Bali to KL

We woke up one our last day in Gili after a night of sunsets and pancakes (both missed) and slept a final time in one of our favorite accomadations U N ME guesthouse.

The ferry ride back from Gili was comfortable and since we were now used to the delays and tricks of the shuttle company, we were able to relax. Even the larger ferry from Lombak to Patang Bai was less nauseating. We bought small packets of rice mixture and while Tyson drugged himself with gravol and fell asleep I accidentally ate his share too. So the trip back was the same as the trip there but in reverse, we travelled on two boats and several shuttle busses before we were dropped off in central Kuta. In Kuta we ate ice cream and walked the hour distance back to our couchsurfers home in Denpasar. Once there we could finally access our second bag again. We ate dinner and watched movies and slept in the next day.

We then had to walk the hour back to Kuta with all of our stuff which was a sweaty and painful endeavor. In Kuta we exchanged money at a poor rate for our departure tax of 150,000 each. We then blew every last rupiah on chips, chocolate, cookies, noodles, mentos, rice packets and of course our last serving of Satay. We then experimented with some of the local fruits and discovered a magical taste. Mangosteen. They are purple and green and magnificent. We have since consumed hundreds of them.

Our last day in Kuta, we stole free wifi from a hotel we were not staying in and realized that our 8:30 am flight to KL had been changed to 5pm and no one had informed us. So we were in a bit of a panic since we had no hotel booked for that night and a fancy hotel in KL waiting for us the next day. Luckily Tyson's mother fixed it all up for us and AirAsia pulled through and actually got us on a 6am flight. We wandered around the beaches until a thunder storm started. We hid in an air conditioned
McDonalds and read until it was time to walk to the airport.

We slowly walked all the way to the international airport even though all the locals said it was impossible. Along the way I saw a cat get hit by a car so I screamed and ran away crying but Tyson went to help it. The driver actually came back as well and together they helped the unhurt (yet extremely startled) cat back to its feet. I just kept crying.

At the airport there is security right at the front foor so we could not actually get in until 4am the next morning. So we put out our bum blanket and set up camp on the street for the night alongside cockroaches and bums.

The next morning, we got on the flight and slept through the three hour trip. Coming out of the airport we were blown away by the modern structures and familiar brands that we saw. Every restaurant and fast food joint you can think of was represented. We walked past them to the shuttle busses. We caught a yellow bus called Aerobus to KL central. On the way we slept and our money belt containing all the Malaysian cash (minus 16 ringett we had paid for the bus) was stolen. We lost all our cash, debit card, prepaid visa, keys to the locks on our bags, student card, reciepts and other stuff we haven't remembered about yet.

When we got off the bus Tyson asked for the keys to the bags and I went to reach inside the money belt to grab them for him but it was no where to be found. So Tyson ran full speed back to the bus that had already taken off. The manager then doubled Tyson on his motorbike to where the bus driver had pulled over for lunch. Tyson searched the bus high and low for the money belt but obviously it had been snatched and it absolutely totally sucked! We had lost it so stupidly. I was in a state, so the bus company gave us a free cab ride to the hotel where we cancelled our stolen cards. We could not contact the embassy or the local bank though because it was Chinese new year and everywhere was closed.

We settled into our hotel room still a bit distraught over the day's events. The hotel was beautiful though with a pool, gym and other extras that budgetting backpackers are not accustomed to. We shamelessly asked reception if they could help us out with a meal since we had been robbed but they refused. So we left the hotel and walked around the city for the first time. Malaysia is amazing and definitely already one of our absolute favourite places. There are three main cultures here: the Malay people, Indians and Chinese. There are also two main religions: Muslim and Hindu. The country is politically Islamic and it shows. Some women wear long black cloaks and cover everything but their eyes. Others wear only the hijjab covering their hair. I wore a tank top out one day and think I got more attention than if I had walked around in a monkey costume. In the Muslim areas all the food is Halal and you cannot find alcohol or pork. In the Chinese areas these things are more accessable.

Politics plays a major role in the lives of people in Malaysia. Non Malay people cannot hold political positions or government jobs even though the other ethinicities have been in malaysia for many generations. The government only helps out the Malay people and everyone else is left to fend for themselves. This care also comes at a price however as Malays are muslim and if they are caught disobeying Islamic law (eg: at a bar or having a girlfriend) they will be prosecuted. Also no one is allowed to speak against the government or God. If they are caught doing so, the public will physically attack the person and the government will defame them by creating stories about them and their character. This is best case scenerio, otherwise they could be inprisoned. Scholarships are only availabe to Malay students and every major company is owned and operated by the government. The Prime Minister makes millions of dollars per week and even though there appears to be many people who want to overthrow him and his shitty government, any such event will likely not take place in the near future.

There is much more that makes up the culture here but generally speaking the people are very kind and easy going. The areas are distinctly Chinese OR Indian OR Malay but there is definitely a fusion between the three. This is especcially evident in their foods.

We walked around town until we came to the infamous and unmissable Petronas towers. Until recently they were the two tallest buildings in the world. They are fascinating! They're two identical buildings belonging to the petrol companies (belonging to the government). They are worth billions and are 88 stories high. At night the lights come on and they are an amazing sight. The photos do not do this place justice!

We then walked to the tourist police station to make a report about our stolen goods. The police were all female and very nice. They even gave us a ride back to our area in a police car. Interestingly for the report I had to tell them my religion which is now a part of the official record. While we were in the police station, several other tourists came in with sob stories of being pick-pocketed and purse snatched. One elderly couple in particular from New Zealand took the free police ride to town as well. They even insisted on giving us 50 ringett for dinner because we were the same age as their children. This act of generosity actually brought tears to my eyes and I wish them the best everyday. I guess without the acts of greed from the bad guys we cannot see the good in so many other people. This was not the only gesture of kindness we recieved after being robbed. We were also offered cash and help by other folk which was pretty sweet.

