On our way home

Day 30 - February 9

Early morning rise today, 3 AM is really early. We gave Finanda and Rizcky a call because they wanted to join us on our trip to the airport. We were on the shuttle by 4 and off we went. Got to the airport about 4:15. We said our farewells and left Finanda in tears. We got all checked in and looked for someplace to get something to eat. We had breakfast and boarded the aircraft for the journey home. The trip to Tokyo was uneventful and that's just the way we like them. We arrived in Tokyo a little early. That gave us more time to get to the gate for our trip to LA. JAL is really a nice airline to fly. There is lots of legroom compared to US carriers and the flight attendants are very pleasant.

The trip from Tokyo to LA is about an hour and a half shorter than the trip west because of the prevailing winds. We really liked that. But the entertainment system on American is paltry compared to other international carriers. Had already seen most of the movies and one that I hadn't seen I quit in the middle because it wasn't worth watching. Oh well, nothing to be done about that. We did arrive in LA a little early. We jumped on the shuttle and were off to the hotel. They did have a room ready and let us check in late in the morning, very nice of them.

We immediately laid down for a couple of hours, all right, 'til 4 PM. We arose and decided to go get something to eat. Talked with the desk clerk and decided to go to the Fairfield Mall in Culver City. We took the number 6 bus. The fare was $.35. Rode for 20 minutes to get to the mall. We had dinner at Five Guys. Did some shopping and back to the hotel for the night.

This will probably be the end of our foreign travels for the year. So will see you next time. Love and peace to all.
  

Prepping for the Trip Home

Day 29 - February 8

Pretty quiet day today as with the last three. We got things mostly ready to go for the morning. There are a few things that have to wait until the last minute but most is ready. We will have one more bag going home than we had coming. All of the fabric Bonnie bought plus a few trinkets take up more room than you would think. I hope the bags are not over weight. If they are oh well.

Finanda and Rizcky arrived at about 6:30 this evening. We will have dinner with them and spend some time together. Finanda said she has something for us so we will have to find a place to put that as well. In about 12 hours we will be leaving Indonesia. It's sad in a way but also exciting to  be on our way home.

Dinner with Finanda and Rizcky was fun. We had laugh a couple of tears and great fellowship. When we were finished they came to our room with some gifts for us. There were a couple of pictures from the wedding. One was in a frame and the other was not. Both we lovely and we thanked them for their kindness and help on our journey. We went to our separate rooms and turned in for the short night ahead.

Another Restful Day

Finanda and Rizcky

Day 28 - February 7

We nearly stayed in the hotel the whole day today. We were supposed to meet with Finanda and Rizcky but plans changed. We will meet up with Finanda tomorrow afternoon and she will stay at the hotel tomorrow evening with us. The girt just will not take no for an answer. She wants to cry at the airport when we leave.

We left the hotel for only a short while today to get water and some snacks at the Minimart around the corner. The other things we did was write, read, watch TV, and play bridge online. It was really exciting. We are so ready to go home. Monday is Chinese New Year , the year of the monkey, so there re fireworks going off around the hotel this evening. Don’t know if we will get much sleep tonight or not. The hotel did give us a New Year’s gift this afternoon. It was a packet with two oranges and an Indonesian delicacy that does’t have much taste. The oranges are great though.
  

Shopping at the Mall

Day 27 - February 6

This is another laid back day. We went to a Daan Mogot Mall nearby for about three hours and mostly walked around. We talked with a car salesman and asked how much the Toyota Avanza would cost here. We don’t have that model in the US. He asked, stick or automatic, and the discounted price came to about 180,000,000 rupiah, $12,300. This is a cheap model here actually for that price they would probably be sell a billion of the in the States. A Prius here was cost about twice that much. A Camry would be around $20,000. He said only rich people and the government buy  the Camry. I'm quite sure none of the vehicles would meet US emissions standards.

We bought some little spoons at the hardware store, had an ice cream at Baskin & Robbins, bought water, soda, and some snacks at the Hypermart. That was our exciting day.

Of course I wrote and updated the blog. You guessed it Bonnie read. Dinner at the hotel, a little TV and then off to bed.
  

Goodbye Sumatra

Day 26 - February 5 Jakarta

After breakfast we said goodbye to the Marriott. The drive to the airport was much quicker than we thought it would be. That’s fine. I didn’t want to be in a car very long anyway. The flight left on time and we arrived in Jakarta on schedule as well.

There was a little difficulty getting the shuttle to the hotel but we got that straightened out as well and we were back at the J Hotel where we stayed the first night we were in Indonesia. Not much to report about today. We stayed closed to the hotel. I wrote and Bonnie read. That pretty much sums up the day.

Bat Cave

Ribbons

 Day 25 - February 4

So breakfast didn’t have to be as early today. I wasn’t leaving for the bat cave until 8:30. Bonnie had tripped on a root yesterday on our trek and she was hurting quite a bit the morning so she would not be coming along to the cave. Breakfast was good this morning. There are not as many choices as we have had most days since we’ve been here but it was still a nice tasty breakfast. We went back to the room and I got ready for the hike to the bat cave.

The hike was pretty easy. We went through palms that are raised to extracting palm oil. Part of the way was through rubber trees. I had read about harvesting the sap from the trees but had never seen it first hand. It’s done just the way the pictures show. The sign said the cave was a 3 kilometer walk but it seemed shorter than that. We got to the gate for the cave in about 15 minutes. The bank down to the creek we had to cross was very steep and slippery but we negotiated it well.

