Wow, 2 blog posts in one day...I'm on a roll. Kate and I are currently waiting for a tour bus, it will still be about 45 minutes, so I figured I would continue the tales of our adventure. Note - The Bus we are waiting for is going to Vientiane (Laos) from Hanoi (Vietnam) and takes 30 hours Vietnam time. I am a little concerned, but hey...it builds character.
Anyway, as mentioned before, we stayed only a couple of nights in Muine which between our arrival and departure times meant we had one full solid day in Muine. Some great views of fishing boats and the sea here....
We caught our 'sleeper bus' in the morning only to be informed that this particular leg of the journey was not a sleeper bus at all, it was an oversized van ready to be packed far beyond it's recommended (and safe) limit. I was grimacing a little bit until the people in the seat behind me (the furthest back seat) we're asked to make room for one more vietnamese girl...on their lap! Seriously, there was no more room, and the bus driver made them put this poor little girl on their lap (she wasn't even that little, probably a teenager). Anyway, after witnessing this hardship for the travelers behind us I decided I would save my complaints for this blog. We actually talked to them a little bit and ended up spending some time with them in Dalat sharing a $4 two-six of Vodka. prepairing for our long hike the next day.
In Dalat we arrived midday and were dropped at a hotel where we enjoyed our most spacious room yet for $10USD/night. This room was amazing, you could have fit an entire family into it, there was 1 twin bed and 2 double beds....all for just Katie and I!!! The price even included breakfast. After relaxing and some small foot tours the first day of our arrival we got ready for a long hike up one of the mountains near Dalat. The name escapes me right now, but it was 2169M above sea level. It was a decent little hike. We rented scooters and joined up with a couple from Holland for the journey to the top, taking us about 4.5 hours there and back. The last kilometer was serious hiking with all of us keeping at least 3 points of body contact on solid ground at all times. The feeling of accomplishment and breathtaking views from the top definitely made up for the difficult and tense climb going up. We were very fortunate on this day because soon after we were out of the difficult part of the descent down, it started raining. Shortly after it started raining a torrential tropical downpour began. It was probably the most intense rain I have ever seen and definitely the worst rain I have ever hiked in. A river had literally formed following the traveled way back down the road and everything was soaked. If i had shampoo and soap I could have had a full on shower. It was warm though and we were on our way down, so our spirits never faltered (at least mine didn't...). Upon arrival at the bottom we had to ride our scooter back with soaked clothes and the rain pelting into my cold wet skin like drops of hail.....only somewhat enjoyable....still better than a mountain bike as some of our co-travelers had opted to use for transportation that day.
My hands were completely numb by the time we reached our hotel and we spent the rest of that day in long clothes eating hot soup, hot coffee and baked treats from a local bakery. We cuddled up and watched a couple of 90's movies that night - All of the hotels in Vietnam have HBO and Star Movies channels and they show the same set of 90's movies over and over, but this was early enough in the trip that we hadn't seen all of them yet. ;)
The next day we opted for a motorbike again. Motorbikes, or Scooters as we call them are a great way to get around the smaller cities, especially if you already have some experience form back home. You can really see the country side, you save money on tours, and you have nobody's schedule but your own. If i ever do this trip again, I will bring a much smaller backpack so that I can motorbike all the way from Saigon to Hanoi (or vice versa).....
Anyway, the next day in Dalat we toured around on the bike and visited waterfalls, lakes, temples and monuments in and out of the city limits. I even had the chance to feed a domestic elephant some oranges I had bought the day before. It was really neat to see such a gigantic creature acting so calm and well behaved. We didn't ride it this day, but we are hoping we can maybe ride one in Laos as it used to be known as the land of 1000 elephants./...my bus is here, I have to go, sorry for the abrupt ending...
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Vietnam Adventure Continues....
Katie and I decided to take an open tour sleeper bus to cross Vietnam North to South. For $43USD you can take a bus that stops at all the major cities and get off and on as you please staying at each destination as long as you like. It is called a "sleeper bus' and it is basically a greyhound style bus except that the seats have been replaced with Motor-home style, Vietnamese sized beds. While it is more comfortable than sitting upright an entire trip, the smaller size makes straightening your legs nearly impossible except for the few stretches where you let your legs into the aisles.
The bus left Saigon at 7PM Vietnam time (read - 8:15PM). We arrived in Muine (our first stop) in the middle of the night at about 12:45 AM. While Saigon is a city that never sleeps and hotels are available anytime of day, unfortunately Muine, as we found out to our displeasure, has a curfew for the entire town of about 12AM. We walked the dark deserted streets with a persistent motorbike driver following close behind us, the only other living being besides the noises in the trees, barking dogs, and very large rats walking the empty lanes. While we continually said 'no thanks, we'll walk' he kept leaving then returning "I have hotel, cheap price, only 20 dollar US". We saw lots of hotels advertising rooms for $10, the problem is all of these hotels were closed and all the lights off. After walking for entirely too long with my travel backpack we came upon a Hotel advertising New Hotel, rooms $10US. While the hotel looked nice, it still looked quite dark. I had enough though, so i ventured through the gate looking for any kind of lights. I found 2 people watching TV in one of the rooms with an open door. Turns out they were the hotel owners. They put us in a lovely room with all the amenities and even a few extras (drinking water, soap, shampoo) . Turns out this hotel had only been open for 3 days and so Katie and I may have been the first people ever to stay in that particular room. We were exhausted from our 'sleeper bus' ride and walking hundreds of meters with all our gear. We laid down and had a wonderful sleep.
The next morning we awoke to a welcome surprise of minimal horn honking. Muine is a smaller town placed right along the china sea. We opted for a more expensive breakfast so that we could eat overlooking the wonderful sea. We placed our order, however we realized that while Katie's item was a good choice, there was a similar option with that food item as well as free coffee and other side items for a mere 5000 more dong. We hurriedly got the waitresses attention and changed our order. No problem. Katie's food arrived and I thought "Wow! I should have got what you ordered, look at all that food!" Thankfully she shared with me. When the bill arrived it was all explained. There was a slight misunderstanding (who would have thought). Rather than changing our order, she simply added the set menu (which included our original food item) to our existing order....I guess common sense isn't as common around here.
