Ello ello! So we thoroughly enjoyed Ubud on Bali, it's such a laid back place, and we stayed in a hostel with our own veranda and chaise longes outside where we had banana pancakes and java coffee every morning. It's monsoon season at the moment so there have been some spectacular storms too, but its still so hot we just sit outside watching the rain pour down. In Ubud we caught a traditional Kecak fire dance which was based on an old Hindu myth and used 100 dancers with the women in extravagant, beautiful Hindu outfits, went to the Monkey Forest where you can't MOVE for monkeys (and to think in Iguazu I spent hours searching for a glimpse of one!) and just took in the temples that stand on pretty much every street corner. I didn't want to leave.
But leave we did, heading back to Kuta for christmas. This time our room at the Sari Bali Cottages cost about 3 pounds each a night, and for that we got a double room with en suite, breakfast and a huge pool. We visited the idyllic Jimbaran Bay on the Bukit peninsula in the very south of the island on Christmas eve, watching the sunset there and then heading back into Kuta for arctic cold Bintangs (always necessary, the heat NEVER lets up) we also explored the island on a moped (don't be mad mum!) and I found the holy grail... a REAL Topshop! Obviously I was so excited I almost wept. On Christmas day we found a bookshop and swapped all our old South American guide books for new ones lazed on the beach before heading into town for a - sort of - traditional roast dinner. There was turkey, there was stuffing, but there was also mango, which was unexpected. I also got to speak to my mum very, very briefly on the quietest line ever in a room full of strangers. Not the best of conditions but so comforting to hear her voice on the big day when we are so far apart.
On boxing day we took the 3pm bus to Yogyakarta on Java, a 16 hour journey that goes onto a car ferry between the islands. The bus was new, air conditioned and comfortable, but the drivers here are crazy and certainly don't stick to 70 like the drivers in South America (in Argentina they have a monitor on the bus that automatically makes it slow down if they go too fast) so it was a sleepless night. We arrived in Yogyakarta at 7am and took a cab to the Sosrowijayan district of the city and went from hostel to hostel being told they were all full because it's Christmas (weird, seeing as it's a predominantly Muslim nation). Eventually we found somewhere, small and a little overpriced but fine to rest our weary bones for a night until we found somewhere better. Which we just have, the new place has a pool with a waterfall and a lovely little room, but it is my first experience of... deep breath... a squat toilet. Eek! But hey, I've been to Glastonbury. I can do this.
Yogya is the political and cultural centre of Java so we've been exploring the batik galleries (and learnt all about the process) and trawling the buzzing markets and riding around on tuk tuks. It feels incredibly authentic here, much more like the 'real' Indonesia than Bali. There aren't any other Western tourists around, but as usual the Indonesian people are charming, relaxed and polite. The only problem is it's still as hot as Bali, but as the island is Islamic we have to cover up, so I'm wearing jeans and long sleeves in the sweltering heat. There are mosques everywhere, and the soundtrack to the island is the haunting muezzins call to prayer which starts at 4am every morning and never really stops. But actually I find it quite beautiful, we got up at 4am this morning to visit Borobudur and I popped out onto the dark balcony to listen to the singing and watch the monsoon rains.
So, to Borobudur! One of the seven wonders of the world and the largest Buddhist Temple in existence. It's so huge you can't take a picture of the whole thing at once, and covered in ornate carvings and Buddhist stupas. It was built in the 8th century, but covered in volcanic ash in 1008 and only rediscovered by the rather amazing sir Stanford Raffles in 18?? (I can't quite remember the date). Look up Raffles if you can, he was the most extraordinary Englishman and did an awful lot for Java. After we arrived back in Yogya we visited the Kraton, the palace of the Sultan, then had a great lunch at Via Via. Tomorow we plan to check out a few more markets, catch some traditional dancing and Gamelan and maybe go to the Kota area of the city which has been a huge centre for silver for almost a century, so I'll sharpen my bartering skills (which are getting better by the day) and treat myself to a bangle.
Right, I've gone on quite enough (although I'm sure I'm forgetting loads) so i'll say goodbye for now. I think it's dinnertime. Noodles anyone? I can't remember ever eating anything else...