We ate in a Chinese area that was PACKED with (it seemed like millions) of people. We had two noodle and seafood dishes that were quite tasty and even though it cost more than Indonesian prices, it is still reasonable. There were lots of fireworks and fire crackers to help celebrate the joy of the new year. We watched movies to chocolate milk, Coca Cola and banana bread that night.

The next day we got up and head straight for the free breakfast from the hotel. This was by far the most extravagent buffet meal either of us had ever witnessed in real life. There was every type of imaginable food available and we filled our pie holes with more than our fair share. After that, we filled our bags. We ate Indian nasi and roti, eggs and cereals, malay noodles and chinese noodles. We ate beef (halal) bacon, potatos, sausages (chicken) and more. We stayed full until that night when we ate the stolen goods.

We walked through little India that has blaring Indian music, lots of bright colours and also PACKED with people, tons of stalls and restaurants selling exotic drinks and foods. We then passed through China town where there are just as many people and the streets decorated with red ornaments for the holidays. We passed by a Herbalife store which excited Tyson even though it was closed. We then got caught in an extreme downpour that lasted about 25 minutes and caused minor flooding. Tyson bought me a cool bracelet and I was happy.

We then caught the train (LRT) to our new couchsurfing home. It is in a large beautiful high rise with a huge pool and court yard area. We have our own room here and it is very comfortable. Today we slept in and our host took us to an authentic Indian restaurant. We made the mistake of not asking what the prices were and eating and eating and eating. When the bill came we should not have been surprised that it was equivalent to several days budget. Although we stayed full until the end of the day we still kicked ourselves at the extravagence.

Then they took us to the Batu caves which is one of the coolest places I have ever seen. We did not pay to do the dark cave adventure because our hosts were with us but we did climb the 278 stairs alongside the gold holy statue to the caves. Inside the caves there is limestone and its quite beautiful. There are many monkeys playing and eating with spiders, bats and ccockroaches. There are also many Hindu statues that depict different aspects of the religion.

We then went out for authentic Indian tea (which is different from the Vancouver's authentic Indian tea). We chatted with our host and his friend the whole day. Then we went out for dinner where i could not eat a thing because I was still full from the large lunch.

When we got home, we went down to the pool for a while and relaxed in the evening preparing for our full day of wandering the amazing city tomorrow. While relaxing we , of course, had to snack on chocolate muffins, oranges, malaysian spicy/sweet chips and eggs while watching a Tom Cruise movie that sucked.
　
　
　
　
　
　
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

The routine of Gili

Tomorrow morning we will be leaving Gili Trawangan Island and heading back to Denpasar. We will spend one more night with our generous couchsurfing host, pick up our second bag from him and walk into Kuta to exchange the awful and overpriced departure tax money. We will spend our last night at the airport as we often do because we have an early flight out to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Our first night there we are staying in a lovely hotel in the heart of downtown. The only problem is that the airport is 75-100 km away from downtown so we will have to figure out transport when the time comes.

As it stands, I am sitting on a blanket on the most beautiful beach ever snacking on almonds. The sun is shining as I look forward to the sparkling clear ocean and a breeze brushes by. The sand is warm, soft and white and Tyson is actually reading a book. Bob Marley can be heard from the bar behind us and life is good.

In the last week we have created a very routine life here on the island and except for a few burps we have stuck to it. We wake up and curse the rooster that is screeching behind the window of our lovely bungalow. I get up first and fill our water bottles, clean up a bit and prepare breakfast of bread, pinapple jam and local coffee. Tyson gets up, we eat and chat and before we know it several hours have gone by like this. We ask the kid in charge for more sugar or water or something and chat with him a bit too. Then we finally leave and walk 1.5 minutes to the beach where we swim, read and sunbathe for the rest of the day. Around five we head down the strip to another beach and lay in a hammock and watch the lovely sunset. We then head in for dinner which has almost always been four packs of noodles shared. We then shower, read and chat with our neighbor nurses until we head out for chocolate and sweet milk pancakes from the same street vendor at the market. We eat, read and pass out until the rooster repeats its crimes the next morning.

While Gili is still visibly a third world country, it is a significant improvement from mainland Bali.
Here we still get offered "real" pearl necklaces on the beach and drugs every time we walk down the street. We still hear the shrill prayers chanted over the loudspeakers at prayer time. We still see skinny kittens purring for food and young children running around naked in the puddles. We still get dirty looks for wearing bikinis and ripped off when trying to buy the same pack of noodles from the exact same shop for several days in a row. The shower is still cold water, there is no sink and toilet paper is not refillable through the hotel. People still think it's ok to chain smoke and internet is not free. Customer service is non existent and locals think that garbage cans are too much trouble.

I could live like this for a lot longer but we have places to see yet and only six and a half more months to see them in.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

The Gili Islands: A Tropical Paradise

I wrote the previous blog entry before arriving on the beautiful, magical, wonderful and clean Gili Trowangan Island. A fast boat could have gotten us here in one hour but we chose the much cheaper slow boat option. The slow boat was, as promised, was painstakingly slow and after a 6am start, we arrived to our destination thirteen hours later. As I mentioned previously, there was a two hour shuttle ride at 6am which was packed but we still managed to sleep through. Then they dropped us off at their friend's restaurant for just over an hour before we walked a kilometer to the ferry boat that we rode for nearly seven hours. This is the time I wrote the previous blog, on a stinky, dirty, wobbly boat full of locals spitting, puking, smoking and yelling. The drivers dropped us off at yet another restaurant for another hour and it quickly became clear to us that our transporters had cut deals with these restaurants and purposely stalled the trip to make a couple bucks off the tourists purchasing food. Our suspicions were confirmed when horses and buggies offered to take us to the next boat but somehow they were not included in the rate we had paid. We would have taken the horses too if it weren't for Tyson confirming that they were not included. So the tour company gave us the run around all day to try and make some extra money for their partners. In fact one English guy was pestered the whole day to buy a return ticket from the same company. He was even threatened to do so, but he refused and ended up being alright as I heard. The second and last boat ride was a quick thirty minutes away and once we saw the island all was forgiven.