Quick Lesson - Don't try to change a food order or ask for substitutions, even if it is within 10 seconds. At another place when Katie asked for a different kind of bread with her eggs. What we got was 4 french rolls instead of 1....all the same kind, but with tomatoes on the side??
Our hotel was called Muine dreams, and they were very helpful. For about $4 I rented a scooter and Kate and I took off for the fabled Sand dunes a little way out of town. The red dunes are only about 2 KM from town, but the more impressive White dunes are about 20KM out of town and much more fun for a Vietnam motorcycle adventure. If you plan on visiting, kids will crowd you soliciting rides on what we call crazy carpets back home. At one point Katie explained we called these things crazy carpets and they all thought she was nuts. Even if you say no to a ride, they follow you all over the dunes. After telling him my name was Dave, I was continually asked, "Hey Tim, c'mon, go for a ride". I finally made a deal, I would give him 30K for 3 rides on a slope of my choice. He very reluctantly agreed. Once the slope was chosen all of the children (about 12 of them) work together. They line either side of the chosen route and start shoveling the colder, moister sand under the top layer onto the track. While they are doing this, I am getting a quick lesson on the best way to ride the crazy carpet (and I'm still Tim). Once everything is set, off I go. One of the kids pushes me with all his might, and I must admit, the ride was really exciting, although a lot messier than actual crazy carpet riding. I had sand covering everything. After my 3 rides the kid insisted I give him a tip as well because he gave me a good push. The funny thing was the kid who pushed me was actually over in the group hassling Katie and didn't even mention the word tip, or money for that matter. I found out later when I arrived at the White dunes that they are the place to rent a carpet as they are cheaper and (as I noticed as well) the slopes are much steeper....While it was tempting, I was already covered in enough sand and couldn't stand anymore.
Muine's biggest draw is the Sand Dunes and they were well worth it. The trip to the white dunes was a great motorcycle ride through relative empty winding roads along the coast and through the hill sides and occasional village. When we were unsure of directions, we simply stopped and asked someone and through a series of hand gestures were always back on our way confident in the direction we were headed. I'll have pictures up one day, but basically the sand dunes are as described. A huge expanse of red sand dunes (imagine your built in Windows XP desktop) or the more impressive White dunes are an even bigger expanse of white soft sand (imagine Tattouine). I am not entirely sure how the dunes were formed as they border on relatively fertile farming grounds, but I am sure a little bit of internet research could answer that one for us....Anyway...next stop Dalat!!
The bus left Saigon at 7PM Vietnam time (read - 8:15PM). We arrived in Muine (our first stop) in the middle of the night at about 12:45 AM. While Saigon is a city that never sleeps and hotels are available anytime of day, unfortunately Muine, as we found out to our displeasure, has a curfew for the entire town of about 12AM. We walked the dark deserted streets with a persistent motorbike driver following close behind us, the only other living being besides the noises in the trees, barking dogs, and very large rats walking the empty lanes. While we continually said 'no thanks, we'll walk' he kept leaving then returning "I have hotel, cheap price, only 20 dollar US". We saw lots of hotels advertising rooms for $10, the problem is all of these hotels were closed and all the lights off. After walking for entirely too long with my travel backpack we came upon a Hotel advertising New Hotel, rooms $10US. While the hotel looked nice, it still looked quite dark. I had enough though, so i ventured through the gate looking for any kind of lights. I found 2 people watching TV in one of the rooms with an open door. Turns out they were the hotel owners. They put us in a lovely room with all the amenities and even a few extras (drinking water, soap, shampoo) . Turns out this hotel had only been open for 3 days and so Katie and I may have been the first people ever to stay in that particular room. We were exhausted from our 'sleeper bus' ride and walking hundreds of meters with all our gear. We laid down and had a wonderful sleep.
The next morning we awoke to a welcome surprise of minimal horn honking. Muine is a smaller town placed right along the china sea. We opted for a more expensive breakfast so that we could eat overlooking the wonderful sea. We placed our order, however we realized that while Katie's item was a good choice, there was a similar option with that food item as well as free coffee and other side items for a mere 5000 more dong. We hurriedly got the waitresses attention and changed our order. No problem. Katie's food arrived and I thought "Wow! I should have got what you ordered, look at all that food!" Thankfully she shared with me. When the bill arrived it was all explained. There was a slight misunderstanding (who would have thought). Rather than changing our order, she simply added the set menu (which included our original food item) to our existing order....I guess common sense isn't as common around here.
Quick Lesson - Don't try to change a food order or ask for substitutions, even if it is within 10 seconds. At another place when Katie asked for a different kind of bread with her eggs. What we got was 4 french rolls instead of 1....all the same kind, but with tomatoes on the side??
Our hotel was called Muine dreams, and they were very helpful. For about $4 I rented a scooter and Kate and I took off for the fabled Sand dunes a little way out of town. The red dunes are only about 2 KM from town, but the more impressive White dunes are about 20KM out of town and much more fun for a Vietnam motorcycle adventure. If you plan on visiting, kids will crowd you soliciting rides on what we call crazy carpets back home. At one point Katie explained we called these things crazy carpets and they all thought she was nuts. Even if you say no to a ride, they follow you all over the dunes. After telling him my name was Dave, I was continually asked, "Hey Tim, c'mon, go for a ride". I finally made a deal, I would give him 30K for 3 rides on a slope of my choice. He very reluctantly agreed. Once the slope was chosen all of the children (about 12 of them) work together. They line either side of the chosen route and start shoveling the colder, moister sand under the top layer onto the track. While they are doing this, I am getting a quick lesson on the best way to ride the crazy carpet (and I'm still Tim). Once everything is set, off I go. One of the kids pushes me with all his might, and I must admit, the ride was really exciting, although a lot messier than actual crazy carpet riding. I had sand covering everything. After my 3 rides the kid insisted I give him a tip as well because he gave me a good push. The funny thing was the kid who pushed me was actually over in the group hassling Katie and didn't even mention the word tip, or money for that matter. I found out later when I arrived at the White dunes that they are the place to rent a carpet as they are cheaper and (as I noticed as well) the slopes are much steeper....While it was tempting, I was already covered in enough sand and couldn't stand anymore.
