An 8.6 earthquake, complete with tsunami warnings, hit off the coast of Indonesia two weeks ago, and I was none the wiser! Of course, I was over 2000 km away from it but still, scary stuff! First the flooding in Thailand, and now this...let's just hope my luck with avoiding natural disasters continues for the remainder of my trip!
After I left Bali two weeks ago, I headed to the small island of Nusa Lembongan. As I stated in my previous post, there wasn't too much going on there, but it was beautiful and relaxing, and I met some great people at the waterfront place where I stayed.
View from the pool area
One of the amazing views from my scooter tour of the island. That's one of Bali's volcanos in the distance.
After I left Lembongan, I headed to the party island of Gili Tranwangan (Gili T). I LOVED this place and thought it was pretty much the Indonesian version of Dewey Beach! No cars or motorcycles on this island (only bicycles and horse drawn carts), which gives this place a super laid back feeling. There is one main sand/dirt/potholed road that goes around the island, and it takes about 2 hours to bike around it. Only one main part of the island is heavily populated (waterfront bars and restaurants lined up one after the other), but there are many beautiful beaches along the island route which were fun to check out.
One of the many photo opps along my hot and sweaty bike ride
Flip flop tree at one of the empty beaches
Kind of odd, but Gili T has a party schedule; the main party nights are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The other nights are decent too, but definitely more relaxed. I arrived on a Tuesday, which was perfect, and I went to the popular reggae bar Sama Sama for a late dinner and to check out the band. Five minutes after arriving, I was talking to Narin from England and Ben from Denmark, and just like that, I was signing up to go on a booze cruise with them the next day. The booze cruise lasted well into the night, after which the party moved to the irish bar on the island, Tir Na Nog. Good times all around!
Booze cruise crew
A Finnish guy wearing a Philadelphia shirt at a bar in Indonesia! I needed a picture.
I was sad to leave Gili T, but it was time to move on. I spent one final night in Bali before flying to Surabaya, which is on the island of Java. Surabaya is more of a gateway town to the stunning Mt. Bromo than a destination in and of itself, so even though I had planned to stay there for one night, I changed my mind when my flight landed and decided to head directly up to Bromo. Getting to Bromo was challenging to say the least. There was a lot of waiting around in the heat, miscommunication, changing of buses...it was exhausting and frustrating, and at one point, the inner me had to tell the outer me to 'pull it together', as I was pretty close to losing it. One deep breath, candy bar, and financial decision later (backpacker protocol be damned!), it was full speed ahead to Bromo, and all of the trials and tribulations experienced that day were well worth it the next morning at sunrise.
You catch a jeep at 3:30am with 6 or so people to a certain point on the mountain and then hike up 30 minutes from there. Stunning.
After watching the sunrise, your jeep heads to the volcano's crater, where again, you hike about 30 minutes to the top.
View from the top of the crater looking down
Over the crater, trying not to fall in
I met some fun people in my jeep and at the place where I was staying, and after checking out the sunrise, I, like most people, headed off to my next destination, Jogjakarta (Jogja). Six of us did the 12-hour mini-bus ride (one German, one Brit, one Spanish, and two Indonesian), but all went our separate ways when we arrived that night. Jogja is supposed to be a college town with a cool, backpacker vibe, but honestly, I was kind of disappointed. I had booked in the area that was supposed to be the most fun (Malioboro), but there wasn't much going on. If it weren't for two German guys staying at my place (Reno and Chris), my time there would have been kind of boring (the guys had planned to stay four nights in Jogja and were disappointed in the scene as well). The main reason for going to Jogja, though, is the temples, and I was lucky that I could check them out with some fun partners in crime.
Prambanan Temple
Many of the tourists at the temples come from other parts of Indonesia, and they are not used to seeing foreigners. At times, I felt like WE were the major attraction!
Chris and Reno and our driver Tom at Plaosan Temple
Borobudur Temple. The Indonesians claim that this is one of the 7 Wonders of the World, though there is no evidence to support this claim, and a google search will illustrate that there are varying opinions on the definition of 'Wonders of the World.'
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Jogjakarta was really different than the other places I visited in Indo. The Muslim culture is very evident there, illustrated by the 5x a day 'call to prayer' over the city's speakers. The first call is at 4am...every morning...and ear plugs were of no help. I absolutely loved my guesthouse in Jogja (beautiful and the staff was so nice), but after an early flight to Java from Bali, a sunrise adventure, and three nights in a row of interrupted sleep, it was definitely time to get out. I'm now back in Bangkok and head to Vietnam tomorrow to meet up with my friend Morgan. We are hoping to spend at least two weeks traveling from north to south. Another early flight tomorrow....6:30am! Why do I consistently do this to myself? Oh yeah, cheap Air Asia flights! Until next time....Sawatdee kah!