Monday 28 December 2009
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Kuta (Bali), Indonesia...
Right, sorry I am going to focus today and tell you a little about Indonesia where we've been for the last five or so (god knows) days. Firstly it is the hottest place I have ever been to in my entire life. Possibly Hawaii was as hot but we stayed in an air conditioned hotel whereas here we are staying in a very pleasant place with lots of Hindu offerings and sculptures and beautiful flowers in the garden, but the fan in our room will not be rushed. It goes round at a most leisurely pace and simply doesn't do a whole lot. We also have a cold water shower (but in this heat that is just fine with me) and a few companions staying with us known as Mr Gekko and Mr Cockroach. But it's 2 pounds a night, just a stroll from the beach, so whatcha gonna do?
We're staying in Kuta which is the party capital of Bali and the place where the Bali bombings took place in 2002 and 2005. We have visited the memorial on the main street which is very sad. Many of the names of the 202 people who died in the 2002 bombing are English. The next beaches are called Legian and Seminyak and we've spent alot of time strolling up and down the bath-warm waters and checking out bars and restaurants along the way. We found Ku-de-ta in Seminyak last night which is like something out of Wallpaper magazine, all reclining sofa bed and pools and fountains and lights looking out over the beach, so we splashed out on a couple of cocktails and lay on our beds looking out to sea watching the sun set and the sky turn pink and then deep red. Bali sunsets are the most beautiful in the world.
What else? Well Kuta is mainly windy cobbled streets and absolutely teeming with locals and tourists on motorbikes whizzing through the streets and also hundreds of hawkers shouting 'Mister, mister, surf lesson? T-shirt? Fruit? Motorbike? Yes?' But to be expected in such a touristy place. Tonight is our last night in Kuta and then tomorrow we're off to Ubud which is supposed to give a better sense of what a proper Balinese village is like. We'll be back in Kuta for Christmas and there is a bar called the Secret Garden Inn which does an English Christmas dinner for 100,000 Rupiah, which is about 10 dollars so we'll probably book that.
That's another thing, Bali is so ridiculously, ridiculously cheap, especially compared to Australia where we were shedding money by the minute - here you can get a delicious meal of pad thai or nasi goreng and a bottle of Bintang beer or Bali Hai for about one pound fifty! And I've never had so many yummy fruit juices and noodles and prawn crackers (they even eat them for breakfast out here). If you ask for a pineapple juice they don't go to a carton and pour it out, they pick up a pineapple and stick it in a juicer. Anyway, we're off to spend our last day in Kuta on the beach and catch some waves with our body board. Byesy bye...
We're staying in Kuta which is the party capital of Bali and the place where the Bali bombings took place in 2002 and 2005. We have visited the memorial on the main street which is very sad. Many of the names of the 202 people who died in the 2002 bombing are English. The next beaches are called Legian and Seminyak and we've spent alot of time strolling up and down the bath-warm waters and checking out bars and restaurants along the way. We found Ku-de-ta in Seminyak last night which is like something out of Wallpaper magazine, all reclining sofa bed and pools and fountains and lights looking out over the beach, so we splashed out on a couple of cocktails and lay on our beds looking out to sea watching the sun set and the sky turn pink and then deep red. Bali sunsets are the most beautiful in the world.
What else? Well Kuta is mainly windy cobbled streets and absolutely teeming with locals and tourists on motorbikes whizzing through the streets and also hundreds of hawkers shouting 'Mister, mister, surf lesson? T-shirt? Fruit? Motorbike? Yes?' But to be expected in such a touristy place. Tonight is our last night in Kuta and then tomorrow we're off to Ubud which is supposed to give a better sense of what a proper Balinese village is like. We'll be back in Kuta for Christmas and there is a bar called the Secret Garden Inn which does an English Christmas dinner for 100,000 Rupiah, which is about 10 dollars so we'll probably book that.
