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

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

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

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