Muine's biggest draw is the Sand Dunes and they were well worth it. The trip to the white dunes was a great motorcycle ride through relative empty winding roads along the coast and through the hill sides and occasional village. When we were unsure of directions, we simply stopped and asked someone and through a series of hand gestures were always back on our way confident in the direction we were headed. I'll have pictures up one day, but basically the sand dunes are as described. A huge expanse of red sand dunes (imagine your built in Windows XP desktop) or the more impressive White dunes are an even bigger expanse of white soft sand (imagine Tattouine). I am not entirely sure how the dunes were formed as they border on relatively fertile farming grounds, but I am sure a little bit of internet research could answer that one for us....Anyway...next stop Dalat!!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Saigon and Mekong Delta - First Taste of Vietnam
Good Day Everyone!! :)
I want to start this post by mentioning that Lonely Planet, while extremely useful for tips on getting around, and maps, is extremely inaccurate for pricing. Everything here is still relatively inexpensive, but if we had planned this trip solely on Lonely Planet's prices, we would have been very sorely mistaken. Anyway, the Lonely planet books are a very good guide for getting around and maps and things to do, so I still recommend using them for any trip anyone out there is planning. Now let's talk about Ho-Chi-Minh City, or Saigon as everyone still calls it and as most people know it as....
Saigon was our arrival point for Vietnam, and Saigon is a great way to start out any Vietnam trip. The backpacker area of Pham Lam Ngao has everything imaginable for travelers regarding accommodation, food, clothing and anything else imaginable (Massa, T-Shirt, Motorbike, Boom Boom, Cigarette, etc, etc). We decided on a place to stay where our room was just a tiny bit bigger than the bed inside of it. This room was only 8 USD and it included a washroom (hot/cold), TV w/ Satellite (about 5 English channels), and wifi internet...Not too shabby eh?
One of the first things we did upon arrival to Saigon was enjoy some Vietnamese Coffee. Vietnamese iced coffees run you about 6000 Dong or 8000 w/ milk, thats like 60 cents. Compare that with the $3 or $4 most western Vietnamese restaurants charge you and it is that much more enjoyable.
Anyway, we really enjoyed our time in Saigon, the most memorable experience, besides the sheer excitement of being in Vietnam and crossing the crowded streets and enjoying $4 massages, was the war remnants museum. The War Remnants Museum is full of pictures, planes, tanks, weapons, and everything else related to the Vietnam war. It was a real eye opener with regards to the ugliness of war and the devastating effects it can have on a civilization and the environments. It was very good to see though and I think anyone who makes the trip to Vietnam has to make both this museum and an excursion to the Cu-Chi tunnels part of their itinerary. The Cu-Chi tunnels is a network of underground tunnels the Viet-Cong soldiers constructed and lived in during the Vietnam war. As a tourist you can explore certain parts of the tunnels and the tourist park facilitates imagining what it must have been like for soldiers fighting in the guerrilla warfare. There is a live ammunition shooting range in the park as well as many bomb and land mine craters. Let's just say being a US soldier sent to fight in this jungle would have been nothing less than a nightmare come true. The tunnels are a real testament to the Vietnamese ability to work and make due under extreme circumstances. At one point the tunnels spanned an area of 240 KM reaching all the way from Saigon to the Cambodian border.
That is the touristy stuff for Saigon, there was also a few walking trips Katie and I took to explore the city and see various parks and statues, etc. I've gotta say, anyone who enjoys Vietnamese food back home, this is heaven with regards to food and drink. You can find western favorites in lots of places, but the local food is where its at. Bowls of Pho soup run you about 25000 Dong, 1 CAD = 15000 Dong. My favorite, number 46 at Saigon Y2k (popular Calgary chain) cost me anywhere from 30K to 45K depending where I went and the six\ze of portion. For those who aren't familiar my favorite is Rice Vermicelli with Spring Rolls and Lemongrass Chicken. Oh ya, there's also the bubble teas for 11000 fo those with a sweet tooth. Ya, its amazing here....
After Saigon we took a trip to the Mekong Delta. I recommend making this trip part of your itinerary, however don't go all out, Katie and I did a 3 day trip and we felt a 2 day trip would have been just fine (we also later to spoke to someone else who said the exact same thing). While on the Mekong trip we experienced a more cultured look at the real Vietnamese life (not the bustling, tourist harrasing life of Saigon) and had lots of mini adventures with floating through boat markets, exciting bus trips and city walks through flodded streets (Katie especially disliked this last event)....
After Saigon we made our way North to Mui-Ne and Dalat, however I will tell all of you about that at another date....very, very soon. Happy Belated Birthdays to Andrew and Warren and I hope everyone took a moment of silence to remember our fallen soldiers on the 11th. Katie and I were at the top of a mountain this day and it was at the top where I took a moment to think about our fallen soldiers over the many years. Talk to everyone later where you all can read about this mountain adventure and derths of others. I hope everyone is enjoying the reads....just think about how great the pictures will be if you are still reading our (my) blog on a regular basis (I say my because Katie hasn't written anything since Ontario back in Sept...). Love you all, thanks for reading, and take care. :)
I want to start this post by mentioning that Lonely Planet, while extremely useful for tips on getting around, and maps, is extremely inaccurate for pricing. Everything here is still relatively inexpensive, but if we had planned this trip solely on Lonely Planet's prices, we would have been very sorely mistaken. Anyway, the Lonely planet books are a very good guide for getting around and maps and things to do, so I still recommend using them for any trip anyone out there is planning. Now let's talk about Ho-Chi-Minh City, or Saigon as everyone still calls it and as most people know it as....