That's another thing, Bali is so ridiculously, ridiculously cheap, especially compared to Australia where we were shedding money by the minute - here you can get a delicious meal of pad thai or nasi goreng and a bottle of Bintang beer or Bali Hai for about one pound fifty! And I've never had so many yummy fruit juices and noodles and prawn crackers (they even eat them for breakfast out here). If you ask for a pineapple juice they don't go to a carton and pour it out, they pick up a pineapple and stick it in a juicer. Anyway, we're off to spend our last day in Kuta on the beach and catch some waves with our body board. Byesy bye...
Monday 14 December 2009
Sydney, Australia...
Goodness me, BIG slap on the wrist I have been terribly slack on here. I think last time I wrote I was in Chile, well I've since been to Australia and I'm now in Indonesia. Let's back track... so Valparaiso and Vina del Mar were wonderful, my favourite South American cities. The Chilean people are fantastic, so funny and dry and smart. I found Chile to be very sophisticated, you can see why it's on the brink of becoming South America's first first world country.
Next we headed for Australia which was a 14 hour flight to New Zealand followed by a connection onto Sydney, so quite exhausting, and nightmarish when we arrived and found no space in ANY hostels at all (some festival or something). Anyway, we finally found a friendly little place called the Sydney Star in a gay area in Darlinghurst and kicked back for a week. Mainly we shopped and ate and saw the sights (Opera House, Harbour Bridge, the Rocks, caught the ferry to Manly beach) and spent lots of time eating fish and chips and drinking fruit smoothies on Bondi which I have to say is my favourite beach in the world thus far, even better than Copacabana in Rio. I also thought the women on Bondi were the most beautiful I had seen anywhere. They all seemed to look like leggy, tanned models, in an impossibly 'un-efforty' way.
I also had nights out catching up with two friends who I used to work with in London and now live in Sydney, and my friend Gina took me on a night drive through Valcluse, a.k.a. the Australian OC. With all the sparkly lights and the sea it was very romantic! Finally we spent our last night at Watson's Bay with some old colleagues of Danny's, which was breathtaking at sunset. I adored Sydney, it had most of what we have in London but with wonderful weather and a perfect beach aswell. I'd love to work out there for a year or so. But much as I loved oz, we couldn't really afford to travel there (we seemed to be burning money, even though we were being very careful) so I was quite relieved when we moved on, if only for my wallet's sake.
Anyway, we were then supposed to fly to Darwin and connect on to Denpasar in Bali, but there was a cyclone in Darwin so we were rerouted to Melbourne (which is in the opposite direction) so after a very long day of travelling we landed in Bali at about 11pm where it was about 30 degrees. And it hasn't dropped anything below that since, it is ridiculously hot here, so much so that we were over the moon to find a tiny air conditioned ATM booth and have spent as much time as possible in there. Anyway, we've been staying in Kuta in Bali which is kind of like the Balinese San Antonio, packed with clubbers and suchlike so we'll head off soon to Ubud, which is a more authentic Balinese town and has lots of Hindu architecture and a really laid back vibe. There is much more to tell but this is costing me so I'll have to cut it short for now... With love from Indonesia!
Next we headed for Australia which was a 14 hour flight to New Zealand followed by a connection onto Sydney, so quite exhausting, and nightmarish when we arrived and found no space in ANY hostels at all (some festival or something). Anyway, we finally found a friendly little place called the Sydney Star in a gay area in Darlinghurst and kicked back for a week. Mainly we shopped and ate and saw the sights (Opera House, Harbour Bridge, the Rocks, caught the ferry to Manly beach) and spent lots of time eating fish and chips and drinking fruit smoothies on Bondi which I have to say is my favourite beach in the world thus far, even better than Copacabana in Rio. I also thought the women on Bondi were the most beautiful I had seen anywhere. They all seemed to look like leggy, tanned models, in an impossibly 'un-efforty' way.
I also had nights out catching up with two friends who I used to work with in London and now live in Sydney, and my friend Gina took me on a night drive through Valcluse, a.k.a. the Australian OC. With all the sparkly lights and the sea it was very romantic! Finally we spent our last night at Watson's Bay with some old colleagues of Danny's, which was breathtaking at sunset. I adored Sydney, it had most of what we have in London but with wonderful weather and a perfect beach aswell. I'd love to work out there for a year or so. But much as I loved oz, we couldn't really afford to travel there (we seemed to be burning money, even though we were being very careful) so I was quite relieved when we moved on, if only for my wallet's sake.