The Gili Islands are three very small pieces of land in the Indian Ocean. Gili Trawangan which we have settled on is the largest of the three and the most developed with hotels, restaurants and other neccesities for tourists. The middle island is called Gili Meno and the smallest one is Gili Air. When we arrived on the island several local boys ran up to us offering rooms which was to be expected. We wandered and haggled for about an hour before getting an awesome deal at a very cute and comfortable place near the beach. The manager is a young guy who has been very nice and helpful which was a welcome change at that point. He did not even ask for any rent money until we had already been here for three days. We immediately planned on spending our remaining Indonesian time here.

Four days have passed and I cannot complain about the weather, it has been dry and hot with a nice breeze throughout the day. The water is an unexplainable turquoise and changes colour the further you look until it's a clear medium blue. The sand is silky and white and free of litter (mostly). The sunsets are unlike anything Tyson or I or any of the other tourists have ever seen. The colors that appear in the sky during this process range from oranges to pinks to fusias to reds and in contrast with the white puffy clouds, blue sky and sparkly ocean it's nothing short of a miracle. We watched it one night while laying in a hammock and it was un unforgetable moment. The water is warm yet refreshing and if you look down there are rainbows of flouresent fish swimming below. With only a couple of necklace-selling locals the beaches are free of pestering money hungry Balinese. Despite a few little white creatures that bit me in the water (Tyson thought I imagined it until I showed him one of them), it is clean and nice. It really is a tropical paradise all day and then we return home after sunbathing and swimming to our king sized bed in a clean, private and comfortable hotel room.

There are only two rooms in the place we are staying and the other room is occupied by two young nurses from Calgary who are planning to move to Vancouver. They are, however, paying significantly more than us for their room. Haggling works in this way that everyone pays a different rate for the same thing, and I am proud to say that I have yet to meet anyone who has paid less than I have for anything (knock on wood). Although we have been getting ripped off regularly here as well. For example, yesterday, we chose to go snorkelling and settled on a pricier rental place in hopes of getting a decent set of gear. With masks and fins on, we swam for a bit observing the routines of the fish and other sea creatures going about their business as if we weren't there. After coming to terms with the fact that I could now breath under water, I still couldn't get over the extent of what is going on underneath the ocean that is invisible to us normally. It is amazing and beautiful and such a joy to see.

Unfortunately this joy came to a violent and abrupt end. Tyson's goggles were not working very well and he took them back to the rental guy to swap them. I waited by the water and as the story has been explained to me, the other goggles did not work either. So tyson asked for a refund, as any Canadian might do. Well things escalated from there to the point where fists were thrown, people were poked and threats of stabbings and murders were made. Apparently these are "Island rules here man!". I noticed that Tyson was taking longer than usual so I walked back to the snorkelling stand and noticed smoke coming out of Tysons ears and profanity out of his mouth. As anyone who knows Tyson at all can atest, this is not his normal behaivior. Apparently the guy was not returning the money nor the equipment and we were out most of the 35,000 rupiah. So I seperated the two boys and spoke with the young man. After enduring threats of being beaten with a bat among other things, that thankfully did not communicate clearly due to his broken English, I managed to get back a bit more of our money but he still kept what he wanted to. I had to play the dumb girl role, but it worked and he agreed not to kill us. He then politely excused himself because he had to go pray in the mosque and mentioned that he thought him and I could become friends through all of this. I held back my gag reflex and waved him off.

We had exchanged a certain amount of AUS dollars in Kuta and had grossly underestimated the price of food here on the island. The cost of hotels is the same as on the mainland island, but food is up to five times more. The rate of exchanging money here on Gili is also significantly lower than that of Bali so we were trying to budget our cash to last until we could get back to Kuta. Additionaly we have decided to stay here longer than what we had though previously. So thankfully our hotel room has a water filter with hot and cold water. We have used this to make noodles for most lunches and dinners. We have also been going out every night for delicious chocolate and sweet milk pancakes that we can obviously not resist.

We finally hand washed every article of clothing we had because it was all dirty and sweaty from over a week of being on the road and re-wearing dirty things. We have come to hate hand washing but it's all a part of the backpacker role I suppose.

Every morning at around six am a rooster who lives in a small cage begins to make the call that it is time to wake up. The first night, in frustration, I tried yelling at it which did not work. So the next nights we rolled up toilet paper and plugged our ears but eventually around 9:30am we give up and begin our day. I suspect that this sound will continue to haunt me for all eternity.

Animals here are treated poorly by my standards and it is a sad thing to see. Horses pull people and supplies which is ok except that the weight seems very heavy for a small horse that looks to be starving. There are kittens everywhere that appear emaciated and they cry. The worst of it all (from what I have seen) is the chickens who are squished into small cages, thrown around, beaten and killed in the most inhumane ways. We passed by dogs dead in the street as well as countless other animals. Although they ask for donations to save the turtles, I am not sure I buy that the money is being used wisely.

After being ripped off and threatened and witnessing the behaivior of local after local trying to cheat us, then watching the way animals are treated and the garbage all over their land I was slowly beginning to feel a strong dislike for this country as well as its people. Then I thought about it and had a sudden but clear change of heart. This is a third world country, most people are poor and could never imagine to travel, eat and live the way they see foreigners doing so. They have been brought up serving tourists and relying on them for their income. They have never been to any restaurants like the ones they work at, nor do they ever intend to. Most are not educated and have never even left the island let alone travel the world. The things we do regularly and nonchalantly are so unreachable that they are not even dreams for the locals. So how can we judge the way we get treated when we cannot even understand how they live. They may misjudge, mistreat and cheat us and of course this naturally makes us angry but if we stop to analyse why, we may understand a little bit more. To live a life of always serving, selling to and begging from the tourist and watching us spend carelessly while they struggle with a dollar. I think I understand a bit more about why they might think we can afford to get ripped off and it would be ok. Hopefully one day when the economy, education, supplies and spirituality of the world get spread out more evenly, we can expect things to change.

