Category Archives: Travel

Bali, Indonesia – Tuban and Kuta Beach

Flashpacking, Hiking, Indonesia, Travel, , ,

9/1 – Kuta Beach is the happening place to see and be seen in Bali.  It’s where the young of many countries come to surf, drink and party.  We moved from Sanur to Tuban to get our visas extended (this will be a separate post),  so while we were here we decided to take advantage of our hotel’s free shuttle service and check out the beach.

  
Lots of surfers here: 

 

  

You can rent a surfboard or a chair to sit and watch.   

    
 
Balinese are trying to make a living here, selling tee shirts and trinkets: 

  Selling bows and arrows (!??)  
Fruity drinks:

  Hats and mats:  
And lots of bracelets:

 
The Hindu spirits are honored here: 

    
 

There is a sea turtle conservation exhibit here: 

 
…and a Hard Rock Cafe: 

 
If you get tired of walking, you can hire a horse and buggy: 

 
 …but most folks get around on motorbikes. 

It was fun to watch the hustle and bustle of the very crowded beach, and we had a lovely lunch at a local warung, but when it was time to swim, we went back to our hotel where we could relax! 

 

Bali, Indonesia – More from Sanur

Flashpacking, Hiking, Indonesia, Travel, , ,

8/25 – Every day we walk a little farther down the beach, past the tourists and the big hotels.  Lots of activity on the water. Flat water in Sanur Bay:

    
  

Surfing where the reef doesn’t block the waves:  Lots of pretty kites:

   

A good place to pray: 

 
You can get married in a big blue diamond here: 

 

Plenty of shopping opportunities: 

    
  

  
Does Emma need another tutu?

 

This is a good idea, don’t you think?  

One day, we discovered a deserted temple way past the tourist area, with some pretty scary guardians:

    
 

We watched young girls practice Balinese dancing at a temple. 

    
 

Where to next? 

 

Bali, Indonesia – Sanur

Flashpacking, Hiking, Indonesia, Travel, , ,

8/21 – We’ve fallen into a daily routine of walking along the Sanur beach in the mornings, stopping for a coffee, choosing a place for an Indonesian lunch (fried rice or noodles with vegetables, chicken or seafood, always served with a fried egg on top, or satay – chicken grilled on a skewer with peanut sauce), then swimming in the afternoon.   

 

The beach walk is alternatingly sunny and shady, and lined with shops selling all manner of tourist trinkets and services – wood carvings and masks, batik cloth, bamboo wind chimes, massage, parasailing, pedicures, fruity drinks.  

   
    
   

One of Jim’s favorite pastimes is engaging the touts who call to us at every turn (Sarong, Madame? Massage, Madame? Look in my shop?  Tour today?  Transport tomorrow?). We’ve noted that the tour sellers seem to adopt western names (like telemarketers), and all the names start with ‘A’.  So far, we’ve met Aron, Adam, Artur, Anna and Angelo.  Poor Angelo drew a blank and took a while to come up with his name when Jim asked him what it was.

One day we watched a funeral cremation ceremony.  The procession started at the home of the deceased and ended at a big plaza near the beach, where the body was lit with propane in a big bonfire.  The participants wore traditional dress – sarong and head scarf for the men, fancy lace tops and long skirts for the women. 

   

Another day we heard chanting, and followed the sound to the site of a wedding ceremony that included the ritual of the bride and groom having their eye teeth filed down to curb their human desire to be gluttonous or boastful.  I would have liked to see this, but we did not try to enter the place of the ceremony.  There are many ceremonies here that are unique to Bali culture.

   

Things we saw walking along the beach:  

   

  Hindu Bali is a good place to be a cow!  
    

Chess, anyone?  
 

More from Sanur soon!

Singapore to Bali, Indonesia

Backpacking, Flashpacking, Indonesia, Singapore, Travel, , ,

8/16 – Took the metro to Singapore Airport for our two hour flight to Bali, Indonesia.  Like everything else in Singapore, the airport was sparkly clean, orderly, and boasted some really cool kinetic sculptures.

  
We crossed the equator, and are now officially in the Southern Hemisphere.  Indonesia will be our last stop before heading home in the fall, and although we could endeavor to visit the 17,500 islands that make up this country, we will instead spend 40 days in the sun, surf and tourist extravaganza that is the island of Bali.


We landed in Denpasar, and took a taxi to our small guesthouse, the Ngetis, in Sanur.  Here, instead of yelling “taxi!”, the drivers yell, “transport!” to get your attention.  At first we thought they were saying “passport!”, and couldn’t figure out why… The guesthouse had a wonderful pool and was appointed with the statuary and wood carvings that Indonesia is famous for.