Small Bat

 The climb to the first chamber was a little tricky and if you weren’t careful you could hurt yourself very easily. I mean seriously hurt yourself as in broken bones. Fortunately my guide, Anuar, had two flash lights with him so we were able to see just fine. This chamber has small species of bat roosting in it. There were probably a couple of hundred dotting the ceiling. They weren’t very active. In the second and third chambers there were larger bats. The ceiling of the cave were not quite as high making the bats easier to see. The small bats and the larger ones did not seem to roost together. There were probably more than a thousand bats here in all. Some were quite close together but most were probably 2 to 3 feet apart. Might just be that the places to grasp were that far apart. Some of these were actually flying from place to place in the cave. It’s interesting to have them flying just over your head. Bats are such misunderstood creatures.

Large Bat

While the bats were very interesting this cave must have been beautiful when it was still “alive”. The old formations have certainly lost their luster over the centuries. The mites and tites, the ribbons, the flowstone, all are here just not in the glory that most people think of when you think of a cave. I can only imagine how lovely it must have been.

 We were in the cave for probably an hour, maybe a little longer. It was most enjoyable and I would be happy to do it again. The way out was the same as the way in so you have to be very careful going out as well. The walk back to the hotel was pretty easy and uneventful.

Large Bat Cluster

Bonnie was sitting on the porch reading when we arrived. Anuar invited us up to his house for some coffee or tee while we waited for our driver to arrive. We chatted and enjoyed the company while we waited. Anuar had been in business here for about 10 years and constructed or supervised the construction of all of the building. They are in the process of building a new dining room or maybe better said a dining shelter. Most of the facilities are quite open to the air. When our driver arrived he came and joined us at the house. He and Anuar are good friends. Seems too soon we had to return to the city.

Flow Stone

The drive was again three hours. I and Bonnie both dozed off and on during the trip. We had to stop at an ATM along the way so we would have enough money to pay the driver. I will never get used to playing people with 100,000 denomination notes. When we arrived back at the Marriott we were  quickly escorted to our room.

Large Bat Cluster

 The room was huge. Seems they gave us a free upgrade to a deluxe room. It was a corner room with a great view of the city. The bathroom had a separate shower and tub. There was a huge window in here that looked out over the city as well. The bathroom even had a TV so you could watch while you soaked in the tub.

Our flight back to Jakarta was at 10:10 in the morning. Our trip was quickly winding down.

The Daytrip to the Jungle

   
Day 24 - February 3

We woke up late this morning. Seems we always do late when we should do early, oh well. We were still able to get ready and do breakfast and meet Anuar, out guide, by 7:30. So everything was fine. He made sure we had the things we needed before set out. Asking specifically about insect repellent and water. We had both. So away we did go.

Wagler's Pit Viper

Thomas' Leaf Monkey

Pig Tail Macaque

Before we were even on our journey Anuar showed us a snake that was next to his patio. It was a green snake with white and red markings that looked like dots. It was a young snake only about 6 inches long. I looked it up on the internet and found it supposedly was a Wagler’s Pit Viper. But I Rachael Bladow identified a much larger snake that looked very different at Wagler’s Pit Viper. I certainly guess the juvenile could look very different than the mature variety. So I sent another post on FB to Rachel. She’s a herpetologist so if she doesn’t know she will be able to find out.

About two hundred yards up the trail we were greeted by a couple of Thomas Leaf Monkeys. They are very pretty and very personable. We saw many more of these along the trail. We also say many long tail macaques as well. They seem to be all over the place including in the area of the hotel. We gave these guys some banana and we were off again. The guide did call them in so they had gotten hand outs before.

As we moved on out guide told us he hoped we would have luck finding some orangutans this morning. It turns out we were not very lucky this morning. We say leaf monkeys, many type of butterflies, ants on a trail to their nest, a couple of really large ants, they must have been a half inch long. We saw a pig tailed macaque, but the forest person eluded us.

At 11 AM or so we finally were able to see one. It was a young female, 7 or 8 years old. She was very friendly. I wouldn’t really classify her as wild. She was definitely accustomed to humans. We fed her bananas and carrots. She liked them both. We probably spent about a half hour maybe more with her. Our guide got a call that there was a female with a baby not too far away. We never did find her but we had a wonderful time in the forest. I guess I should say jungle but a jungle is just a tropical forest.

Interacting with an Orangutan

 Sometime around 1 PM we got down to the river. The river was our trip back to the hotel. But first lunch was in order. We had nasi goreng with tomatoes, cucumbers, and an egg. Was very tasty mostly I think because we were very hungry. Both Bonnie and I ate the whole thing. There was pineapple and oranges for dessert. The pineapple was sweet and tender. The oranges we had already sampled on the trail.

Sweet Young Lady

The next thing was to get all of the stuff we didn’t want to get wet in some waterproof bags. That was done and we were loaded up on the tubes. The tubes we floated were like backhoe tubes, very large. There were four all tied together. The first rapid was probably roiled more than the others and our guide go some pictures of us as we came down. He then put our camera in a bag and joined us on the tubes. The river is very rocky and my butt bumped the bottom a couple of times on the way down but it was a lot of fun and very cooling. The water was cool, probably in the 70s F (22 C). It felt great. We stopped just above the dam and walked back to the hotel.

Long Tail Macaque

Tubing the River

It was a great day to once again get away from the hustle and dirt of the city. We escape to Indonesia and had wonderful time. We also found out where the Bat Cave is. We will visit there tomorrow. Looks like it’s going to rain this evening. Hope it does and cools things off some.
  

North Sumatra trek prep

Day 23 - February 2

We had breakfast this morning at the JW Marriott. There sure were a lot of choices. If we would have had some of everything we would have been at breakfast until they closed. But the breakfast was very good. Afterward we stopped at the concierge desk to see what there was to do. Actually I had asked them about a drive to a waterfall not too far from the city. They told us how to get there, what it would cost, and that we should have a pleasant time scrambling through the jungle. They did recommend that we get a local guide once we got there. After talking about that they asked why we don’t go see the orangutans. That did it. My main reason for coming to Medan was to do exactly that. They arranged the trip for us. And we were off.