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Dirty Bali with splashes of light

Bali is a very unique place and there is much to love and an equal amount to hate. The people are very pushy for one thing. They get into your personal space, tug at your clothing and harrass you until they have your attention. They view foreigners as walking ATM's and they will offer you anything imaginable to make a buck. It is interesting at first, then a bit funny to egg them on, and finally it becomes extremely irritating. Everything is a haggle, we usually expect to pay around one third of the original price offered by the seller. We cannot even walk one step without ten people offering us transport, perfume, t-shirt, shorts, poncho, shoes, tours, exchange money, bikes, massage, rice or sell us their children. We have become weary of buying anything because it requires quite a bit of energy and time at each place.

Additionally, it is dirty. Yes, South America (Argentina in particular) was dirty but this place is, at timea, disgusting. The streets are riddled with litter, it often smells of indistinguishable stench, the beaches look like landfills (inside and outside the water), and even the holy temple sites are covered in trash. It is very sad to see but people seem to be oblivious to it.

Nothing here is free, everywhere you look someone is trying to take your cash. It's not a dangerous place, there is no theft or pickpocketing the way one may expect but rather they exhaust every option of parting you of your money. We pay for the toilets, camera fees to bring your camera into tourist sites and parking. There are entrance fees for everything because the locals will block off the area and ask for cash to let you in. For example beaches and beautiful sights are sectioned off with sticks and everything has a price tag.

Indonesia is a beautiful country with one of a kind breathtaking temples set on mountains overlooking never ending blue oceans. There is wildlife everywhere from monkeys, birds, frogs, lizards, cows and butterflies to Komodo dragons, elephants, horses, camels and Orangatangs. There is also a lot of culture here, most of which we are still learning about. The country is mainly muslim (88% of the muslims in the world live here), there are also many Buddhists but in Bali the people are mainly hindu. This is evident in their everyday living. There are sacrifices scattered all over the ground in the form of small bambo baskets filled with valuable things to the individual. The mountains are said to be holy in addition to the animals, springs and lakes. It seems, they pray to everything and are constantly in some sort of spiritual state in a land of a thousand Gods.

There are some areas that foreigners migrate to, and in these places the Balinese are accustomed to seeing travellers everywhere. Other places however, people point, stare, call out and laugh when they see someone who looks different. We rented a motorbike and rode around Bali for nearly a week which is a long time considering driving from one side of the island to the other takes only three hours.

The first temple we went to was in Uloowatu. They charged 1000 for parking and 3000 each for admissions. Not including the cost of the bathrooms (4000) the total was under $1. When we go to a temple, it is not about the architecture of the building or the energy surrounding the area that has been impressive. The buildings are generally falling apart and disappointing, the locals are puffing on smokes and talking loudly trying to sell their products or services. This temple in particular was set on a very high mountain overlooking the beautiful ocean and it was absolutely gorgeous. We had to rent sarongs to cover up our legs to enter the temple area and even Tyson had to wear the decency skirt. We hiked around the temple to the higher parts of the mountains but thanks to the recent rain, I fell butt first into the deep mud. While tyson tried to bravely rescue me, he also bailed into what we hoped was just mud. As mosquitos ate us alive, we ran to wash ourselves off with a hose just outside the bathroom. As soon as the bathroom guy noticed us, he demanded money which we refused. He turned off the water mid-rinse so we yelled our way to free water.

The coolest part of this temple was the monkeys. They were very accustomed to people and extremely smart. They played with us very gently and we snapped tons of photos. Their intelligence taught them to steal people's belongings and trade them back for food. For example they would steal maps, sandals, glasses, cameras and clothing and return them for apples, chips, crackers or any other edible item. Of course there were locals here to sell these foods to you. We spent more time with the monkeys and hiking than looking at the temple because it was not much to look at.

The next temple in Tannah Lot cost 10,000 each to get in. We got there 30 minutes before dark and had to walk through over a kilometer of little stands with overpriced souveniers before getting to the temple. The temple here was beautiful and we took a few photos while it was still daylight. They had a holy snake that was all white and lives in a cave that they let people into. Part of the temple is also on an island so near that we can walk through the water to it. Here, (for a donation) they will give you a holy flower, glue rice to your forehead and let you splash holy water on yourself.
After dark we climbed the mountain where the main temple was and sat on the edge overlooking the dark ocean and huge waves. We stared into the darkness until out of no where beautiful fireworks appeared magically. It was a memorable moment.

We drove back to our couchsurfers home for the last night. During the drive we noticed some amazing resort style hotels and thought it would be nice to stay in one for a night or so. Eventually, with that thought, came the realization that we HAD in fact booked a nice hotel room in Bali before we left on the trip. Sadly, we mad missed the date and missed our chance to stay there. In the morning Tyson ruthlessly clogged our couchsurfer's toilet and left a note pretending not to know about it....

We left our comfy couchsurfing home and head for the hotel that we had no showed a few nights prior. We explained to them that we had tried to change the date (little white lie) and that perhaps there was a mistake. Luckily they accepted our story and gave us a lovely room for the night including a yummy breakfast the next day. We finally had wifi as well as a private beach, huge swimming pool, international cable and other amenities. The room was made of small stones and it almost felt like a big cave. The staff had placed flowers everywhere and the delicious smelling shampoo, soap, lotions, conditioner and body washes along with bottled waters, coffee, tea etc were free! This is not taken lightly by backpackers and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We hung out at the beach and by the pool, enjoyed Indonesian iced tea and used the wifi to catch up with life back home. We head out and ate local food from a warung, bought loads of snacks and McDonalds ice cream (the only place here that charges tax) and watched french movies on international cable.