  

Bali has been a tourist destination for many years, so the beachfront is crowded with pricy resorts, way beyond our budget.   The water is crystal clear, but not very deep.

Our little place was on the far side of the busy main street, a bit of a walk to the beach, but we are very good at walking!

Bali practices a form of Hinduism, and there are lots of guardian spirit statues here.  Little banana-leaf baskets of flowers, food and fruit are offered to the spirits each morning, and incense is burned.

  
  

While in Singapore, one of my dental crowns broke, so our first order of business was to find a dentist, called a Docter Gigi. Happy to report that Dr. Sardi (or Dr. Wayan?  Not sure about the order of names here) was right up the road, and she repaired the crown and restored my smile.  Here she is with her three year old daughter, who keeps her company while she practices.

We expect a laid-back month as we prepare to return to the States.  We’ll check in again when we have some news!

Singapore – the Botanic Gardens

Flashpacking, Singapore, Travel,

8/13 – Took the very clean metro across town to visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens. All the signs and announcements are in English only here.image

How did folks pass the time before we had cell phones??

Warning:  If you are not a flower lover, this post is not for you…
There is a metro stop right at the entrance to the Gardens, and there is no charge for admission. The area is huge, with different garden sections. We stopped to admire a lake, and watched some folks doing their early morning Tai Chi in beautiful serenity.image

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We admired the colorful Foliage Garden.

The Healing Garden showed all kinds of medicinal plants.

 

 The Evolution Garden had some very prehistoric- looking trees and ferns.image

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We stopped for a coffee, and watched some school kids on a field trip.image

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Then we got to the Orchid Garden. There was a fee to enter here. We’ve never seen so many beautiful flowers in one place!

 

 Some orchids were protected in a Mist House, and others in a refrigerated Cool House to simulate a mountain environment.

There were celebrity orchids too (one named Laura Bush). So many amazing plants! So many people admiring the beauty.

What a fabulous day!image

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Melaka, Malaysia to Singapore

Backpacking, Flashpacking, Malaysia, Singapore, Travel,

8/10 – Health update: remember the leech bites from Taman Negara?  Well, mine healed up nicely, but Jim’s got infected (probably from wading in the river to buy our bus tickets), and really started to hurt.  The bite area actually turned black and looked pretty awful, so before leaving Melaka, we decided to see a doctor and get some antibiotics.  We tried buying antibiotics at the pharmacy, but unlike some countries we’ve been to, you need a prescription here.  We found a clinic nearby, and the doctor saw Jim within 15 minutes.  He cleaned the wound, dug out the necrotic skin, applied antibiotic ointment and a bandaid, then gave us 5 days of antibiotic pills, disinfectant, a tube of ointment and a half dozen band aids.  We were on our way in 20 minutes, for about $25.00.  Americans really appreciate foreign health care!

8/11 – Took a cab across town to get back to the bus station.  We had been assured by a travel agent in Melaka that multiple bus companies ran buses to Singapore every hour, and there was no reason to purchase tickets in advance.  Well, that turns out not to be true after a holiday weekend.  We got to the station at 9am, but all the morning buses were booked, so we had to hang around the station until 1pm. Not so bad, and we had a nice lunch before we left.

There were signs at every seat on the bus that under no circumstances would the bus wait at Customs for more than 20 minutes. At the border, we hightailed it off the bus and jogged to the immigration line, then back outside to jump on the bus. We made it, but others didn’t, and the bus pulled away leaving people behind – Singapore doesn’t fool around!

The bus stopped on a busy street and let us out at the city center, just five minutes from our hotel. Singapore is a big, modern city, with the same cultures as Malaysia (it used to be part of Malaysia until it became independent in 1965). This time our hotel was in the Muslim area. There were so many shops with pretty headscarves, pins to keep the scarves in place, and colorful long dresses on display, I started looking at them longingly. I think I’ve been wearing my two tee shirts too long!

8/12 – We spent the day just walking around town. Lodging in Singapore is expensive, although the food is reasonable and delicious, and we will only be here a few days. Everything is very clean, and there are lots of rules here. This is the place where a person can get caned for spitting on the street. Don’t even think about stepping off the curb before the light turns green!image

We walked through a busy market.

We got some lunch. So did some pigeons that flew in.image

There was an employment agency on the corner near our hotel. Every time we walked by, we saw a row of identically dressed maids waiting for an assignment. We don’t know if the same women were there all day, or if there was a succession of them. Glad I’m not a maid…image

Tomorrow we will visit the Botanic Gardens!

Sunday in Melaka, Malaysia

Flashpacking, Malaysia, Travel, , ,

8/9 – While we wandered around town yesterday, we came upon Christ Church, an historic building built by the Dutch, with an active Anglican congregation.   

