| Indonesia
(Bali-Lombok-Flores-Borneo)
APA KABAR?
-home-photos-cambodia-n.thailand-phuket-malaysia1-singapore-malaysia2-indonesia (day 56 to 89) Finally I had got in Denpasar, and... my backpack got
lost...whata
shit, I had nothing with me apart from my passport, tickets,money and a
sarong... so I went to the Lost & Found and they realised my backpack
was still in KL, so they assured me I would have that back in my hotel at
the end of the day. I was so mad about the Gulf Air "accident"
that this wasn't so hard to stand for me...so I went to the nice Kuta
Beach Hotel and decided to relax there a bit. Bali is great, but only in more remote areas where there are no tourists and less people in general (e.g. rice fields in Jatiluweh or up on the northern shore). Otherwise, one has to cope with (1) street hawkers, taxi drivers, rickshaws, tuktuk drivers and the poor people who are literally begging for money and basically trying to sell goods, drag you to their shops/stands and so on, I guess you know what I mean ; and (2) really high smelly pollution which is allover the place from all the antiquated motorcycles/mopeds and cars and trucks.
It might not seem that bad, but I am telling you, after a few days of everyone trying to pull on you and talk to you, one just wants to be left alone. I mean, "hallo hallo, massage massage...manicure...fruits.. sarongs..." I was very stressed on Kuta Beach, so I planned to make some friends here and then go soemwhere north to other more laid back beaches and so on. I guess once you know your way around and have seen everything to see,
and if you had your own car and could avoid tourist areas (which is very
difficult to do, as they/we are everywhere, and as police routinely stop
tourists in their own vehicles and even taxis to extract money), the
island could offer its own untouristic beauty and pace. If I were ever to come to Bali again, I think I would want to go to an obscure place,soemwhere non touristic. Things are relatively cheap here for what you are getting, that there really is beauty here , and there are some unique cultural aspects here that you might not find elsewhere. Anyways, one gets used to the hassle of over-eager hawkers and
mendicants. And I realize now even after being in Borneo and India, as I
should have then, that in many places, knowing where and when to go can be
cool as shit. Overlooking the hassles involved, Bali was extremely beautiful and culturally rich, although not as highquality-aesthetic as I found Thailand. Getting around Bali is easy enough to do, but don't rent a car! They drive on the left side of the road there, and the numerous motorcycles make driving your own car an adventure best left to the suicidal and foolhardy. Instead, you can get a driver for about $ 15 to 20 a day, and the driver will take you anywhere you want to go for the whole day. Organized tours are also available, and your guides are very flexible about the sights. There's a lot to see and do in Bali. First, there's temples to visit. Bali has more temples then homes, and the Balinese have combined Hinduism, Buddhism, and Animism into a spiritual religion known as Bali Hindu. This dominates all aspects of life on Bali. Men wear long pants or sarongs even on the hottest days because they cannot enter a temple with uncovered legs. Everywhere you go, flower offerings are visible. Women walk in the streets with huge baskets of offerings on their heads, going to worship at a temple. Besides visiting temples,
there are other things to see and do. If you like animals, Bali has three
forests where you can see and feed monkeys. They are very aggressive too;
they have been known to steal cameras, sunglasses and purses. In my own
experience, I had a monkey climb onto me to grab a lollipop I was holding.
Bali also has a bird park, a reptile park with domesticated water monitor,
elephant rides, dolphin-watching trips, and a butterfly park. There's even
a bat cave inside a temple area. Bali also features cloths made using
Batik--a method of dyeing using wax to protect portions of the dyed cloth
during the process. The discussion of how Bali and Balinese culture has been impacted by tourism continues to go on. One thing is certain, however: tourist ripoffs and problems have become increasingly more common - the Balinese will attest to this themselves once you get to know them. Chief among these at this point are dishonest money changers and thieves. When you are changing money, keep on eye on the what the fellow giving you money is doing. It has become increasing common for tourist to be shorted, especially when they are changing large amounts of money. This is much easier to do these days since the rupiah rate has passed the 10,000 mark once again and many shops will give you only 5,000 or 10,000 notes. I've watched the slight-of-hand trick several times in a few shops in Ubud and Sanur,but even Kuta. If you're staying on the island for a while, find a dealer you trust and do business with them. It's also advisable to take a friend with you to help count and keep track of the money. Theft has become more common as well. This ranges from pickpockets to gangs who prey on semi-residents who leave their cars at the airports when they go on a visa-run to Singapore. If you are staying in an inexpensive homestay, look up your valuables in your suitcase or carry them with you when you leave for the day. If you are in a hotel with safety boxes, use them. Everything seems really wonderful when you arrive on the island, and it usually is, but there are always unscrupulous folks waiting to take advantage of the unsuspecting. KUTA Kuta beach is one of the main jumping off spots in Bali for the occasional, and not so occasional, tourist. Just a quick bemo or taxi ride from the airport, Kuta has all of the excitement of a major tourist center - bars, discos, white sand beaches, good surf, lots of beer, plenty of singles of both sexes, restaurants of every flavor, designer clothing shops, and a sampling of all the Balinese arts and crafts that you would like to bring home. Want photos developed in half an hour - you can do that there. Want to see some gorgeous sunsets - you can do that there. Want to get totally drunk - you can do that there too. Want to hear some prime gamelan music or watch the classic kecak dance - you can do that there too but you'd be better off heading up to Ubud where there seem to be dances, ceremonies, and all sorts of that good old exotic Balinese stuff just popping all the time.