Saigon was our arrival point for Vietnam, and Saigon is a great way to start out any Vietnam trip. The backpacker area of Pham Lam Ngao has everything imaginable for travelers regarding accommodation, food, clothing and anything else imaginable (Massa, T-Shirt, Motorbike, Boom Boom, Cigarette, etc, etc). We decided on a place to stay where our room was just a tiny bit bigger than the bed inside of it. This room was only 8 USD and it included a washroom (hot/cold), TV w/ Satellite (about 5 English channels), and wifi internet...Not too shabby eh?
One of the first things we did upon arrival to Saigon was enjoy some Vietnamese Coffee. Vietnamese iced coffees run you about 6000 Dong or 8000 w/ milk, thats like 60 cents. Compare that with the $3 or $4 most western Vietnamese restaurants charge you and it is that much more enjoyable.
Anyway, we really enjoyed our time in Saigon, the most memorable experience, besides the sheer excitement of being in Vietnam and crossing the crowded streets and enjoying $4 massages, was the war remnants museum. The War Remnants Museum is full of pictures, planes, tanks, weapons, and everything else related to the Vietnam war. It was a real eye opener with regards to the ugliness of war and the devastating effects it can have on a civilization and the environments. It was very good to see though and I think anyone who makes the trip to Vietnam has to make both this museum and an excursion to the Cu-Chi tunnels part of their itinerary. The Cu-Chi tunnels is a network of underground tunnels the Viet-Cong soldiers constructed and lived in during the Vietnam war. As a tourist you can explore certain parts of the tunnels and the tourist park facilitates imagining what it must have been like for soldiers fighting in the guerrilla warfare. There is a live ammunition shooting range in the park as well as many bomb and land mine craters. Let's just say being a US soldier sent to fight in this jungle would have been nothing less than a nightmare come true. The tunnels are a real testament to the Vietnamese ability to work and make due under extreme circumstances. At one point the tunnels spanned an area of 240 KM reaching all the way from Saigon to the Cambodian border.
That is the touristy stuff for Saigon, there was also a few walking trips Katie and I took to explore the city and see various parks and statues, etc. I've gotta say, anyone who enjoys Vietnamese food back home, this is heaven with regards to food and drink. You can find western favorites in lots of places, but the local food is where its at. Bowls of Pho soup run you about 25000 Dong, 1 CAD = 15000 Dong. My favorite, number 46 at Saigon Y2k (popular Calgary chain) cost me anywhere from 30K to 45K depending where I went and the six\ze of portion. For those who aren't familiar my favorite is Rice Vermicelli with Spring Rolls and Lemongrass Chicken. Oh ya, there's also the bubble teas for 11000 fo those with a sweet tooth. Ya, its amazing here....
After Saigon we took a trip to the Mekong Delta. I recommend making this trip part of your itinerary, however don't go all out, Katie and I did a 3 day trip and we felt a 2 day trip would have been just fine (we also later to spoke to someone else who said the exact same thing). While on the Mekong trip we experienced a more cultured look at the real Vietnamese life (not the bustling, tourist harrasing life of Saigon) and had lots of mini adventures with floating through boat markets, exciting bus trips and city walks through flodded streets (Katie especially disliked this last event)....
After Saigon we made our way North to Mui-Ne and Dalat, however I will tell all of you about that at another date....very, very soon. Happy Belated Birthdays to Andrew and Warren and I hope everyone took a moment of silence to remember our fallen soldiers on the 11th. Katie and I were at the top of a mountain this day and it was at the top where I took a moment to think about our fallen soldiers over the many years. Talk to everyone later where you all can read about this mountain adventure and derths of others. I hope everyone is enjoying the reads....just think about how great the pictures will be if you are still reading our (my) blog on a regular basis (I say my because Katie hasn't written anything since Ontario back in Sept...). Love you all, thanks for reading, and take care. :)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Singapore for sure this time.....
So after Bali we arrived in Singapore for a quick 4 night stay. Singapore was neat, but it is a little expensive and prices are like to those in Canada than the rest of SE Asia. I am certain that if we had stayed any longer in Singapore we would have made the short trip over to Malaysia to save on Accomaodation and food.
Not much exciting to say about Singapore, we had some good times but nothing outrageous. It was nice to be in a western style city again where you can trust the drinking water and use public washrooms free of charge among other small amenities. We stayed in a Hsotel in an area called Little India. It cost $20 Singapore Dollars each for a dorm bed, quite expensive. The price did include a free breakfast inolving 2 eggs and as much toast and jam and coffee as you can drink. I definitely did my best to get the $20 worth from my unlimited toast w/ jam. Katie likes to joke and ask if i have had enough, as I hadn't quite finished the loaf yet. We managed to do lower cost activities by just exploring the city on foot or using public transit. The botanical gardens were one highlight as there was a lot of flora to take in there, my favorite was the bonsai garden exhibiting over 20 different types of bonsai plants. I would really like to try and grow a bonsai plant when we return home...we'll see how that turns out.
Food in Little India was very good, as long as you enjoy (as you have guessed)..... Indian food. We kept mostly to the food stalls selling a selection of rice/veggies and meats, more than you can eat for about $6 SG, thats like $4-$4.50 CAD. All was fun in Singapore and I allowed myself a couple of delights from back home such as McDonald's coffees and we even saw the Micheal Jackson movie in a very nice theatre with pop and popcorn. The movie, This is It, was sadly a little disappointing (not at all whatI was hoping for from his movie).
Anymore, I'll tell everyone more about Singapore when we return....I want to start writing about Vietnam, but our bus is here to take us from Saigon to Mui Ne, so I have to go. I'll update the blog soon though and tell about the amazing war relics from the Vietnam War around Saigon and our great little trip through the Mekong River Delta in South West Vietnam....Thanks for reading my blog everybody.....Hope all is well in Canada.