 
They hold services for the English, Chinese, Malay and Indian (Tamil) populations that live here.

 
We decided to attend the English service a at 8:30.  The church isn’t fancy inside. 

 

We were greeted by several parishioners and a priest on our way in.  The priest asked about our home parish, and gave us a heads-up on how they do Communion (they intinct – dip the host into the wine).  Although there were lots of hymns I recognized in the English/Malay hymnal, the selections for this Sunday were all new tunes for me.  Just like at home, we had to juggle the hymnal, the prayer book and the week’s bulletin.  The teens gave us a rousing praise service on guitar and drums, with Amazing Grace sung to a different tune.  The homily was given by the bishop.  Then Amazing Grace again, the time to the familiar tune, but with a verse I was unfamiliar with, from the original 1779 version: “The earth will soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine, but God who called me here below, will be forever mine.”  In good Anglican fashion, we were invited to the coffee hour after the service.  Nice people of Malaysia!

There is also an RC church here: 

   
And the ruins of St Paul’s on the hill, which was built by the Portugese in the 1500s, repurposed as a Protestant church and then a fort by the Dutch: 

    

A little girl trying on the angel’s wings from a burial stone:

 
After the Dutch, Malaya (as it was known) was taken over by the British, then by the Japanese during WWII, then the British again, before gaining freedom and becoming Malaysia.  So much history here!

On our way to church, we passed a long queue of folks standing in front of a restaurant that wasn’t even open yet.  We had seen the same long queue yesterday.  We stopped and asked what the attraction was, and we were told that this place served the best chicken with rice balls in town – a “must have” for visitors to Melaka.  

 
Well, here you go – chicken with rice balls!  This dish is sold all over town, so I asked what makes this restaurant so special.  The answer: other Chinese posted on social media that this is the best place, so this is where the Chinese will queue up to go.  It’s a Chinese thing…  

We walked down to the river, where boat rides are given: 

  There’s an old water wheel here:
 
…and a reconstruction of a Portugese galleon.   

 
There are reminders of WWII here: 

    
 
…and old trains and fire trucks: 

    
 
What a fun weekend!  If you get a chance to come here, we recommend the oyster omelet, and a Malay dish called Nyonya Laksa (below), after you’ve had the chicken rice balls, of course!

  

 

Kuala Tahan back to Kuala Lumpur, to Melaka, Malaysia

Backpacking, Flashpacking, Malaysia, Travel, , ,

8/5 – Back to KL by bus today. Thank goodness we don’t have to go back by slow boat! Had lunch in the little town of Jerantut while waiting for the next bus.   

  Magazine rack in Jerantut.  Is this the Malaysian equivalent of Cosmo?

 
We were unable to book the nice hotel with the pool that we stayed in before our trek, but booked a very nice older hotel in Chinatown, the Mandarin Pacific, and the bus dropped us right at the door!  

When we were in KL a week ago, we ordered new glasses – both of ours were scratched, broken and superglued after fourteen months on the road.  We each got progressive bifocals, and a second pair of sunglasses for about a third of what we would pay back home.  Today we went to pick up our new glasses – what do you think? 

 
We’re singing, “I can see clearly now…”

8/8 – Time to bid farewell to KL.   

  They’ve got one of the nicest bus stations we’ve seen – sparkly clean and modern, and everyone queues politely.

When we were on our way to Georgetown several weeks ago, I sat next to a young man on Bus 101 who suggested that we stop in Melaka (Malay spelling = Melaka, English spelling = Malacca) on our way to Singapore. We’d never heard of Melaka, but it looked to be about halfway between KL and Singapore on the map, and the young man said there was lots to do there. So, as we have been doing throughout this trip, we modified our itinerary to spend four days in Melaka.  Jim had a hard time finding a hotel room, but we didn’t stop to wonder why. Turns out that August 9th is the 50th anniversary celebration of Singapore’s independence from Malaysia, and this was a four day weekend where Singapore folks come to holiday in Melaka. We picked the busiest weekend of the summer to visit!  Here is Dutch Square, at the center of town:

   

How do you get around Melaka? Lots of tricycle cabs decorated with Frozen characters, blaring out Let It Go as they roll down the street! 

   
Or maybe a horse-drawn buggy? 

 
There are lots of photo opportunities for tourists. Here’s a Malaysian Blue Man:

  

This guy said he was Captain Malaysia: 

   

  

Jim is bullish on America.

 
The main area is Jonker Street, where there are lots of things to buy, and lots of things to eat.  Below is the Malaysian equivalent of a Trader Joe’s, with folks lined up to purchase authentic Chinese (we think) delicacies. 

There’s a Hard Rock here.
   Texas isn’t the only place with this slogan: 

 

More from Melaka tomorrow.

