tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23646126901416703312024-03-05T21:37:50.963-08:00Our World Is the OysterA travel blog following two unemployed, homeless newly-weds on their year-long journey of discovery in Asia and Australia.Yrgsothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07484342301405284110noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-32106094773203180452012-10-31T04:01:00.000-07:002013-06-13T04:03:36.965-07:00Cambodia in pictures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-24767335246389082782012-10-30T00:43:00.000-07:002013-06-12T03:25:13.913-07:00Phnom Penh and saying goodbye to Cambodia<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bus down to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh was pretty easy going and when we arrived in the city and disembarked we had the usual onslaught of tuk-tuk drivers clamouring for our business. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I was still a little fragile after my recent illness, we'd booked ourselves a room in another comfortable-looking hotel and so had the most persuasive/relentless driver take us from the bus station to our new accommodation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The journey was an interesting introduction to Phnom Penh traffic. We held on tight to our luggage as our driver squeezed between other vehicles, whizzed across roundabouts and dodged precarious pedestrians. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We distracted ourselves with the incredible sights around us: a man and woman on a moped, the latter of whom was holding over her head the drip belonging to the toddler squeezed between them; the moped with the half-dozen or so plucked chickens strung over the handlebars; the in-tuk-tuk advertisements for trips to such places as the historic 'Killing Fields' and local shooting ranges (illustrated with photos of smiling tourists toting RPGs).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We arrived at the <i>Lucky Star</i> hotel unscathed - always a nice suprise! - and checked into a big double room with all the modcons we needed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day we ventured out to do a little sightseeing. I was feeling a lot better and although we were still taking things relatively easy, it was great to feel free to explore again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First stop, after breakfast, was the Independence Monument, which sits in the middle of a busy intersection. It was built in the 1950s to commemorate Cambodia's new freedom from the French and there's not really anything to <i>do</i> there, but the weather was beautiful that day and we spent some time walking in the park near the monument.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We then had a bit of a sweaty walk to find a tuk-tuk (never a difficult task unless you're actually looking for one) to take us to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The museum is the latest guise of a group of buildings that during the Khmer Rouge regime of the late 1970s was converted from a high school into Security Prison 21 (S-21). During its darkest days it was a place of torture and murder - an estimated 20,000 people died here under horrific conditions - and is now used to educate visitors about the atrocities that the Cambodian people were subjected to. I'm glad we went, as it wouldn't have felt right being in Phnom Penh without learning about what had happened here such a short time ago. We'd spent time among the stunning ancient history of the Khmer people around Angkor, and it was important for us to know about the more recent history that has left just as tangible a legacy on Cambodia as those breathtaking temples. But it wasn't exactly a fun day out for all the family. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The museum is bleak and stark and terrifying and teaches us about the darkest possibilities of the human condition. There were parts that I wasn't able to stomach, and so I spent a while sitting in the open while Dave continued around the exhibits, but the place is so imbued with the echoes of what went on there, and what I'd already seen had made such a vivid impression, that it wasn't possible to escape the realities just by sitting quietly in the sunshine - rather it gave me time to reflect on how Cambodia has come so far in such a short time after losing so much.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We left emotionally exhausted and decided that that was enough sightseeing for one day. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Fields" target="_blank">The Killing Fields</a> were another option, but we knew from the guidebooks what it was going to entail and so made the decision that we'd immersed ourselves enough in the country's dark past. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we rode back to our hotel in a tuk-tuk we picked up outside the museum the Cambodian traffic craziness struck again and we were involved in our second crash! Not quite as dramatic and life threatening as our <a href="http://www.ourworldistheoyster.blogspot.com/2012/10/temples-of-angkor-day-2.html" target="_blank">last one</a> thank goodness, but our driver wasn't paying enough attention, accelerated too soon at a green light and smashed his wing mirror into the head of an old guy on a motorcycle (fortunately he was wearing a helmet). As our driver and the injured party - along with a little boy who was on the front of his bike - pulled round the nearest corner to discuss the incident, Dave and I gently extricated ourselves from the situation by leaving the tuk-tuk and walking off down the road before jumping into the next one that came along.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That evening, desperately in need of some comfort from the extremities of life 'on the road', we headed to a place called <i>Freebird Bar & Grill</i>. The diner is decked out with plenty of Americana and has a good atmosphere. We drank draft beer and chowed down on the free peanuts and popcorn that the friendly staff kept bringing to our table, not to mention the tasty burger and chili we had. In total our bill came to about US$16 - you always pay more for Western food than you would for eating local dishes but in this instance it was so worth it. We left very full and satisfied.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day we headed to the Central Market to do a little shopping. We found a place for some coffee to give us a much-needed morning boost before heading in to tackle the sprawling complex of stalls. Everything from flowers, fresh fruit and veg, meat and fish, clothes, homewares, jewellery, souvenirs, toys... you name it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were even women taking advantage of the crowds by carrying round pairs of bathroom scales and charging people to weigh themselves! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I invested in a pair of 'Ali Baba' pants - baggy, floral, low-crotched trousers that are ubiquitous amongst the backpacker community and more importantly that were long and comfortable enough to cover the still quite angry-looking red marks on the backs of my legs that the shingles had left behind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One really nice surprise that came about while we were in Phnom Penh was that my cousin, uncle and aunt were coincidentally in town for a wedding. It was really exciting to arrange a meet-up in such an exotic, far-flung place and also really good to see familiar friendly faces after what had already been about two and a half months away from home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We met up for dinner with Andrea, Trevor and Muriel at a yummy restaurant called <i>Anjali</i> near the riverfront and had a good catch-up over bottles of Anchor lager and plates of stir-fried dishes like chili and lemongrass chicken. Andrea had brought us an incredibly welcome care package comprising a huge box of Nurofen Plus (you can't get codeine in Cambodia!), a squeezy tub of Marmite and a bottle of Doom Bar ale. Oh sweet purveyor of blissful treats, how you spoiled us!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After dinner, us kids split off to a nearby bar for more beers, parent-free chat, and so Dave could watch that evening's Arsenal v QPR match. Such fun, random times! At about 2am we decided a short walk down to the Royal Palace was a good idea, as we weren't able to visit during the days as King Sihanouk was currently lying in state. The grounds were still full of people paying their respects even at that hour. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then it was back into another tuk-tuk to take us to our respective hotels. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we'd dropped Andrea off and were barrelling down the near-deserted roads we passed a sight that, like our two RTAs, had seemed kind of unavoidable since we'd first set wheel on a Cambodian road. A man had been knocked off his bike and killed and our tuk-tuk driver thought it appropriate at that moment to slow down as we passed the poor man's body, thereby joining the multitude of people who had paused to take photos on their mobile phones. Eyes shut, I shouted 'Please... GO!' and he stepped on the gas again, my first ever sighting of a dead body seared onto my retinas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phnom Penh was our last stop in Cambodia, a country that has relatively recently undergone horrors that wiped out huge chunks of its population. This isn't the place for an in-depth analysis of a nation's scarred psyche, yet it does seem to have a bizarre disregard for keeping its citizens safe, considering everything they've been through to survive. More than anywhere I've been, Cambodia left me feeling nerve-jangled and harassed. It's a beautiful country, but nowhere else have I ever genuinely feared for my life whenever stepping outside of the safety of my hotel room!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A thriving tourist industry fuelled by stunning ancient temples, cheap entertainment, good weather and a fascinating culture working to reestablish itself in the aftermath of tragedy, isn't showing any signs of slowing and I'm sure the country has a bright future; we had a lot of great experiences in Cambodia and met some truly lovely people, but I do have to admit that I was kind of relieved to say goodbye.</span>Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-60379812555244315012012-10-24T00:09:00.000-07:002013-06-13T04:04:00.017-07:00Siem Reap and Battambang<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Siem Reap is a relatively large and attractive Cambodian town, which has benefitted from its proximity to the Temples of Angkor; the vast majority of visitors use it as a base for touring the historical sites.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After our three days of intensive temple sightseeing, we decided to have a quiet one around town before heading off to our next Cambodian destination, Battambang*. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">especially</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">keen to take it easy, as I'd started getting some quite nasty headaches and feeling really tired.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We began our more sedate day with a trip to <a href="http://www.artisansdangkor.com/" target="_blank">Artisans d'Angkor</a>, where they teach local people how to create traditional arts and crafts and thereby provide them with a vocation and income, and preserve the skills of Khmer craftsmanship that could otherwise be lost. It's free to show yourself around the small workshops and we saw wood carving, lacquering, silver work and stone carving. The tour ends up at the gift shop where there were so many beautiful things we had to be really strict with ourselves not to spend our whole holiday budget! It was absolutely full of gorgeous clothes and homewares that are only sold there and at a couple of other choice locations (i.e. not in the markets selling the usual tat) and the proceeds from sales are sunk back into the Angkor Artisans project. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's also an outlet of <i><a href="http://www.ourworldistheoyster.blogspot.com/2012/10/temples-of-angkor-day-1.html" target="_blank">Blue Pumpkin</a></i> there, so we sat down to treat ourselves to coffee and ice cream while we wrote some postcards home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even after all that culture, shopping and ice cream, I was still feeling under the weather so we headed to a pharmacist for some paracetamol. While chatting to the lady behind the counter, we found out that the former king of Cambodia had passed away. He'd been in China receiving medical treatment and died there of natural causes. Even though he voluntarily abdicated in 2004, the 'King-Father Norodom Sihanouk' was still held in very high regard and it was during his reign that Cambodia gained independence from the French. We noticed that there were signs of a more subdued atmosphere amongst the local people of Siem Reap, who were clearly saddened by King Sihanouk's death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That evening we went to the <i>Temple</i> bar on Siem Reap's infamous 'Pub Street' for dinner and to watch some traditional Cambodian dancing. One of the first things we noticed was that many members of staff were distracted by the TVs mounted on the walls, which were showing rolling coverage of the arrangements for having the King's body flown back to the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dance performance we'd gone to see was really entertaining. It lasted for a good couple of hours with half a dozen different styles, performed with skill and energy by a troupe of young local dancers. Luckily, there were English introductions to each one explaining their history and meaning so we could understand what was going on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Towards the end of the show, the party crowd obviously cranked it up a notch in the bar downstairs as the Big Phat Bass started drifting up the stairs and drowning out the traditional music, which added a whole other aspect!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are a couple of videos that Dave took during the show: one is the coconut dance where the performers drum out a rhythm with hollowed out shells and the other is the peacock dance which shows young lovers courting in the park and then watching two peacocks doing the same.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can also find the videos on our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFuEdAgKzV5osb5ZNi02E2w?feature=guide" target="_blank">YouTube page</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were due to leave Siem Reap over the next day or two, and on top of my tiredness and headaches I'd also broken out in some painful red spots, which I assumed were insect bites. So as I was feeling less than 100%, we decided that in Battambang we'd opt for accommodation that was a little more plush. We went online and booked ourselves into a proper hotel and our guesthouse helped us organise our bus to leave early the next morning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a challenging journey from Siem Reap to Battambang; the majority of my 'insect bites' were down the backs of my legs and I found it very difficult to get comfortable on the bus' vinyl seats. After a four hour journey of trying to arrange myself into a position that wasn't extremely painful - the best seemed to be for me to poke Dave with a combination of at least three elbows/knees/shoulders at a time - we arrived in Battambang relieved and resolved to find the nearest English-speaking clinic as soon as possible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We easily found </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Asia Hotel</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and a</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fter a small mix-up over our reservation </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - the 'deluxe' room we'd booked for $20 per night for some reason wasn't available, but they cut our room rate and agreed to include breakfast - we moved into our new comfy digs. Our room had a big bed, aircon, a fridge, plenty of storage space, a hot shower in a clean bathroom, cable TV and free WiFi. Flashpacker alert! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before getting too settled though, we headed out to find the polyclinic listed in the <i>Lonely Planet</i> guide, which was luckily just round the corner. I was feeling increasingly rough and realistically needed to have myself checked out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of days after the event, I had an IM conversation with my friend George and I don't think I can better describe the Cambodian clinic experience better now than I did then. So here's the transcript:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"I rock up, all sick and in pain and shit, after a 4 hour bus ride from Siem Reap. And I show them the spot on my arm but try to explain that's not the worst of it while she peers at it/me slightly dubiously. And there's a kinda stern female doctor who doesn't speak much English. Then I'm ushered to a room with a man in a medical gown - dragging Dave with me - [where I really struggle to get up onto the hospital bed because the spots on the backs of my legs are so sore] and the man in the gown and a lady take a look, clean it all up with alcohol/iodine etc. Me: lots of pain and slightly freaked out that they don't really speak English either and it's not as bright white sterile as UCL. But they were really nice and gentle and kind (in Cambodian). And then I get taken back to the stern doctor who prescribes me drugs and I ask her what's wrong with me... but she doesn't know what it's called in English [only Cambodian and French] so I'm none the wiser. And even though Dave's french is good he doesn't know many random medical terms. But she smiles at me kindly/sympathetically, then there's minor confusion over my diabetes medication while I'm trying to make sure there's no problematic cross-overs with what she's prescribed. And I'm saying "diabetes" and "insulin" a lot and she doesn't seem to understand, so we pull out the phrasebook, which doesn't have 'diabetes' in Khmer but does have it in Thai and show her that and she's like (in ENGLISH) <i>"Oh! You have diabetes? You take insulin? No problem."</i> So we leave pretty happy with how it's all gone and head back to Google what she's scribbled down in French. And it was shingles! So I went back to bed. THE END."</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The consultation, ministrations and anti-viral meds cost us about $30 and I finally knew that the painful blisters weren't insect bites and the headaches weren't caffeine withdrawal. I guess it also went some way to explain why I'd not been feeling my best in terms of dealing with things like the <a href="http://www.ourworldistheoyster.blogspot.com/2012/10/thailand-to-cambodia.html" target="_blank">border crossing</a> a few days earlier. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We figured the shingles had probably been brought on by us overdoing it, paired with my slightly compromised immune system. In hindsight, although it didn't really feel like it at the time and even though in a lot of ways we'd had a very relaxing few weeks, once we got to Bangkok we were spending hours and hours walking round the city, then we had that hectic day travelling into Cambodia, then the few very long days looking round the Temples of Angkor - including the accidental 55km bike ride and the early start for sunrise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The thing with shingles is that you just have to <i>rest</i>, so it was lucky we'd gotten ourselves such a comfortable hotel room. I basically spent the next week lying in bed sleeping, reading, watching TV, and receiving Skype sympathy from loved ones at home. Poor Dave found himself playing nurse and delivery boy - dressing my boo boos and fetching takeaway pizzas and curries as I was too sick to go out for dinner. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The staff at our hotel were incredibly nice and even though they didn't technically do room service, they'd bring our breakfast up to us each morning until I was well enough to go downstairs for it. The breakfasts were really good too - Dave was tucking into omelettes and French baguettes and I was trying to keep my vitamin levels up with fresh fruit and muesli. And they served seriously good coffee; one of the lovely ladies kept checking if we liked it or not and when we emphatically told her that yes, it was excellent, she told us the hotel manager had specifically sourced the best he could find.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a frustrating time. Dave was really bored and climbing the walls, and I felt trapped and angry with my body for letting us down and interfering with our honeymoon adventures. But we both knew that taking it slowly and making sure I recovered properly at this point would mean we could get on with our travels sooner rather than later and hopefully with no further setbacks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a few days I was in less pain and feeling a little more energetic, so we decided to try a trip out to dinner. We found a place called the <i><a href="http://www.geckocafecambodia.com/" target="_blank">Gecko Cafe</a></i>, which turned out to be perfect - so much so that when I still felt better the following evening, we went back for dinner a second time! It's a great little restaurant with outstanding food, which supports its lovely staff and their families by paying higher wages than a lot of places and gives them opportunities for training etc. The restaurant is on the first floor and we took a table overlooking a junction of the road, which gave us some interesting activity to watch during dinner! On our first visit it was 'Martini Monday' and after a week in my hotel prison I wasn't likely to say no to $2 cocktails. We also treated ourselves to some Cambodian comfort food over our two visits: vegetable soup, spring rolls, wantons, sweet and spicy chicken, lemongrass chicken, basil fried rice, stir fried fish with lime sauce. And for dessert: warm apple crumb cake with huge scoops of vanilla ice cream. I'm sure our indulgence had a significant impact on my subsequent rate of recovery!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As part of our Cambodia travels, we'd planned to visit Kampot and Kep before moving on to Phnom Penh. But after having to extend our </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">stay in Battambang, and conscious of not wanting to overstretch ourselves again, we made the tough decision to skip them and head straight for the capital.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So even though we hadn't had a chance to see a lot of Battambang, once we decided that I was well enough to travel again we were keen to move on. We were delayed another day by huge sky-splitting storms, but the following day it was clear and dry and I was ready to hit the road.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We checked out of the Asia Hotel and humped our bags over to the bus depot, where we bought our tickets to Phnom Penh. As we were waiting, a couple of lovely things happened. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly, we suddenly spotted the lady from our hotel trying to get our attention. She hadn't been at the desk when we were checking out and had therefore been unable to give us our <i>leaving gifts</i>, so she'd followed us over to the station hoping to catch us before we left town! We received two lovely scarves and exchanged some very fond farewells. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second thing was that some local girls were buying sticks of bamboo from a seller at the station <i>(on the left in the photo above)</i> and out of curiosity I went over to peer at what was inside them. The girls caught my eye, gave me two huge smiles and proffered one of the sticks, splitting it open so that I could see the contents. It was filled with a sticky concoction of sweet rice and red beans and I was encouraged to pull some out to try it. When I made gestures of 'yum, this is delicious' they then gave me one of the sticks they had bought to take onto the bus with me. People can be so very kind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so, after a bit of a hiccup in our plans we were on the road again, excited and delighted that our travels were continuing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>* Pronounced BATTAM-BONG. Although as lovers of marzipan-covered-cake we do struggle not to call it 'Battenberg'.</i></span></div>
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Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-30559001018896417612012-10-15T19:55:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:37:56.998-07:00Temples of Angkor: Day 2<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunrise over Angkor Wat is one of those activities lauded as unmissable by the travel community and it was something we were both keen to experience. </span><br />
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At 5.45am we were in the reception area of our guesthouse waiting for Barang to pick us up in his tuk-tuk, and listening to the drunken nonsense coming from a group of gap year kids who were yet to go to bed.</span><br />
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At that time of the morning the roads were quiet but once we were at Angkor Wat we joined throngs of tourists lining the shore of one of the pools facing the the temple - the prime spot for viewing the sun breaking over the tops of the towers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was quite an overcast morning, so the sky wasn't perfect for a particularly spectacular sunrise, and any romance or wonder was largely intruded upon by the literally hundreds of jostling snap-happy tourists and the constant drone of the hawker patter; people selling postcards, scarves or trying to get you into their cafes for breakfast.</span><br />
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However, the temple did look stunning and it was just possible to lose oneself in the spectacle long enough to make it worthwhile being up that early.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We decided to have a bite to eat at one of the many cafes that line the bank of the pool. Someone in Cambodia has obviously done their homework on the most appealing celebrities that no Westerner can resist, and each cafe was named after one of these stalwarts of pop culture: Lady Gaga, J-Lo, 007, Angelina Jolie. In the end we opted for 'Justin Bieber', for no other reason than the extra lengths to which they had gone by hiring the Cambodian spitting image of the eponymous popster (he had a floppy hair-do). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a couple of distinctly average cheese baguettes and intensely sweet coffees, we felt ourselves sufficiently fuelled for another day of temples and went back to find Barang and our trusty transportation.</span><br />
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The next place we were to visit was Banteay Sanray, another massive temple complex made up of long, steep staircases and imposing towers. As it was still so early, we had the place to ourselves and really enjoyed the peace and quiet after the hustle of sunrise at Angkor Wat.</span><br />
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Once we'd finished at Banteay Sanray, it was time to head out of the main Angkor complex and travel about 30km from Siem Reap to the similarly named Banteay Srei. </span><br />
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It's widely seen as the most beautiful of the Angkor temples, and the name means 'Citadel of the Women' as the delicate carvings are thought to be too fine to be created by ham-fisted men. </span><br />
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By the time we got there, bus-loads of tourists had begun to pour in and it was often a bit of a struggle while they pushed and posed in front of each new carving they reached. But once you got the chance, the intricate craftsmanship and skill were truly amazing to see.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The weather had begun to take a turn for the worse, so Barang suggested we stop for a bite to eat before going into the next temple. And it's lucky we did! The heavens opened, and we refreshed ourselves with hearty bowls of noodle soup and lychee sodas while the rain fell in torrents, turning the corrugated iron roof of the cafe into the loudest mealtime musical accompaniment ever... you literally had to shout above it to be heard!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the downpour eased, we entered the temple that Barang had brought us to see - the name of which we never managed to catch! The rain had created lots of deep brown puddles amongst the stones, but the golden light that hit the buildings as the sun came out again was gorgeous. And this particular temple stood out because of the little family of cats that had made its home in one of the towers!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a relatively small site and we didn't linger long as there was still much to see - however cute the kittens were! - so we hit the road again to take a look at Kbal Spean. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the top of a 2km climb and clamber through jungle and over rocks, there's a carved riverbed known as the 'River of A Thousand Lingas'. However, we can't personally testify to its existence as we didn't make it to the top. I had started to feel extremely tired and pretty unwell, so when we were about halfway up the steep ascent I had to admit that my going any further wasn't an option. So we picked our way back down to the tuk-tuk and sat with Barang for a while, quenching our thirst and chatting to him about his family and his aspirations to become a qualified tour guide at the temples. </span><br />
