Map

Here´s some sporadic gps mapping since I received my new webpad
while back in Malaysia. They don't include the trip before Taman Negara.

I'm at the grey dot at the moment ;)

Ubud

cross your eyes!

I headed up to Ubud on my own.. But ran into the Austrians again and was
invited to split costs on a chauffeured tour around the area. Couldn´t
pass that up! It included a bunch of Hindi temples as well as another
grand view of a Volcano.. But no hiking this time!
Did I mention that Bali is 90% Hindi? What that means to me is that
restaurants are open here (as they do not observe Ramadan.. A
Muslim holy month which involves fasting during daylight ). With one not
eating pork and the other holding cows sacred it´s amazing they are
countrymen!

Kuta Beach, Bali

Sept 11, 2008
This is it.. Kuta Beach.. Party Central. This is
also where the bombing took place... Twice.. In October and if they did
the same spacing this would be the year. This is the memorial (pic).
Kuta beach is a great place to learn to surf. I only did half a day
and just rented a surfboard for 30,000 rupee ($2.80) and gave it a shot
without surfing lessons. I was able to stand on the board almost on the
first try due to my practice with a pro
windsurfing board in Seattle. Note - I am not a pro windsurfer.. so
that never worked out well! In Kuta the surf crashes almost
immediately so it´s fun just to learn on the resulting whitewater. I
tried to catch the real wave a few times but didn´t enjoy getting
crushed when successive 4' waves came and crashed early... Right on
me! 4' is quite a bit when it's 4' over your head!

Bali! Medewi Beach

Sept 9,2008

Bali is the next island over from Java. Java is the most
populous of Indonesia´s islands but Bali is the most touristy and it
shows. Still travelling with the Austrians we stopped for two nights at
Medewi beach. Very inexpensive but not much else to do but surf.. But
only for experienced surfers due to the rocks and the large surf ( see
picture)! I immediately ran into Kim, an American Surfer who had shown
up at the hostel in Kuala Lumpur and then who I had run into in Jakarta.
It´s funny how often this happens travelling.

Ijen!

Volcano #2: Ijen !

Sept 8, 2008 - The tour guide picked up the Austrians and I
at our hotel first thing in the morning. We were pleasantly surprised
by the nice new sport utility vehicle. A few hours later we were at the
hiking point from which the volcano rim was only an hour and a half
hike. There were numerous other tourists sharing the trail as well as a
continuous stream of workers carrying about 70kg of sulphur each in
balanced baskets down the volcano! I can´t imagine this is still
feasable in this day and age.. Carts at least??? The hike was well
rewarded ( at least for the tourists ) by the sight of an irridescent
blue lake as one reached the volcano´s edge! The colours are amazing
as you take in the awe inspiring view. I was genuinely surprised as I
hadn´t taken the time to research what the hike was about or even
paid attention to the postcards on display at the base of the hike. I
was just trudging up another volcano but this one had a lake at the
top... but what a lake!

After hiking back down we took the even steeper winding trail back
down the other side of the volcano to the ferry crossing to Bali.. But
that´s another story!

Bromo!

Cross your eyes..

click a picture to see large photo

Sept 7, 2008

Bromo!
This volcano landscape is featured on quite a few postcards. I took a
train from Yogyakarta to Surabaya and then a bus to Probalingo where I
stayed overnight before the last bit to get to the edge of Bromo.
Probalingo is known for its tour scams and I´m very lucky that I
refused to pay for the bus up until I reached my destination as it was
obvious they had meant to strand myself and a Vietnamese tourist
(Ai - pronounced ´eye´) halfway up at a transfer point. They told each
of us that the other had already paid just like all the other passengers
( who were only going halfway up ).
The hostel was literally on the edge of the crater wall and the 3am
hike up to the viewpoint was quite an experience. Luckily Ai and I
( no pun intended ) were able to meet up with three Austrians
( Christiana, Christoff and Ralph ) on the trail and we all made it up
in time to see the fog block out the sunrise. There were about 150
tourists there almost all of which had taken a jeep up. They all had to
leave with the jeeps before the fog cleared but the rest of us were
able to get some great pictures.. Sure glad I didn´t take a
jeep up! The jeeps had all progressed down to volcano in the crater -
which we also did a bit later after we climbed back down and had some
breakfast. The walk across the crater floor to the volcano was surreal.
The dust was very fine and was easily thrown into the air. There were
stairs up to the edge of the volcano and massive amounts of smoke
billowing out from the volcano. The stench of rotten eggs given off
from the sulphur and steam was unpleasant as we were occasionally
engulfed by the edge of the plume.

I decided to go along with the Austrians as they had an interesting
plan for the next day. We stayed overnight at a hotel that at first
seemed out of our budget.. But they had backpacker rooms for 80,000 and
they let us go in the massive pool after hours!! We had trouble finding
food at 10pm and were lucky to find a street merchant with accompanying
curbside sitting blanket and table. The hotel was able to put us in
touch with a tour guide and vehicle for the next days adventure..
Ijen.. But we asked for a later start this time... Only 8 am ;)

Hello from Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bromo..

I'm a bit behind on my emails etc.. I've been hanging out in
Yogayakarta for almost a week.. But that was after picking up camp and
moving every second night for 3 cities ( Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung,
Yogyakarta ). I'm writing this on the bus after hanging out
in Surabaya for 5 hours after an all night train ride from Yogyakarta..
Or Jogya for short. Jogya is quite a neat little place. The city is
cleaner than most in Asia.. Almost comparable to Singapore.. But only
relatively. There are some good temple sites nearby as well..
Borobudur and Prambanan. Compared to Angkor Wat but only
relatively speaking there as well. I'll post some pictures. I made some
new friends and hope to see a few of them at the next stop.. Bromo..
(Ps.. Posting this almost another week later.. Oops )
#End