Anyway, we were then supposed to fly to Darwin and connect on to Denpasar in Bali, but there was a cyclone in Darwin so we were rerouted to Melbourne (which is in the opposite direction) so after a very long day of travelling we landed in Bali at about 11pm where it was about 30 degrees. And it hasn't dropped anything below that since, it is ridiculously hot here, so much so that we were over the moon to find a tiny air conditioned ATM booth and have spent as much time as possible in there. Anyway, we've been staying in Kuta in Bali which is kind of like the Balinese San Antonio, packed with clubbers and suchlike so we'll head off soon to Ubud, which is a more authentic Balinese town and has lots of Hindu architecture and a really laid back vibe. There is much more to tell but this is costing me so I'll have to cut it short for now... With love from Indonesia!
Tuesday 1 December 2009
Arica, San Pedro de Atacama, Valparaiso & Santiago, Chile...
Ok... What have I been doing... Lets think. Yes, so we took an overnight bus from Cusco to Arica in Chile, which was all a bit drawn out with the border formalities. The bus company arranged for a nice man (to be fair he could've been a dodgy man, how do you ever really know? But at least he didn't run off with our passports) came and met us at the bus station in Tacna, on the Peruvian side, and took us in a taxi to the International bus station, where we filled out all the obligatory forms and then he put us in a collectivo (fixed price shared taxi) which takes you the 50 kilometres or so to immigration, where you get stamped (your passport stamped obvs, not stamped on) and your bags scanned, and then back in the collectivo to Aricain Chile. We got to Arica at about 11am and the next bus to the Atacama desert wasn´t until 10pm that night so we took an unscheduled stop and stayed the night in Arica. It´s un-touristy as there isn't a lot there, but it was a great for relaxing on the beach for a day, and sitting in the lovely outdoor bars and restaurants watching Chileans go about their day.
The next night we took the bus to San Pedro de Atacama, which is a tiny little oasis town in the desert, and my favourite place in all of South America. Oh and the bus journey there proved that I have learnt some patience during this trip - it´s pretty normal in all the countries we´ve been to so far for the police to come on board the bus and check your passport and stamps several times in one trip, but this time we had to get off the bus, twice, once at midnight and once at 4.30am and everyone had to take all their luggage out of the hold and have it searched. Bearing in mind most of the people were Chileans who obviously lived in the desert and had popped over to Arica (a mere eleven hours) to do their Christmas shopping, this took hours. But the police were very nice to us (the only foreigners on the bus) and I didn´t even get irritated. I´ve changed!
Anway, back to San Pedro, the place is only a few dusty streets and houses (situated in the world´s driest desert) that look like they´re made out of mud (I think the population is about 2000) but it´s got a gorgeous little plaza with a whitewashed church, and it´s a great jumping off point for exploring the geysers, lagoons, moonscapes and salt flats nearby. We stayed at hostel Florida, a cute little place with a hammock strewn courtyard and hot water. We booked two trips, one to watch the sunset over the Valle de la Luna or Valley of the Moon, and another to watch the sunrise at the El Tatio geysers.
For the Valle de la Luna trip our lovely guide Gustavo (who I thought looked a bit like a Chilean version of Russell Brand) took us to Death Valley and showed us rock formations and volcanoes, and then we walked up a huge sand dune to reach the top to view the changing colours of the lunar landscape for sunset. The next morning we got up at 3.30am for pick up at 4am to head to the geysers. We had a lovely guide called Ignacio who but a big bag of raw eggs and chocolate milk in one of the bubbling geysers when we arrived, which boiled the eggs and heated up the milk so we could eat breakfast while watching the sunrise. Despite it being minus two degrees at 5am it was categorically the best breakfast I have ever eaten in my life! The geysers are most active in the morning, and some of the holes in the ground seem to do nothing until a huge surge of water bubbles up and steam rises into the air as far as the eyes can see. The steam isn´t too hot, just warm so you can disappear into the steam (and pretend you´re at a disco, smoke machine style). Once the sun came up (and thankfully the temperature heated up very quickly) we all headed to a nearby thermal mineral pool for a dip, before travelling back to San Pedro via a tiny little village (I forget the name now) which has just 40 residents and the main economy is llama. So we saw some cute llamas in the village (they are domesticated like pets and just munch on grass all day and wear little accessories so their owners can recognise them) and then we had some llama on the... barbecue. Which obviously we felt a little guilty about, but my my did it taste good.