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Soon it was time to move onto our final visit - the breathtaking Ta Phrom. Here nature has undertaken a fierce campaign to show the humans who's boss and the jungle is evidently taking back control. Ruins crumble amongst dappled sunlight as the trees recover the area, roots burst through brickwork, and 1930s adventurer-archeologists dodge booby traps and recover lost idols. OK, maybe not that last bit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's genuinely difficult to pick which photos to include here... such an awesome place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a huge area and we took a good long time having a proper explore. What an atmospheric way to end our tour of the Temples of Angkor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But being on the site of such history, where some parts of the movie <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ7dy0NCNmA" target="_blank">Tomb Raider</a></i> were filmed, wasn't the most dramatic part of our day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The earlier rain had made the roads around the temples pretty treacherous. On our way back to Siem Reap for a well-earned 50p lager, Barang's motorbike went out from under him, shearing off the bolt attaching it to our tuk-tuk carriage and causing him to slide across the road, with Dave and I pitching forward and skidding along completely unattached to anything with brakes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The crash was something which, in hindsight, had felt inevitable from the moment we entered Cambodia. The roads in the country are insane at the best of times and I soon found that every time we were on them I was genuinely relieved when we made it to our destination in one piece. So a rickety old tuk-tuk, barrelling along mud-slicked roads amongst ancient ruins was, I suppose, always an accident waiting to happen.</span></div>
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We were incredibly lucky that we all came away unscathed; just the fact that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">at that moment</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">no kids were playing in the road and no buses were ploughing their way through the other traffic was incredible. Barang had a couple of angry-looking scrapes on his elbow and ankle, but seemed far more concerned that we had come to no harm. Dave and I were both fine and kept telling Barang so, but he continued to check on us as he pulled out his makeshift tool kit and proceeded to reattach the tuk-tuk to his bike. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ten minutes later, shaken but unhurt, we were on the road again. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once we got back to the guesthouse, the first thing we did was grab three cans of beer and sit down to calm our nerves. Then, still assuring Barang that we were ok, we paid him his fee for the two days and said our farewells, thereby ending a very eventful couple of days.</span>Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-33380485255271533582012-10-14T21:24:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:36:19.312-07:00Temples of Angkor: Day 1<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having done more than our fair share of cycling the day before, we decided to see the Temples of Angkor in a more leisurely fashion and hired ourselves a tuk-tuk. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily, our pal Barang had given Dave his telephone number for just this reason when he'd dropped us off on our first evening, so we got in touch and he soon arrived to take us around the much-anticipated ancient ruins.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First stop was yesterday's elusive ticket office, where we each had our photo taken and paid $40 for a three-day pass to all the temples.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first one we visited was Angkor Wat itself, the crown jewel in Cambodia's Khmer temples and a symbol of huge national pride - it's even on their flag! (<i>Dave: And on their beer!</i>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barang stopped in the car park opposite the entrance to the temple and told us to take our time. We crossed the moat that surrounds the enormous temple - Angkor Wat is the largest religious building on Earth - passing young boys hurling themselves into the water with impressive backflips.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once through the main entrance, we walked up the long, wide stone path that leads to the main section of the temple, flanked on either side by palm trees, ponds and scattered ruins. There were a lot of tourists around but it wasn't heaving and we ambled at our own pace in a relaxed atmosphere. Very relaxed for some...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We began to get a sense of the scale of the site and also for its masterful architecture and intricate carvings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">We wandered among passageways, gazed up at majestic towers, peered through windows and doorways, and marvelled at beautifully carved figures of ancient Khmers and their gods and monsters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The central tower, signifying Mount Meru (the sacred mountain in Hindu and Buddhist mythologies), is reached by climbing a tall flight of steps, but I wasn't allowed up because even though I'd brought my sarong with me to cover my legs apparently this wasn't enough to appease the gods of moral modesty. But Dave was ok in his outfit and so went up to take a look. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of Cambodian fashion statements, Angkor Wat was the first place I noticed the intriguing phenomenon of women wearing matching pyjama sets out and about during the day. It's a common sight and one we'd become very familiar with - but never less amused or confused by. The men have their own statements to make in the wardrobe department: the young ones have a habit of wearing their baseball caps very high up on their heads (<a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2ajg8M98S1qhnggmo1_500.jpg" target="_blank">a bit East 17</a>), while the older men like to cool off in the humid climate by not <i>taking off</i> their shirts, just gathering up the front and exposing their bellies to the open air. (<i>Dave: A look I'm planning to introduce once back in Blighty!</i>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After we'd had a good look at the inner sections of the temple, we went to see the 800 metres of bas-reliefs carved around the outside, some of which show an early version of the Hindu <i>Ramayana</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Angkor Wat certainly lived up to the hype. It was impressive and beautiful and we had a great hour or so wandering around it. We looked forward to heading back there the following morning to see it at sunrise. But in the meantime there was much more to be seen elsewhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next on the agenda was the Bayon, which turned out to be one of the most spectacular of the temples. It comprises over 200 wonderfully expressive carved faces of the Buddhist deity Avalokiteshvara, looking out peacefully in all directions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The effect is absolutely breathtaking, and although the site was beginning to fill up fast with tourists and the rain started to fall in earnest, it was a wonderful place to meander around.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the back of the Bayon is a large pool and lots of playful monkeys throwing themselves out of the trees into the water and teasing the tourists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">We met Barang back at his tuk-tuk, where he'd parked not far from the Bayon, and as we were climbing in to continue our fascinating tour a very young girl with a basket of woven bangles came up to us trying to sell her wares. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was obviously well practiced at her patter: "Hello lady, one bangle for you," she said in her tiny little voice. They didn't look anything special and being on a backpacker budget and with only limited space, one has to be very careful not to accumulate too many souvenirs "No thank you," I said with a smile. "Ok three bangles one dollar," was her next attempt. "No thank you," from me. "Ok fives bangles one dollar," she said. "Oh no thank you sweetheart, I don't need any," I replied as Barang started the tuk-tuk and we got ready to pull off. She was relentless and the number of bangles I could purchase for one dollar kept rising as she could tell we were about to leave. Still smiling, I told her "No thank you" one more time, and as Barang began driving away she thrust one of the bangles into my hand with a gesture of 'it's ok you can have it'. We hurtled down the road away from her, my new most-cherished-possession clasped in my hand, and the irrational temptation growing to go back and buy everything in her basket. It was a delightful encounter that I'll always remember.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the Bayon, we visited Angkor Thom and the Terrace of the Elephants. While Angkor Wat and the Bayon were still very much intact and it's possible to walk around them as complete temple structures, this area was far more dilapidated and nature had really begun to re-stake its claim.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was very peaceful around Angkor Thom and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Quite a contrast to what it used to be; at its height, the city was about 10km square and had a population of around 1 million. And this was back when London only had about 50,000 inhabitants!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, we did need to dodge a couple of local kids who had quite clearly set up a bit of a scam. First we were asked for some money to go towards school materials and although we were becoming quite adept at avoiding a lot of the barrage of hawkers in SE Asia this was a new one on us. We'd heard about similar rackets but hadn't had any experience of refusing and so ended up parting with a not-insignificant sum of money to this rather charming young man (it was about what a night's accommodation was costing us). When he then asked for more - we'd given him dollars and now he wanted some Cambodian riel too - that was far enough and we quickly extricated ourselves to go and see the ruins. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not far away we were accosted by another young lad who wanted to give us a tour. We told him no thanks and that we were happy to look around on our own, but he shadowed us recounting the history of the site. After about 10 minutes of this we had to quite firmly tell him 'thanks but no thanks' and he then asked us for money for the information he'd already given us. We clearly explained that we wouldn't give him anything as we'd told him from the start that we didn't want a guide. He skulked away, clearly a bit miffed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally back on our own and able to concentrate on what was around us, we made our way through the ruined city to the Terrace of the Elephants, the last stop of the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a long day of spectacular ancient history, it was time to head back to Siem Reap and we gratefully got back into the tuk-tuk to rest our weary bones for the homeward journey. Before going back to the guesthouse though, there was one more visit we had to make.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Blue Pumpkin</i> is a smart ice cream shop in Siem Reap with the most delicious flavours on offer - mint choc chip, dark chocolate, peanut, pistachio, coconut, Khmer fruits, green lemon and kafir lime, raspberry... to name <i>but a few</i> - and nothing less would've satisfied us after a day of temple-traipsing than two big indulgent sundaes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, exhausted after a very rewarding day and acutely aware of our pre-dawn start the next morning, we went back to our room to crash for the evening.</span></div>
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Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-7340526731169398852012-10-13T07:11:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:33:02.961-07:00Extreme dedication to the temple cause<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We'd heard that cycling around the temples of Angkor was the best way to see them, and as we both enjoy riding bikes this seemed like a great way to experience the culture and history for which we'd come to Siem Reap.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Garden Village rented out bicycles and even though they were a bit on the rickety side, they were cheap and convenient, and we were itching to get going. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Roluos Temples, about 13km out from Siem Reap, are among the earlier temples built by the Khmers in the area and it's recommended that if you have a few days to explore this is a good place to start, as they give you an idea of the development of the architecture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a long ride but as Cambodia is so flat it wasn't a difficult one, and it gave us the opportunity to see some of the countryside and life along the road, like buffalo-pulled carts and kids walking to school jostling for the chance to wave at us and shout 'hello!'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We arrived at our first temple, hot and thirsty, and after a quick rest in the shade and the guzzling of lots of cold water, made our way to the entrance. A man asked for our tickets and as we hadn't bought them yet we enquired where they could be purchased. At the ticket office near Angkor Wat, was the answer. Angkor Wat, the signs for which we'd cycled past on our way here, about 10km ago. The only place you can buy the tickets to see any of the temples. Right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back on our bikes we got, even though the morning was getting on and the sun was climbing higher in the sky. After we'd cycled back the way we had come a little way, we spotted a signpost pointing to Angkor Wat and decided to follow it away from the main road to try and find the ticket office. There was less traffic down this road and it was still very flat, we passed a few lodgings with more smiling shouting children, and a few tuk-tuks passed us, each one receiving increasingly envious looks from me as they disappeared into the distance and we ate up the kilometers a pedal at a time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The road went on and on. And the day got hotter and hotter. And the lack of suspension or padding on our bikes became more and more noticeable. And the road went on. And on. The signposts seemed to run out and the signs of life did too. It eventually reached that point where we had come too far to turn back, even though we both knew we'd made a mistake turning off of the main drag and coming down this road that was some kind of mockery, like the never-ending path that Jennifer Connelly is on in the film <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0K5T0AqVlY" target="_blank">Labyrinth</a></i> that just keeps stretching ahead of her into the distance, no matter how fast or how far she runs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dave cycles five days a week in London and is generally fitter than I am, but my legs were failing, I was saddlesore, and I was having to stop pretty regularly. Plus, concerned about my Irish so-white-I'm-nearly-blue complexion, I had put on the denim shirt I'd packed for modesty in the temples and borrowed Dave's hat to save myself from burning to a crisp, whilst sweltering under the extra clothes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had probably been cycling for a couple of hours by this point and it must have been around midday. <i>Finally</i> we came to a turn off that was flanked by a couple of restaurants and we stopped for cold drinks and a break from the razorblade saddles and relentless pedalling. Checking the map, we could see that we weren't far from Angkor Wat but would be coming in on the wrong side of it for the ticket office. By this point all I wanted was a shower and to lie motionless on a soft bed, so we decided to cut our losses and head back. Once we'd gotten back on the bikes - an action that took every ounce of will I had; if I'd seen an available tuk-tuk at that point I'd have ditched the bike and taken the consequences upon returning to the guesthouse - it didn't take too long before we started seeing signs for Siem Reap. With a lot of stops and fighting back tears from me (this was not my idea of a holiday) and a lot of encouraging words from Dave (heroic once again) we eventually got back to our room, where I hobbled into the shower.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I came out and eased myself onto the bed, Dave was looking at Google Maps on the laptop. "Would you like to know how far we rode today?" he asked, a look somewhere between triumph and wonder on his face. I nodded. "<i>Fifty five kilometers</i>," he told me, "On the world's most uncomfortable bikes, in the Cambodian midday sun". And I, genuinely kind of proud of myself that I hadn't DIED, fell back onto the pillows, the most relieved I've ever been to not be on a bike.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day we resumed our temple mission, this time in a tuk-tuk, and with far more success...</span><br />
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Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-1074360598810939302012-10-12T03:58:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:33:17.233-07:00Thailand to Cambodia<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We'd booked ourselves onto a bus from Bangkok to Aranya Prathet, where you can cross the border into Cambodia (country number three!)</span><br />
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We said goodbye to our guesthouse after filling up on fried eggs, toast and coffee to fortify us for the trip, and hailed a cab to the Ekamai bus station. Once there, after not too long a wait, we were ushered over to what was little more than a people carrier and squeezed in alongside about 10 other people and their baggage. </span><br />
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Once we'd fought our way through the Bangkok traffic and out of the city, things really got interesting. We seemed to have found ourselves in the care of a man who wasn't just willfully reckless in his driving, but appeared to have a full-on death wish. For all of us! 'White knuckle' just doesn't go far enough; he sped, weaved, braked, honked, zoomed, dodged, screeched and tore along the roads for two hours like a true maniac. </span><br />
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In many Southeast Asian countries, it's common to see spirit houses outside of homes and business and alongside roads. Apparently these are to house mischievous spirits that, if they didn't have anywhere to go, would be out causing chaos - like making people crash their cars or fall off of their bikes. Funny, I would've thought that drivers having a little knowledge of road safety, a modicum of patience and some general regard for the sanctity of human life would have its own protective effects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The spirit houses protecting us from calamity. PHEW!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The border crossing was one of those experiences that the <i>Lonely Planet</i> seemed to spin up into a stressful obstacle to be endured and powered through with one's head down. The book basically tells you to go straight to Cambodian immigration, not to speak to anyone as they're all scammers who work for local 'cartels' who'll harass you onto their buses and sting you for way more than a taxi driver would charge to get into town, and that you'll likely be charged extra exorbitant fees by officials for your Cambodian visa. Following our harrowing roadtrip to Aranya Prathet, I was feeling a little on-edge and the guidebook's warnings weren't helping any.</span><br />
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Luckily, Dave kept a very cool head and took the lead. Once we'd gotten through the Thai exit formalities, the first thing he did was to start talking to someone (!?) who ushered us over to a building where we were to purchase our visas, while I lagged behind generally panicking and cursing under my breath that it was all already going horribly wrong. We filled out our forms, only paid an extra 200TBH backhander on top of the official $20, and were then ushered on again by Dave's new best bud to the border crossing. By this point, paranoid me was convinced we'd been shafted and that whatever had been stuck into our passports resembling a Cambodian visa was actually some piece of expert forgery scrawled on the back of a napkin. </span><br />
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Standing slightly stressed in the short queue of tourists waiting to clear Cambodian immigration, I overheard two English lads behind us who'd taken the guidebook's warnings to the extreme; they'd indeed completely bypassed the visa office and headed straight to the crossing - just as I'd probably have done if I hadn't had a calm, sensible Dave with me. </span><br />
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Then it was our turn up to the counter, where they stamped our visas with a smile and digitally took our fingerprints. Then we were through! Into Cambodia! Without being arrested or laughed at or bankrupted! Sighs of relief from me. Sighs of mild irritation from Dave at my lack of faith. And yes, the the hapless guys behind us did have to go back to the office and buy their visas before trying again to enter the country!</span><br />
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So don't trust the <i>Lonely Planet</i> in this instance if it's whipping you up into a frenzy of apprehension about how tough the crossing will be; it's really not that bad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next step was to board the bus from Poipet (the Cambodian side of the border) to Siem Reap, where we'd be staying in order to spend the next few days taking in the ancient temples of Angkor Wat. New best bud had shadowed us through to the other side of immigration, and fair enough he <i>did</i> work for the 'cartel' on duty that day and <i>did</i> usher us onto their bus into town, but it only cost us $9 each and it was there and going in the right direction, and we were tired, and he was <i>really</i> nice, so hey, no harm done.</span><br />
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The bus journey took about an hour and a half and gave us a good opportunity to see a bit of our new destination speeding past the windows. The landscape was incredibly flat, with green fields stretching off as far as the eye could see. Alongside the road, water channels fed the crops and provided bathtime and recreation for the locals, with people swimming and even kids playing in rubber rings. Pale, saggy-necked cows and black bulls with huge horns plodded the water's edge, and white cranes frequently spread their huge wings to take flight over the scene. The roads were also dotted with more of SE Asia's ubiquitous roadside ‘shanty shops’ and the soon-to-be-very-familiar baguette carts. We shared the road with people cycling on rickety old bikes and whole families crammed onto scooters - dad up front, mum at the back, with at least three children of varying ages and usually a pet in between them. </span><br />
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We had a brief pit-stop at a roadside cafe for a much-needed can of the local Anchor lager.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The roads got a little more nail-biting again as it began to rain and darkness fell (no streetlights!) but soon enough we arrived in Siem Reap and new best bud (let's call him by his real name - Lowk Barang) was ready for us in his other guise as rickshaw driver. So we got in - trying not to get too wet - and off we went to <i>Garden Village</i>, a guesthouse/hostel we'd found online, to find ourselves a room. The whole journey, from leaving Bangkok to getting to our accommodation in Cambodia, took about nine hours.</span><br />
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We got a large room with air conditioning and hot water for about £6.50 a night. They only had a twin available, so we pushed the beds together! The place also had a big rooftop bar and restaurant which served draught lager for 30p a glass and decent meals for about £1.50 a head. They also had a free pool table, free jukebox with great music and free WiFi. It was understandably full of backpackers! </span><br />
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We planned to take it very easy the next day, taking a wander around Siem Reap to get our bearings, and then the following day we'd start exploring the temples of Angkor Wat. But until then it was time to kick back, drink some cheap beer, fill our bellies, listen to some good tunes, and get a good night's sleep.</span>Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-69375991732005904722012-10-11T05:34:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:26:51.337-07:00Every little helps, Bangkok style<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One (admittedly odd) highlight of our first stay in Bangkok was a quick trip to Tesco. It's funny how something that's so mundane at home takes on a whole new level of novelty and excitement when you're on the other side of the world. </span><br />
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The chain has a relatively big presence in Thailand, giving itself an added element of Asian mystique by adding 'Lotus' to the end of its name. There's a big branch not far from The Jim Thompson House <i>(see last post)</i> so we popped down there on the hunt for handwash detergent (tired of washing pants with shower gel) and a mosquito net.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've always found foreign supermarkets fascinating and most of the fun we had came from browsing the multitude of bizarre Thai foodstuffs:</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Like crisps, but really not.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>'Win'. 'Delicious & good taste'. Neither of these descriptions of fried cuttlefish rang true with us TBH.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>ALL the industrial strength Red Bull.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Crab stick danishes. I don't care if they're only 10TBH, it's a 'no'.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Angry Birds chicken balls. I can't believe these haven't caught on in the UK!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>After all that, you're going to need a breath & BELLY mint!</b></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Not even in our wildest dreams did we imagine we'd find something so perfect.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, travelling. It's not all snorkelling, temples, festivals and wildlife... sometimes all it takes is a trip to the local supermarket to blow your mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P.S. We managed to get hold of the detergent too: <i>Cross
Super Laundry Liquid Detergent</i>. It's great and now our pants smell fabulous.</span></div>
Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-81906368565309278482012-10-10T05:56:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:30:22.483-07:00Our first stop in Bangkok<span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;">After
seven weeks in Indonesia it was time for us to move onto mainland
South East Asia. From Gili Air, we used our <a href="http://www.ourworldistheoyster.blogspot.com/2013/01/indonesian-island-hopping.html" target="_blank">magic piece of paper</a> to
get us back to Bali, via Lombok, and stayed in Padang Bai </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;">for
a couple of nights (at </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;">Beach
Inn 1</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;">, which was quieter and cheaper than Marco's) before
catching a bus up to Denpasar for our flight to Bangkok.</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
plan was to stay in BKK for 4/5 days to run some errands. We needed
visas for Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos; more malaria medication; and
various essentials we hadn't been able to get hold of on our tiny
island. Even though leaving the Gilis was a little traumatic, we were
actually
looking forward to being back in a proper city for a few days...