Not much exciting to say about Singapore, we had some good times but nothing outrageous. It was nice to be in a western style city again where you can trust the drinking water and use public washrooms free of charge among other small amenities. We stayed in a Hsotel in an area called Little India. It cost $20 Singapore Dollars each for a dorm bed, quite expensive. The price did include a free breakfast inolving 2 eggs and as much toast and jam and coffee as you can drink. I definitely did my best to get the $20 worth from my unlimited toast w/ jam. Katie likes to joke and ask if i have had enough, as I hadn't quite finished the loaf yet. We managed to do lower cost activities by just exploring the city on foot or using public transit. The botanical gardens were one highlight as there was a lot of flora to take in there, my favorite was the bonsai garden exhibiting over 20 different types of bonsai plants. I would really like to try and grow a bonsai plant when we return home...we'll see how that turns out.
Food in Little India was very good, as long as you enjoy (as you have guessed)..... Indian food. We kept mostly to the food stalls selling a selection of rice/veggies and meats, more than you can eat for about $6 SG, thats like $4-$4.50 CAD. All was fun in Singapore and I allowed myself a couple of delights from back home such as McDonald's coffees and we even saw the Micheal Jackson movie in a very nice theatre with pop and popcorn. The movie, This is It, was sadly a little disappointing (not at all whatI was hoping for from his movie).
Anymore, I'll tell everyone more about Singapore when we return....I want to start writing about Vietnam, but our bus is here to take us from Saigon to Mui Ne, so I have to go. I'll update the blog soon though and tell about the amazing war relics from the Vietnam War around Saigon and our great little trip through the Mekong River Delta in South West Vietnam....Thanks for reading my blog everybody.....Hope all is well in Canada.
Singapore and Some more Bali
So a few things....I noticed I didn't update the blog the next day as promised and I also noticed I forgot to tell of our small adventure in Tirta Ganga, Bali, Indonesia.
First off, If anyone is visiting Bali, I highly recommend taking a few days off from the beaches (relaxing as they are) and make a trip inland to a small town called Tirta Ganga, home of the Water Palace.
Katie and I went to Tirta Ganga for 3 nights. It is situated in between 2 of Bali's volcanoes, Ganung Agung (the big one) and another smaller one...the name escapes me right now. Anyway, We stayed at a place called Kumusujaya (or some likeliness of it). It has a rather uninviting staircase to the front entrance (especially when carrying a 40+ pound backpack,) however when you reach the top of the 50 step stairs you are met with friendly smiles from the staff and an amazing view of the town and rice feilds surrounding it down below. We stayed here for $12/night CAD (prices are always quoted for both of us, not each unless otherwise stated) and it includes breakfast, of course.
I'll take this time to give a quick explanation of Bali Coffee. Bali Coffee is not bad, but its not great either. Whenever you order coffee (at least at the cheapie places) you are always left a good amount of brown/black sludge at the bottom of the cup and you have to perfect the art fo knowing when to take your last sip in order to enjoy your cup to the fullest, but end it without a mouthfull of bitter coffee dust. I have already had a few lighthearted arguments with other tourists whether or not the coffee is simply instant coffee, and an irregularly huge amount of it for the cup, or the other opinion (mine) is that the coffee is the same as westrn coffee, except that coffee filters are too expensive for the balinese, so they simply dissolve a couple of tablespoons of ground coffee beans into hot water and you, the traveller, let the coffee sit for a few minutes while the grinded beans settle at the bottom, and then it is ready for drinking....either way, coffee is better in Vietnam (and Canada).
Now back to Tirta Ganga. While at Tirta Ganga you can visit the Water Temple. The water temple is a natural spring which the ancient balinese built a temple around to honor the gods. They belived the abundant water coming up from the groun in this area is a gift from the gods providing high yeilds for their rice fields and harvests. While we we're staying at Kumusajaya our host, Dewa was a very gracious host. While speaking with him after dinner, I noticed the Palm tree (Coconut Tree) had notches taken out of it. I asked Dewa if these were for climbing, and he said, yes, of course. He then coaxed me to give it a try. I must say, the climbing is not that bad, but the height can be a little gripping once you have taken a few steps up the 'ladder' (i use that term loosely). Dewa got a kick out of my feeble attempt at climbing nowhere near the top (but high enough to hurt myself if i fell) and he quickly jumped up onto the tree and climbed it almost as fast as monkey would have. He then offered to make us special coconut pancakes in the morning with fresh cocnuts from the tree he would gather himself in the morning. After the next morning delicious pancakes we took up Dewa's offer for a tour of the rice feilds (about$6 for both of us) and he took us high into the hills where we could see rice feilds as far as the eye could gaze and he pointed out all sorts of toher fruit trees along our walk as well, sweet patatoes, banana, passion fruit, advocado, and the famous durian trees, just to name a few. The tour was well worth it, Dewa was an excellent tour guide and we have many fond memories of our stay at Kumusajaya. He explained the different farming techniques, and steps in the harvest, and basically had an answer for any question we asked related to Bali or their people.
Now that I have wrapped up Tirta Ganga and Bali in whole (I forgot to post this stuff about Tirta Ganga last time, we were there before Gili Islands)...I will now move on to SIngapore and maybe Vietnam if i have time. Happy Reading everyone....
First off, If anyone is visiting Bali, I highly recommend taking a few days off from the beaches (relaxing as they are) and make a trip inland to a small town called Tirta Ganga, home of the Water Palace.
Katie and I went to Tirta Ganga for 3 nights. It is situated in between 2 of Bali's volcanoes, Ganung Agung (the big one) and another smaller one...the name escapes me right now. Anyway, We stayed at a place called Kumusujaya (or some likeliness of it). It has a rather uninviting staircase to the front entrance (especially when carrying a 40+ pound backpack,) however when you reach the top of the 50 step stairs you are met with friendly smiles from the staff and an amazing view of the town and rice feilds surrounding it down below. We stayed here for $12/night CAD (prices are always quoted for both of us, not each unless otherwise stated) and it includes breakfast, of course.