The next day after a fancy breakfast and a dip in the pool, we took off on the bike with little to no plans of where to go next. It poured rain for most of our trip as we drove to the next city and the next temple. There are many many temples in Bali but each one is very different and unique. We saw several of them during our tour but were still surprised and exhilerated with each one.The next temple was in Tirtha Embul and we did not pay an admission here. There were holy spring pools that people were swimming in and praying. Inside the pool there were over twenty small fountains. The rule is that one must select eleven fountains to pray at and wash in, in the first pool, and three in the next. Locals were also leaving sacrificial inscence and bamboo baskets with flowers at the fountains. Tyson borrowed a sarong and went into the icy cold water while I passed on this activity and took photos instead. After the pool we walked through the actual temple structure which was fairly neat to see, but the most beautiful part has always been the surroundings of the temples. When we were walking to the motorbike, Tyson realized he had lost the only key to the bike. In a panic he set out to retrace his steps but the key was no where to be found. With increased anxiety we continued to search and asked the lost and found. They announced the lost key over the loudspeaker and someone had found and returned the precious key.

After that drama we went to another holy site where the people had cut t mple features into solid mountain rock. They were huge structures and the whole temple including the doors were cut out of rocks. This was also set amongst a beautiful river with giant trees and greenery. This place charged a high rate for the entrance, and to get to the actual temple, they force you to walk through a market where dozens of locals are attempting to sell their special products for a "cheap price". Before going into the temple area, we were asked (via a sign) to sprinkle holy water (provided) onto our heads which we did.

Then we drove through many towns including a cute and interesting town called Ubud. Here there was miles and miles of art galleries and wood working shops where there were beautiful wood carvings and pieces for sale. We continued on through many rice fields and little towns until we hit Mount Batur. Unfortunately for the last hour or so of our drive it was pouring Bali-style rain which is huge raindrops by the millions. We were instantly soaked and since we were driving to higher altitudes it also became increasingly cold. The cold wind hitting our wet bodies was the perfect situation for hyperthermia. In fact when we finally reached our hotel, Tyson's lips were clearly dark blue and I could not stop shaking. In Tyson's opinion this was the most difficult experience in our trip thus far, however I think the hot muddy hike to Red Frog beach in Costa Rica is still in first place.

Driving through Bali in itself is a memorable experience. In the main downtown areas there are thousands and thousands of bikes that want to be where you are. There are few cars or trucks and the bikes rule the roads. They go anywhere they want weaving through traffic, onto sidewalks and curbs. Hesitation on the bike can be dangerous because everyone keeps going. Bikes will go forward as long as they see space, even if it is the tiniest spot. Cars here are very tolerant of bikes and getting ahead first is not seen as "cutting off", it is merely seen as getting there first. Tyson and I have both agreed that driving a motorbike here is actually much safer than driving one in Vancouver because people here are accustomed to them and other vehicles are more tolerant.

We have been eating mainly Indonesian food except when Tyson craves a burger and we try to find a tourist place. The local food is comparitively cheap and pretty good. They have many types of soups including Bakso and Soyo Ayam (chicken). They serve all their food in thick brown baking sheets and there is no cutlery. We have also been eating Sattes (barbeque chicken) with peanut or sweet sauce and special sticky rice as well as vermicelli noodles fried with chicken and vegetables among many other local foods that are more difficult to explain. Babi Guling for example is roast suckling pig and you get a cut from each part of the body. Probably not so great for your cholesterol, but still tasty.

When we got to Mount Batur we haggled ourselves an acceptable rate at a local hotel and tried to dry up. We head out to a warung for food and chatted with a local artist who tried to sell us his paintings. Our intention was to hike this famous volcano (Batur) and see the sunrise that we had heard so much about. The price the hotel first offered for the hike was $50 each (400,000 rupiah) and over the next few hours we managed to get him down to 300,000 rupiah for both of us for the 6 hour hike. The main problem was that the hike is very straigtforward and safe so there was no reason for a guide but apparently it is mandatory and the police will take you to jail if you do not hire a guide. I am certain the man was bluffing but we fell for it anyway and handed over the cash.

At 3:30am we were woken up and dragged into the dark night with twenty or so other tourists (many who had paid the full price asked of them). We hike about two hours where we watched the outstanding famous sunrise. It was beautiful and a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was very cold at the top and even here there were people selling coke, snacks, water and one guy even offered to sell me the jacket off his back. We continued hiking through the morning to the peak of the volcano overlooking the lake and small city. The paths were very steep and narrow at times with large drop offs on either side but we made it through. We played with the monkeys living on top of the mountain and saw all the craters including the last which was created in the year 2000. Using the steam from the volcano our guide cooked us breakfast including a soft boiled egg and cooked banana sandwhiches which were very tasty after all the excersize. During the hike we met a french Canadian guy who decided to tag along with us to Lovina which was to be our next destination. So we packed up, ate another banana crepe and coffee at the hotel and took off.

There are very few petrol stations in smaller cities and the locals buy all the gas in one liter Absolute vodka bottles in the mornings and sell them with a profit to desperate drivers throughout the day. We got stuck purchasing petrol from one of these people at one point even though it is not advised because they have been known to mix other cheaper products into the fuel. We survived however until the next gas station where we filled up. With the french guy in tow we arrived to Lovina and haggled a hotel room with two single beds. He took one bed and we squeezed into the other and split the cost by three.