massively shallow and probably immoral, but all I wanted was to eat
Maccy D's and go to the cinema!</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our
flight, via Hong Kong, was a piece of cake and we landed in BKK in
the very early hours. So it was straight into a taxi from the airport
to our guesthouse, <i>Baan Hualamphong</i>. When we
arrived, dropped off by our very cheerful female driver, we were
told that the room we'd booked was full so we'd be put in an aircon
room for no extra charge. Fine by us! Especially considering the
weather, even at 2am, felt like being in a steam room.
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;">We
paid 520THB
per night (about £10.50) and got a big room with two double beds
(</span><i style="line-height: 100%;">incredibly </i><span style="line-height: 100%;">hard </span><span style="line-height: 16px;">mattresses)</span><span style="line-height: 100%;">, A/C, fridge, private bathroom, towels and loo roll
provided. Breakfast was included too and was good, provided you like
toast and fried eggs (the only option). Also, we soon discovered that
the location of our guesthouse was excellent - not too close to the
crazy tourist part of town but really near the Hua Lamphong Metro
station, so it was a perfect base for exploring the city.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
what a city it is. One thing I was beginning to learn on our travels
was that preconceptions are pretty much useless. I've never been
interested in visiting Thailand, least of all Bangkok, which I was
under the impression was some sort of unbearably dirty, seedy slum.
As far as I was concerned we'd get in, do the necessary jobs, and get out as fast as we could. What did I know?? It's
a fabulous, vibrant, thriving, modern metropolis. I fell madly in love with
this place and, mainly due to my enthusiasm, we ended up staying for
10 days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 100%;">It
turned out, after much internet research (with WiFi pilfered from the
cafe across the road from our room), that we didn't need to organise
our three visas ahead of time and would be better off just getting
them all at the respective borders. So we threw ourselves into our
other missions, namely: shopping and eating.</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One
of our first stops was to the MBK mall (one of about, oh, a MILLION!)
We founds Boots - an exciting reminder of home - and bought the rest
of the malaria tablets we needed to get us through Asia. We also
purchased our first pot of Tiger Balm, which we soon realised is an
absolute essential; great relief from mosquito bites and various
other ailments - although we're still to figure out how it can cure
flatulence, as it claims on the label... just rub some under your
nose perhaps?? MBK was also our first encounter with the glorious
phenomenon of 'Asian tat' - shops and stalls full of coloured
plastic, grinning cartoon characters, cutesy animals, and unironic
bling. Plus on the sixth floor, they have a great foodhall where
there's a huge variety of cuisines available for bargain prices. You
buy vouchers and then swap them for a meal; the best we found was the
vegetarian stall where you choose three delicious dishes for 50THB
(about £1).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
ate <i>very</i> well in Bangkok. The area called Siam is
full of hip young things (BKK is so much more fashionable than I
would've expected too!) and we had some good food around here
(between my bouts of drooling over the shops and market stalls full
of clothes I couldn't afford to buy). </span></div>
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We treated ourselves one night
to the <i>Hard Rock Café</i>,
gorging ourselves on meat and various deep fried accompaniments. We
also went to <i>Som Tam Nua</i>
for the eponymous green papaya salad, plus excellent chicken wings,
fried fish and sticky rice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
took the extremely cheap and fun river taxi down to the Khaosan Road area where we bought a
knock-off copy of the <i>Lonely Planet</i> guide to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos
& Northern Thailand, and stopped off for a lunch of som tam, tom
yum kung (a hot and sour prawn soup), chicken noodle soup and spring rolls. Most of what
we ate in BKK was supremely spicy (after all that bland Indonesian
food, everything we ordered in Thailand had to be swimming in chili)
and when we told the waitress we wanted our dishes 'Thai spicy' not
'tourist spicy' she agreed, but kept coming back to our table during
our meal to check we were ok!</span></div>
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even
though I came travelling with grand ideas of eating street food everywhere
we went, the multitude of stalls lining the pavements were rarely all
that appetising once we'd considering how long the edibles had been sat in the open or how much diesel fume had choked them. So we didn't really
delve into that culinary adventure.</span></div>
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</span></div>
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
did push our boundaries with some stuff that was kind of odd though:
raw prawns and sun-dried beef (both really delicious) at a place
called <i>Heap</i> with our friend Toby. This was also when we
discovered that pork fried rice in Thai is pronounced 'cow pat moo',
so we'll never go hungry as we'll never forget that! We also had
dinner with our friend Josie, who introduced us to pomelo, a big
citrus fruit that we had as a yummy salad.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also,
bubble tea, which comes in all kinds of flavours but is basically
flavoured milk with chewy balls in it and an extra wide straw so you
can suck them through. I had a chocolate one. It was awesome.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
Paragon Shopping Centre is the high-end mall where all the posh
designer stores are: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Mulberry, Chanel, H&M.
Yep, you read that right. We were accidentally there for the grand
opening of the first Bangkok H&M store and it was a frenzy!
Hundreds of people queuing out of the door, mums taking photos of
their kids in front of the signage. Hilarious. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="line-height: 100%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 100%;">Our main reason for
visiting Paragon was to go to the cinema though. We'd heard really
good things about the Bangkok multiplexes, especially the big comfy
seats and the glorious air conditioning. We
saw </span><i style="line-height: 100%;">Dredd</i><span style="line-height: 100%;">
on a massive digital screen with great sound, and ate our body weight
in Häagen-Dazs. All for about £4.20 each. A great indulgence after
a month on an Indonesian desert island in the middle of nowhere!</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
weather was sweltering the whole time we were in the city so
opportunities to escape inside to air conditioned comfort of
shopping malls and cinemas were extremely welcome. It broke one night
though, with a spectacular storm right over the top of our
guesthouse, and woke us up with some of the loudest thunder and
brightest lightning either of us had ever encountered. It lit the
room up like it was midday and came through our eyelids to wake us
up! It was still ridiculously hot and muggy the next morning though.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
well as shopping and eating, we did do some sightseeing. We had a
lovely afternoon at the <a href="http://www.bacc.or.th/" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-style: normal;">Bangkok
Art </span></i>&
</a><i><span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.bacc.or.th/" target="_blank">Culture Centre</a>, looking round the galleries of brilliant Thai artworks and
chatting to a young artist called Kan who was selling some of his
drawings in the public space.</span></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
<a href="http://www.jimthompsonhouse.com/" target="_blank">Jim Thompson House</a> was also really interesting. He was an American
who settled in Thailand and set up a huge silk empire (before going missing in Malaysia) and you can
look around his gorgeous 1950s Bangkok residence. It was a
very interesting little tour and a really nice way to spend an hour
or two, looking around the gardens and his collection of artifacts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One
evening we had a speedy walk through the Patpong area, constantly
dodging the invitations to ping pong shows. We didn't feel the need
to linger, as the 'sexpats' (dodgy old white men enjoying the company
of beautiful young Thais) were quite noticeable enough without going
looking for them.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
mostly got around the city using the BST (skytrain) and Metro
systems. They were fast, easy and cheap... a bit like the girls in Patpong!!! Sorry. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ahem! The trains are pretty
entertaining in themselves, with constant adverts showing on the
overhead TVs and priceless people-watching opportunities. Sometimes
there's more than just watching too... like with the friendly old guy
who told me about his massage business, said I was very 'modern'
looking and then nodded knowingly when I said I was from London, then
gave me his card and kissed me on the cheek before disembarking.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All
of this urban sprawl got a bit much in the end though, and Dave
especially was getting antsy and keen to move on. So, knowing we'd be
back to my 'new favourite city' in a couple of months, we booked
ourselves onto a bus to Aranya Prathet at the Cambodian border and
left for country number three.</span></div>
Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-77351352528406573542012-10-02T06:42:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:21:04.267-07:00Indonesia in pictures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1AxzA-6AdYMEhAsE5JiqPebrzXfAMBn7_aRZkm29PiolG0x842hne-E6MScUsch8lqWFENN9pK0TcqxvG71RBk9-9GNNFuEUuP5EIJ7ZiJqaoEzMM98YYkmL5ySb086euE1SPvEL1y64/s1600/IMG_2542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1AxzA-6AdYMEhAsE5JiqPebrzXfAMBn7_aRZkm29PiolG0x842hne-E6MScUsch8lqWFENN9pK0TcqxvG71RBk9-9GNNFuEUuP5EIJ7ZiJqaoEzMM98YYkmL5ySb086euE1SPvEL1y64/s640/IMG_2542.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<br />Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-65148442708166085862012-09-29T02:55:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:19:07.868-07:00Boats, karaoke, and the first painful goodbye<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we continued our month-long paradise sojourn. We
spent lots of time relaxing at Bintang Beach Bungalows, hanging out
with our new Indonesian friends and fellow travellers.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shout outs to James and Laura from the USA; Felicia from
Sweden and Gwen from Holland. Not to mention the guy who looked just
like John Locke from <i>Lost</i> – a very weird encounter when you're on a
desert island! </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And special mentions for Danny, Tim and Larissa from
Germany; the beautiful, classy Marga; and Paul, Paul, Emmanuel and
Kerry from the UK. Thank you for the music!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dave and I thoroughly enjoyed being long-term
residents at the bungalows,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> sitting in our spots at the bar,
imparting our hard-earned (?!) knowledge of the island to newcomers like sage
locals, and reaping the benefits of being well established customers
– such as extra helpings of fruit salad, free chips, and use of the bicycles when we needed to do a run to the shops.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of bikes, one of our favourite and most amusing
novelties on the island were the ice cream vendors who, since there's
no motorised transport on the Gilis, cycle round with an coolbox
strapped to the front of their bikes and a loudspeaker playing out
the jingle announcing their approach. So funny!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Danny, Tim and Larissa were lovely and quickly became firm friends and partners for sharing
music and playing hours and hours of cards. Our 'Shit Head'
tournaments (Becky: UK, Dave: Australia, Danny: Germany, and Ali:
Indonesia) were fiercely fought battles for international supremacy.
Shame we didn't keep score.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyH1tkHDVsfrseEpgwT4kdnnLSa8Aucrbz71lOLtnZAU1CYfSwn5QM_AVdOQRP5EkkhTQ_J7pqNIyTDhuT79oCAXLWJRVqQlKDQYJ-zESXAkB4dewh3dZkVstVWiiXSF69ZRPJOz1AZak/s1600/383387_536130466401153_763537240_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyH1tkHDVsfrseEpgwT4kdnnLSa8Aucrbz71lOLtnZAU1CYfSwn5QM_AVdOQRP5EkkhTQ_J7pqNIyTDhuT79oCAXLWJRVqQlKDQYJ-zESXAkB4dewh3dZkVstVWiiXSF69ZRPJOz1AZak/s640/383387_536130466401153_763537240_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Dave, me, Danny & Ali</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUkgMKNrMEEZ7c_sQWL21ByLpdfZ2-ajGz4GXPuVW3vamlh-JhwOGvhMykMW29PNoqk_HanqDhTEN42dcQqeMvGKdM3uOC3FrlbC29MlWjWSM8BQkoo4V-ut0O3R3DCH2IX5eVXw3cM0/s1600/IMG_4274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUkgMKNrMEEZ7c_sQWL21ByLpdfZ2-ajGz4GXPuVW3vamlh-JhwOGvhMykMW29PNoqk_HanqDhTEN42dcQqeMvGKdM3uOC3FrlbC29MlWjWSM8BQkoo4V-ut0O3R3DCH2IX5eVXw3cM0/s640/IMG_4274.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Marga, Emmanuelle & Paul</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also enjoyed the local
kitty soap opera. There was a serious love square going on, which was
very entertaining... Sambal the resident cat had a girlfriend (Mrs
Sambal) who was being wooed by Marley, the big black cat from Legend,
the reggae bar further down the coast. Then there was Mama Cat, who
was looking after the last surviving kitten of her litter of four,
who we're pretty sure was the first lady in Sambal's life, as the
kittens all looked very much like him! She and Mrs Sambal really
didn't get on; there were a few stand offs and at least one cat
fight. Who needs TV?!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPu00qfRx8_cmeuwMhsSAjSQelc0ooTULmHxqFW3ywseGmxKujvgskrjKvMujderSz0m0CPhH-_AgkyKYjk7ZoXLG212OSAoNpeXB6A5OTE923VAijgkTSYX1rjQPU-vNS2H20VbYNKxg/s1600/DSCF0473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPu00qfRx8_cmeuwMhsSAjSQelc0ooTULmHxqFW3ywseGmxKujvgskrjKvMujderSz0m0CPhH-_AgkyKYjk7ZoXLG212OSAoNpeXB6A5OTE923VAijgkTSYX1rjQPU-vNS2H20VbYNKxg/s640/DSCF0473.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Sambal. It's tough being so in demand!</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3l7dq1AW1mqZ7tMuSOcqn5cwTE0jj1RUAHrkRrTZZ_FaYHrZFn9gJEjls6mXIRjt1njucZKCxFlvgiUhLdUprUFezJnoGDX5MwTZMbJlJAkK8sqp59J2hCADc28ezkYQ52Kx9QFNipwE/s1600/IMG_4276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3l7dq1AW1mqZ7tMuSOcqn5cwTE0jj1RUAHrkRrTZZ_FaYHrZFn9gJEjls6mXIRjt1njucZKCxFlvgiUhLdUprUFezJnoGDX5MwTZMbJlJAkK8sqp59J2hCADc28ezkYQ52Kx9QFNipwE/s640/IMG_4276.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Mrs Sambal</b></span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dave and I had a lot of
fun messing about on boats when we were on the Gilis, including a
couple of day trips.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can easily do ferry
hops between the three islands; Gili Trawangan is the 'party' island,
Gili Meno is the really quiet one, and Gili Air is somewhere
in between (the Goldilocks island - juuuuuust right). We paid a visit
to Gili T for a day, which is bigger and slicker than Air and with a
slightly more commercial edge and not quite so laid back. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can
definitely tell it's the party island – mainly from the groups of
very hungover looking teens dragging their flip-flops to a local
eatery for a fry-up, and the pretty blatant marketing of hallucinogenic fungi.