So we rode up to for three hours plus a little bit to Bukit Lawang. The roads were crappy but we did get there. We will be staying at the Ecolodge for the next two nights and then going back to the Marriott in Medan. So far on our trip we have seen macaque monkeys, some kind of tree frog. a couple of small lizards (two different kind), a green and yellow snake in a tree, mosquitoes, flies, and feral cats. We crossed to the hotel on a suspension bridge walkway over a river that we will tube on tomorrow afternoon. Bonnie is apprehensive about this, I hope it goes well.

Had dinner Indonesian style, fried rice and other things. Bonnie’s included satay chicken, mine had fried chicken and an egg. The food was good and contrary to the complaints of some on trip advisor it wasn’t that expensive. It is really humid tonight though and I’m sure it’s going to be a bear sleeping. But it’s a king bed and it has a mosquito net so we should only be bothered by a finite number of insects. The jungle around us sounds quite neat. There are lots of insects chirping and frogs croaking. The of course there is the river tumbling over the rocks. We can always sleep at the Marriott when we get back there.

It’s getting close to time to turn in so will call it a night. Breakfast is at 6:30 in the morning and we start our trek at 7:30.
 

First day in Sumatra

Day 22 - February 1

It’s been a quiet morning so far. Had breakfast which was quite good. Came back to the room and got things more or less put together. Waiting on a few things to charge up before we check out. Need to be at the airport for a 1:50 flight to Medan. We will be there for a little more than 3 days before we return to Jakarta. Will check out here at about 11:30.

The Grand Istana Rama Hotel here has one great asset and that’s it’s location to the beach on the south side of Bali. The beach is right across the road. As I said earlier the beach could be fantastic if the people that make a living of the beach would clean it up some. The hotel room is quite large and the bath looks to have been redone recently. The room was clean and comfortable. The only real criticism I have is that it is quite dark. The dark wood furniture absorbs all the light in the room. The bed could use some work but it was satisfactory. The pillows are nice, there were 6. Does not compare with the place we stayed in last week but it was worth the money.

Maya met us when we checked out and thanked us for our stay and gave us a couple of parting gifts. She has been really nice to us during our stay in Bali even if we didn’t stay the whole time at her hotel. The taxi fare to the airport was about 70,000 rupiah. Traffic was light so it didn’t take long. Went through security right as we entered and then again after we got checked in. We are in the back of the plan but we have a window and an aisle seat so can’t complain too much.

If you are flying in SE Asia but sure to check the website of the airline you are flying else you may not get the cheapest fair. Hipmunk, Expedia, and one other did not give the cheapest fair. If you get your tickets there and have to change there will probably be no charge. But if you know what you will be doing get the cheap one. I basically got two tickets for the price of one by purchasing on the Garuda Indonesia website.

We had a snack at House of Beans by the departure gate. Bonnie wanted sweet potato chips so we got those. I would rather have had regular, oh well. They did have been though so I got a Bintang. Will have to find out if Scott wants be to bring a bottle back for him to paint, or maybe a picture.

Plane leaves in about an hour and a half. One stop along the way. Will be in Medan, Sumatra about 5:30. The  JW Marriott is supposed to have a shuttle. Guess I will call when we get there.
At the airport in Bali Garuda Airlines tracked us down. We were sitting in the area by gate 1C, which was on our boarding pass, but they changed gates to 2. So we weren’t there. We were not the last ones on the plane but it was close. The flight was uneventful. I like those kind. Got to the airport and call the Marriott to find out about the shuttle. They said we had to schedule it ahead of time. So there was not shuttle. Took a taxi to the hotel. The room is pretty posh. We went down to the lounge for our welcome drink. It was apple juice. I ordered a bourbon on the rock and Bonnie had some peppermint tea. We also ordered some spring rolls. All of that was nice.

The nicest thing though was a combo with drummer, piano player, guitar, and singer started up shortly after we got there. They were pretty good. Played and sung a lot of mellow oldies. Had a great time listening. When their first set was done we left thanking them for their music.

Off to bed for now. Will figure everything out in the morning.
 

Kuta Beach

Day 21 - January 31

Stayed pretty close to the hotel today. I was not feeling my best last evening and wanted to make sure all would be well before we ventured out. Went to breakfast at about 9. The breakfast here is about the same as the other places but not as well organized. They did have real bacon and that was a big plus at least for me. They didn’t have reindeer sausage though, damn! Anyway, breakfast was very good.

Went back to the room to figure out what to do today. Decided the beach would be a good option and close to the room. The beach is just across the street in front of the hotel. Rented a coupe of beach chairs for 150,000 rupiah ($11). We actually used them for about 2.5 hours and no one was coming to kick us out. I did go into the ocean and bobbed in the waves and swam a little. It was fun. First time in the ocean since the Red Sea in Egypt. I didn’t get sunburned today though. Temperature of the Indian Ocean here is a little less than the Red Sea but still warm. Bonnie read a book the whole time we were on the beach.

There are a lot of motorcycles in Indonesia. The beach is no exception. There are a lot of them parked along the beach wall. The picture does not even do it justice.


Came back to the hotel and got a clean, dry shirt before going to the pool. Went for a quick swim. I tried to get dried off but there was no breeze by the pool so never did get dry. Should not have bothered to get a clean shirt. We stayed there for about an hour before we called it quits and went back to the hotel room. I showered to get the salt and chlorine off my body and out of my clothes. Did finally get dried off.

We watched the channel 2 News in Anchorage on live stream to see Megan. She was the spokesperson for the church after the break in and arson that happened over the weekend. We probably knew about the break in before some of the people in the congregation did. The Internet can be a wonderful thing sometimes.