I'll take this time to give a quick explanation of Bali Coffee. Bali Coffee is not bad, but its not great either. Whenever you order coffee (at least at the cheapie places) you are always left a good amount of brown/black sludge at the bottom of the cup and you have to perfect the art fo knowing when to take your last sip in order to enjoy your cup to the fullest, but end it without a mouthfull of bitter coffee dust. I have already had a few lighthearted arguments with other tourists whether or not the coffee is simply instant coffee, and an irregularly huge amount of it for the cup, or the other opinion (mine) is that the coffee is the same as westrn coffee, except that coffee filters are too expensive for the balinese, so they simply dissolve a couple of tablespoons of ground coffee beans into hot water and you, the traveller, let the coffee sit for a few minutes while the grinded beans settle at the bottom, and then it is ready for drinking....either way, coffee is better in Vietnam (and Canada).
Now back to Tirta Ganga. While at Tirta Ganga you can visit the Water Temple. The water temple is a natural spring which the ancient balinese built a temple around to honor the gods. They belived the abundant water coming up from the groun in this area is a gift from the gods providing high yeilds for their rice fields and harvests. While we we're staying at Kumusajaya our host, Dewa was a very gracious host. While speaking with him after dinner, I noticed the Palm tree (Coconut Tree) had notches taken out of it. I asked Dewa if these were for climbing, and he said, yes, of course. He then coaxed me to give it a try. I must say, the climbing is not that bad, but the height can be a little gripping once you have taken a few steps up the 'ladder' (i use that term loosely). Dewa got a kick out of my feeble attempt at climbing nowhere near the top (but high enough to hurt myself if i fell) and he quickly jumped up onto the tree and climbed it almost as fast as monkey would have. He then offered to make us special coconut pancakes in the morning with fresh cocnuts from the tree he would gather himself in the morning. After the next morning delicious pancakes we took up Dewa's offer for a tour of the rice feilds (about$6 for both of us) and he took us high into the hills where we could see rice feilds as far as the eye could gaze and he pointed out all sorts of toher fruit trees along our walk as well, sweet patatoes, banana, passion fruit, advocado, and the famous durian trees, just to name a few. The tour was well worth it, Dewa was an excellent tour guide and we have many fond memories of our stay at Kumusajaya. He explained the different farming techniques, and steps in the harvest, and basically had an answer for any question we asked related to Bali or their people.
Now that I have wrapped up Tirta Ganga and Bali in whole (I forgot to post this stuff about Tirta Ganga last time, we were there before Gili Islands)...I will now move on to SIngapore and maybe Vietnam if i have time. Happy Reading everyone....
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The last Bit of Bali....Island Hopping and Southern (Bukit) Peninsula
Hello Everybody (Good Morning Vietnam!!),
I'm in Saigon and I have found a Broadband speed internet connection as well as an up to date computer...I'm even looking at a 19 inch Samsung Flatscreen right now, amazing isn't it?
I'm going to separate this blog update into 3 seperate posts...try to resist reading them all at once and then when you check back for more updates you can just read the other posts....as we all have noticed this blog does not get updated as regularly as you would like to read it.
Here is the last bit of Bali.....at my last post, we were in Lmbok heading to Gili Island Trawangan. Gili Trawangan was a neat place....no motorbiikes, no cars, and no Menji (main-jee?) Bali Dogs either. It is a top destination for Diving and Snorkelling. Katie and I considered getting our Diving Certificate here, but we decided against it in the end. Snorkelling here was a lot of fun, for about $8.50 CAD each we went snorkelling on a boat that made 3 different stops around the different Gili Islands. This price included rental of mask/snorkel, but no fins...(not a big deal). We saw quite a bit of coral and tons of colorful fish. There was even a turtle that some people in our group caught a glimpse of, Katie included, but I wasn't so fortunate. Still a great trip, I hope some of the shots from my underwater camera turn out. Another thrill of our snorkel trip is the ride back to Gili Trawangan from Gili Air. You are riding a long boat, probably40 feet long and its powered by a motor you'd find on the back of a chumdinger back in Canada. As i aquired my sea legs growing up, riding the high seas was no problem for me, it was even fun, but I could see looks of anxiety on a few pepoples faces as we went up off one wave and crashed through another soaking the entire boat in some instances.
Also, in Gili there is a bar called Beautiful Life where they show N. American movies every night on a big screen and everyone sits on the floor in front on these giant vynil pillows/cushions. We watched a couple of movies here over our stay in Gili. It really felt like home watching these english movies on a big screen, as though we were all hanging out at a friends place watching movies....then the gecko walks across the middle of the movie screen and you remember you are in the Island Paradise of Bali.
The party scene in Gili is pretty big too, and one night Katie and I had some fun dancing the night away with other tourists and the locals...At one point a circle was formed on the dance floor, all of the locals were showing off their stuff, and I just couldn't seem to help myself. Those who know me can only just imagine what transpired when Canada hit the dance floor...I was told by one local "I was like, Wow, I didn't know Dave could dance like that".....good times.
In Gili we stayed in a place called Rudy's ($12CAD/night) for the first little bit, but it started feeling really sketchy (I do not recommend it) and so we moved to a very nice and peaceful place called Twin Garden ($15 CAD/night). Places in Bali always include breakfast, Banana Pancakes everywhere!!
Last note about Gili Island, there is a look out point for watching the sunset, and it is the most amazing sunset I have seen so far on our trip, probably even in my life. From the look out on Gili you see the sun going down over Bali, and the enormous Volcano of Ganung Agung is sillouetted against the pink/orange sky right beside the sun as it disappears over the horizon. It is very beautiful and words wil not describe it....I'll try to put some photos on Facebook before I leave Saigon. I dont even know if the pictures truly capture it's magic though.