</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAY_JYW8Xctf4bRid7zbVH7WFu77MXaZP0FRyh67VEwc1blOpfoqTRGgXSXG6W6e2AhDUnYX5uXOfmhn7h7BOs0XEPGwWlxWXxDVerHCtVlBGZHcNRwUNhPmxmAO5LsElserNyCl6hz1c/s1600/DSCF0343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAY_JYW8Xctf4bRid7zbVH7WFu77MXaZP0FRyh67VEwc1blOpfoqTRGgXSXG6W6e2AhDUnYX5uXOfmhn7h7BOs0XEPGwWlxWXxDVerHCtVlBGZHcNRwUNhPmxmAO5LsElserNyCl6hz1c/s640/DSCF0343.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's still very beautiful
though and we walked about half way around the coast then cut inland
to find somewhere for lunch and looked around the shops before
hopping on the late-afternoon ferry back to Gili Air. When we got
back it was quite a relief to return to the chilled place we were
calling home! And like the pros we are, we made it back just in time
for happy hour. As we sat drinking our Bintangs and munching some
free popcorn in Blues Corner Cafe bar, looking out at the beach, we
saw a kingfisher come down and land on the sand, gobble something
down and then fly away. Sadly it was too quick for us to get a
picture but take our word for it that it was very pretty and exciting. Not as thrilling as the other wildlife sighting we were soon to be treated to
however... the indigenous Indonesian sand digger monster!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MWfxAhngx4Yyj3T0yxFXmp2R4dgQt9J1IW9NAhjCPm0wF2QIY8xONZjIe2-f4pVCjhDlkBH3GfLcybgSbdXvDRU1wxCugtt2Ve2Q3f9O7W46V2z_FOF4EyI85nbaYSbQDeYx60yLeFg/s1600/DSCF0409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MWfxAhngx4Yyj3T0yxFXmp2R4dgQt9J1IW9NAhjCPm0wF2QIY8xONZjIe2-f4pVCjhDlkBH3GfLcybgSbdXvDRU1wxCugtt2Ve2Q3f9O7W46V2z_FOF4EyI85nbaYSbQDeYx60yLeFg/s640/DSCF0409.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few days later, we
decided to venture out on a snorkelling trip and go out on a boat
with a group. It was a pretty good bargain at about a fiver each. We
were up early and both very excited to get into the crystal clear
turquoise waters that we'd heard are so perfect for seeing tropical
underwater life. However, the further the boat got away from the
shore, and the deeper the water got, the more freaked out I got,
until by the time it had anchored and everyone was getting their gear
on, I was in full-on panic attack mode! I was just really scared of
getting into the deep open water and could hardly move! But Dave
calmed me down and as soon as he said "You don't have to go in
if you don't want to" I was fine, and stayed very happily on the
boat, sunning myself on deck, looking at the reef through the glass
bottom and taking photos of Dave in the water. He had three really
good dives and saw three turtles, lots of tropical fish and starfish.
And I managed to see a turtle through the glass-bottom, so was really
pleased with that.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIBy-kwlOpFU6oNHFcd-j56F24PpphjXcq3gqmVPkj7wuwz8XTkO3xTOqwM5bywUxE8cGhkxNbILvuCN0PstqXpx0g_E-Lk7Bw2rpuEJghqCYF930u_Gr2PwIRaOJbEdVlyvt0bs9O0mU/s1600/DSCF0458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIBy-kwlOpFU6oNHFcd-j56F24PpphjXcq3gqmVPkj7wuwz8XTkO3xTOqwM5bywUxE8cGhkxNbILvuCN0PstqXpx0g_E-Lk7Bw2rpuEJghqCYF930u_Gr2PwIRaOJbEdVlyvt0bs9O0mU/s640/DSCF0458.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During our last week, we
even managed to venture off of the island over-night - quite a
wrench! - when Ali took us over to Lombok. Dave and I jumped in an
outrigger early one morning and were met by Ali at the harbour in
Bangsal. He'd arranged a friend of his to drive us to Senaru in the
north of the island where we could visit some waterfalls. We trekked
through some lush greenery, sometimes wading through icy cold,
fast-running mountain springs, and pretty soon found ourselves
sprayed by fresh tumbling water and swimming in freezing cold pools.
The perfect antidote to the tropical heat! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5ixNTN5jsLsfpeB6hO7wLen6W3qTs2dTSuZbOtjey3HPlOAXmwcdsadsimSNwPa4705ItiK96kRtRL1LlNZ40GNXRjO8VQA8IDXPc6beb8p1KaMtjFkAVV_GkV2KYiinMpm5XmF8Gj0/s1600/IMG_4173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf5ixNTN5jsLsfpeB6hO7wLen6W3qTs2dTSuZbOtjey3HPlOAXmwcdsadsimSNwPa4705ItiK96kRtRL1LlNZ40GNXRjO8VQA8IDXPc6beb8p1KaMtjFkAVV_GkV2KYiinMpm5XmF8Gj0/s640/IMG_4173.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9MDvyE0Bpo8tiSqb7gs-8UHh7OmsVsmdiM3hhfykIgYFcXDvC3ZxiBrh1NjDJkO3pycwSNRgoejM0KzkBqV59yEeNBXHxFp-31LUUsikvNz5iW79ahq2V2DGxvnMM0X1Yd-Zqmm1QXQs/s1600/IMG_4210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9MDvyE0Bpo8tiSqb7gs-8UHh7OmsVsmdiM3hhfykIgYFcXDvC3ZxiBrh1NjDJkO3pycwSNRgoejM0KzkBqV59yEeNBXHxFp-31LUUsikvNz5iW79ahq2V2DGxvnMM0X1Yd-Zqmm1QXQs/s640/IMG_4210.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Afterwards we piled,
dripping wet, back into the car and drove south to Mataram, where we
visited Ali's mother-in-law's warung for something to eat. Ali and
his friend ordered a range of local dishes, including fried fish,
gado gado and tempe and we all tucked in. We also had the priviledge
of meeting Ali's young wife and his 8 month old son Zidane who, like
most children, was inexplicably</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> enamoured with Dave and couldn't take
his eyes off him! </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After lunch we were back in the car and off to
Sengigi where we checked into a small homestay that Ali knew. It was
cheap and simple and, most importantly, close to the local karaoke
bars. Another friend of Ali's, Daffy, joined us for some early
evening drinks, getting-to-know-you-chit-chat and invaluable 'Shit
Head' lessons. </span></div>
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then it was time for Dave, Ali and I to hit the town,
where we soon found a karaoke club we felt lived up to our
weekend-rockstar status. Asian karaoke is something else! They seem
to take it 100% seriously for one thing - no tongues in cheeks here
- and the songs and videos are projected onto a big screen while the
microphone's brought to you so you can serenade the audience from the
comfort of your big leather sofa.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We watched about an hour
of Indonesian 'classics' sung by the locals, with Ali helpfully
translating the stories of the songs for us. There was a huge
variation of themes: </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">boy loving girl who didn't love him anymore</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">girl loving boy who didn't love her anymore</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">boy loving girl who
still loved him but was marrying someone else</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">girl loving boy who
still loved her but was marrying someone else. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ones that were
most difficult to follow were the ones that didn't seem to have their
own music video, so were accompanied by something entirely random.
Our favourite of these was the video that was shown alongside a
couple of different Indonesian unrequited love songs, in which a man
in Canada went prospecting for gold.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soon it was our turn, and
Ali eagerly called over the man in charge of the microphones to ask
if we could request some English-language songs. This was no problem
and he brought us over slips of paper, telling us to write down what
we wanted to sing. Doubtful, we asked if he had a list of the English
songs they had. No problem, we were assured, just write what you
want. So sticking to our failsafes, I scribbled down <i>'Son Of A
Preacher Man'</i> by Dusty Springfield and Dave chose <i>'Let's
Dance'</i> by David Bowie. Our slips collected, we waited patiently,
drank our Bintangs and listened to the wonderful renditions from the
locals. Pretty quickly the guy came back, shaking his head 'no', they
had neither of these songs. What a shock! So we were ushered up to
see the DJ in his booth. After a lot of failed suggestions and
confused shaking of the head (Who are these 'Guns N Roses'? 'Pulp'
who?) we fell back on two songs there was no way he wouldn't have...
Mariah Carey's <i>'Hero'</i> for me, and Brian Adams' <i>'Anything I
Do I Do It For You'</i> for Dave. And the reception! It was like
X-Factor, when you sing a first line of the song and then the
audience immediately gives you an encouraging round of applause (or
that's what I've been told!) They were all so generous and
enthusiastic, we couldn't not reward them with another – thank
heavens the DJ had an everyone-knows-it classic so easy to duet:
Queen's <i>'Bohemian Rhapsody'</i> of course! It was such a great
night, so much fun!!!
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day, after a
breathtaking drive along the bays of Lombok's north western coast, it
was back to Gili Air for our last couple of days. And we were feeling
more than a little pouty about it. We spent our time mostly at BBB,
hanging out and partying with our friends, and soaking in the sights,
sounds and smells of the wonderful island we'd come to love so much.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So lucky we had lots
exciting adventures ahead of us to look forward to, or I don't think
we'd have been able to leave!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnLqdtr4fvA-SV2bPlMKSxHrbLZIOoYbUNvTotA2PeeTeIbD3Ar9ehyphenhyphenK8hj7MN7VIUqadd3YmynGQXfa4MITCACksbY1aiwqIbbwqev-h8P2XGiwkRIRJM9cWCq8mosC1W_Re9Bl2XNw/s1600/DSCF0541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYnLqdtr4fvA-SV2bPlMKSxHrbLZIOoYbUNvTotA2PeeTeIbD3Ar9ehyphenhyphenK8hj7MN7VIUqadd3YmynGQXfa4MITCACksbY1aiwqIbbwqev-h8P2XGiwkRIRJM9cWCq8mosC1W_Re9Bl2XNw/s640/DSCF0541.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Our contribution to Bintang's farewell sunglasses collection</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-44409342559845606822012-09-10T05:40:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:16:08.797-07:00Gili Air: Our first home-away-from-home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gili
Air </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(pronounced Gilly Aye-Er)</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> very quickly charmed the
flip-flops off us both and we were soon in no rush to leave. It was
so lovely, after all the preparations for the wedding and travels and
the busy first few weeks of the honeymoon, to find somewhere so
chilled where we could just sit still together for a while. We
experienced that common traveller phenomenon of planning to visit
somewhere for 4-5 days and ending up staying a whole lot longer... a
month by the time we left! We just couldn't think of anywhere else
we'd have been happier at that point.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A lot of it had to do with the
home-away-from-home we discovered at Bintang Beach Bungalows (BBB).
It was perfect for us; really great staff who made us very welcome
and a good atmosphere with the other guests. We'd play cards, read,
listen to music, chat and generally watch the world go by.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8xigqZBGFO-Mlz66Og_8186YpmlmUW7GNZECbsQaZpk6CqUO3vZedkbtRvIc8H290CHFuAaz1T1ePMv9AWSZWHduRUhID_M4txM3MYs6WOxhn-EG2K-puh6-2iSh_8uq-Fe2fJXS75o/s1600/IMG_3797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8xigqZBGFO-Mlz66Og_8186YpmlmUW7GNZECbsQaZpk6CqUO3vZedkbtRvIc8H290CHFuAaz1T1ePMv9AWSZWHduRUhID_M4txM3MYs6WOxhn-EG2K-puh6-2iSh_8uq-Fe2fJXS75o/s640/IMG_3797.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Dave contemplating life, the universe & everything</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two
of the many lovely people we met were a couple of girls who'd been on
the island for a few months and had ended up doing some work at BBB.
Nadine and Kim were really helpful, giving us tips about
things like cheap places to eat and good swimming spots. They also
lent us their external hard drive so we copied a bunch of music
and movies – really handy on quiet nights when you just fancied
flopping in front of a film or wanted to play some tunes in the bar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
did have a nasty shock during our first couple of days. Andi, the
manager of the bungalows who had greeted us on our first day,
tragically died in a motorbike crash on Lombok. Dave and I had been
on a little exploration of the island and came back to the bungalows one afternoon to find a very sombre group of people sharing a drink, and we were
told of the accident. Later that night we joined the staff and Nadine
and Kim for a small 'wake' in Andi's honour. We knew him for all of
about 48 hours, but the love that the others felt for him was
palpable and it was clear that he was a great guy who would be really
missed. He was 34. R.I.P. Andi.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deep
breath. Anyway...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our
bungalow was about a 30 second walk to the beach and Bintang's
bar/restaurant, where there were little open huts called <span style="color: black;"><i>berugak</i></span>
and bamboo furniture and cushions set up on the sand. We spent a lot
of time sitting up at the bar chatting to the guys who worked there,
Ali and Adi – who seemed to be on duty every hour of the day, with
Ali even sleeping at night behind the bar! We'd have our breakfast
there every morning – usually the <a href="http://wikitravel.org/en/Banana_Pancake_Trail" target="_blank">classic banana pancakes</a>
(spelled <b>'pencaks'</b> on the menu - now all they'll ever be called by
us!) and tall glasses of muddy Lombok coffee. Always that gamble of
'can I get one last sip without getting a mouthful of grounds?'
</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95QlAIt7uXz-MlgUdTdNrA7SS4kqavbHc0cJtI8CvioatTC1kbrF4nTd3x5pEAB53_BPG9bYEJsD3bUN0AgyBPLqW79uWm4xfiI7s_l7gHWs-GsKAK6yzBKR6aK-JZNtPQ-1kd_mxk48/s1600/IMG_3961.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95QlAIt7uXz-MlgUdTdNrA7SS4kqavbHc0cJtI8CvioatTC1kbrF4nTd3x5pEAB53_BPG9bYEJsD3bUN0AgyBPLqW79uWm4xfiI7s_l7gHWs-GsKAK6yzBKR6aK-JZNtPQ-1kd_mxk48/s640/IMG_3961.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Ali & Adi</b></span></td></tr>
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<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
wasn't any WiFi access at BBB, but it was available in some of the
bars around the island, even if it was a little unreliable. There
would also be regular power cuts, as the island runs off of its own
generators that go down pretty regularly. At one point we were having
2-3 blackouts a day, which was a bit of a pain when the fan in our
room or the speakers in the bar cut out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
was a laundry service (or <b>'lundry'</b> as the sign read.. another
term we've adopted) and we treated ourselves to our first machine
wash since being away. Oh the delight of simple things like clean
clothes – <i>really</i> clean, not just done with shower gel in the
basin! On this subject, I had to hold my hands up to Dave and
congratulate him for the excellent forethought that led to his
purchase of a travel plug before we left the UK. It's something I
didn't really see the point of, but weirdly nowhere has plugs for their plugholes and how else were we supposed to wash our smalls?? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were
also very pleased to have bought other 'travel essentials' like
cotton sleeping bags (just in case of bedbugs), torches (the pathways
on Gili Air weren't lit), padlocks (the only way to lock the door of
our bungalow), and the wire mesh backpack cage (just to keep things
like our laptop and passports extra safe in our room while we were
out and about).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another
novelty was the open-air shower in our bungalow. I was unsure at
first about it being outside, and about the cold water too, but it
was perfect after a day on the beach, even if it wasn't always too
relaxing dodging the bees that were somehow fascinated with the
running water.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BBB
did really good food (both local and Western) and we settled into a
routine of eating breakfast and then a decent meal in the late
afternoon, with maybe a fruit salad around midday. That saw us
through no problem, but it's not like we were burning much energy
sitting on the beach all day! Elsewhere on the island you could eat a
good bowl of nasi campur (rice and yummy stuff) for about £1 in the
warungs slightly inland but the island speciality was delicious fresh
fish BBQs – restaurants would display the day's catch out front and
you could choose your fish, which would then be cooked fresh for you
over coconut shells. YUM!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There
was a big dance party at a bar called Space on our first Saturday on
the island, where they had some international DJs come over to play.