Finally decided to go out to dinner. We first went to Hard Rock Cafe. We determined that this was way too pricey. My experience is that the food at Hard Rock Cafe is only average at best and the prices are in the stratosphere. We decided to leave and go some where else. We ended up at Luna Negra. The prices were much better than Hard Rock and the food was probably better. The food was actually quite good but they overcooked Bonnie’s steak. We were hungry so didn’t send it back but probably should have.

This is our last night in Bali. Will be heading to Sumatra tomorrow.
 

Day 20 - January 30

Day 20 - January 30

Putu picked us up at the assigned hour and drove us to our next destination, Kuta, Bali, Indonesia. We got checked in to the Grand Istana Rama Hotel. We relaxed a little while. Then went for a walk on the beach.

Kuta Beach

Kuta Beach is really a long stretch of sand. We walked about three quarters of a mile on it today and were not even close the end. It stretches for miles in both directions from our entry point. People were surfing, frolicking in the wave, sunbathing, and just walking like us. The beach could be so spectacular except for the trash on beach. It appears the locals don't really care. The tourists complain but do nothing, that's me. There were boards in the surf with nails in them. Would seem like a little effort from all of the people selling stuff on the beach would be able to clean it up. My rant is done. The beach is beautiful. The surf looks amazing. But it could be like I said earlier, fantastic. The only reason I rate it very good is because of it's length. If you go for more than a few minutes be sure to use sunscreen. We did get our feet in the Indian Ocean on Kuta Beach. Yeah!

Feet in the Indian Ocean

After the walk we came back to the hotel to get dried out. Sweat drenched my shirt once again. Will take a shower before bed. Once we got dried out and put on dry clothes we were ready for dinner.

Indian Ocean at Kuta Beach

Went to the Beachwalk Mall to see what there was for dinner. We ended up at a Chinese place called Paradise Dynasty. It turns out this is a chain restaurant in SE Asia. The food was very good as was the service. It was a nice change from Indonesian. I glad we are able to afford variety. We went to Dairy Queen for dessert. We each had a Sundae and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

SenS Hotel and Spa

A special post of a special place.

Our selection of this hotel in Ubud was kind of accidental. We had been looking at places and I got tired of looking and decided on this one because no one give it a bad review in some time. Well, it's easy to see why this hotel would not get a bad review. I had inadvertently cancel our reservation on Booking.com. I called the hotel and told them we were still coming we would just be later than we originally planned. We finally arrived just before midnight. The staff acted very happy to see us even excited that we were there. We apologized to the mix up on the cancellation and they said it was not a problem and that we would actually get a better rate than we had on bookings.com. Indeed we did.

Once checked in the room was quite lovely. There were plenty of multinational plugins. There were two plugins that did not shut off when you too your key out of the electricity slot. You could actually leave the room, leave some things plugged into these outlets and they would continue charging when you took your card from the slot. Here's the list of the good things:

The air conditioner worked great. Four pillows for two people and we didn't use all of them.The room was spotless. The writing desk with light overhead. There was a chase with light overhead for easy reading. We had light switches by the bed to control everything except the air. The air conditioner panel that actually worked and you could set the temp. We had plenty of hot water. All the bottled water you wanted. Four were in the room everyday and you could request more if needed. The telephone included free local calls. Used the phone a couple of times to talk with airline folks.The was  laundry service, the fee was small and we used it. The service was prompt and well done. We had a comfortable king size bed. The Wifi is free and worked great even for video calls. There was an in room safe. The was an exercise room with equipment. There were spa treatments (did use it). The pool looked great (didn't use it). The staff was friendly and helpful. The staff called my wife and I by name after the second day. They had an excellent breakfast with great variety and eggs to order. Room service was great, they were prompt and courteous with great food. Dining room service was excellent as was the food. We never felt rushed. Did I mention that the staff was very helpful and courteous?

Now for the bad points. Oh wait, I didn't see any. Yes, there were a few bugs. Many less than one would expect with open air approaches to the rooms. It is the tropics folks and there are many bugs. It was hot and muggy in the halls. That's because the halls to the rooms are in the open air.

We spent 6 days here and have to move on. It would have been easy to stay here the whole time but it's a long day trip to the other islands. We will miss this place.

If any of the hotel staff read this I would like to thank them and the management for a wonderful stay and I hope to be able to return some day.
 

Day of Rest

Sculpture Entering Ubud

Day 19 - January 29

Rest is the order of the day. After waking this morning we kind of just laid in bed and pretended to sleep. Nothing was on the schedule so there was no particular reason to rise. I was days behind in writing. I had notes jotted down but no real writing done since we arrived in Ubud (pronounced oo-bood). So while Bonnie did her exercises this morning I got started.We also had to select a hotel for our time in Medan yet too.

Exercises done and we were off to breakfast. As usual breakfast was great. We ate leisurely this morning. There was not rush at all. Once done we returned to the room. I sent Meg a text to see if she would be able to Skype with us. She answered a short time later and we chatted with her for the better part of 45 minutes. All is well in Anchorage, Alaska.

After chatting with Meg we got serious about hotel reservations in Medan. We finally got tired of looking and just booked a room for the 5 days at the Marriott. It’s probably twice as much as we need to spend but it’s still less than $100 a night. The have an airport shuttle so we let our contact in Medan know that we wouldn’t need a ride from the airport to the hotel.
I sent a text to Mel to see if she was available to Skype but didn’t hear back from her quickly so we went out for a walk. Went for a walk during the hottest part of the day. But we did get some post cards. While we were out Mel sent us a message while we were out that she could chat with us in about 45 minutes. We putzed around a while longer then headed back to the hotel. By the time we got back we were drenched in sweat. I changed my shirt and we sent it along with a bunch of other stuff to the laundry after we were assured they could get it back to us before we left.

