Welcome to Ruudje's Weblog!!

This blog hasn't been updated since
Why?? Facebook came along... No need to keep updating the same stuff on two different places.


Monday, January 29, 2007

The end is near...

Please sir, buy here!! Give me good luck!!

Bali... Beautiful island, completely different from Lombok and Java. In Ubud they try to sell you nothing but pieces of art, while in Kuta they want to sell you t-shirts, sarongs, shorts and more "useless" stuff. Nevertheless, it is always funny to see what prices you can get for their products. For a sarong they will start with anything between 50.000 and 120.000 rupiah and you can get them for around 15.000 to 20.000. What do you mean, hard bargaining..?!



Surfing is the second biggest thing in Kuta. However, the waves didn't look that exciting and I didn't want to spend my entire day on a surfboard. Maybe I will try it some time in the future.
The third thing you are supposed to do while in Kuta is: drinking!! Beer is relatively cheap, especially during the happy hours. Their are also a lot of clubs, but we didn't feel like clubbing at the moment so we just did the beer drinking part :-) haha.



Yesterday we were supposed to fly with AirAsia to Jakarta at 19.20. However when we wanted to check-in they looked at us with surprised faces... didn't we receive the text message? No because they stole my mobile phone a while ago. Oh... well, the flight has been delayed until 22.00 :-( Later that night they changed that time to 23.00 but at least we were in the air!! Arrived at a hostel in Jakarta around 1.30 am... better luck on Wednesday!!

The good part about the delay was that we received a voucher for a free meal at the airport McDonald's. So we ordered that mail and a McChicken Menu. That was possible, but would take around 15 minutes... waiting 15 minutes at a Mac?? Strange! After 15 minutes we suddenly saw a motorbike approaching and a guy wearing a McDonald's jackets jumps off with a take-away bag. Our food... haha. But he forgot the French fries so he had to drive back to the down town Mac to get them. Hilarious!!



Just 2 more days in Jakarta and then I will be back home. Feels kind of strange, but good at the same time!!

See you soon!
Rudi

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Bye Bye Lombok

Gili Trawangan is a small paradise!!

The minute I arrived at Gili Trawangan I forgot all about the stolen wallet! Had some fun days there doing absolutely nothing :-) Also went for two dives and saw some great underwater creatures like turtles and cuttlefish!!! Inge got her first underwater experience through the PADI Discover Scuba Diving course. She really enjoyed it! My taint is back to a nice brown one and the only unfortunate thing that happened is that I got some kind of rash on the last day... might have something to do wih the food, drinks, sun or my new shower creme but I am not sure yet. I went to a doctor and he said it was an allergic reaction to something... I have antibiotics and anti-itch pills but still have some small problems with it :-(





Yesterday was again a long day of travelling but currently I am on Bali in a place called Ubud. Nothing to do here except to look at lots and lots of artwork they expect you to buy... haha! Did a great motorbike trip to a lake and volcano. More details will follow when I find a cheap and reliable internet connection to play with... hopefully that will be before I am back home ;-)

Probably my best picture ever!! Fishing @ Pangandaran!


The Borobudur


Sunset @ Gunung Bromo


Relaxing on Gili Trawangan


For now, that's all folks!!
Just a few more days of holiday and then I am back in Holland. But not for long... France, be prepared we are coming again!!! And soon after that... China!!

Houdoe,
Ruudje

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Hati Hati

Careful, careful...

After visiting the very nice city of Yogyakarta and an early trip to Bromo with Barney and Tari it was time for a very long bus trip from Probolingo to Lombok (read 20 hours). No problem except that someone thought it was necessary to sneak towards me and steal my bag with in it amongst others my wallet, mobile phone and camera. Luckely we stopped right after I found out and with my last remaining money I called my mother to block my ATM card and phone. Spent approximately 3 hours at the police station in Lombok to get a report for the insurance, but it all worked out. Again a bad experience in Indonesia, not my favorite country so far!!



However, Mount Bromo was great. Got up at 3.45 am and took a horse to the volcano to see the sunrise. The smell was so bad I had the worst astma attack in years. The views however, were absolutely stunning!!! I really want to show you the pictures because I have some great ones, but Internet in Indonesia sucks!!



Tomorrow morning GILI TRAWANGAN!!! Beach, sun and Bintang!!!

De mazzel,
Ruudje

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Nasi, Mihun and Satay

Indonesian food is "LEKKER"!!!

The trip to Pangadaran took a little longer than expected (although you really should not expect anything when you are traveling in an Asian country...). The bus was supposed to leave at 10 am from the bus station. Around 10 they told us the bus was delayed and would arrive around 11. That changed to 12 and luckily we met an American with a guide who had the same problem. The guide arranged minibus transportation for us at 15.00, no stops, in 5 hours to Pangadaran... NOT!!! After driving around for one hour and 15 minutes we finally left at a bus station approximately 150 meters from our hotel... The good thing was that we met Steve, Barney and Tari and had some company for the trip! Got ourselves a nice room and went to bed early.



The next day we met up with a German girl and her mother for a trip through the national forest to a waterfall. Beautiful trip with some monkeys, but the guy at the top of the waterfall forgot to pour water down it while we where there... Spend the afternoon on a beach!



The second day we had a great day on an organised tour to the Green Canyon. Visited several factories on the way there, did some swimming in the gorgeous canyon and had a great fish meal on the way back! The only unfortunate event of the day was that Inge hurt her foot and leg while slipping down some rocks at the canyon. Nothing time won't heal!! That night we (Barney, Tari, Inge and I) took a night bus to Yogyakarta.



