) though explained how to honk the horn (very necessary) and how to store the helmets. I asked where the gas tank was he looked at me with one skeptical eyebrow raised and said, “Why don’t you try first?” I went about 30 shaky feet before he yelled stop and Erika hopped on saying, “you know you were on the wrong side of the road, right?” Indonesia drives on the left. But wait, there’s more
Today we left Bali for Java, and there are things we already miss : friendly and approachable people, incredible architecture, dark skin in romanticized island attire, a devoutly religious culture, and folks who love to bargain. If you are looking for a tropical island where the locals like testing their English, religious deities and ceremonies that are inspiring yet festive, a place where you ache at the thought you can’t stop at every temple, you have an excuse to wear a sarong and a sash, and where you can always get a fair deal even if you didn’t get a good deal, Bali is your place. But wait, there’s more!
We decided to take a day trip around Bali to see more of the island. Made, our guide, was fantastic! We headed toward Kintamani and had lunch overlooking Mount Batur. Here we share our day with you:
If you are coming to Ubud and need a great guide, let us know and we’ll send you his contact information. He speaks great English, drives well and has a nice car, and took us to quieter, less “touristy” places.
Well its raining. But the rain is good because it means you sit under a roof, on the beach and meet new friends. And its nighttime which means you also drink Bintang beer and play cards games….new Dutch card games you learn from you new Canadian friend.
We are currently on Gili T, a tiny island (in a set of three), off the coast of Lombok, the island east of Bali, for those of you that haven’t memorized the 17,000 islands in the Indonesian Archipelago. 🙂 We will be here for one more day, circumvent the island (which should take all of 3 hours), then head back to Bali, specifically Ubud.
Traveling has been good to us so far. We started off in Singapore with Amando’s roommate from college, Chris. Please see Amando’s FB page for awesome photobooth pictures they took together. Starting the trip off with a friend was priceless. Singapore is beautiful, lush, metropolitan, and the food! OH the food! We had, if I remember correctly, about 6 different kinds of cuisine. After 5 days in a big city, it was off to Bali to start using some of those Marriott points. And since then its been beach, beer, good friends, sun, and lots of walking. We’ve quickly discovered that we: a) don’t like moving around as much as we thought, b) its important not to by a return boat ticket before you are sure that you will in fact, return, c) plans can change literally in a matter of hours, d) and that the snorkeling/diving around here is like looking down into an aquarium.
Look for some pictures coming soon and please feel free to share with your friends and family! We are also hoping to, at some point, have guests posts involving others who have done similar things to us (traveled, fulfilled a dream, etc), so if you have anyone in mind, please send us an email. We hope to inspire all of you, as so far, we have inspired ourselves. We are incredibly grateful to be here and thank all of you for what you did to help us get here!
Inspire Amerika 