We contacted Mel on the computer and chatted with her for about a half hour. She is in Colorado and will be going to Italy  for some skiing before she goes to Kuala Lumpur for a wedding. She was quite tired so we let her go.

Started working on the writing again in earnest this time. Along with writing for the blog I did evaluations for TripAdvisor and kind of killed two birds with one stone. Have a little smithing to do on the blog writing but mostly it’s up-to-date.

Went to dinner at 7:15. Came back to the room did some initial packing and wrote some more. While I have been writing Bonnie has been doing a bunch of reading. I think she nearly finished two books today. The hotel we have been staying is has been most exquisite. Will write more about that tomorrow. Hopefully.

Off to Kuta to pay for tickets.

Day 18 - January 28

Uluwatu Temple

I was able to get the plane reservation for Medan done this morning over the telephone. Once again the Garuda credit system did not process my card information so we had to drive to the Paradiso Hotel in Kuta to pay for the tickets. We got in touch with Putu to see if he could drive us down. He was johnny on the spot. We got our reservations paid and made the one needed to  get from Medan to Jakarta as well.

Since we were in the area Putu suggested we go see a few things since we were in the area. We certainly agreed and off we went.

The Uluwatu Temple is perched on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean. Indeed this temple is breath taking. It is probably the most picturesque of all the temples we have seen on this trip.  I would guess the cliffs to have a drop of 200 feet or so to the rocks below. I would say beach but the beach is large rocks that look very sharp even from the top of the precipice. You can walk along the edge for more than a quarter of a mile and each view is more spectacular than the last. Truly a setting that is beautiful beyond compare.


The flowers that are planted around the grounds are spectacular as well. Many of the trees were in bloom and attracted hundreds of butterflies. These were much more interesting to me than the other wildlife in the sanctuary. That is probably because I have seen the similar monkeys in other places on the trip. The monkeys here are aggressive. They will take hats and glasses right off from your head. One person was bitten the day we were at the temple. Be careful. Don't carry anything that could be construed as food to the monkeys. Just generally stay away from them. My wife and I have no problems. Watch children closely that may be with you.

Uluwatu Temple

Padang Padang Beach - Our driver dropped us off at a small Hindu Temple. He told us to descend the stairway to the beach and he would park up the hill across the road and that's where we could find him when we were done. The small temple is down the first flight of stairs which is steep and the first two steps are tall so be careful. 

Down to the Beach

There are monkeys here. On our way across the temple platform a monkey tried to take my wife's water bottle. It didn't get the bottle but is did startle her seriously. Be careful where there are monkeys. The stairway then proceeded through a large crack in a humongous rock. I guess you could say cliff side. The passage is narrow and winding. In some places two people cannot pass at the same time. At the bottom of the stairs there is a lovely beach. The beach is not long but in a cove in the cliffs that surround it. My wife got her feet wet intentionally and I got mine wet not so intentionally. It wasn't too crowded as the surf was pretty calm. It's a popular surfing beach when the wave are appropriate. Nice place to visit and like the title says getting to the beach is half the fun.

After the beach we had an hour and half drive back to the hotel so we opted not to see any more places. We were really bushed from doing all this stuff on a day we were going to relax. Both Bonnie and I dozed on and off on the way back to the hotel. Putu told us he would wake us when we arrived at our destination.

 We had dinner at the Nomad again this evening. We had very different dishes than the last time and they were very delicious. The service was good, the food was great so it’s a good place to eat.
When we got back to the hotel we began searching again for a place to stay in Medan. We didn’t really decide so we went off to bed. We had decided that tomorrow would be a day of rest. Not big trips or little trips planned.

Busy Bali Day Number 2

Day 17 - January 27

Breakfast this morning was as good as ever. We are to be picked up by Putu at 9. We were ready.

Long Tail Macaque

Today we went to the Monkey Forest to see the grey long tail macaques The weather was not great today, threatening to rain. We came here at about 9 in the morning to avoid the potential crowds and the inevitable rain. We knew we were getting close because we saw monkeys along the roadway. Going into the forest was very inexpensive. Right at the entrance there were a number of the forest's name sake frolicking on the walkway. The monkeys are not aggressive if you don't try to hide food from them. Food is for sale in the forest if you would like to feed them. We enjoyed walking the pathways, looking at the carvings, and observing the monkeys. There were a number of females suckling young and the babies were very cute. It's a must see if you are in Ubud.

Ulun Danu Bratan Temple

From the monkey forrest we drove to the Ulun Danu Bratan Temple at Tabanan on a lake. The temple is situated on a lake shore and a small island. Fortunately it wasn't very crowded today with the rain. Unfortunately there were people hawking souvenirs, cards, windup toys, etc. Hopefully the sales supported the temple but not sure. The grounds were very nice and one could get away from the small crowds that were present by going to areas not commonly visited by the tourists. As I wander through these places I always wonder what it would have been like to be here 40 or 50 years ago. Nice setting, pleasant visit, would recommend that you see it.

From the temple we went to the Eka Karya Botanical Gardens - As a master gardener from Alaska, the Botanical Gardens were just amazing to me. My wife and I could have spent the whole day walking in the garden. It is wonderfully laid out. The are areas of the garden with emphasis on specific types of plants like cacti and orchids. There are pathways through the wooded areas that invite strolling and chatting. Unfortunately for us it was raining off and on while we were there. A drenching was in the making so we were not able to spend as long as we would have liked. There is also an area in the garden where you can climb into the canopy, zip line, and climb ropes, nets, and other objects to keep the kids busy while the adults peruse the garden. Would like to go back.

