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Leaving Indo

Saturday, September 20th, 2008

Tomorrow morning I leave Indonesia for Thailand! I wish I had more time here – or maybe manage my time I had here better so I can see more of Indonesia; in particular to visit the other islands.

I spent most of my time in Bali. Bali is beautiful – the people are forever welcoming, the weather is nice, the culture and food is amazing – it’s no wonder why so many that visit Bali end up staying 🙂

With the help of some friends I’ve experienced Bali in its fullest. The food, culture, history and the people. I even took part of a Balinese Hindu ceremony and got a kebaya (traditional Indonesian dress) custom made for me – which was nice. The simple cuisines of Indo, which can be found on the streets and in restaurants – Nasi Goreng, Bakso, Mie Ayam, Gado Gado, Sate, Mie Goreng , Nasi Campur, etc… I can attest that all are very very good!

I’m definitely leaving with a bang – I had my night out in Kuta with some friends, watched a traditional Barong dance, had some good seafood right on the beach (literally) and hiked up Mt. Batur for a breathtaking sunrise!

Thank you all for following me through this journey of mine – thanks for all the comments and emails. Being on the road it’s definitely comforting to read them.

I’ll see you all in Bangkok! Cheers, Sophia

P.S. If you are planning a trip to Bali and need help with any arrangements – contact Marcel at marcelina_kopa@yahoo.com – She’s great and I highly recommend her!

Ubud

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

To escape the hustle and bustle of Kuta, Seminyak and Denpasar – Ubud is definitely a place for just that. (An hour drive north of Denpasar). I’ll be here for 3 days to take in all that Ubud has to offer.

Marcel dropped me off at Ubud mid-day, before she left we ate at a restaurant called Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Dinner). We had the crispy duck of course – very scrumptious! The story behind the name is quite funny. Bebek Bengil is set among rice fields with a flock of ducks that feed on the insects and plants in the fields. Close to the grand opening of the restaurant a gang of ducks walked right into the restaurant leaving their muddy prints everywhere lol. Anyway, just found out that the duck I just had for dinner onced roamed around these same rice fields ha! 🙂

bebekricefields.jpg   bebekricefields2.jpg   bebekduck.jpg

After dinner, I set off on foot in search for a hotel. There are many cheap bungalows and guest houses here in Ubud. So it didn’t take me long to find something I liked – I settled for a room at Pramesti Bungalows Rp 100,000 a night ($10). Made, the owner is very nice. I would recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Ubud. It’s very nice and green here – the ubud streets are filled with so much arts and crafts…. I’m so tempted to buy but because I’ll be on the road for another two months – I’ll have to stick to window shopping.

I headed straight to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary the next day. I love monkeys so I was pretty excited! I was hesitant about holding my camera because I remember reading in a book somewhere that the monkeys loved shiny objects – so the sneaky ones wait till the right moment to snatch them from you. There were hundreds of monkeys running around eating bananas and potatoes that some of the tourists were throwing at them. I also ran into a gang of monkeys in the forest picking on a dog – poor thing 🙁

monk1.jpg   monk2.jpg   monk3.jpg

Spent my last day in Ubud, trekking up Gunung Batur (Mt. Batur) to catch the sunrise. Made the trek with a French couple, Matilde and JayB. We headed out with our driver at 2:30am. It takes an hour to get to Mt. Batur and two hours to trek up to the top. Met another couple from Holland and a girl from Arkansas on our way up. We definitely lucked out on this day – no fog at all. Check it out:

I’m such a sucker for sunrises and sunsets!!  Pretty amazing eh? ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!! (I’m standing on top of Mt. Batur taking this photo of the sun rising over Mt. Agung, the highest mountain in Bali – Mt. Agung is still active)

Me on top of Mt. Batur at sunrise! (I’ll trek up any mountain to catch a glimpse of this)

Distant view of Mt. Batur (huge crater at the very top)

Fellow Trekkers

Tanah Lot Temple

Friday, September 12th, 2008
I heard through the grapevine that one of the many places to see a Bali sunset is at Tanah Lot Temple (a 50 minute drive from Denpasar). Tanah Lot means "small island floating on the sea." Tanah Lot is known ... [Continue reading this entry]

Last day in Jogja

Friday, September 12th, 2008
Spent my last few hours roaming around Jogja. I started the day in search for a local favorite, "Gudeg" (jackfruit, brown sugar, red onions boiled in coconut milk for hours). The locals usually eat Gudeg in the late night sitting ... [Continue reading this entry]

Yogyakarta (aka Jogja)

Sunday, August 31st, 2008
I got in yesterday morning and have been exploring ever since. I'll be here for 3 days and then fly back to Bali. The first day I saw the Sultan Palace, a traditional puppet ... [Continue reading this entry]

Doing well in Bali

Sunday, August 31st, 2008
Hey folks! Sorry I've been out of touch for awhile. Let me give you a quick recap of what I've been doing in the last week. Marcel and Jose are wonderful - since in Bali they have taken good care of ... [Continue reading this entry]

I’m a local

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
appearance wise that is :) lol... Until I open my mouth to talk is when the locals realize that I'm not. "Oh your face is Indonesian" is the saying I get from many locals. I'm definitely going to fit ... [Continue reading this entry]

Welcome to Jakarta!

Friday, August 22nd, 2008
is what my taxi driver Dedi said before he charged me 200,000 rupiah ($20 USD) for a ride to my hotel which was 10 minutes from the airport. I had just gotten to Jakarta and was too exhausted to argue. Anyway, ... [Continue reading this entry]