Dave and I went along with Ali once he'd finished work and had a few
beers and a dance in the sand. They'd set up a stage and loads of UV
decorations and black lights, plus people doing fire shows. The music was 'psytrance', which isn't
exactly our genre of choice, but it was good fun and my first ever
beach party! (How had it taken me 30 years??)</span></div>
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</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
had our own beach party at BBB one night too. Nadine and Kim were
leaving for Australia, so they threw a big farewell send off. There
was a bonfire on the beach and the locals they had gotten to know
over their months on the island cooked up a fantastic feast of
grilled fish, water spinach, rice, tempe, and a delicious spicy
sauce. We drank far too much 'home brew' rice wine (called 'brum',
preferably said as a kind of car noise) being passed around and
plenty of good music for dancing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9utkFRmle8er7RNd70ODged26M7e_pazzBx_OVckzaoXdmwvPrMaPXRd6V7XUH0Damb3mxecYcaUcxtVuX0YShTZ6obxtF5H1hroxMmgAgoaNSLdfQDo3uSP4I4GKTy3H3UcXqJAYG0/s640/IMG_3833.JPG" width="640" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZUKJVaGxvQzyR9j2YGhrzx6D_fYLBivUZOtVOlP-WRj7ZlBdNpn5Pzix4D-0kbGMfu1jGn7W_yr9TRB1uYTYTC9b2X1fTqX3DhSkD2z1jdjzionyNbLDnzq216bMibF6RJnlVuTiH1A/s1600/IMG_3831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIZUKJVaGxvQzyR9j2YGhrzx6D_fYLBivUZOtVOlP-WRj7ZlBdNpn5Pzix4D-0kbGMfu1jGn7W_yr9TRB1uYTYTC9b2X1fTqX3DhSkD2z1jdjzionyNbLDnzq216bMibF6RJnlVuTiH1A/s640/IMG_3831.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbalvwP6YiBivn7j0nY60utbu-s7n7dCBxtFQWo6cvG93lSyuLQ6aWuiaTyT6wR7S89pSP5gYZUgmn6Whsy0rj_ABZeKTbmtt5kB5mgJcJ-kNnD3hfdOP3taKt0ud1Z4LvtgRioc-DjQ/s1600/IMG_3857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKbalvwP6YiBivn7j0nY60utbu-s7n7dCBxtFQWo6cvG93lSyuLQ6aWuiaTyT6wR7S89pSP5gYZUgmn6Whsy0rj_ABZeKTbmtt5kB5mgJcJ-kNnD3hfdOP3taKt0ud1Z4LvtgRioc-DjQ/s640/IMG_3857.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJaOxOvDwFdjAnsvoPNk0K9iY0us8c9kL-9_q7VAfSR-61rrF6hWHI-1U3F19nP8ocm967y1yBirlodNgQ6ivYDlaNUdtB7oxHw9xtLBeYYymbG9CZl40YIq7m13AcdyvyAWfvWHBQrk0/s1600/IMG_3858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJaOxOvDwFdjAnsvoPNk0K9iY0us8c9kL-9_q7VAfSR-61rrF6hWHI-1U3F19nP8ocm967y1yBirlodNgQ6ivYDlaNUdtB7oxHw9xtLBeYYymbG9CZl40YIq7m13AcdyvyAWfvWHBQrk0/s640/IMG_3858.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Dave enjoys the local brew</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhQEisiqJkYt65bJv-MAUUmwZx2vu1eXgyOkqWqbcqQaOkIlPhjRDSU4jIP2xshhI21aphOQOoV8mplDHIA0ZxTNVq5gLFttj7h7de4WUpxpaet3Dcy9VWdB3hG24gBQdU0R_P01Xnks/s1600/IMG_3856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhQEisiqJkYt65bJv-MAUUmwZx2vu1eXgyOkqWqbcqQaOkIlPhjRDSU4jIP2xshhI21aphOQOoV8mplDHIA0ZxTNVq5gLFttj7h7de4WUpxpaet3Dcy9VWdB3hG24gBQdU0R_P01Xnks/s640/IMG_3856.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>James, Laura & Ali</b></span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> We
felt like we'd settled in and found a good bunch of people to spend
time with... and those people were the main reason why Gili Air will always have a special place in our hearts.</span></div>
Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-85131694944970912302012-09-03T01:29:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:13:45.341-07:00Indonesian island hopping<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bali had been great, but it can be
quite hectic and we were ready to leave for something a little
slower-paced. So it was time to embark on our first bit of
island hopping, something I'd read about, been advised about (how
doable it is), and that I'd casually mentioned to people: <i>"We'll
be doing some island-hopping around Indonesia." </i>But in my mind
it had always been something of a far off fantasy, an unknown entity.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we were heading for the Padang Bai public
ferry, our lives in our backpacks and our magic piece of paper from <i>Pesona Bintang* Tours</i> in
hand. We went back to the office at the agreed
time and the nice guy ushered us over to board the ferry, where we
waved the 'ticket' at a couple of official looking guys who pointed
'onward'.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To get over to the Gilis from Bali in
one day you have to be on the 9am ferry from Padang Bai so you can
make it over to Lembar and then up to the north of Lombok in time to
make the boats going over from Bangsal to the Gilis.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We'd gotten to the ferry quite early so
managed to nab a couple of chairs upstairs on the open air deck. It
began to fill up around us with a good few Westerners laden with
their own backpacks and lots of locals too. A lot of people ended
up sitting on the floor. While we were still in port, women prowled the decks hawking food and drinks like instant coffee, bananas (small and green but firm and sweet) and hot nasi goreng wrapped in brown wax paper. I hadn't wanted coffee, but
after the 150<sup>th</sup> emphatic call from the women I suddenly
needed one and caved (advertising works!) I bought two coffees and a
few of the little bananas; the coffee was ridiculously sweet
(some local sachet with sugar included) and Dave had to finish mine
before I slipped into a diabetic coma. Once the ferry was ready to
depart, the saleswomen vacated for shore and we were off.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i8fqtWSAfC4/UPEDaXv5Y-I/AAAAAAAADjA/5Z3dq-PdyEk/s1600/IMG_3672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i8fqtWSAfC4/UPEDaXv5Y-I/AAAAAAAADjA/5Z3dq-PdyEk/s640/IMG_3672.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Padang Bai harbour</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cZtmSIScFC4/UPEDhxAAk_I/AAAAAAAADjI/7wd5h_QySnI/s1600/IMG_3680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cZtmSIScFC4/UPEDhxAAk_I/AAAAAAAADjI/7wd5h_QySnI/s640/IMG_3680.JPG" width="640" /></span></a><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sitting at our table, we got
chatting to a couple of Indonesian guys about various stuff like the price and strength of local
cigarettes, and other cultural differences. This was also the first time we noticed the odd Asian
phenomenon of men surreptitiously taking photos of young, beautiful
Western women on their digital cameras. Bit creepy. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also passed
the time reading (me still ploughing through <i>On The Road; </i>a good
book but not one I couldn't put down so it was taking me a while) and snapping photos.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rQOh0GXAeZI/UPEDn2e_vmI/AAAAAAAADjg/kx4o1xmONLQ/s1600/IMG_3688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rQOh0GXAeZI/UPEDn2e_vmI/AAAAAAAADjg/kx4o1xmONLQ/s640/IMG_3688.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Gunung Agung on Bali, gently smoking away</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCP9VrIAYqmlqYpEd8gqHhAuTLLy4jpMJ4CPEyVuaPK1-yQoB9tvbwfgiPd8-jyj5rcA3u3NuJij4oQ3_N0wbRnA-SsuBvufUNlDQpRtjxW7t6LaxjZeChXrYFIL-clEJm4Z4W3INYkbw/s1600/IMG_3707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCP9VrIAYqmlqYpEd8gqHhAuTLLy4jpMJ4CPEyVuaPK1-yQoB9tvbwfgiPd8-jyj5rcA3u3NuJij4oQ3_N0wbRnA-SsuBvufUNlDQpRtjxW7t6LaxjZeChXrYFIL-clEJm4Z4W3INYkbw/s640/IMG_3707.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It took about three hours to get to Lembar and then we sat for an hour waiting for the ferry in front
of us to unload before we could even dock.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our <i><b>Lonely Planet</b></i>
guidebook had warned of the 'gauntlet' you had to negotiate at the
port, where hordes of guys hassle you, trying to take your baggage and
get it into their vehicles so you'd travel with them, and that the
best thing to do was put your head down and get out of there. So when
we disembarked we completely ignored the large crowd of Indonesian
men shouting and bustling and walked straight past them towards the
car park where we hoped to find our onward shuttle bus to Bangsal.
With it not being immediately apparent, we asked the Tourist office for assistance; the very helpful man put a phone call in to
the Pesona Bintang representative and along came a guy with a big
frown on his face saying angrily to Dave <i>“I call you! I say
Bintang ticket!”</i> - we'd been so freaked out by the <i>Lonely Planet</i>
that we'd walked straight past the person who was trying to help us. To
be fair, he wasn't communicating any clear instructions and was
rather lost in the scrum, but the warnings did seem a bit
over-dramatic considering they almost caused us to miss our connection. Anyway, no harm done and we were directed to our
little bus. The magic paper worked again and we begun our trip north
to Bangsal.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ride was great; there were about
half a dozen of us, plus the driver and the guide, so there was
plenty of room. I donned my headphones, turned up the music, and gazed out of the window at
the passing scenery of this new island, our second stop on our year
away. More Indonesian life to witness. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We stopped briefly at the
outskirts of Mataram so those who didn't have their tickets to the Gilis could buy them. After a couple of
hours, we arrived in Bangsal and once again showed our magic paper to
a guy who ushered us away from the hordes of youngsters (including
the others on our bus) who were heading for the 'party island' of
Gili Trawangan.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a little while of waiting around
without much of an idea of what was happening - things kept being said
about having to wait for more people to fill the boat or that the
water was too choppy - we got chatting to a European yoga
instructor who was living on Gili Air with her dive master boyfriend.
She told us that this charade was a frustratingly common occurrence
but after a while we were directed to a small wooden outrigger with
about a dozen other people. A short chug over the Lombok Strait to
Gili Air and we'd made it! About eight hours of travel, and by
initial impressions well worth it.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
A man driving a pony and trap, costing us 50,000
rupiah for two people and luggage, took us on a 10 minute ride to
<b><i>Harmony Beach House</i></b>, where we'd made a reservation with the owner
Colin. There are two rooms at Harmony, up some steps on the first
floor above their bar and restaurant, and they're basic: small and
pretty open to the elements, with a double bed, mosquito net, a
table lamp, a fan and a couple of little bits of furniture. The two
toilets and showers were downstairs in an outhouse, 50% of which were
out of order. We dumped our stuff and, as I was pretty hungry after
our long journey from Bali, headed next door to <b><i>Legend</i></b> bar – a red,
yellow and green decorated reggae joint that plays Bob Marley on loop –
for some dinner and a couple of beers.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was quite a large balcony area at Harmony, and as there was no one occupying the other room,
we chilled out there for a couple of hours before turning in.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We'd heard from Justin and Ros in Ubud
that <b><i>Bintang* Beach Bungalows</i></b> was a great place to stay on Gili
Air, so the next morning, while I was battling with the shower at
Harmony, Dave set out to find it and take a look at their offerings.
Under an hour later he returned and asserted <i>“Pack your bags, we're
moving”</i>. We settled up and checked out of Harmony, carried our
belongings on a three or four minute walk to Bintang, and were shown
a couple of different rooms by the friendly, helpful boss Andi. We
settled on a cute airy little bungalow, with a high ceiling and white
walls, its own veranda and outdoor bathroom, a fan, mozzy net,
little table and dressing table. The price was 150,000 rupiah per
night (about £10) including breakfast - the <i>same price</i> as
Harmony had been. Thank goodness for the recommendation for this
place, as it was such better value!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GeCZ2xclKeQ/UHLDQe57E4I/AAAAAAAACA8/-ORpypPtpqY/s1600/IMG_4240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GeCZ2xclKeQ/UHLDQe57E4I/AAAAAAAACA8/-ORpypPtpqY/s640/IMG_4240.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B8X-exxeDlQ/UHLDY1q_fnI/AAAAAAAACBI/NUqgzH-gdDA/s1600/IMG_4242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B8X-exxeDlQ/UHLDY1q_fnI/AAAAAAAACBI/NUqgzH-gdDA/s640/IMG_4242.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little about the island itself. Gili
Air is a tiny paradise! You can walk around it in about 90 minutes
and there's no motorised transport so there's only bicycles and the pony
and traps. It's the perfect picture postcard spot: white sand
beaches, turquoise oceans, and spectacular sunsets behind distant Gunung Agung. The sea is beautiful; clean and crystal clear. At
low tide there are pools in the sand flats where loads of little
creatures live – crabs, anemones, starfish etc. At night the skies
are full of stars as there's very little light pollution and you can
see the Milky Way, Jupiter and Mars with just the naked eye. There
are plenty of bars and restaurants – pretty quiet while we were
there as we'd arrived at the end of high season – and there's an
ATM and some shops for sundries.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yd7ajN-Cl5A/UHK4LfigOSI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/dyj4sEzOKmU/s1600/IMG_3741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yd7ajN-Cl5A/UHK4LfigOSI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/dyj4sEzOKmU/s640/IMG_3741.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRar17n42EjNUKJEoRKeTi1V6Qmdn0iupPtJ1JtpbBHyQ9bY_4jGYgyJR7ik078h8Ymyb0ZHMN_OprnVDpgELc7DUQvLuy6nYXv9XFY2nCAlDpXfZ2NvtUCQP3uDu4U-zwbFO4qJc_2CU/s1600/IMG_3808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRar17n42EjNUKJEoRKeTi1V6Qmdn0iupPtJ1JtpbBHyQ9bY_4jGYgyJR7ik078h8Ymyb0ZHMN_OprnVDpgELc7DUQvLuy6nYXv9XFY2nCAlDpXfZ2NvtUCQP3uDu4U-zwbFO4qJc_2CU/s640/IMG_3808.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C7painiONdE/UHK5X6bjNnI/AAAAAAAAB18/47wIKiKp9Ps/s1600/IMG_3793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C7painiONdE/UHK5X6bjNnI/AAAAAAAAB18/47wIKiKp9Ps/s640/IMG_3793.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
This is the place we'd call home for
the next month.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<i><b>* In a few Asian countries there is no enforceable copyright law so if something becomes popular, like Bintang beer for instance, it's ok for other businesses to use the name. In some places it might mean you ask a taxi driver to take you to the Hilton and you're dropped at a tiny guesthouse instead of a huge plush hotel, and allover Indonesia various incarnations of 'Bintang' pop up.</b></i></span>Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-30334594644077846832012-09-01T03:43:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:09:53.975-07:00Down south in Bali<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was time for us to move on from Ubud and travel to the south coast of Bali. We needed to head down to Padang Bai to catch the ferry over to the Gili islands, which lie just off the coast of Lombok.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of days in advance (before things started shutting down for Galungan) we went to the <a href="http://www.peramatour.com/" target="_blank">Perama</a> office in Ubud to buy our bus tickets. It cost us 50,000 rupiah each - about £3.30.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it was time to pack up our lives into our rucksacks and leave the Indra Homestay behind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We'd met a really nice English couple called Justin and Ros during our stay with the Indras, and they gave us some great tips about the Gilis and how to get there, like where to stay and how much we should be paying for things. They were our first encounter with travelers that resulted in some fantastic word-of-mouth advice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humping our packs down to the Perama office on the Thursday morning, we stocked up on bottled water and after a relatively short wait got onto the bus. It was a decent size but completely full, with no leg room and everyone's luggage piled up front between the passangers and the driver. They really pack you in!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bus journey itself was a fun, easy, 90 minute trip. It was great to be out on the road again after being in Ubud for a while, and to see the Balinese landscape whizzing past the windows of our bus. </span><br />
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There was still a lot of Galungan activity, with penjors lining the roads and people attending religious ceremonies. When we reached the coast we saw a huge gathering of people down by the beach.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We'd found ourselves some accommodation in Padang Bai with a bit of advance online research. <b><i>Marco Inn</i></b> is run by a Dutch guy and his Balinese wife. We contacted Jacob beforehand to make sure they had a room, and this turned out to be a good move. When we all piled off the bus on the main street outside the Padang Bai Perama office, we were immediately hit by the onslaught of guys trying to direct us to their guesthouses. Having something organised in advance was a bonus as it meant we could politely say we already had somewhere booked. </span><br />
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We found Marco Inn pretty easily and were shown to our room on the first floor. It was small but comfy, with a double bed, cold water shower and one of those toilets that doesn't have a normal flush but instead has a big bucket of water with a cup that you have to empty into the loo to get rid of the 'evidence'. We paid 150,000 rupiah per night - about £10 for the room, with breakfast.</span><br />
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Jacob and his family were really welcoming and there was a small open courtyard where we could chill out and play with their two pet bunny rabbits!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The downside? We were staying really close to the ferry port and centre of town, and it was ridiculously noisy at night. During the day Padang Bai is a pretty sleepy little harbour town but we had a restless, sometimes sleepless, stay. Earplugs were no use when the ferry horn and tannoy, cockerels crowing, dogs barking, and the mosque call to prayer all went off in a ridiculous middle-of-the-night cacophony.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our main mission was to organise our transport to and from the Gili islands. At that point we didn't really know how long we wanted to stay on the Gilis, but the idea was to head over to Gili Air first for a few days and then see what happened. There are a couple of ways to get over to the islands, mainly the fast boat (quick and expensive) and the public ferry (slow and cheap). We opted for the latter option and had a bit of a scout around for deals; there were loads of local agents advertising the trip and we finally bought our tickets from a guy who was set up at the end of the main street nearest the ferry (Pesona Bintang tours). After some bargaining, we managed to agree upon open return tickets for the two of us for: </span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ferry from Padang Bai to Lembar</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bus transfer up to Bangsal</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">boat from Bangsal to Gili Air</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">back from any of the Gili islands whenever we wanted. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It cost us 400,000 rupiah - about £25 - which we were pretty pleased with. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As well as the official stuff we needed to sort out, we also spent some time along Padang Bai beach front, which was really pretty with lots of traditional boats moored up and bobbing in the shallows. It was lovely being back at the coast after all that time spent inland in Ubud, and the constant calls from the hawkers had changed from "Transport?!" "Massage!?" to "Diving!?" "Boat trip?!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We spent two nights in Padang Bai and found a really cheap little warung that fed us well on nasi mie and goreng and where we could pick up the unsecured WiFi from the nearby bar (we didn't have internet access at Marco's)! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Saturday morning we got up, repacked, and - using our magic piece of paper from the tour office - boarded the ferry to our desert island getaway.</span></div>
Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-60557103132982016802012-08-29T02:53:00.000-07:002013-06-04T00:53:37.689-07:00Galungan (Balinese new year)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We wanted to stay in Ubud for a few extra days so that we'd be in town for Galungan, which started on 29th August. It's the most important festival of the Balinese calendar, marking the new year every 210 days and when ancestors come back to visit. Compared to celebrations in the West, it's about as big a deal as Christmas.</span><br />
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Staying at a family homestay was perfect, as it meant we saw the Indras carrying out their preparations. We felt really privileged to be able to share the time with them and witness this special event.</span><br />
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You could really feel the excitement and energy in the air all over Ubud during the couple of days leading up to the start of the festival.</span><br />
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Small groups of women carried gifts of food piled high on their heads, visiting friends and family around the town. </span><br />
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Men busied themselves with erecting penjor - tall, heavily ornamented bamboo poles that bend at the top to hang above the streets. The decorations were made of cloth, paper and palm leaves in many colours, shapes and patterns. Each one was different, and families and businesses created their own for display... just like Christmas trees! It was a hive of activity and there was lots of laughter and banter going on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The daily canang also increased around Galungan, both in number and elaborateness. Each day, women use banana and palm leaves, flowers, rice, fruit, crackers, sweets, incense sticks and more to create little trays of goodies as offerings to the gods, left on the pavements and in special alcoves. The ones on the floor were frequently kicked and trampled and there were canang in various states of repair strewn everywhere we walked. Any damage didn't seem a concern though; fresh offerings were always appearing. All this happened more than ever during the festival.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dave and I made our own small contribution to the Galungan decorations with a gift of five little origami roses to the Indra family. It seemed they were gratefully received and I was delighted on Galungan morning to spot them adorning a table in the homestay. </span><br />
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The first day of the 10 day festival began with a simple breakfast for us of banana toasties; the Indras were too busy with more important, fun things to be slaving over hot stoves for us! Incense burned around the family temple... in fact, in burned almost everywhere; you couldn't escape the smell of it all day.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Special decorations made from banana and palm leaves and flowers</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Indra temple was draped in beautiful fabrics and laden with fruit and other food offerings, piled on multicoloured melamine plates and golden platters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The family were dressed up in beautiful traditional clothes - sarongs, shirts, lace, headwear and jewellery. They gathered and exchanged gifts, the children shouting and singing with excitement. Then they were off to visit one of the large temples, and we made our way into town to see what else was going on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The penjor and pop-up alters lining the streets had been finished and were really impressive. Jalan Hanoman was abuzz with motorbikes and scooters, ridden by locals in all their finery, more women carried baskets of offerings on their heads, and families walking together to temple. The sun shone down on everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the centre of town, where Jalan Raya Ubud meets Monkey Forest Road, we saw a troupe of small boys playing instruments (mostly percussion) and some wearing costumes. They headed for a large open-air pavilion, where it seemed they would put on a show. But they just milled around a little, chatting and playing and running up to smiling, snap-happy tourists for donations. They posed and grinned. One boy wearing a monkey mask strutted over to me and gazed into my camera, fluttering his long black eyelashes, all confidence and swagger. Lacking any adult supervision, the boys held court with their own charisma and were just as entertaining as if they'd have been performing something rehearsed. </span><br />
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We visited a couple of the larger local temples, both of which were beautiful and shabby in good measure, but they were mostly full of tourists like ourselves; the locals must've been tucked away in holy areas closed to the public.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the temples we visited has a large lily pond out front with dark green pads and big pink flowers. </span><br />
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Next to the pond is one of the key examples of Ubud's Westernised face... a great big Starbucks. They've gone to <i>great lengths</i> to create a facade that compliments local architecture, with carved wooden signage and the company logo fashioned into an ornate gong at the entrance. Balinese coffee isn't bad, so we refrained from the Extra Coffee Caramel Frappucinos!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heading back to the homestay, we saw some of the most elaborate and impressive penjor decorations yet - big peacocks and dragon heads:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just like most religious festivals, Ubud pretty much shut down during Galungan and many local businesses, shops and restaurants were closed for a couple of days. This led to a really big disappointment for us! <b>Warung Ibu Oka</b> - the fabled purveyor of unrivaled suckling pig - was somewhere we'd been looking forward to eating since seeing it featured on <i>Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey</i> programme a couple of <i>years</i> ago. In Ubud, we kept saying we'd "go tomorrow" and finally headed over on the 28th to eat our fill before we assumed it'd close for Galungan on the 29th (like the vast majority of other businesses in town) and we left Ubud on the 30th. But when we got there we were confronted by a big sign saying <b>"We..! CLOSED 28 UNTIL 30".</b> </span><br />
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Gutted!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sad, hungry Dave</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Important traveler lesson: <i>procrastination is all very well but not at the expense of a good feed!</i></span>Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-75669644756150391872012-08-28T22:25:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:33:49.111-07:00Getting to know Ubud<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The road Jalan Hanoman, where our homestay was, is charming. It runs off of Jalan Raya Ubud - the main drag through the town, which struggles with heavy traffic of both the motorised and tourist varieties, and includes the large market, main temple and loads of shops and restaurants.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Jalan Raya Ubud</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hanoman has a quieter pace, though still busy, and is pretty upmarket compared to some places we've seen since. The shops sell all the common souvenir stuff like bright cotton trousers and tie-dye dresses, bangles and beads, and then there are little boutiques selling jewellery, jams, art, yoga wear and soaps. The eateries range from average Indonesian warungs to Western-inspired, new age cafes serving homemade cakes and pastries (huge slabs of almond chocolate cake, apple pie and glazed fruit danishes), potato wedges, chicken parmigiana, huge salads and health juices. They're popular spots with tourists and ex-pats - all sporting deep tans, linen pants and Apple hardware. The food is great but pricey and the staff lack the charm of smaller, less commercial places.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g297701-d1182717-Reviews-Kafe-Ubud_Bali.html" target="_blank"><i>Kafe</i></a> is the key example and has a sister branch at the nearby <a href="http://www.theyogabarn.com/" target="_blank"><i>Yoga Barn</i></a> (A.K.A. The Hippy Mothership). We headed over for their Monday night movie, which was really good fun. We paid 85,000 rupiah each (about £5.50) for an all-you-can-eat buffet of delicious food. There was green salad, grilled tuna, watermelon, pasta, rice, tofu and tempe*. The movie (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308514/" target="_blank"><i>Lost In La Mancha</i></a>) was after dinner, projected onto a screen in a massive wooden yoga hall. There were probably 30-40 people there so it was cozy with a nice atmosphere and we all laid on the floor with cushions and yoga mats, munching free fresh popcorn and listening to the rain hit the thatch overhead.</span><br />
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<b>*Tempe is a soya bean product used as a meat alternative, but the beans are left more intact than in the mushy curd they use for tofu. And it's <i>great</i>. Good taste and texture and really versatile; during our time in Indonesia we ate it marinated and stir-fried, deep fried and crispy, curried, in omelettes and more. I can't understand why that bland crap tofu has become so pervasive in the West yet we've never heard of tempe!</b></span><br />
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Jalan Hanoman also has some cool stone carvings/statues etc... </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Check out this little dude throwing a peace sign</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>And this badass tiger! Rargh.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The weather in Ubud was much greyer than it had been on the north coast. We didn't get much rain but there was a lot more cloud cover to break up the sunshine. Still hot though!</span><br />
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We rented bikes one day and cycled up to the <a href="http://www.museumneka.com/" target="_blank">Neka Art Museum</a>, which is reputed to have the best examples of Balinese art in the area. It didn't disappoint. We saw a wide variety of traditional paintings - many based on the aesthetic style of old shadow puppet shows - through to some by the 'Ubud School' depicting everyday life, and contemporary artists doing more abstract work. The Arie Smit collection was lovely too. Interesting sculpture as well, both traditional and modern. It was a nice way to spend a couple of hours and the setting itself was peaceful, set out among a quiet compound of gardens and pavilions. It was good to absorb something really Balinese, away from the tourist-centric town centre.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>A door carving</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Dave contemplating</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>A little of the Keith Haring about this one, m'thinks</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our next experience of hired transport was the bemo... retrofitted minivans that have the seats replaced with low benches running the length of the vehicle, which speed along with no seat belts and the doors open. Fast and fun! Our driver Kadek took us out of Ubud to see a couple of sights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
We went to a largish temple (Pura Ibu Pejeng) that houses the Moon of Pejeng, the largest bronze kettle drum on earth. It was 'on display' at the top of a tall, decorated (but dilapidated) stone platform and you couldn't see much. The temple was practically deserted and in places was very shabby, but it was nice to wander around the grassy areas with trees and bright tropical flowers dotted about, seeing the stone Hindu idols, the towering pagoda-like stupas, the statues draped in different coloured cloths and the gold-painted wood carvings. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>The Moon of Pejeng</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Dogs sleeping on the platform of the largest pavilion, which looked newer than the rest.</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had a nice encounter with the couple of young lads manning the entrance of the temple. One tied on our obligatory sarongs, carefully reaching round our waists and deftly knotting them. We didn't have the correct money for the donation and they didn't have change, which wasn't a problem and we went in to look around giving it no more thought. But as we were leaving and returning our sarongs, one of the boys handed me a few rupiah - they'd clearly gotten the right money from another tourist while we'd been inside and remembered to give it back to me. It was a heartwarming example of thoughtfulness that was refreshing after the regular barrage of pushy hawkers we'd encountered a few times in town. Obviously, I asked them to keep the money.</span><br />
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After Pejeng, Kadek drove us to Yeh Pulu, a small area among some rice fields that's home to some 14th century reliefs carved into the rockface. And more hawkers and chancers...! <i>"I show you stones? Tour? You have transport? You need trek tomorrow? Sarong sarong? My wife makes! Transport? Tour?"</i> Plus the lady sitting by the carvings who ignored by protests against the blessing she forced on me and quickly uncovered an until then hidden pile of folded donations which I was then obliged to contribute to. </span><br />
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But the carvings were cool, and we saw a praying mantis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all, a few good days sightseeing and getting to know Ubud and the surrounding area.</span></div>
Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-40675482140847664032012-08-27T00:46:00.000-07:002013-01-19T01:39:16.178-08:00Brits Abroad: the playlist<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Away from home and surrounded by reggae
and shoddy American pop, we made a playlist of tunes from the best music-producing
country on the face of the planet.</span><br />
<div class="western" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">73 British artists. Nearly five hours of quality tunes.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kKIbOatYI3UGDHpWeHKC4sXh-1wKuIrwxykAZVCGKfYLypS9YmDqwcDDfCdaRNLYP3tcOR4NjaQnlbtS_VuiwFrObmNKsEBYyb61_gLlTbpP4Bd9ZV7sNNAk88usGkMmqugCTsYieJg/s1600/ROLLING+STONES+-+UNION+JACK+LIPS+%2528SCM-246%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kKIbOatYI3UGDHpWeHKC4sXh-1wKuIrwxykAZVCGKfYLypS9YmDqwcDDfCdaRNLYP3tcOR4NjaQnlbtS_VuiwFrObmNKsEBYyb61_gLlTbpP4Bd9ZV7sNNAk88usGkMmqugCTsYieJg/s320/ROLLING+STONES+-+UNION+JACK+LIPS+%2528SCM-246%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b style="line-height: 115%;"><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brits Abroad</span></u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">1. The Clash - Rock the Casbah</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">2. Spandau Ballet - To Cut a Long Story
Short</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">3. The Cure - Inbetween Days</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">4. Radiohead - Just</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">5. Rolling Stones - Jumping Jack Flash</span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">6. Reef - Place Your Hands</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">7. Supergrass - Caught By the Fuzz</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">8. Basement Jaxx - Bingo Bango</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">9. Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip - Thou Shalt
Not Kill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">10. Tom Jones feat. Kelly Jones - Mama Told
Me Not To Come</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">11. The Beatles - Twist and Shout</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">12. The Vaccines - If You Wanna</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">13. David Bowie - Suffragette City</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">14. Skunk Anansie - Twisted (Everyday Hurts)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">15. Bloc Party - Helicopter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">16. Catatonia - Mulder and Scully</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">17. Dire Straits - Money For Nothing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">18. Duran Duran - Girls on Film</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">19. The Automatic - Monster</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">20. Elton John - Saturday Night's Alright
(For Fighting)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">21. Robbie Williams - Rock DJ</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">22. The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">23. Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales of San
Francisco</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">24. Dizzee Rascal - Sirens</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">25. Florence and the Machine - Drumming Song</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">26. Cream - Crossroads</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">27. The Rakes - The World Was A Mess But His
Hair Was Perfect</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">28. Pulp - Mis-Shapes</span><br />
<span lang="en" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP6S_B39hBxsn4tREmgHMmIuGxu9z9n3GM3-JpOd_EihTUGGFqo3MSoMjhT1iRTAGuEIPjPzA24ht5Lwv49k7jbeLvZ-csUASzZ5Ocyqa-SmVzxt1FXq0SkXIIq3Fb1olwmgm2JHgHIr4/s1600/dannymanic~fingers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP6S_B39hBxsn4tREmgHMmIuGxu9z9n3GM3-JpOd_EihTUGGFqo3MSoMjhT1iRTAGuEIPjPzA24ht5Lwv49k7jbeLvZ-csUASzZ5Ocyqa-SmVzxt1FXq0SkXIIq3Fb1olwmgm2JHgHIr4/s400/dannymanic~fingers.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<div class="western" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="en" style="line-height: 115%;">29. Franz Ferdinand - </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
Dark of the Matinée</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">30. Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">31. Vines - Outtathaway!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">32. Adele - Rolling in the Deep</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">33. Shirley Bassey - Goldfinger</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">34. Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">35. Queen - I Want To Break Free</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="en" style="line-height: 115%;">36. Mot</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">ö</span><span lang="en" style="line-height: 115%;">rhead