We stopped for lunch at Labhagga Pacung This restaurant is kind of the sister to the one in front. I forget the name of that one. They only had buffet that was 120,000 rupiah and we did not want a huge meal. We asked about "ala carte" and were directed to the this place. The view is quite fantastic. Once the construction is done and the cranes are removed it will be even better. The meals we ordered were simple but tasty and much less expensive than the buffet. We both ate here for 122,000 rupiah which would have been the cost on one for the buffet. We certainly got enough to eat and enjoyed the same view as the more expensive lunch.

 Tanah Lot Temple, is built on a rock coming out of the sea. Tasha Lot actually means “land in the sea”. The temple itself is amazing. Of course unless you are part of a worship ceremony you cannot enter the temple proper. But the area around the temple is beautiful. There gardens with beautiful flowers, flowering trees, and ornamental trees and shrubs that enhance the grace of the temple itself. Watching the waves crash against the temple rock you wonder how it has been able to withstand the elements. There has been some restoration but it is still quite beyond belief that it could have survived on this rock for 500 or so years. It is worth a visit and awe inspiring.


The one big negative about this site is the commercialization that has become part of the "temple business". I don't know if the temple itself derives any benefit from the hundreds of vendors that line the entrance to the venue. Most of what is sold is only there for the tourist. Restaurants have been erected so the tourist will have a place to eat. One can only hope the temple benefits some how from these businesses.

We will be changing hotels on Saturday. Moving into Kuta at the Grand Istana Rama. This is the hotel where Rizcky”s friend works. It is much closer to the airport and we can do some things there without driving for an hour to get there. The rate is about the same as where we are now. Doubt the service will be as good but we shall see.

I tried to make our plane reservations for Medan in Sumatra online this evening. This was not successful at all. I found that Garuda Indonesia Airlines had better rates on their website than were available on any of the other travel sites. After two failures I went down to the front desk and they helped me get in touch with the reservation folks at Garuda. I thanked them for their help and would make reservations in the morning.
  

Busy Day in Bali

Day 16 - January 26

Breakfast was a good as the day before. Wonderful in fact. The staff is very nice here. We were done well before Putu arrived and were ready to go when he got here. We were off on another adventure.

Barong and Kris Dance - The first act of the play dragged on too long. The story moved along more quickly after that. It would have been difficult to follow the story if there had not been a hand out in English. There are handouts in other languages as well. The costumes were very elaborate. It was certainly worth 100,000 rupiah. Once the play started moving it was much more entertaining. The group offers picture opportunities with a couple cast members and the tiger costume at the end of the show. The musicians are very interesting as well but since the focus is on the stage the musicians are pretty much ignored.

We stopped at a furniture store on the way to the next attraction. The furniture was made on premises. Most of the furniture are tables made from slabs with legs attached. I asked the price on a slab (8x3x5) and found that it was very reasonable at 8,000,000 rupiah (about $500). It would be 4 or 5 time that in the States. It was a fun stop for me.

We went to the Tegenungan Village Waterfall today in the rain. Rain had been falling most of the night and all morning before we arrived. The volume of water was probably 4 times that in most pictures I have seen. The water was very muddy instead of clear as in the pictures. I would say even with the brown water the falls was very beautiful and powerful. Certainly worth the trip and the 10,000 rupiah per person admission. Like I said it was raining so there were not very many people at the venue. That made it easy to move around and get different vantage points on the falls and the river.

Tegenungan Village Waterfall

 Lunch at Papuan Cili - This restaurant specializes in duck. However, not being fond of duck we ordered different types of fried rice. Both meals were very good. They do serve alcohol and I had a beer with lunch. As you look out the openings in the open air dining room you will see a pool which guests my use. There is a small cornfield and of course the ever present rice paddies. The setting is quite nice. The palms are tall enough to watch song birds flit among the fronds. The birds were singing a lot so it must be mating season for these small birds. Their voice were very pleasant. The establishment also keeps various parrots and other birds on the property for viewing by the guests. Would eat here again if nearby.



Batur Volcano and Lake are very beautiful. We did not spend much time here. We were getting pretty tired. There were a lot of people here hawking souvenirs to the point of being annoying. But the lake was very pretty especially when set against the mountains and the surrounding hills.

Batur Lake

Terraced rice fields - I'm not at all sure when the terraces were hued from the hillside. I can only imagine that it happened well before modern equipment would have been available to the rice farmers here. Terracing with hand tools would be very difficult and the hillsides here are quite steep. It really is an engineering marvel on the part of the people and a model of perseverance for today's young people. Certainly worth the stop to check it out.

Terraced Rice Fields

From the terraced rice fields we went back to the hotel.

We had dinner at a restaurant called the Nomad. The restaurant is about a half a kilometer from our hotel. We walked down the main street in Ubud and just decided to stop here for our dinner. It was about 9 PM and there were quite a number of people in the venue, mostly they were tourists like us. There are low tables that you can kneel at or chairs. We opted for the chairs. The menu has a variety of foods. There are Indonesian, American, Italian, and others.

I ordered a Nomad hamburger with mozzarella, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and onion, without bread. The burger was done perfectly. It was tender and juicy. I was given tomato catsup as condiment but asked for the Indonesian hot sauce. That is much more tasty and has a little zip. Bonnie ordered smoked marlin salad and said it was very good as well. We topped it off with with a shared two scoops of ice cream. It was a very nice meal. Since it was right off the street it can probably be a bit noisier during the day but this evening the noise level was fine. Would eat here again.
 

Ubud Palace

Day 15 - January 25

I personally had the best nights sleep since we have been on the trip. The bed was comfortable and we left the air on at 21 C. Nice for sleeping but cool for just sitting around. Yes, we are acclimating some to the climate. It’s still hot out but not as hot as it was on our arrival. The name of the city we are in is Ubud, that's pronounced oo-bood. Both of the oo are promounce like the oo in moon.

Breakfast at the hotel was very good. There were eggs to order and real bacon. There was a great variety of other food as well, including fruit, pastries, and other things, very tasty.