This town was supposed to be a beach paradise, quieter than Kuta with nicer beaches. In reality however, the beach was filthy and we were quite dissapointed. The locals explained that because it is rainy season, the water becomes more dirty. Although we still swam in the warm ocean (farther out was cleaner) it was definitely not the paradise we had envisioned. With very little tourists, the locals here were even more desperate for business, offering one hour massages for $3. We ate local soup and head back to the hotel for a while. Later on we bought snacks from the local Circle K and watched movies on the computer till we passed out.

After deep fried banana bread and syrup for breakfast we head back to Kuta passing through many cities and towns. Once in Kuta we began searching the tourist agencies for our next activity. There is an island here where komodo dragons live and we decided to fly to Labon Bajou in Flores to see the dragons. We found a guy who would sell us flight tickets for a reasonable rate and set out in the pouring rain to find a hotel room. After checking out many places that were trying to rip us off, we found a decent one in the heart of town that included two breakfasts. Unfortunately the guy who we decided to buy the flights off of did not show up to our hotel to meet us for the tickets. Later that night we tried other agencies and found one with a higher rate but we decided to go for it anyway.

Since we had left one of our bags at the couchsurfing house before we took off on our motorbike adventure, we had to go back there for the rest of our cash. I waited at the agency while Tyson and Frenchy drove to pick up the dough. Unbenounced to me, Frenchy had left a large deposit with the agency guy to hold our tickets. An hour went by and the boys were not back yet so the agency guy had to close and did not sell us the tickets. As he closed down the shop, the boys showed up but it was too late. One thing lead to another and to make a very long story short, the guy lied to the boys saying I had asked him to cancel the tickets and that he was going to keep half of the deposit. To stay true to the story but maintain my lady status I will just mention that I severely lost my cool and turned up the volume including some profanity while Tyson held me back. Yes, things escalated from there to the point where the agency guy took off and Frenchy agreed to take off in the morning.
True to his word, Frenchy stole one of the two free breakfasts and left us in peace. It was back to the two of us, the way we liked it. Within one hour in the morning we bought tickets to Gili Island, scrapped the Komodo idea since it wasn't working out, exchanged money and haggled the hotel room down another 20,000 rupiahs in exchange for the free breakfasts. We spent the day enjoying the dirty beaches, McDonalds ice cream (locals cannot afford to eat here so it is one place that is only foreigners except behind the counter), and pushy sales people. During the afternoon rain we napped for four hours and head out to dinner. Kuta is the number one place Aussies come for holidays so the tourism industry really caters to their likes. We ate Australian food for dinner (big burgers and chunky fries) and bought chips, strawberry/chocolate bread and cookies for dessert and borrowed free wifi from the neighboring hotel to check in back home.

The basic rooms here are very basic in that they do not have internet, hot showers or any other extra comfort measures. Hot water in a room significantly raises the price and internet is rarely free. For this reason, we are behind in posting photos and blogs which is a bit annoying.

The next morning we got up at 5:30 am and waited for our 6am pick up to head to Gili. The shuttle finally came and we slept for the 1.5 hour drive to the ferries in Padongbai. Here we bought return tickets back to Kuta and boarded the slow boat to Gili. While the public ferry to Isla Grande in Brazil remains the worst boat ride of my life, this was a very close second. Many locals and drunk Aussies had chose to ride this day and they were loud and dirty. People puked, the bathroom was just a hole in the ground with a bucket to wash your hands in, the ground was wet and filthy and people were smoking and spitting the whole ride. It may have been ok except that the ride was about six hours long. Tyson popped a gravol and slept through the whole disgusting ordeal while I endured the stinky experience on my own. An old man forced us to buy his rice because he looked poor and desperate and pushed the rice into our bags.

While Buenos Aires people smoked an awful lot, I believe that the people here smoke just as much. I have not met one local who does not smoke. For $1-$2 a pack, it is affordable as well. I think the tobacco companies are loving these these third world countries who chose nicotine over food and water.

Overall Bali is the first place I would be ok with not returning to. While there is definitely a lot of beauty here, I feel that the people are slowly yet surely forcing most of it to shit. Whether it is poverty, lack of education, lack of morals or values, indifference or ignorance, the result is still murder of the environment. Since Indonesia consistes of 17,000 islands and 255 million people and I have not experienced even .5% of it, I cannot pretend to know what the country is all about. As for Bali however, it has not been my favorite place so far.

Little boys and girls run around naked and pee everywhere. I witness the mothers doing regular lice checks and kids as young as 10 can be seen driving motorbikes. The men spit up chunks and everyone litters. Everything gets wrapped up in 2 or 3 layers of paper then 2 more of plastic. While we have experienced much genuine kindness, caring and hospitality here, the standards of living are much lower than what we are accustomed to.

I hope I do not come off snobby because in no way shape or form do I think highly of myself and it is not my intention to put the locals down. I am merely listing off my observations and the fact that if there is no change here, the land will be lost.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Getting to know Bali

We nearly missed our flight to Bali because I was running around trying to spend the last of our Australian change which was about $5. All I could get was a small bag of chips and a lollipop. Tyson and I could both eat for three days on that in Indonesia.

We arrived in Denpasar at around 21:00. We had to pay $70 CAD for something or other at the airport and then apparently there is another $20 to be paid upon departure which is pretty awesome.
We met a group of four fellow Canadians who were escaping the crippling Australian prices for a few weeks in Indonesia. Having been in South America recently we were very familiar with the tactics of locals trying to scam tips. So when the "porters" tried to aggresively "help" us with our bags we (with even more aggression) declined their offer. The poor Canadians on the other hand accepted the help and we passed them a little farther down arguing about tips. I recall seeing one girl had handed over $10 Aus (=$12 CAD) and the local guy still wasn't giving her bags back.

We had the address of a couchsurfing site about twenty minutes from the airport and we were told it should cost no more than 70,000 rp (8,000rp = $1 CAD). So we showed the first of thousands of "TAKSI" drivers the address and he quoted us a whopping 300,000 rp. So we went to the information counter and asked what we should be paying for a cab. They confirmed that 70,000 is what it should cost. So we tried again and we were told 300,000, we walked away and the guy said "no...uh...150,000 guaranteed best price, impossible to find lower" after several more people tried to rip us off, we went with the lesser of all evils and settled on 90,000rp.