- Ace of Spades</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">37. The Futureheads - Beginning of the Twist</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">38. Ash - Girl From Mars</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">39. Garbage - Push It</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">40. Space - Female of the Species</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">41. Kasabian - Club Foot</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">42. Faithless - God Is a DJ</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">43. Fatboy Slim - The Rockafella Skank</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">44. Chemical Brothers - Setting Sun</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">45. The Prodigy - Out Of Space</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">46. Foals - Cassius</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">47. Razorlight - Golden Touch</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">48. Gorillaz - Punk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">49. The Jam - Town Called Malice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">50. The Sex Pistols - Holidays in the Sun</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">51. The Kinks - Lola</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">52. Kaiser Chiefs - Everyday I Love You Less
And Less</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">53. Muse - Plug in Baby</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">54. Kula Shaker - Hush</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">55. Ian Dury - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">56. KT Tunstall - Black Horse and the Cherry
Tree</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">57. Mr Scruff - Spandex Man</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">58. Madness - House of Fun</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">59. Moloko - Pure Pleasure Seeker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">60. Jamiroquai - Canned Heat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">61. Ocean Colour Scene - The Riverboat Song</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">62. Led Zepplin - Whole Lotta Love</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">63. The Libertines - Can't Stand Me Now</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">64. Maximo Park - Going Missing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">65. The Streets - Let's Push Things Forward</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">66. Mark Ronson - Stop Me</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">67. Frank Turner - Try This At Home</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">68. The Police - Every Little Thing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">69. Groove Armada - Little By Little</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">70. Blur - For Tomorrow</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">71. Manic Street Preachers - Australia</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">72. Massive Attack - Teardrop</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">73. The Stone Roses - I Am The Resurrection</span></div>
Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-55796087706672215872012-08-26T22:07:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:04:33.710-07:00Ubud: Illness, rice fields, hitting the backpacker trail<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ubud is often called the 'cultural centre of Bali'. It
certainly had art galleries and traditional performances aplenty, but
I get the feeling the description is more reflective of the town 10
years ago. Now it bears more resemblance to the slightly less
flattering image it has earned from the book
<i>Eat, Pray, Love</i> and the subsequent Julia Roberts movie; a nice place
where middle aged women in linen trousers do yoga, eat tofu and hunt
for handsome younger men.</span><br />
<br />
<div lang="en">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGlfL5Zh8OiBcYiL0DHLgu6lys-K9LBXDpD5eiRvAWKYK4n6i7WaIqvMkbLJ_vzs3nCcbKBU5aP7pdFe4wro7H7XgC9cflKgBVcvNdwZRgI_FJQ4_asOmgFQcA9qAXEQJNMU-QWbOp7IA/s1600/IMG_3365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGlfL5Zh8OiBcYiL0DHLgu6lys-K9LBXDpD5eiRvAWKYK4n6i7WaIqvMkbLJ_vzs3nCcbKBU5aP7pdFe4wro7H7XgC9cflKgBVcvNdwZRgI_FJQ4_asOmgFQcA9qAXEQJNMU-QWbOp7IA/s640/IMG_3365.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although this isn't really our cup of tea, we did have some real fun in Ubud and managed to find some of the
charm that it probably had in greater abundance in the past.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Ubud had an entirely different pace to our time in Tembok, filled
with new sights, sounds and smells, festivities, frustrations,
rural rice fields and urban tourist chaos.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
We had a bit of a stuttering start to our time there. After
arriving at Waka Di Ume, Dave was floored by a bout of severe food
poisoning that put him out of action for two days and lingered for a
week. I played nurse and we were grateful to be in surroundings that
delivered complimentary bottled water every day and provided room
service breakfasts of scrambled eggs, bacon and delicious banana
pastries, and cheese burgers for dinner, to sustain my vigil. Not
to mention the free, fast WiFi that allowed us to download plenty of
movies for entertainment!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
A quick mention here of more breakfast peculiarities from posh
Bali resorts, assumedly catering for their guess at Western eating
habits... <i><b>garlic bread and a spoonful of mashed potato???</b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Dave pulled through, of course, and we were able to start enjoying
the area. One highlight was an early morning trek through the rice
fields. Our guide took a small group of us to the paddies and on the
way we passed groups of kids heading to school, dressed in
blazers and batik pattered shirts (way more interesting than any of
my uniforms were!) Some of the children were hanging around outside
the school, drinking tubs of weird coloured soft drinks and sweeping
the small, quiet street with stick brooms. Their energy, palpable
even at that early hour, was infectious.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRh3Yvgi10VL9Te3JBKwTNcIyQPiTKyGAgyrsZDvY7f4EYQNF6HsoxZPBkvPAuDfSbX73mjskjBal-eXVdCsm0AOQp3k7WgD2NpVN5SXTsYVvUjix0et1w7xU6sSCtP08QUszB4Ur9s8/s1600/IMG_2834.JPG"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img align="BOTTOM" border="0" height="425" name="graphics1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRh3Yvgi10VL9Te3JBKwTNcIyQPiTKyGAgyrsZDvY7f4EYQNF6HsoxZPBkvPAuDfSbX73mjskjBal-eXVdCsm0AOQp3k7WgD2NpVN5SXTsYVvUjix0et1w7xU6sSCtP08QUszB4Ur9s8/s640/IMG_2834.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The weather inland around Ubud was generally cooler and
cloudier than it had been on the coast, but at pre-8am the day was
already heating up. In the rice fields the bright white sun reflected
back at us from the surface of the water. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LTWeTOLHMAI/UHJyMChCUVI/AAAAAAAABeo/Rn28CtOA8Js/s1600/IMG_2841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img align="BOTTOM" border="0" height="640" name="graphics2" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LTWeTOLHMAI/UHJyMChCUVI/AAAAAAAABeo/Rn28CtOA8Js/s640/IMG_2841.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Intricate irrigation
systems feed the large square 'pools' where the rice is grown. The
precision of the planting - all straight lines of little lush green
tufts - is a marvel, considering it's all done by hand. We walked
along narrow earth tracks that interlace through the delicate crops and
provide precarious protection from soggy feet. Close up, you see the
rice sprouting up as neat individual plants, but looking out over the
paddies in all directions, it became fields of solid green almost
reminiscent of English rolling countryside. Except the oaks were palm
trees, the hills were distant volcanoes and the sturdy farmhouses
were tiny bamboo huts.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LTWeTOLHMAI/UHJyMChCUVI/AAAAAAAABeo/Rn28CtOA8Js/s1600/IMG_2841.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPn5Dc-g0B5RUdhXhGSiZZZ0kiwripkvJHo3PVVwH0a-z_4woq5xM72T01Dja1maaYSx9orb5Zemk8ou9O_C7ikfqZZMW9AXSbkPaDVTHWeDG3jxEySrQ-BUmeTL0AjFv8jhFHFhGZayE/s1600/IMG_2886.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img align="BOTTOM" border="0" height="640" name="graphics3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPn5Dc-g0B5RUdhXhGSiZZZ0kiwripkvJHo3PVVwH0a-z_4woq5xM72T01Dja1maaYSx9orb5Zemk8ou9O_C7ikfqZZMW9AXSbkPaDVTHWeDG3jxEySrQ-BUmeTL0AjFv8jhFHFhGZayE/s640/IMG_2886.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-053iu7pqoIw/UHJyv0AQEgI/AAAAAAAABe8/-nMVzKqC37c/s1600/IMG_2846.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img align="BOTTOM" border="0" height="426" name="graphics4" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-053iu7pqoIw/UHJyv0AQEgI/AAAAAAAABe8/-nMVzKqC37c/s640/IMG_2846.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Men in sarongs and conical hats worked the land with
long bamboo-handles tools. Ducks - farmed among the rice to keep the
crop free of bugs - flapped and quacked around the water. The low,
intense sun beat down from a bright blue sky smattered with white
wispy clouds. It was beautiful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />While we were staying at the resort, we took a couple of
jaunts into Ubud for food and shopping, and to get our bearings in
time for leaving the security of pre-arranged accommodation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><i>Cafe Wayan</i>, on the busy Monkey Forest Road, fed us well
one night with nasi campur (rice and stuff), mie goreng (fried
noodles), fresh garlic-roasted peanuts and unusual green pancakes
stuffed with something sweet and served with ice cream. It was a
sharp contrast, in both price and quality, to a disastrous meal of
nasi goreng (fried rice) at Warung Lokal, and taught us a valuable
lesson that cheap isn't always cheerful. But we've also learnt since
that even cheaper can be GREAT (more on Gili Air's tasty £1
offerings in a later post).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />On the Thursday of our second week away, we did some
advance recon to find a place to stay once we hit the backpacker
trail. Goodbye luxury, hello self-sufficiency! We found ourselves a
nice homestay in central Ubud, on the street Jalan Hanoman. It was in
budget and within an hour of beginning our search, so, deposit paid,
we left happy with our first foray into 'by the seat of our pants'
accommodation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />After two weeks of lovely honeymoon indulgence, on the
Saturday, as organised, we arrived back to the Wayan family (not the
one with the eponymous Cafe) only to be told the room had been given
to someone else and they were full. All our considered planning! What
of our deposit?? We would get it back. Where would we stay?? We were
on the streets! Laden! Surely disaster?! Of course not. The fates had
smiled upon us and gushing apologies, kind Ibu Wayan went next door
to find us a room within the Indra family homestay. 20,000 rupiah
more per night (about £1.30) but with free WiFi and a good room with
a hot water shower, ceiling fan, clean (dolphin print) sheets and a
sweet little veranda, plus breakfast each morning. Done deal! Dave
was a master negotiator and bargained the rate down by 30,000 rupiah
per night.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dfviB1PV84o/UHKktF8Lr0I/AAAAAAAABtU/ja1PYUZDYY4/s1600/IMG_3217.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img align="BOTTOM" border="0" height="640" name="graphics5" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dfviB1PV84o/UHKktF8Lr0I/AAAAAAAABtU/ja1PYUZDYY4/s640/IMG_3217.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
The guy in charge was a gently-spoken, middle aged man
named Karta. The Indra family milled around the smallish home
compound and seemed to consist of a very old parental couple, Karta
and his wife, another couple who we assumed to be Karta's brother and
his wife, and 4 or 5 children - boys and girls aged around 7-18. The
homestay was cool and quiet - the perfect hideaway from busy Ubud. We
had relatively little to do with the family, aside from pleasantries
(like the evening "Selamat Malam" to the old couple as they
sat watching Asian soap operas at the communal TV) and discussing
breakfasts with the teenage boys on duty each morning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="en"><br /></span>
<span lang="en">And <i>oh</i></span> <span lang="en">the
breakfasts! Different each day (always with black Balinese coffee
that you had to play very safe for the last couple of sips to avoid a
mouthful of grounds, and fresh fruit salad of banana, papaya and
pineapple with grated coconut): banana jaffle (that's a toastie),
banana pancakes, black rice pudding made with coconut milk, and on
the morning before Galungan, steamed rice with sauteed green veg and
various spicy meats.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="en"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ovxmeVC_krs/UHKkgoccq8I/AAAAAAAABtA/crOHcRuvpww/s1600/IMG_3215.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img align="BOTTOM" border="0" height="426" name="graphics6" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ovxmeVC_krs/UHKkgoccq8I/AAAAAAAABtA/crOHcRuvpww/s640/IMG_3215.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More on Galungan (the most important annual festival on Bali)
soon...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-48328534665900261812012-08-18T23:43:00.000-07:002013-05-25T21:47:53.594-07:0018th August 2012 – Last Few Days in Spa Village Resort Tembok<div style="color: black;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The last few days at Tembok have
followed a pretty similar pattern to the first! More beautiful sunny
days filled with plenty of good food, relaxing spa treatments and
missing the early morning activities through laziness! The highlight
of the past few days has definitely been the evening of the 15<sup>th</sup>.
Instead of the guests making their way to the restaurant for dinner
at their leisure, all the tables and chairs were rather set up on the
lawn so we could watch a performance of the 'Kecak' (kechak) dance
while eating BBQ!</span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlHOfhJtOaebu4Xza5UcFTNvh7VZba5DlfyCri973gyGgH-UXqCK55RBoT-BKEt9pq_SpQvBuoO-fycmr47FM9gAccj84yj95z4auESo_sgBK2WNcOqY0tx5z2S9pdB0QVeuJCk5Azek/s1600/OWITO+-+120818_1TablesOnTheLawnResized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlHOfhJtOaebu4Xza5UcFTNvh7VZba5DlfyCri973gyGgH-UXqCK55RBoT-BKEt9pq_SpQvBuoO-fycmr47FM9gAccj84yj95z4auESo_sgBK2WNcOqY0tx5z2S9pdB0QVeuJCk5Azek/s640/OWITO+-+120818_1TablesOnTheLawnResized.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Tables on the lawn for BBQ and dancing
later</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The food was OK, not enough meat for me
to get my teeth into but the dance was spectacular! A fairly recent
interpretation of Balinese dance, it told the story of the brothers
Sinurit and Sinurat and their quest to slay the giant bird and marry the beautiful Dyah Satya Wati. They successfully kill the bird, but inevitably they eventually fall out over the woman and fight until they each mortally wound the other. The dancers were all local
men and the main feature of the performance was them chanting
'Chak-chak-chak' in an acapella style. Changes in tempo, rhthym and
pitch combined to create a hypnotic beat which rose and fell along
with the action. After watching them for the first half of the
performance it was then wonderful to see the sole female performer
come out in beautiful costume and a flowing, graceful style of dance
which made a mesmerising contrast with the arm-flaying, staccato
style of the men. (See Becky's last post for pictures of the dancers.)</span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPcQeSXwAyBB9rB6HTWEIVV8HE4rJvi4OJOIGfzK9Hk4rYOEXwTAds0rtuSKFTBVueWZoMTngd9JyiuokBU2wfYpSUowqRTyisbvlMIJqwIkKOWF_340D4zlRyL5Q6rAUqm2k6bRiMVQ0/s1600/OWITO+-+120818_4LatestAdditionsToTroupeResized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPcQeSXwAyBB9rB6HTWEIVV8HE4rJvi4OJOIGfzK9Hk4rYOEXwTAds0rtuSKFTBVueWZoMTngd9JyiuokBU2wfYpSUowqRTyisbvlMIJqwIkKOWF_340D4zlRyL5Q6rAUqm2k6bRiMVQ0/s640/OWITO+-+120818_4LatestAdditionsToTroupeResized.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The latest addition to the dance troupe!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The treatments we've been having have
all been as fantastic and indulgent as the first few: we've been
scrubbed, moisturised, wrapped, rubbed, bathed and massaged into a
near-comatose state! ~he food has been just as good, with fresh fish,
prawns and shredded beef salad all delicious. We've even managed to
make it to some of the activities! We tried our hand at making little
Balinese cakes with the chef, where grated galangal root is pressed
into a little ball, stuffed with palm sugar and then shallow fried. I
made mine bigger but it got mixed up with the others in the frying
pan so my greed went unfulfilled!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvzOuiLOiCl6fQNslUjHMH4lD2ow6NGkDHi-pjH5zxKmgdDAu2Ecu0uU_03fn2XxTiCk3rnxyxm3VYC_NdDj_3HLFHIkfDVTWmwh6FRZ4CcRer3oHQ_wJdK4WxHfUMuNjuRRM-V2ECrE/s1600/OWITO+-+120818_5MakingBalinesePuddingsResized2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvzOuiLOiCl6fQNslUjHMH4lD2ow6NGkDHi-pjH5zxKmgdDAu2Ecu0uU_03fn2XxTiCk3rnxyxm3VYC_NdDj_3HLFHIkfDVTWmwh6FRZ4CcRer3oHQ_wJdK4WxHfUMuNjuRRM-V2ECrE/s640/OWITO+-+120818_5MakingBalinesePuddingsResized2.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: black;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Making Balinese puddings</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We were due to leave Tembok on the 18<sup>th</sup>
and after settling our bill (which was mostly beer – the excellent
Bintang – plus 21% sales tax and service charge!) we ate our last
meal and waited for our driver to arrive to take us to our next
destination – Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali. Once again we
travelled in air-conditioned comfort and once again we took the
mountain roads, but this time we were able to see the spectacular
scenery as we left the coast behind and climbed up through the
mountains. Our driver was also very nice, stopping at Kintamani so we
could get some pictures of Mt. Batur and Lake Batur (a huge lake
filling the crater of an extinct volcano).</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHeapqP4HW1eQq5oKkGf7CAT9ACohAZjGaMjcUap60TXZiJGONmEdAnDLe-0dCbAYdP5GMDrRa95ZIzS5Ve2kYp3-lNQs_N0BZd9mZu3q7aFCXeGuKpld9ZbqBTnMxis7w2z_lQSG40OU/s1600/OWITO+-+120818_6MtBaturResized2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHeapqP4HW1eQq5oKkGf7CAT9ACohAZjGaMjcUap60TXZiJGONmEdAnDLe-0dCbAYdP5GMDrRa95ZIzS5Ve2kYp3-lNQs_N0BZd9mZu3q7aFCXeGuKpld9ZbqBTnMxis7w2z_lQSG40OU/s640/OWITO+-+120818_6MtBaturResized2.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mt. Batur & Lake Batur</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">We also stopped at a coffee plantation
(although they grew all sorts – we saw cacao, cinnamon, bananas,
papayas, chillis etc.). The staff there demonstrated the techniques
they used to sort, roast and grow the various types of coffee beans
they grew. They also gave us free samples of all their different
coffees and teas, most of which were delicious (apart from the ginger
tea!). As they had been so nice we agreed to try a cup of the 'Lewak'
coffee. This particular coffee is famous (or infamous!) for having
first been eaten by a type of civet cat, partially digested and
passed out naturally before being dried, roasted and ground in the
usual way. At 50,000 rupiah (about £3.35) it was still cheaper than
a coffee at Costa/Starbucks, but it was rather bland to my taste and
didn't seem to have much ooomph – one for the experience, nothing
more.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">After a quick look around the giftshop
I had a bit of an odd experience – a Japanese tourist approached us
and proffered his camera. We though he was asking if we could take a
picture of him and his family, but no. He actually wanted to take a
picture of me with his son! We obliged of course, but it was quite
amusing to think that they had me confused with some celebrity, and
would go back to Japan showing off the picture only to be told that I
wasn't whoever they had supposed me to be!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The second leg of the drive took us
back into civilisation, through the smaller villages surrounding Ubud
and then into Ubud itself. After the quiet and solitude of Tembok, it
was a bit of a shock but very refreshing to see loads of people,
scooters and general life! Our driver took us all the way to our
second resort, Waka di Ume, a little north of the centre of Ubud.