I like the Kuta Beach Hotel (decent rooms with an ok pool and right on the beach, plus it's close to Jalan Bakungsari).I booked from Italy(centro turistico studentesco) and paid only 30.000 liras a night. LOVINA Finally
got out of Kuta and traveled to Lovina. That day was very special
because we got up at 5.30am to go dolphin watching. We had paid roughly 4
bucks each so we weren’t sure what to expect and whether we would
actually see anything. We ended up on the beach at 6.00am and had to climb
into a local boat. The only way to describe the boat is as a tall canoe
with stabilizers. No cover and a detachable engine! It felt very
precarious to start with and we were both a bit nervous but the sea was so
calm that when we had got out a little bit, the waves were relatively calm.
After about 30 mins I saw 2 dolphins in the distance jump out of the
water. It happened so quickly that I almost missed it but it was
reassuring to see some dolphins already. In the afternoon we hired a 4x4jeep with these guys from Sicily and traveled into the more popular part of Lovina where the beach stretch is. Only a few people were sunbathing and had almost the whole beach to themselves (apart from the obvious sellers of course). While we were eating our lunch they were calling to us from the entrance – “sarong, shells, massage” etc etc. It goes on and on. After that we went to the Hot Springs. Nice gardens, restaurant etc. People were relaxing in the dull green water and kids were jumping in splashing about etc. We had a drink but were still wasted from the early start so headed back. At night we went to the hard rock cafe in Kuta, but it was boring so I went back to the surfers club,and it was soooo cool. So I ended up going there every night.
SANUR If Kuta is electricity, excitement and madness, Sanur is slightly dark, quiet and more centered. If you are planning on staying in the south for a while and need an escape from Kuta, Sanur is a good choice.You can lie on the beach and not have sellers pester you. Of course, this is not to say that there aren't any sellers in Sanur, they just tend to respect your "no thanks," much more than the Kuta sellers do. UBUD Ubud was busier and more touristy than I expected, and again, many shops. But it was nice, especially the area where we stayed where there were chickens running around wild, beautiful tall standards, offerings to the air gods maybe. We visited the Sacred Monkey Forest, to see the Macaque monkeys, who seemed a little touristic. There were some beautiful Hindu temples there, with scary Rangda witches devouring babies! My favourite was the water temple, with wonderful Ganesh statues by a pool with catfish. The stairs were flanked by beautiful moss covered dragons.
Another highlight of Ubud was going to a dance performance at the Royal Palace. We saw traditional Legong dancing (women only) and then my favourite, the big lion like creature, the Barong, followed by a story from the Mahabarata. It was much better than I expected, and we both really enjoyed the spectacle of the dancers, the costumes and the music. LOMBOK We had heard from
many other travelers that Gili "T", as it is commonly referred
to, has one of the better scenes in Indonesia. By the third
day on the island we were still waiting for the party to begin. The
island did provide several days of relaxation. We stayed in a little
bungalow near the beach and travelled around the island by horse and
carriage as there were no motorized vehicles on the small island. We
were finally rewarded with a good party at one of the local bars the final
night on Gili T and stayed out until the wee hours of the morning partying
with the locals and other travelers. FLORES We made our way to the extremely long and skinny island of Flores. On a map, distances from one point to another don’t seem as though they should take a long time, but that’s if one travels as the crow flies. Flores Island is made up of a string of active and extinct volcanoes on a narrow switchback windy road that does not seem like it is wide enough to function for a single car, let alone two passing ones. Up one side of the volcano, down the other, and then into the next one. Though you know that travel is slow here,but it was a great experience. One of the
main highlights of Flores is a group of traditional villages. People are
rather poor here....anyways..and also, due to the Timor war, people seemed
to shiver and avoid having contacts with the foreigners.. The most interesting thing in Flores so far was the Crater Lake’s of Kelimatu. Three different colored lakes, all seen from a 180-degree viewpoint on the top of the mountain. These three lakes were turquoise, black, and coffee when I was there, but they switch colors every couple of years from white, olive, and maroon. The color change is due to chemicals in the soil, but why they change so frequently is still a mystery. There
was once a species of elephant of Flores, and until today ivory tusks are
an important part of dowry payment. A high concentration of Christianity, which
was introduced first by the Portuguese trading fleets and spread later by
Dutch missionaries, now overlies the original strongly animist culture.