So we hopped in the over-priced cab who got completly lost and began swearing. He called our couchsurfing host, got more lost and tried to charge us an extra 20,000 rp for the phone call. In the end he took us to where he thought was close enough to where we needed to be and left without another word. Our host met us on her motorbike and led us home. She is Indonesian and lives in a modest home with her French boyfriend. On our first night we saw small frogs hopping around everywhere, a HUGE spider on the wall, small unknown bugs and cobwebs everywhere. We knew right then that backpacking had once again begun.

This place is very foreign to us. We still haven't even figured out the bathroom, there is a toilet, shower head, a bucket of water and a hose. Not sure what to do with all of it but we are being creative.
We had dinner with our host family off the floor (no dining room tables here) with our hands. We ate sweet potatos, home made bread, salad with tomato and avacodo and (home made) peanut dressing. It was a simple yet satisfying and delicious meal.

The next day we slept until 11am which was not a part of the plan. We woke up, ate bananas, emailed our families and head downtown. It takes nearly twenty minutes to find a big enough gap between the motorbikes and vehicles to run accross the road. There are a few crosswalks around but no one cares. It is NOT a pedestrian friendly place whatsoever and it would be impossible to get around with a wheelchair.
There are many lizards and frogs around and the architecture is crazy different than anything I have ever seen before. What gets us the most, however, is how many people there are here. Indonesia is packed with people. Although very small, it has the fourth largest population in the world, over 255, 000, 000!! Indonesia consists of 17, 508 islands so I do not think we will be able to see all of it in 16 days.

There are temples and holy statues everywhere. In front of every single buiding, shop and home there is a statue of a chair (not sure what that means yet). Also in front of every building there are several small baskets made out of bamboo leaves filled with offerings to the gods. There are cookies, incense, flowers, candies, crackers and even cigarettes in them. The candies and chocolates are unwrapped and I have resisted the urge to steal any yet. These baskets are everywhere, even attached to the front of motorbikes.

We walked for over six hours and sampled many typical foods. We tried Satay which is small skewers of sweet meat with cold rice out of sealed bamboo leaves, we also tried an expensive 7-11 type slurpee that Tyson insisted was necessary for the same price as two local meals. We tried some deep fried rolls that they cut up and top with peanut sauce and jalepenos. We also bought noodles from the store and got ripped off on them because on the next block they were half price. We came home and had dinner with our hosts. They had made sticky rice and a stew with lots of seafood in it. It was spicy and thick, almost like an Indian curry and tasted great.

During our walk around today we definitely felt like three-headed monsters with the way people were looking at us. Everyone was pointing and saying hello. The people are mainly very friendly and have a lot of questions. Where are you from? Where are you going? And then finally they want to take some of your money so they ask transport? Umbrella? What you need? Then finally they wish you happy travels and let you be.

We were so so dirty from the days events that we could not stand it. There was dirt and mud caked all over us in addition to dust and sweat. After a nice long cold shower, we slept well that night.

The next day we also slept in way into the afternoon through the downpour. There is so much flooding here now that to get out of the house we had to use step stools on the grass and walk over top of them while someone in plastic boots placed them down in front of us. We walked through water above our knees and at one point we got stuck sad that someone doubled us on their motorbike. It was quite the ordeal with our extremely heavy bags (thanks to the generosity of the Melbournian family). It torential downpoured on and off throughout the day and we periodically hid under the roof of locals who offered. During our long walk to our next couchsurfing host's house we got thouroughly soaked. It took us over three hours to walk it and by the time we got there, our young male host was already pretty wasted with his other American feinds. They were watching movies and drinking home-brewed beer and talking about girls. So once again I am the only female in a group of five or more guys. Because of the crappy weather we ended up watching five crudley funny movies and making Mr. noodles in a kettle for dinner.

The next morning we woke up at a record 10am after snoozing the alarm five time. We were out of the house by 11am and walked to Kuta, the very touristy area of Bali. Up until this point we had been staying in remote local areas where the people may have never see a foreigner in their whole lives. In Kuta, there are many Australians and North Americans and the stores cater to this type of customer. There are McDonalds, Starbucks, designer clothing stores and fancy restaurants that the locals would never be able to afford to pay for. We tried several local foods throughout the day. We just ordered off the menu blindly because we could not understand the language. Some was good and others not but everything is fairly cheap. We rented a motorbike for a week and within one hour Tyson got a ticket. The cop asked for a bribe and we responded by asking for a warning. We got away with no ticket which was very lucky! We explored some of the island on the bike in the rain and head home to warm up.

After seeing some of the nice resorts today we thought it would be nice to rent a room for a night. Then we remembered that we had ALREADY rented a nice night at a fancy resort in Bali from when we were in Canada! The night was on the 7th of january and we missed it! What a waste! This was pretty disappointing.
So far Bali is dirty, busy, loud, cheap but a rip off for foreigners. However, it also offers dramatic scenery and architecture with beautiful large temples, a culturally rich but friendly population with different religions, and a great time! We are planning to go to Komodo island to see the komodo dragons and to orang atang to see the giant monkeys. We are still negotiating tour prices because they are mainly rip offs until you know your way around.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Tyson shaves under pressure

As we left Australia, we left behind family and friends who have done more for us than they could ever know. From the moment we left Sydney and landed in Adelaide we were treated better than we imagined. In Melbourne, our time with family was an experience that we will treasure forever. We left with the warmest memories of kindness, caring, generosity and love. We showed up empty handed and left with bags full of food and gifts as well as hearts full of joy and gratitude. Every afternoon we woke up to a huge hot homecooked buffet breakfast, after which our attempts to help clean up were turned down and we were told to relax instead. We were driven to experience all the beautiful sights, sounds and tastes of the city. Every single minute was wonderful and memorable.