After Gili Trawangan we went to another Island called Lusa Lembongan (as per Danny's recommendation, good Beginner/Intermediate Surf). We stayed at Lembongan a few days, however while the surf was impressive, there wasn't a whole bunch else to do and everythying was a little more expensive being that this place is a little island and verything has to be brought over by boat. Still all around cheap though. I went surfing at a break called Lacerations (inviting, isn't it?) and there is 2 othe breaks off Lembongan, one called Playground, a very easy beginner break and one called Shipwreck. Shipwreck was very intense and I chose only to watch it longingly from shore (thinking to myself...One day....), an experience surfer would have loved it I am sure, it was a very large right hander....Some amazing Sunbathing beaches on Lembongan too, just ask around.
Lembongan was also the firt time we rented a scooter in Indonesia. It was great fun and it really beat walking around (by this point we had walked too far to count, and a lolt of it while carrying our backpacks). Scootring was a nice change from walking, and it is very easy to ride a scooter for those considering trying. Katie rode it on her own, but she did not like doubling.....no speeding tickets on one of those either....I think it probably maxes out at 70 kph, although i never put it to the test.
Our last bit of Bali was spent in the Bukit Peninsula (South Bali) where we watched, and tried to ride, waves. We arived in Padang Padang planning to stay there only to find that there is a movie (Eat Love Pray) being shot there for the exact few days we had left to spend in Bali. The movie filled up hostels and drove up prices where there was vacancy. Katie and I didn't know what we would do, we were litterally standing on the side of the road outside of a restaurant not knowing what to do (all the cabs were charging rip off prices) when a man approached me and asked if we needed a room, 100K/night (about $12 CAD). I was a little skeptical, but I was desperate, so i said sure. This man's name is John and his homestay is called Surfer Cave (surfercave@hotmail.com). I recommend to anyone staying at Bali for a period of time to check out John's place, it was amazing. Him and his family are very friendly, they serve very good food at bargain prices (fried rice, more than you eat, $1-$2) and he is very helpful with planning day trips or simply giving directions and making recommendations. We rented a scooter from John ($6 CAD/day) and we explored all the famous beaches and breaks along the Peninsula....Ulu Watu, Dreamland, Padang Padang and a low key one called Palagan. I tried my hand at surfing dreamland but it was a little crowded and my board was a little short for my skill level. I was close a couple of times but never fully had it. I would later redeem myself back in Kuta....
End of trip, back to Kuta....We decided to spend the end of our trip back in Kuta for a few days to see Danny again and so I could try my hand at the most beginner spot we had seen to date. Kuta beach is great for learning surfing. Baord rentals can be found anywhere from $20 CAD/week off the beach or $5/day on the beach. All of the rental places allow to change out your board for different lengths. After spedning 3 days straight surfing in Kuta, starting with a boat of a board and working my way down, Using this method standing up always very easy. The waves at Kuta crash very fast after forming so it is diffult to do much more than just stand and ride. On the 4th day however I caught a wave and was able to ride for 5 or 6 carves before it started crashing over me. It felt amazing and I know I will do a lot more surfing throughout our trip. Katie also was able to stand up a couple times on her board, which was a foam one...foam boards are always step one to becoming pro surfer.
That was about it for Bali. In the end, I havent averaged out our speding for the entire trip, but I am certain that we were able to keep everything in our stay to under $30 CAD/day each, in fact I am sure it is even lower than that, but i have to go back to my notes and see.
All in all, Bali is amazing and everyone should try gpoing there at least once...it has eveything from backpacker style, somewhat dirty places with cold water only to Nice hotels with sprung mattresses and hot/cold water. The food is all over the board as well but Katie and I usually kept our meals between 10K and 40K (about $1-$5 CAD) each. Food is also normal and not hard to eat with Chicken fried Noodles (Mie Goreng Ayam) and Chicken Fried Rice (Nasi Gopreng Ayam) being pretty standard items on almost every menu.
Thanks for reading everyone. I was going to write about Singapore and Vietnam next, but Katie is awake and we are going to go and eat some breakfast. Vietnam is even better than Bali for food and accomodation. I think i will have a cheese and Egg bagette and coffee for breakfast. It will cost me 15K Dong, thats a little less than $1 CAD.....gotta love it. Talk to you later everyone. Check back tomorrow for more updates on Singapore and Vietnam...so much to say...I hope you enjoyed reading...
I'm in Saigon and I have found a Broadband speed internet connection as well as an up to date computer...I'm even looking at a 19 inch Samsung Flatscreen right now, amazing isn't it?
I'm going to separate this blog update into 3 seperate posts...try to resist reading them all at once and then when you check back for more updates you can just read the other posts....as we all have noticed this blog does not get updated as regularly as you would like to read it.
Here is the last bit of Bali.....at my last post, we were in Lmbok heading to Gili Island Trawangan. Gili Trawangan was a neat place....no motorbiikes, no cars, and no Menji (main-jee?) Bali Dogs either. It is a top destination for Diving and Snorkelling. Katie and I considered getting our Diving Certificate here, but we decided against it in the end. Snorkelling here was a lot of fun, for about $8.50 CAD each we went snorkelling on a boat that made 3 different stops around the different Gili Islands. This price included rental of mask/snorkel, but no fins...(not a big deal). We saw quite a bit of coral and tons of colorful fish. There was even a turtle that some people in our group caught a glimpse of, Katie included, but I wasn't so fortunate. Still a great trip, I hope some of the shots from my underwater camera turn out. Another thrill of our snorkel trip is the ride back to Gili Trawangan from Gili Air. You are riding a long boat, probably40 feet long and its powered by a motor you'd find on the back of a chumdinger back in Canada. As i aquired my sea legs growing up, riding the high seas was no problem for me, it was even fun, but I could see looks of anxiety on a few pepoples faces as we went up off one wave and crashed through another soaking the entire boat in some instances.