Taman Negara, Malaysia – Move to Kuala Tahan

Flashpacking, Hiking, Malaysia, Travel, , , ,

   
   
8/3 – This morning we bade farewell to Nusa Village, and moved to a bungalow in Kuala Tahan.  Here we have a window, wifi, a kettle, coffee, air con, and hot shower  – a wealth of riches for about $17 a night – less than half the price we were paying at Nusa.  Plus, we have our choice of any restaurant in town!  Here’s our yummy lunch – there’s nothing shrimpy about these prawns! 

 
While we were eating lunch, the local school let out, and we watched as the children lined up to buy snacks.  Sugary soda was the number one choice, followed by French fries – I guess kids are the same everywhere! 

 
Cutest kids ever: 

 
Durian puffs, anyone?  They were pretty smelly… 

 When we got back from our hike today, Jim pulled off his boot to find his sock drenched with blood, issuing from a hole on the top of his instep, right at the vein. He felt no pain, and didn’t recall getting bit by anything. We washed it and dressed it, but it continued to bleed. The only thing I know that causes non-stop bleeding like this is leeches, but we couldn’t fathom how one could get under Jim’s boot and sock. A bandaid and pressure stopped the bleeding eventually. Very strange.

8/4 – Today was our last trekking day, and we hit the jackpot for wildlife. Early in the morning we spied a tiny moss deer, about the size of a rabbit. See the reflection of its eyes?      

Shortly after, some Dutch travelers pointed out a flying lizard resting on the trunk of a tree.   

Look close to see the feet and tail of a lizard  – his reflexes were quicker than my camera.  He was about a foot long. 

 We climbed into a hide – an elevated platform from which we could observe a meadow below, and watched a wild boar come out to graze, and a brown squirrel caper in the branches.    

As we walked back, we spied a family of monkeys feasting on jackfruit, high in a tree. We’ve come to understand that telling a Malaysian you want to see a monkey is like telling a New Yorker that you want to see a rat…  Oh well, I still think they’re cute.  Can you see the baby clinging onto the mother? 

   

  

Here’s another pretty big tree: 

 It rains mightily every night, and today we found that some of our floating restaurants had floated away!  Jim had to take off his boots and wade out to the place that sells the tickets for our bus ride back to KL tomorrow. 

   

When we got back to our bungalow, it was my turn to take off my boot and find a sock soaked with blood.  I had not felt anything crawl on my foot, but had the same leech-like round hole on my instep that Jim had yesterday.  How curious!

Taman Negara, Malaysia – the Canopy Walk And Elephant Poop

Flashpacking, Hiking, Malaysia, Travel,

8/1 – Today we decided to do the canopy walk – a steep climb up for an opportunity to view the rain forest from another perspective.  

   
 There were lots of tour groups here, with guides lighting bits of tree bark on fire so their groups could smell sandalwood and sassafras.  Don’t we look eager to start?

  

The bridge looked sturdy enough…  

 We ascended to the suspended walkway, with cameras in hand. We soon discovered that both hands were needed to keep ourselves upright on the narrow walkway that swayed with every step. 

    

We were able to regroup at a rest station built around a big tree, and stowed our cameras away.  Here are some views of the jungle below.

   

There were half a dozen long walks before a final ladder that took us back down.  We were told that the walk used to be longer, but some sections were closed for safety.  It was long enough for me!

  

A look up at the folks who were behind us:

 

We didn’t see any exotic wildlife today, but a German hiker showed us a pic he took of a huge tapir that was sleeping on the porch of his resort. (There is a very posh resort here for rich folks – a meal at their restaurant costs more than our lodging!). A Google search showed dozens of similar pix – evidently, the tapir is a regular visitor to the resort!  

 

8/2 – This morning we did not take the boat to the park. Instead, we set out on a hike suggested by our camp’s resident guide, on our side of the river. Here there were no tourists at all, nor were there any platforms for easy trekking. We followed a path toward the Abai waterfall, which entailed crossing four rivers.  

 It had rained mightily last night, and the water level was higher than we’d experienced so far. If you know me, you know that skipping across rivers from slippery rock to slippery rock is not my thing – my balance is not great on a good day, and since my broken arm, I have an increased fear of falling. Nevertheless, off we went! 

  

  

On the narrow, wooded path, we saw big piles of what looked like elephant poop. How could this be? When we returned to camp, we were told that, indeed, a band of twenty elephants roams this jungle, running along the narrow paths. Sorry, all we saw was the cantaloupe-sized poop!  

   I successfully crossed three of the rivers, with much cajoling support from Jim, but the fourth proved too daunting, so we ended our trek before actually reaching the waterfall. 

 

Here’s a shiny fern I’ve never seen before: 
 

  And I lived to trek another day!