In the last few days, we visited the botanical gardens where we saw large turtles and fed the black swans while they swam around with their little chicks. We shopped at the fancy malls and wandered the huge downtown library. One of the days, right after a big breakfast we went to a shopping center where my cousin insisted on buying us a big lunch of sushi, burgers and chips (fries), so we ate. Then he insisted on ice cream and we expected a small ice cream cone each, but instead he showed up with two oversized belgian waffles covered in syrup topped with four various flavours of ice cream on each as well as whipped cream and fudge. After this we head out to a dinner party. Following dinner we went out with a few of my cousin's friends. One of his friends is an emergency physician who took a look at my funky arm. Another day, we walked through Melbourne central and basked in the hot sun by the lake, this day also included ice cream. We had a lovely dinner at my cousins house where he cooked a fabulous meal. I spent several hours drawing out a family tree and realizing how little of my extended family I actually knew of.

We spent everyday hanging out and cuddling three of the sweetest children I have ever met. I melted every time they spoke! We spent a night at one of my cousin's home and stayed up until 5 am making fun of crappy movies and eating kilos of several different types of junk food until we could no longer move. Then we slept in until the afternoon when we rolled out of bed back to the dinner table for a lovely lunch.

On our last night the family threw us a goodbye party at a Persian restaurant where we ate kabobs among other ethnic delights. Then we head home for desserts and tea. Here Tyson was convinced by the crowd to show them a trimmed beard. This was one of the main events of the evening. He shaved off his three inch beard of three months and was awarded a night out at a pancake dessert place. So after a full heavy meal and complete dessert, we head off for a meal/dessert combo. My cousin's daughter works at this restaurant where they sell every ice cream and pancake combination one could configure. So we each ordered banana splits, pancake/ice cream pies, dipped cones, shakes and other figure busters. Before our specific orders came, my cousin's daughter began showering us with other desserts including one huge novelty margarita glass called the colossus. It was overful with two gallons of their special flavours of ice cream, marshmellows, strawberries, cookies, bananas, cherries and whipped cream in addition to their special fudge topping. This fudge, that we poured over the concoction, is made with melted real chocolate, marshmellows, heavy cream and other secret ingredients. So we all dug in and shared, immediately following this event, we were served our actual orders. Needless to say when it was time to leave the restaurant, no one could actually stand. We then proceeded to mix all the leftovers into the empty margarita glass and take our turn sipping out of it. Gluttony may be too gentle a word to describe our crimes. I did not eat for 12 hours following this because the thought of food was traumatizing. We laughed and laughed the night away until we finally peeled our heavier buts off the chairs and head home.

It was here that the epic HOOKM (a card game) win took place. My cousin and Tyson versus my cousin's wife and myself. Us girls had won a round (seven wins is one round) several days prior, and the boys wanted "revenge". So we played and they beat us and we were crushed. So the boys had won one round and we had won one, it was a tie. Everyone agreed to a tie-breaker round. It was a close game and our emotions went on a fast, curvy, backwards, upside down rollercoaster but finally the wives came out victorious. It was a fabulous, glorious win, one that will go down in history as good beating evil.

In the morning everyone came over to the house to say goodbye. They gave us many very thoughtful and extremely generous gifts. We did not expect the lengths that everyone went to. It was humbling and we appreciate all the love. It was a difficult process to say farewell and we left with heavy hearts.

I will miss them so very much and hope that we will have the priviledge of hosting them in Vancouver. Although we are leaving with a minimum wieght gain of ten extra pounds each, I would not trade the time we have had here for anything in the world.

After a delayed flight to Darwin and then through to Bali, we commence our South East Asian portion of the world trip
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"

Feeling the heat on New years eve

On new Years eve we went to the fireworks show downtown. It was crazy crowded as it would be in Vancouver for a similar event. The difference was the people. I could have sat in one spot for hours and just people-watched (although that would arguably be creepy). I won't go into describing individuals but each person was wierder than the last, from the super tall to the over-pierced to the disgustingly wasted, I saw it all that night. It was hard to walk around in the crowd but that is to be expected and it's all part of the experience. Somehow we still ended up getting front row seats by the lake to watch the firework extravaganza. There were over twenty different sets of fireworks coming out of the tops of different buildings, it was set up so that any direction you faced, you could see several shows. At the end of the event, we noticed that the art building ( a very tall thin structure) was on fire. It burned for over an hour while firefighters (hot ones) tried to get through the crowd to put it out. The next day, it was all over the news so I felt a bit famous.

On the way home we took the very busy tram back to the car. The transport was a free service that night to protect the drunk from driving home. It was also a show of the different types of people who live here. One lady was passed out on her sleeping husband and began to vomit all over him. There was puke all over his face, hands, clothes and seat. They were covered in it and the smell was revolting. I was lost between wanting to help them and being disgusted. It was cute when they both fell back asleep together covered in emesis.

On new years day we tried to keep cool by going to a park and swimming in the lake. We then went to my cousins beautiful home for dinner later that night. We ate more than I thought it was possible for one human being to ingest. We played with the kids and beat the boys at cards.

On the hottest day of the week we went to the beach. It was over 45 degrees outside and it felt like death.
As soon as we got out of the refreshing water, we were instantly dry and hot again. It was definitely hard to keep cool, but I would not trade it for the chill Vancouver was experiencing at the same time. We ate lots of ice cream and fruit to keep cool. That night we went for dinner at another friend's home and had a lovely home cooked meal.

At last we had a day with more tolerable weather to walk around downtown. We shopped the after-boxing- day-sales and enjoyed the scenery. Tyson went to play indoor soccor with a friend while I ate home cooked pizza from my aunty.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"