After checking in we were shown to our room, which at first glance
looked even nicer than the room at Tembok: canopied bed, sunken
bathtub and a private terrace.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0twz71ov_6wyvNpIPf4p1qbRed1KklBd-SjxHORdf1eoN4puVAkH0DWA4vErkLKCcHhoilavYdYFRBm7VFM98t7XYpOWnGp5PuIAM7dnGprwMrDaRSjJLCVETzAXdtofqpYNoXYjkMSU/s1600/OWITO+-+120818_8CanopiedBedResized.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0twz71ov_6wyvNpIPf4p1qbRed1KklBd-SjxHORdf1eoN4puVAkH0DWA4vErkLKCcHhoilavYdYFRBm7VFM98t7XYpOWnGp5PuIAM7dnGprwMrDaRSjJLCVETzAXdtofqpYNoXYjkMSU/s640/OWITO+-+120818_8CanopiedBedResized.jpg" height="640" width="425" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even more luxury!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">This time we are on a bed and breakfast
deal however, so no more three course meals! We decided against
heading into Ubud, opting instead to eat in the resort restaurant,
where we had a chicken and bacon salad and pasta before retiring to
our room to use the fast WiFi connection. I watched a little bit of
the Arsenal game while Becky read before we both turned in.</span></div>
Yrgsothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07484342301405284110noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-77285814406578019412012-08-18T23:42:00.000-07:002013-06-04T01:01:05.865-07:00More from Tembok and onto Ubud...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jet lag finally kicked in with a vengeance on the Tuesday night and I spent most of it lying awake or in the bathroom with the door closed and the light on, perched on the side of the basin or lying in the empty bath reading (and finishing) <i>The Midwich Cuckoos</i>. The husband was struggling to sleep as well, so my shut-in was entirely self-sacrificing! The scheduled 8am yoga hatha session was an inevitable write-off but we made it to breakfast and feasted on the slightly odd assortment of offerings they lay on for, again, the Western palette (or at least what I assume they assume we eat).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The croissants and Swiss cheese, fairy cakes (a version of muffins?), scrambled eggs, streaky bacon, bread, butter and strawberry jam, pastries with candied peel, sweaty anaemic sausages (the latter two not for me!) and coffee filled the hole that no sleep had left. We whiled away some time by the pool; Dave baking in the sun and swimming to cool off, me reading in the shade (<i>On The Road</i> by Jack Kerouac; a very enjoyable wedding present). The pool at our resort was large and deep, and little birds that looked like swifts skimmed its surface as the days got later... catching bugs or cooling off, we assume.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That evening we had a Balinese BBQ and watched a traditional Kecak dance (the story of Sinurat and Sinurit). It was a small scale production, laid on by the resort for the guests, but it was visually and aurally stunning. Mesmerising! Forty or so men wearing Bali's traditional black and white checkered cloths and red sashes waved their hands and shouted and chanted in an amazingly intricate, a cappella rhythm. These guys were the 'backing dancers' to the characters acting out the main story of two brothers fighting over the love of a goddess. Classic. I was really pleased to get some photos capturing the action but without the chants of "cak-cak-cak" they'll never do the performance justice.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BcBbajzci2A/UHJtYFSNCCI/AAAAAAAABZE/E0ThPFJwvAA/s1600/IMG_2629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BcBbajzci2A/UHJtYFSNCCI/AAAAAAAABZE/E0ThPFJwvAA/s640/IMG_2629.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
We enjoyed more indulgent spa treatments: a cucumber and aloe body wrap (the perfect after-sun pampering) and a 100 minute treat of massage, body scrub, milk masque and a flower bath. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
We also took a couple of classes; a cooking lesson where we made little deep fried dumplings made of grated galangal stuffed with palm sugar (deadly but delicious!) and a class learning to make the Balinese Boreh scrub, which used ginger, galangal, rice and cloves all pounded up with a heavy stone pestle and mortar. I used it the next day in the shower and it left me with super soft skin. I may be hand-making my Christmas gifts for the ladies this year!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One evening at dusk I took my trusty Canon down to our private black sand beach and snapped the the gorgeous tropical sunset. </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zwbz8xZ47L8/UHJuIUtypwI/AAAAAAAABaE/QguyJJmbB9M/s1600/IMG_2680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zwbz8xZ47L8/UHJuIUtypwI/AAAAAAAABaE/QguyJJmbB9M/s640/IMG_2680.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JFrLjMwkaVc/UHJubPGmrXI/AAAAAAAABac/MjtPzgYsmKg/s1600/IMG_2717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JFrLjMwkaVc/UHJubPGmrXI/AAAAAAAABac/MjtPzgYsmKg/s640/IMG_2717.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
On our last day at Tembok, we filled up with a last big breakfast, packed our packs and settled our bill. It was another warm, cloudless day and the pool and sea mocked us with their sparkling, cool waters - we couldn't really get wet before our transfer to Ubud! But soon we were out on the road and I kept catching myself grinning at Dave with excitement. I'm enjoying what I assume to be the natural state of the backpacker: always looking forward to what's around the next corner.</span><br />
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We drove along in our little people carrier with brown and green mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, and begun our ascent to the mountain roads that would lead us inland. The roads over here seriously need to be seen to be believed... talk about taking lives into their own hands! But it's all done without a blink of concern, while us Westerners gaze on open mouthed and stricken at the complete disregard for safety. Guys on mopeds carried huge bamboo poles over one shoulder while steering with the other hand, or 50 or so coconuts or dead chickens expertly arranged and balanced across the back of the seat. What looked like whole families were also squeezed onto these bikes - probably four generations from little old ladies to tiny infants. They're all in flip-flops, or barefoot, and no one wears a helmet. In the other direction, trucks barreled around sharp corners, driven by men wearing an uncomfortable-looking amount of clothes; layered check shirts and denim jackets, and one was definitely wearing a woolly hat. Kids and dogs play on the roadside (no pavements) and the horns sound constantly in a gesture of warning when swinging around the bends. </span><br />
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We passed through small villages - one called Madenan - full of what you'll have heard of/imagined, no doubt: beautiful small children playing in their yards; women bent over baskets, busy with some trade; men in traditional dress, smoking in groups; solemn youths peering through our car windows; tiny, elderly women carrying bundles of wood on their heads.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later, we drove through the town of Kintamini and stopped to photograph Mount Batu - my first ever volcano! It was hazy, but still very impressive. Our driver Sugeng told us that tourists flock from miles around to eat in the restaurants overlooking the valley - open for lunch only to serve the crowds. Hawkers clamoured for our business and we smiled politely in refusal. My first encounter with an Asian public toilet left me unscathed. Kintamini was a thriving metropolis compared to what else we'd seen so far on Bali. Clearly doing well from the tourist trade, it thronged with banks, launderettes and shops selling souvenirs (sarongs, carvings etc) and Western brands like Walls and Oreos.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vbeDQAQ4vrI/UHJu5JCaADI/AAAAAAAABbA/joSasCP7SqQ/s1600/IMG_2739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vbeDQAQ4vrI/UHJu5JCaADI/AAAAAAAABbA/joSasCP7SqQ/s640/IMG_2739.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outside of the town proper, we passed through groves and plantations growing oranges, tomatoes, cauliflower - and suddenly fruit and veg stalls were everywhere, their baskets displaying beautiful conical piles of delicious looking wares.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We stopped at a coffee plantation - clearly another massive tourist commodity, but charming. They grow, roast and serve the infamous Luwak coffee, which is first eaten, digested and 'reproduced' by the wild civit cat. Like Rick Stein before me, I couldn't tell a significant difference to standard coffee, but at about £3 a cup, it was still better value that Starbucks! </span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i9LrmIE70Uo/UHJvL5sArkI/AAAAAAAABbQ/XvKUCYeLhVU/s1600/IMG_2747.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i9LrmIE70Uo/UHJvL5sArkI/AAAAAAAABbQ/XvKUCYeLhVU/s640/IMG_2747.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
In the giftshop, a Japanese family took a photograph of their small son with Dave. Whether they thought he was someone famous, or just a handsome white guy, we'll never know, but I have hilarious visions of them triumphantly producing the picture back home, only to be assured that their child doesn't have his arm around Jude Law, just some random. Dave took it all in good spirit and then we were back covering the final distance to our second hotel.</span><br />
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Nearing Ubud, the giftshops multiplied. And what a selection! There were a lot of wood carvings, but don't take that to automatically mean anything to do with Balinese culture... the <i>oddest</i> creations included very tall, very thin F1 drivers; detailed painted reliefs of Fred Flintstone, and tables full of little pointy Father Christmasses. The hippy contingent has also firmly made its mark on the local produce: didgeridoos, dream catchers and bongos were pervasive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Entering the town, we drove through a harangue of heavy traffic and activity, with tourists and locals alike busy in the late afternoon. We spied the much-desired Warung Ibu Oka, where they serve their famous sucking pig.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our resort, <a href="http://wakadiume.com/" target="_blank">Waka Di Ume</a>, was just north of the town and after a day on the road we were pleased to be greeted with a large cool room, with a canopy bed decorated with tropical flowers in the shape of a heart. And so our second honeymoon week began...</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hZk3eph-bQI/UHJvZFQUVaI/AAAAAAAABbY/IUfIv5ELCqo/s1600/IMG_2753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hZk3eph-bQI/UHJvZFQUVaI/AAAAAAAABbY/IUfIv5ELCqo/s640/IMG_2753.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-16687591119697749192012-08-14T04:00:00.000-07:002013-05-25T21:47:05.549-07:0014th August 2012 – First Few Days in Spa Village Resort Tembok<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We've spent the last few days being
pampered into a state of near-comatose bliss! The food, the spa
treatments, the pool, the wonderfully friendly staff and the constant
beautiful weather have made the perfect start to our honeymoon. The
surroundings are gorgeous, with the mountains we drove through on our
way here on one side of the resort and black sand beaches on the
other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzbLKHuLEGK18gvRq6Wst2NWaAU7ycJfdianZbBQFqTyqDsDF2of5_F5Jj53tzzSPRd0o7e45ZM3hbRu2iy0qyfEaHiVccgChf_O0xGN8CU9HWLFXn1MfFuBCokkx9H_21FKZV06J61U/s1600/OWITO+-+120814_1ViewOfRestaurantAndSeaResized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzbLKHuLEGK18gvRq6Wst2NWaAU7ycJfdianZbBQFqTyqDsDF2of5_F5Jj53tzzSPRd0o7e45ZM3hbRu2iy0qyfEaHiVccgChf_O0xGN8CU9HWLFXn1MfFuBCokkx9H_21FKZV06J61U/s640/OWITO+-+120814_1ViewOfRestaurantAndSeaResized.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><ul><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">View from our balcony towards the
restaurant and the sea</span></div>
</ul>
</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ORNLEAu3rNAF4_7oNMvTbeXQ277tM3YcsdverPemHX1f2cTELHXlTHH6DJwkeqT-0WWVgLmMoQR1X3QaBznG5CMTzvHUxIbPa0TVOkzwR8KyOhjLW5aeoVCafGeXWZ7HS4sPjBjq3ck/s1600/OWITO+-+120814_2ViewOfMountainsResized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ORNLEAu3rNAF4_7oNMvTbeXQ277tM3YcsdverPemHX1f2cTELHXlTHH6DJwkeqT-0WWVgLmMoQR1X3QaBznG5CMTzvHUxIbPa0TVOkzwR8KyOhjLW5aeoVCafGeXWZ7HS4sPjBjq3ck/s640/OWITO+-+120814_2ViewOfMountainsResized.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><ul><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">View towards the mountains</span></div>
</ul>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The food has been amazing, albeit
slightly 'Westernised' – we are starting to crave something really
spicy! Well cooked and served by charming local Balinese staff, we
have been eating cooked breakfasts, three-course lunches and dinners.
We're enjoying this part of our honeymoon while it lasts! Breakfast
consists of fresh orange or watermelon juice, choice of breads with
jam and sausage, bacon and eggs. I don't recommend the sausages! A
typical lunch might be a clear prawn broth followed by chicken and
rice with vegetables and ice-cream to finish. Dinners offer choices
like squid starter, followed by beef and rice and apple pie for
pudding.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">On our first day we woke early to meet
the guest liaison, who had prepared an itinerary of treatments and
activities for us. After a couple of changes (I didn't fancy a
pedicure and went for an extra massage instead!) we had our first
one, which also included a pre-treatment where we sat with just our
legs in a sauna while we ate palm-sugar ice. After about half an hour
of this we were led to a dark and cool room where we lay down and had
our first experience of a full-body Balinese massage. Fifty minutes
later and relaxed almost to unconsciousness we retired to a
beruga (a shaded raised platform covered in cushions) and dozed in the sun.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijej3U2_6JwOf9GEPgkVJ-OtEgGmpyz6bCTxdBbgXbj3phBDBzBU4eDVSZw56_ndlTTmTvh1B5aU8TaynpdkgBlJPcDvCDhYM6Oml1hzvEJwSQzHTUsjRD0cCCKCVCGjTk_3t0nDAAHWU/s1600/OWITO+-+120814_3BunnyRelaxingInBuleResized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijej3U2_6JwOf9GEPgkVJ-OtEgGmpyz6bCTxdBbgXbj3phBDBzBU4eDVSZw56_ndlTTmTvh1B5aU8TaynpdkgBlJPcDvCDhYM6Oml1hzvEJwSQzHTUsjRD0cCCKCVCGjTk_3t0nDAAHWU/s640/OWITO+-+120814_3BunnyRelaxingInBuleResized.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><ul><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Becky relaxing after her massage </span></div>
</ul>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Also on our first day we were treated
to a private dinner. The staff set up a table next to the pool just
for us and we ate a delicious four-course meal of chicken, potato
soup, fresh fish with mash and vegetables and ice-cream. Accompanying
the meal was a bottle of a very drinkable Balinese rose wine.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6k2RjC1ObW67sehU08OXz_1CFVqH_FveZuKGFUn-lFAEeF9emS7fULmYFMWio3iYYsezWFDsznJ0ZznMkJs1Boa1lmxBwxjPrjTnzupgXeFtYnPJGYblcsvad1Y87ZayMqjHBfwO2elY/s1600/OWITO+-+120814_4PrivateDinnerByPoolResized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6k2RjC1ObW67sehU08OXz_1CFVqH_FveZuKGFUn-lFAEeF9emS7fULmYFMWio3iYYsezWFDsznJ0ZznMkJs1Boa1lmxBwxjPrjTnzupgXeFtYnPJGYblcsvad1Y87ZayMqjHBfwO2elY/s640/OWITO+-+120814_4PrivateDinnerByPoolResized.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><ul><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Private dinner poolside</span></div>
</ul>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Other treatments we've sampled have
been the Malay massage (a slightly firmer massage than the Balinese,
and my favourite of the two), facials and a pedicure for Becky. When
we're not being pampered, fed or asleep we've been relaxing by the
pool, swimming lazy lengths or dozing in the sun. The resort also
offers complimentary activities, most of which we have had good
intentions of going to but so far only Becky has actually made it,
joining a yoga class on the lawn.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Finally, it seems that jetlag can sneak
up on you totally unexpectedly! On Tuesday, we woke up much later
than usual, missing breakfast. Then that night sleep proved elusive
for both of us – I ended up drinking rum and playing Civ for most
of the night and Becky finished her book. Hopefully that will be that
– I hate missing meals that we've already paid for!</span></div>
</div>
Yrgsothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07484342301405284110noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-47932002960285204632012-08-14T03:35:00.000-07:002013-06-04T00:56:54.159-07:00Our arrival in Bali<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We arrived in Bali, flying into Denpasar airport, on 11th August. It all went pretty smoothly, apart from one minor delay during transit in Singapore due to our onward plane's busted tail light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Honeymoon excitement and traveler adrenaline kept us going the whole way and we made it through pretty tirelessly until we finally stopped. Being met at the airport by a driver organised by our travel agent was a godsend, as it meant we could pretty much just switch off our brains, hand over our luggage, and settle down into the air conditioned car, without having to negotiate the taxi rank after nearly 24 hours of travelling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
As a first-time backpacker and visitor to Asia, one of my primary goals for this trip is to feel I've left behind some Western trappings, for the opportunity to experience something truly different. It might therefore be understandable that on arriving in Bali I experienced wide-eyed amusement, turning into mild frustration, as we drove through Denpasar and headed north by road, only to find ourselves surrounded by scrolling English-language neon signs declaring 'CLEARANCE SALE', dedicated cupcake stores, and branch-upon-branch of Circle K. Strange things are indeed afoot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
We heard a lot about Globalisation when I studied Sociology at university, but I'm not sure I ever really grasped its significance; one could only express so much exasperation about McDonald's springing up in remote, erstwhile untouched regions, when one hasn't actually ventured outside of The West.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Did no-one receive my memo about wanting to get away to something new?? Granted, feeling like I'm about to run into Bill and Ted isn't a daily occurrence in London, but it's not exactly what I was expecting from Indonesia either!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
With a three hour drive ahead of us to our first honeymoon resort (<a href="http://www.spavillage.com/tembokbali/" target="_blank">Spa Village Resort Tembok</a>), I promptly fell asleep in the backseat. When I awoke, the ubiquitous sights of a nighttime airport transfer (headlights, streetlamps, giant billboards) had been replaced by serpentine mountain roads, lined with stone idols and populated by dogs out for some evening mischief. We soon turned off of the unassuming road, onto a narrow track lined with tall bamboo poles, and pulled into Paradise. Hello Bali!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
We were greeted with sweet green cocktails and a traditional foot-washing and shoulder massage. Despite our middle-of-the-night arrival, our hosts were all bright white smiles - only interrupted by the sheer bewilderment of the lady who would wash my feet when she was confronted with the opaque black tights I had traveled in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Shown to our room - a cool delight of dark, wood, sumptuous cushions, ceiling fan and woven palm leaves - we ate a simple meal of chicken sandwiches and fresh fruit, before soaking our weary muscles in a warm, petal-strewn bath. Well I said I wanted different, and this certainly isn't normal life in Clerkenwell! (Although probably pretty far away from normal life in Bali too!) Finally to rest in our super wide, super low, super comfy bed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
We spent our first few days in a pretty typical tropical honeymoon routine: wake, eat, read, visit the spa, swim, eat, read, sleep, eat, sleep.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HbzUvpsKih4/UDinMp3e-_I/AAAAAAAABWs/m89vwDO5Twg/s1600/IMG_2498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HbzUvpsKih4/UDinMp3e-_I/AAAAAAAABWs/m89vwDO5Twg/s640/IMG_2498.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />The days were bright and warm, but not stifling – June to September being Indonesia's 'cool' dry season. The food at the resort was plentiful and tasty but catered for the European palette and we found ourselves craving authenticity and chili!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
Our relaxation levels increased daily, and the programme of treatments – hot sand sauna treatment for the lower legs, Balinese and Malay full-body massages, pedicure and facials, pampered us both into near comatose states of chill... that deep body, mind and soul chill that, mixed with the jet lag, makes it so hard to keep one's eyes open. Each treatment was preceded by frozen fruit kebabs and ylang ylang water, and followed with Jamu – a shot of gender-specific, warm, fruity, spicy tonic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
I also took part in another doze-inducing activity: yoga hatha on the lawn. After 90 minutes of stretches, poses, alignment and sending out of love energies, I needed a strong coffee to ensure I made it to dinner!</span>Bunny Darkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13297610831708383310noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364612690141670331.post-39099852406042542722012-08-12T02:11:00.000-07:002013-05-25T21:46:19.567-07:0011/12th August 2012 – London to Bali<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Leaving Tom and Jo's flat (which they
had kindly allowed us to use while they were gallivanting up in
Edinburgh) and coming out on to the Essex Road to catch a 38 bus, it
could have been any other trip up to see the bro's. But clutching
various important documents and dragging our suitcase behind us, we
were definitely not going to watch the Arsenal! Instead we were going
to pick up the rucksacks we had prepared before the wedding and head
off into the big wide world to have adventures!</span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">After swapping stuff between various
bags, boxes and saying many farewells, we shouldered the bags
containing our lives for the next 12 months and begun the first leg
of our journey – getting to Heathrow where we were meeting parents
for more bon voyages, which meant sitting on the Northern line for
over an hour. Checking in took a bit longer then usual as we decided
to make the first use of the gifts our incredibly generous family and
friends had given us, and splurged on an upgrade from our Economy
seats to the next class up. We met Becky's mum and dad, my mum and
Carol in the bar for a last round of farewells and the obligatory
jokes about not having forgetting anything! All too soon though our
flights appeared on the board and we made our way through security to
Departures.</span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Boarding the plane we were pleased to
see that the upgrade had been money well spent – much larger seats,
plenty of legroom for me and priority food service made the following
12 hours pass in much more comfort than either of us had ever
experienced on a long-haul flight! Good food, nice wine and some good
films on the entertainment system (the Avengers!) made for a nice
evening before the lights were dimmed and we tried to get some sleep.</span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Sooner than I expected we were
descending into Singapore to change – we had a few hours to kill so
wandered around the various duty-free shops, picking up some rum and
vodka (Indonesia has punitive rates of import duty on spirits and
wine so this was obligatory!) After a cigarette in the outdoor
terrace (soooo humid!) it was time to check in for the next flight
direct to Denpasar in Bali. After getting as far as the plane door we
were dismayed to have the pilot come out and instruct everyone to
return to the terminal as there was a fault with the plane – we
were only delayed for about 45 minutes, but nerves had kicked in and
we wondered if the driver meant to meet us at Denpasar would still be
there on our late arrival.</span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Thankfully he was, and in no time at
all we were in an air-conditioned car and on the road for a 3 hour
drive right through the centre of Bali and on to the north coast.
After passing through the built up areas (neon lights, Circle Ks,
and seemingly-suicidal motorbike drivers!) we hit the mountain roads
and began to climb. In the dark it was difficult to see much out of
the windows, but we got a sense of winding roads, hairpin corners and
sharp drop-offs on one side. Eventually the climb changed to a
descent and we were soon back on the coast and pulling into Spa
Village Tembok, our home for the next seven nights.</span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;">As we pulled up we wondered if anyone
would still be up at this time to check us in. We needn't have – as
we stepped out of the car our bags were removed from us and we were
ushered to a comfy chair, given a drink and two beautiful Balinese
ladies removed our shoes, washed our feet and got to work on our neck
and shoulders with a relaxing massage. Once over, a member of staff
showed us to our room, where we were delighted to find that the chef
had thoughtfully left us a plate of chicken sandwiches. Once these
were devoured on our little balcony we investigated the room, finding
plenty of space, lovely little notes from the staff and a ensuite
bathroom where someone had prepared a bath for us filled with little
pink flowers. After a quick wash to remove the travel grime we
crashed out on the giant bed strewen with soft pillows and fell fast
asleep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9hcV-m3jQqKfUvj8_uUHA0GrHfSHy8RH9yCPTZwJlA8dGa71aKUJppXZ4B7rY17lAhL2yH_8zKDqopTPbgCS8eVdg8arq-ujxQj8zF_GQbYKz7sNtq48-k47pWa5LievtxchAbEtDyE/s1600/OWITO+-+120812_1PinkFloralBathResized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9hcV-m3jQqKfUvj8_uUHA0GrHfSHy8RH9yCPTZwJlA8dGa71aKUJppXZ4B7rY17lAhL2yH_8zKDqopTPbgCS8eVdg8arq-ujxQj8zF_GQbYKz7sNtq48-k47pWa5LievtxchAbEtDyE/s640/OWITO+-+120812_1PinkFloralBathResized.jpg" height="382" width="640" /></a></span></div>
Yrgsothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07484342301405284110noreply@blogger.com0