After breakfast we decided to go for a walk. We got about a quarter mile from the hotel and Bonnie miss stepped on an anomaly in the sidewalk and went down hard. She is okay but we turned around and went back to the hotel so she could clean up. After that was taken care of we were again on our way. Walked around for a couple of hours. We went through a market, but didn’t buy anything. We stopped in a Hindu Temple not sure which one but it was very interesting. Turns out this was not a temple after all. It was Ubud Palace that we happened on while we were here. Wandered to where we no longer saw tourists wandering around and decided to head back to the hotel. Stopped for gelato on the way back. Nice break and very tasty.

Once we got back I discovered we had walked about 4 miles. It was very warm. We stopped for gelato on the way back and settled down in a chair to cool off with a nice snack. We stopped at a mini-mart also and picked up some Coke and tonic water. Back to the hotel. Bonnie laid down to rest for a time and then turned on the TV. I fixed a Beam and Coke and started writing. We have an appointment for manicures and foot care at the spa. Looking forward to continuing our relaxing day.

At 4 today we had set appointments for manicure and pedicure for both of us. Actually mine were called foot and hand care because I got no polish. Turns out Bonnie got the same because she didn’t want polish. This took nearly two hours and truthfully I didn’t think it was that great. Not sure why this is something people like. Bonnie did say the process was much different than in the States.

We got back to the room and putzed around for a while. We then went to dinner here at the hotel and had a lovely meal. It was very tasty, the staff was attentive and helpful. It was a very enjoyable meal. We then went back to the room to try to decide what we would do the next day and what our next destination would be in SE Asia or Indonesia. No firm conclusions on anything. But regardless our driver would show up at 8:30 AM.

Off to Bali

 Day 14 - January 24

This is the day we fly to Bali. Got things repacked so we would only have 3 pieces of luggage. Got everything put together and were ready to go. We checked out at about noon and then went for a walk down to some places we have already been but didn’t know we had already been there. We walked past a bank that we drove to two days before. We walked to a mall we had driven to 4 days before. On the way we were asked at least a dozen times if we wanted a taxi. It was a 10 minute walk from the hotel to the mall. We just walked around. Didn’t buy anything. But it was nice to walk even if it was hot and humid.

SenS hotel

We went back to the hotel and chilled there for about half an hour before we asked for a taxi to the airport. Got things loaded in the cab and off we went. Got to the airport and the driver told us the fair was 100,000 rupiah. Got ripped off. Next time we will ask before we leave. Going into the airport the “guard” pointed out that our ticket was for tomorrow. I told him we would get it changed. I fully expected a change fee but there wasn’t any. So we were booked on the 4:15 to Bali. Flight was just about an hour. We were served a drink, a snack and had a nice entertainment system for the short flight. Nicely done Garuda Indonesia Airlines. There were no baggage fees for a domestic flight either. The flight was about twice as much as AirAsia but there were no additional fees. The twice amount was $104 each instead of $47.

We got to Bali and were met at the airport by Maya, her significant other Gunadi, and our driver Putu. Putu will be our driver while we are here. Will keep you posted on the qualify of his service in case you need a referral in the future. We had asked Maya if she had any recommendations on where to stay and she told us that Ubud or Uluwatu. She never told us that he was a marketing person for the Grand Istana Rama Hotel on Kuta beach. So we booked a room at SenS Hotel and Resorts in Ubud. We will be staying there while we are on Bali. It is closer to the drivers home so he and us should be happy with that.

We took the three some out for dinner at their hotel. The food was excellent. The atmosphere was

SenS Hotel

very nice and the staff was attentive. The service might have been this good because we were with two of the hotel employees but maybe not.

After dinner Putu dropped Maya and Gunadi at their residence. He then drove us to our hotel (SenS Hotel & Spa) and we were impressed with the hotel. We told our driver that we would just chill out on Monday so he need not come for us. But on Tuesday we will use him well. We went to the room again impressed with the facility.

We were down for the night.

Merapi Trek

Day 13 - January 23

Mount Merapi

 This would be our last day in Jogjakarta. We went down to breakfast early this morning. We had a pickup time of 7 AM for our tour to Mount Merapi so we arrived at breakfast at 6. We were about half way through eating when two men appeared at the table with a small cake on a plate that had happy birthday spelled out on it. Yes, it was my birthday but I certainly didn’t expect to have a birthday cake. I thought Finanda had arranged the cake but she said no. So the hotel picked up my birthday from my passport and provided a cake for Bonnie and I to share. The cake was quite good and so was breakfast.

Our guide was prompt. He was waiting for us when we came down at five minutes to 7. His name was Yogi. We loaded up into the car and off we went. The drive to our drop off point was about an hour away from the hotel. He asked about our origins and we discovered that he had been a waiter on a cruise ship that came to SE Alaska. So he had actually been to at least three ports in SE. He described the recent activity of the volcano. It’s last eruption was in 2010 and we would be hiking over the debris field left by that eruption.

Tall Grass?

Bonnie with Merapi

The first part of the trail was quite easy but as we went along it became much more challenging. He told us the total elevation gain was about 200 meters. When all was said and done with all of the ups and downs along the trail the relative gain was more like 500 meters. The hike was very enjoyable. We got away from the city and into something that brought us closer to the real Indonesia. We saw literally thousands of butterflies on the hike. Other than birds which we mostly heard we saw a huge snail on the path we hiking and that was the only wildlife we saw on the trip.

 At the conclusion of the hike we stopped in a burned village. The village was burned in the eruption and many villagers and volunteers perished during the evacuation because of a fast moving lava flow. The lava from the last eruption moved at at 200 kilometers an hour so if you were in the path you were dead.

We stopped a at restaurant on the way back to the hotel that had great atmosphere but only mediocre food. We would just as soon have gone back to the hotel.