Anyway, I am babbling on, so I shall cut this short. But we just took a 22 hour bus from San Pedro to Santiago, and then a two hour bus on to Valparaiso where we have just arrived to. It's gorgeous, all multicoloured houses and winding streets in the hills, and we´re staying at an adorable family run hostel called en Cerro Residencia. We´re off to explore Valpo today, then tomorow we plan to hit the white sandy beaches at the fancy resort of Vina del Mar, about 15 minutes away, and then it´s back to Santiago and to the airport to head to Australia. Sniff. South America you've been wonderful. I'm going to miss you!
The next night we took the bus to San Pedro de Atacama, which is a tiny little oasis town in the desert, and my favourite place in all of South America. Oh and the bus journey there proved that I have learnt some patience during this trip - it´s pretty normal in all the countries we´ve been to so far for the police to come on board the bus and check your passport and stamps several times in one trip, but this time we had to get off the bus, twice, once at midnight and once at 4.30am and everyone had to take all their luggage out of the hold and have it searched. Bearing in mind most of the people were Chileans who obviously lived in the desert and had popped over to Arica (a mere eleven hours) to do their Christmas shopping, this took hours. But the police were very nice to us (the only foreigners on the bus) and I didn´t even get irritated. I´ve changed!
Anway, back to San Pedro, the place is only a few dusty streets and houses (situated in the world´s driest desert) that look like they´re made out of mud (I think the population is about 2000) but it´s got a gorgeous little plaza with a whitewashed church, and it´s a great jumping off point for exploring the geysers, lagoons, moonscapes and salt flats nearby. We stayed at hostel Florida, a cute little place with a hammock strewn courtyard and hot water. We booked two trips, one to watch the sunset over the Valle de la Luna or Valley of the Moon, and another to watch the sunrise at the El Tatio geysers.
For the Valle de la Luna trip our lovely guide Gustavo (who I thought looked a bit like a Chilean version of Russell Brand) took us to Death Valley and showed us rock formations and volcanoes, and then we walked up a huge sand dune to reach the top to view the changing colours of the lunar landscape for sunset. The next morning we got up at 3.30am for pick up at 4am to head to the geysers. We had a lovely guide called Ignacio who but a big bag of raw eggs and chocolate milk in one of the bubbling geysers when we arrived, which boiled the eggs and heated up the milk so we could eat breakfast while watching the sunrise. Despite it being minus two degrees at 5am it was categorically the best breakfast I have ever eaten in my life! The geysers are most active in the morning, and some of the holes in the ground seem to do nothing until a huge surge of water bubbles up and steam rises into the air as far as the eyes can see. The steam isn´t too hot, just warm so you can disappear into the steam (and pretend you´re at a disco, smoke machine style). Once the sun came up (and thankfully the temperature heated up very quickly) we all headed to a nearby thermal mineral pool for a dip, before travelling back to San Pedro via a tiny little village (I forget the name now) which has just 40 residents and the main economy is llama. So we saw some cute llamas in the village (they are domesticated like pets and just munch on grass all day and wear little accessories so their owners can recognise them) and then we had some llama on the... barbecue. Which obviously we felt a little guilty about, but my my did it taste good.
Anyway, I am babbling on, so I shall cut this short. But we just took a 22 hour bus from San Pedro to Santiago, and then a two hour bus on to Valparaiso where we have just arrived to. It's gorgeous, all multicoloured houses and winding streets in the hills, and we´re staying at an adorable family run hostel called en Cerro Residencia. We´re off to explore Valpo today, then tomorow we plan to hit the white sandy beaches at the fancy resort of Vina del Mar, about 15 minutes away, and then it´s back to Santiago and to the airport to head to Australia. Sniff. South America you've been wonderful. I'm going to miss you!
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