At 4.30 am we arrived at the Borobudur, where we had to wait until six when the thing opened. We were the very first tourists around so we got an unspoiled view of a very nice temple!! After this visit our driver took us to the city and we checked into a guesthouse. In the afternoon we visited the Sultan's Palace and several other fun things in the city. At 20.00 we visited a Ramayana Ballet. People wearing beautiful dresses and showing some kind of religious story. It was a little boring in the beginning, but we really enjoyed the end! Just one of the things you just have to do while you are in the cultural capital of Java :-)





Today we took an early train to Surabaya and are hoping to go to the Bromo volcano in the afternoon. Hope everything works out!!!

Greetingzzz,
Rudi

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Het nieuwe jaar in!

Via Thailand naar Indonesie

In Bangkok heb ik eigenlijk niet zo heel veel speciaals gedaan. Slaapplaats gezocht en paar leuke mensen ontmoet (Habib en Hoessein, 2 Zweden...). Naast de onvermijdelijke Ko Sam Road met alle toeristen en een avondje "pingpongballenshows" kijken in Patpong (Red Light District van BK), niks speciaals gedaan. De Thaise TukTuks zijn enorm gaaf, klinken als racewagens en zo rijden ze ook... grappig dus!





De 31e ben ik met Shoshannah met AirAsia naar Sarut Thani gevlogen om van daaruit naar het feesteiland Koh Paghnan te gaan. Oudejaarsavond de spullen bij wat Australiers op de kamer gedropt en meteen naar Hat Rin gegaan waar het feest zou moeten zijn. En dat was het ook, naar schatting zo'n 40.000 mensen op het strand om oud op nieuw te vieren. Vroeg in de morgen m'n spullen opgehaald en een bungalowtje op het rustige deel van het eiland gezocht. Naast superleuke brommertochtjes eigenlijk niks anders gedaan dan op het strand gelegen :-) Behalve 3 januari want dat was de de dag dat de beruchte Ful Moon Party plaats zou vinden. Ook weer enorm leuk, maar het was zelfs minder druk dan oud op nieuw. Vooral een keertje naar toe gaan om mee te maken, maar op zich is het niks anders dan goeie muziek, met veel drank en gekke mensen op het strand.





De 6e 's nachts met een nachtboot terug gevaren naar Sarut Thani om daar 's middags weer in het vliegtuig richting Bangkok te springen. In Bangkok lekker wat rondgewandeld tussen alle andere toeristen en de 8e 's morgens om 5 uur weer naar het vliegveld gegaan omdat mijn vlucht naar Jakarta om 7.10 zou vertrekken. Een korte stop in Kuala Lumpur en om 16 uur was ik in Indonesie. Inge d'r vliegtuig zou om 17.20 landen en dat deed het dan ook mooi. Om 18uur kwam ze dan ook eindelijk door de poortjes en waren we weer samen. Ondanks de moeiheid van ons allebei, meteen in een bus naar Bogor gestapt.

In Bogor hebben we de botanische tuinen bezocht en gewoon genoten van weer een heel ander deel van Azie. De mensen zijn extreem vriendelijk, maar het lijkt wel alsof we in een dierentuin zijn. En dan zijn Inge en ik dus de aapjes. Iedereen begroet ons en kijkt ons ongeneerd na... of dat nu aan mijn 1.89m ligt of aan Inge d'r "blote" verschijning dat weten we niet zeker ;-) Het slapen in Bogor verliep niet geheel probleemloos... Aangezien er nogal wat moslims in Indo wonen hebben ze ook heel veel moskeeën, waaronder eentje vlak naast ons hotel te bouwen. En om de een of andere reden vinden ze het nodig om om 4 uur 's nachts het gebed te beginnen. Op zich niet erg, maar ze sturen dat kabaal via enorme luidsprekers de wereld in en ook onze kamer binnen!! Dus 2 nachten achter elkaar van 4 tot 5 wakker gelegen...



Gister een beetje mislukte dag gehad, want we wilden uitstappen op de Puncak Pass, onze tassen droppen, gaan wandelen en 's avonds door naar Bandung. Dat droppen van de tassen en het vinden van een wandelplek mislukte dus, waardoor we in een of ander vaag stadje terecht kwamen en eigenlijk meteen doorgegaan zijn naar Bandung. Daar hebben we vandaag uitgeslapen, "Jeans street" bezocht, museumpje gepakt en via wat winkeltjes terug naar ons hotel gelopen.



Morgen proberen we met een bus naar het strand bij Pangandaran te gaan. Zien hoe dat verloopt!

Big Hug,
Ruudje


(Foto's komen binnenkort als ik normaal internet kan vinden!)

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Even snel tussendoor

Jaja, ik leef nog!

Heel veel plezier gehad met oud op nieuw en de Full Moon Party. Inge is de 8e aangekomen op Jakarta en we zijn nu samen Indonesie aan het verkennen. Indonesie is weer een hele andere ervaring dan alle andere Aziatische landen, maar de mensen zijn geweldig aardig!! Het reizen verloopt niet geheel probleemloos, maar de stranddagen komen eraan. Weg met de busproblemen en op naar zon, zee en strand!!!

Als ik snel en betrouwbaar internet vind komt er weer een lange update!!

Ciao,
Ruudje