Flores currently has the largest Roman Catholic community in Indonesia.
Churches are dotted all over the countryside, and the mission plays a
strong role in the community’s economy. Music is an important part of life in Flores, and an integral part of every festive accession. Songs are rendered in complicated 4 – part harmony with lilting melodies and lively rhythm. Percussion instruments are most common : slit bamboo drums, small gongs, simple xylophonist and drums made out of coconut tree. There is also flutes and other bamboo instruments, and primitive one – stringed lute, which is played with a bow. War dances and fertility rites are still practised, and the woman performs graceful “ round dances “ with simple, repetitive steps that increase as the night goes on. The Ikat weavings of Flores incorporate intricate weft design, each clan having its own special motifs. KOTA KINABALU I
took a flight back to Denpasar, where I met my seller friend WIDI and she
took me to the travel agency to buy a ticket to fly to Sabah, visit her
family and so on. It was kind of cheap, especially if you go there with a
local. We used Garuda and Barouac airline. I got totally impressed, she lives in a village where almost noone speaks English, she does in her family, so does her sister which lives in Australia now.They were very friendly:) then
we decided to take a trip to the National Park, about 2000m up the flank
of Mt Kinabalu, SE Asia's tallest mountain. There we stayed 2 nights,
setting off on the trail to the summit next morning with our guide Hamdi. I got sooooo sick that I had to call a doctor and I had to pay 400bucks for my cares... I was broke... I took a very long flight back to Italy, via Denpasar, Jakarta, Singapore to Rome. It was sucha long jurney back home, that when I arrived in Rome, I was ospitalised and then I had to stay in bed a whole month, cos of Dysenthery and mononucleosis. But, this was one of the greatest experiences in my life, and if i will be a mother in the future, I will definately suggest my children to go take these kind of adventurous trips!!
*** The website is dedicated to my dear granfather, my leader, he is the one who gave me the will and the strenght to do these things. Rest in peace my dear, I am always close to you. Thank you for watching me from up there!!!Love ya"*** -home-photos-cambodia-n.thailand-phuket-malaysia1-singapore-malaysia2-indonesia
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I went to the beach, as it
was just 5 meters away, and then went back to the hotel to see if my
backpack was there. Yes, finally it was there. I was sooooo happy. I was
so stressed and exhausted that the first day I decided to sleep. At night
I went to Poppies Gang market and to write emails back home, then I went
to this surfer club, called the Peanuts or something, where there had been
a drinking contest and where I met Sunny Garcia:).
But this island is
way too adulterated already (e.g., you would still have the pollution). As
another example, after getting McDonalds take out, I was looking for a
place to throw my trash, and the driver just took my garbage and threw it
out the window as if that were an appropriate place to throw garbage(thing
that I realised is quite common in Asia, apart from Singapore!!!)! That
attitude seems cool and mellow to them, and I have seen many similar actions like that in the few days. Even in less habitated areas trash is
everysingle where.
Other materials are made from a hand-weaving process
that is very labor intensive.For those who like sports- there's
bungy jumping, paragliding, snorkeling, bike tours, mountain treks, and
visits to the thousands of temples on the island. Go to Ubud and you can
view the traditional puppet plays and dances.Another sight to see is a
Barong dance. A barong is a mythical tiger-like animal that is on the side
of "good." A dance regarding the story of the barong is the
highlight of any trip to Bali, memorable for the costumes, the artful
dancing, and the native music.
Then 5 minutes later after
scouring the horizons we saw some more and for the next hour we saw 20 –
30 dolphins in various groups. They swam at varying distances and
sometimes near(ish) to the boat. We saw some of them dive out of the
water, twist over 3 to 4 times and go back into the water. What was even
more amazing was that we were the only tourists out there so we had the
whole thing to ourselves. After an hour or so the young guy took us back
while we took in the views of the Island. Very nice start to the day.
We then decided to head to Flores.
It's a 6km trudge through a forest that changes in character as you climb
higher. We really had a great time there, even if I started feeling
sick..