Snail on the Trail

Once we got back to the hotel and cleaned up some Meg sent us a text to see if we were available to Skype. So we did that with her for about an hour. The time in Anchorage was very late so we ended the call so she could go to bed.

Guest for luunch

We decided to get a massage here at the hotel. Called them up for an appointment and they said they were available now (4 PM) so two ladies came to the room and we had a side by side massage on the bed. I’m not sure why these people have to be so rough some times. A massage is not supposed to be painful but it sure did start out that way. The young lady let up some after I complained. This was only my second massage and so far I am not really impressed.We had dinner at the hotel and then turned in shortly after 10. The next day would be our trip to Bali.
   

Borobudur

Day 12 - Borobudur

Borobudur

Borobudur is really unbelievable. We left the room at 6 AM and walked to the temple. Borobudur is a Buddhist temple. The Prambanan Temple is Hindu. The temple are very different but somewhat similar. Borobudur is much larger and grander but there is only one temple on the sight instead of 200+ like Prambanan Temple. There are two other temples associated with Borobudur but they are some distance away from this complex. There are 10 levels to the temple. Each level is a contains a complex number of relief carvings that tell stories.

Each story is new study in the character of people. As the pilgrim to the temple studies the carvings and attains understanding on one level they may move up to the next and start the process again. When the reach the 9th level there are few carvings and enlightenment is near. There are more than 200 statues of Buddha contained in the temple. Many in different poses indicating levels of understanding. We spent more than two hours here and didn’t begin to comprehend all that was going on in this temple. Restoration of the temple is an ongoing process. Many of the stones with relief carving on them have been lost or destroyed over time and are filled in with blank stones of a similar look. The same happens with stones from the ramparts. I am in awe of what people have been able to do through the millennia without the benefit of modern technology.


Returning to the hotel, we ate breakfast (which was very good). Got everything ready to go and checked out about noon. Rizcky went to pray and Bonnie, Finanda, and I went to see a video about the temple. It would have been better to see the video before we went to the temple but, oh well.

Finanda and Rizcky were heading back to Bekasi this evening so we went back to The 101. The hotel we stayed in earlier in the week. It was nice and a known commodity. We left Finanda in tears from our parting. We will see them again the last weekend we are in country. We had dinner in the hotel and made reservations for a hike on Merapi volcano for the next morning.

Shopping and Eating

 
Day 11 - Shopping and Eating

Finanda and Rizcky

This was not a very active day. After breakfast we went an open market. We didn’t go through the stall but just into one shop. We bought some souvenirs and so did Finanda and Rizcky. Their souvenirs were to be thank you gifts for those who gave to them at their wedding. We then went downstairs to look at some batik. We spent quite a bit of time looking at fabric and while Bonnie was doing that I looked at some batik shirts. Well it turns out that Bonnie bought some 30 + meters of fabric and I bought one silk Indonesian shirt. My shirt was about half of the cost of her fabric. I’m sure many of you will get a chance to see the fabric once we get back to the States. We both had a good time here. I was very encouraging of Bonnie’s purchases and told her the next stop would be the wood store. Stopping at the wood store did not happen.

Once we finished at the market we were off to Borobudur. We thought we were going to stay at another home stay place, that’s what Rizcky said. Turns out we are staying the night at the Manohara Resort. This was a very nice place. It is a little old as hotels go but the rooms were well appointed. There was a sitting area right outside the room. The bed was comfortable. The hot water plentiful. Everything was fine even it it was a little old and dated. The wifi worked great as well.

Prambanan Temple

Day 10 - January 20

 Woke up once during the night. So had a great sleep. Woke up at 6:30 quite refreshed. Checked email, FB, and went through pictures while Bonnie was exercising. There is still more to do with pictures. Will try to get some more posting done later today with pictures.

We are off this morning at 9:30. Don’t know where we are going yet but it will be an adventure I’m sure. Breakfast at this hotel is quite wonderful. You can have basically anything you want to eat. There are pancakes, waffles, eggs of any type, fruit, rice, noodles, fried rice, and a plethora of other things to eat. Everything I had was very tasty.

Finanda & Rizcky

After breakfast we departed for the Prambanan Temple and park. The temple was constructed sometime during the 9th century. When it was completed there were 244 separate temples varying in size. Most were relatively small but is a single huge one in the center of the complex that houses statues of the four important gods of the Hindu religion. This huge temple is flanked by four others that are equally as impressive if some what smaller. There is relief carving all along the walkways on the temples and in the chambers that house the statues of the gods. There is still a process of restoration in progress. I don’t know if the plans are to reconstruct all 244 edifices but even a few would be impressive Two large earthquakes have severely damaged the temple complex over the years. One was in the 17th century and the other in 2006. Work continues to strengthen the stonework after the 2006 quake.

Finanda, Don, & Bonnie

Prambanan

We ate a very late lunch at jeJamuran. This restaurant is all about mushrooms. Nearly everything on the menu was mushrooms or had mushrooms in it. As most of you know I am not a shroom eater. They are generally okay raw but I am not a fan of cooked ones. Bonnie, Finanda, and Rizcky all ordered different dish and couldn’t wait to savor their delicacies. The two non-mushroom items were fried chicken and baked chicken. I opted for fried chicken which was very good. The other had extreme praises for their meals so it seems I must recommend this restaurant to the world.

The specialty of the restaurant

We got back to the hotel late in the afternoon and we parted company with the newlyweds. Since we won’t be going to Mount Merapi with Rizcky and Finanda we made a reservation for a Saturday morning tour. We also booked the hotel for Friday and Saturday nights as well. We will probably fly to Bali on Sunday. We went next door to a pharmacy and purchased a couple of drinks and then returned to the hotel.

Another adventure awaits us tomorrow.