Also, in Gili there is a bar called Beautiful Life where they show N. American movies every night on a big screen and everyone sits on the floor in front on these giant vynil pillows/cushions. We watched a couple of movies here over our stay in Gili. It really felt like home watching these english movies on a big screen, as though we were all hanging out at a friends place watching movies....then the gecko walks across the middle of the movie screen and you remember you are in the Island Paradise of Bali.
The party scene in Gili is pretty big too, and one night Katie and I had some fun dancing the night away with other tourists and the locals...At one point a circle was formed on the dance floor, all of the locals were showing off their stuff, and I just couldn't seem to help myself. Those who know me can only just imagine what transpired when Canada hit the dance floor...I was told by one local "I was like, Wow, I didn't know Dave could dance like that".....good times.
In Gili we stayed in a place called Rudy's ($12CAD/night) for the first little bit, but it started feeling really sketchy (I do not recommend it) and so we moved to a very nice and peaceful place called Twin Garden ($15 CAD/night). Places in Bali always include breakfast, Banana Pancakes everywhere!!
Last note about Gili Island, there is a look out point for watching the sunset, and it is the most amazing sunset I have seen so far on our trip, probably even in my life. From the look out on Gili you see the sun going down over Bali, and the enormous Volcano of Ganung Agung is sillouetted against the pink/orange sky right beside the sun as it disappears over the horizon. It is very beautiful and words wil not describe it....I'll try to put some photos on Facebook before I leave Saigon. I dont even know if the pictures truly capture it's magic though.
After Gili Trawangan we went to another Island called Lusa Lembongan (as per Danny's recommendation, good Beginner/Intermediate Surf). We stayed at Lembongan a few days, however while the surf was impressive, there wasn't a whole bunch else to do and everythying was a little more expensive being that this place is a little island and verything has to be brought over by boat. Still all around cheap though. I went surfing at a break called Lacerations (inviting, isn't it?) and there is 2 othe breaks off Lembongan, one called Playground, a very easy beginner break and one called Shipwreck. Shipwreck was very intense and I chose only to watch it longingly from shore (thinking to myself...One day....), an experience surfer would have loved it I am sure, it was a very large right hander....Some amazing Sunbathing beaches on Lembongan too, just ask around.
Lembongan was also the firt time we rented a scooter in Indonesia. It was great fun and it really beat walking around (by this point we had walked too far to count, and a lolt of it while carrying our backpacks). Scootring was a nice change from walking, and it is very easy to ride a scooter for those considering trying. Katie rode it on her own, but she did not like doubling.....no speeding tickets on one of those either....I think it probably maxes out at 70 kph, although i never put it to the test.
Our last bit of Bali was spent in the Bukit Peninsula (South Bali) where we watched, and tried to ride, waves. We arived in Padang Padang planning to stay there only to find that there is a movie (Eat Love Pray) being shot there for the exact few days we had left to spend in Bali. The movie filled up hostels and drove up prices where there was vacancy. Katie and I didn't know what we would do, we were litterally standing on the side of the road outside of a restaurant not knowing what to do (all the cabs were charging rip off prices) when a man approached me and asked if we needed a room, 100K/night (about $12 CAD). I was a little skeptical, but I was desperate, so i said sure. This man's name is John and his homestay is called Surfer Cave (surfercave@hotmail.com). I recommend to anyone staying at Bali for a period of time to check out John's place, it was amazing. Him and his family are very friendly, they serve very good food at bargain prices (fried rice, more than you eat, $1-$2) and he is very helpful with planning day trips or simply giving directions and making recommendations. We rented a scooter from John ($6 CAD/day) and we explored all the famous beaches and breaks along the Peninsula....Ulu Watu, Dreamland, Padang Padang and a low key one called Palagan. I tried my hand at surfing dreamland but it was a little crowded and my board was a little short for my skill level. I was close a couple of times but never fully had it. I would later redeem myself back in Kuta....
End of trip, back to Kuta....We decided to spend the end of our trip back in Kuta for a few days to see Danny again and so I could try my hand at the most beginner spot we had seen to date. Kuta beach is great for learning surfing. Baord rentals can be found anywhere from $20 CAD/week off the beach or $5/day on the beach. All of the rental places allow to change out your board for different lengths. After spedning 3 days straight surfing in Kuta, starting with a boat of a board and working my way down, Using this method standing up always very easy. The waves at Kuta crash very fast after forming so it is diffult to do much more than just stand and ride. On the 4th day however I caught a wave and was able to ride for 5 or 6 carves before it started crashing over me. It felt amazing and I know I will do a lot more surfing throughout our trip. Katie also was able to stand up a couple times on her board, which was a foam one...foam boards are always step one to becoming pro surfer.
That was about it for Bali. In the end, I havent averaged out our speding for the entire trip, but I am certain that we were able to keep everything in our stay to under $30 CAD/day each, in fact I am sure it is even lower than that, but i have to go back to my notes and see.
All in all, Bali is amazing and everyone should try gpoing there at least once...it has eveything from backpacker style, somewhat dirty places with cold water only to Nice hotels with sprung mattresses and hot/cold water. The food is all over the board as well but Katie and I usually kept our meals between 10K and 40K (about $1-$5 CAD) each. Food is also normal and not hard to eat with Chicken fried Noodles (Mie Goreng Ayam) and Chicken Fried Rice (Nasi Gopreng Ayam) being pretty standard items on almost every menu.
Thanks for reading everyone. I was going to write about Singapore and Vietnam next, but Katie is awake and we are going to go and eat some breakfast. Vietnam is even better than Bali for food and accomodation. I think i will have a cheese and Egg bagette and coffee for breakfast. It will cost me 15K Dong, thats a little less than $1 CAD.....gotta love it. Talk to you later everyone. Check back tomorrow for more updates on Singapore and Vietnam...so much to say...I hope you enjoyed reading...
Monday, October 12, 2009
Holy Smokes...where to even start....
So Bali is amazing...I apologize for no updates on the blog (yes, we are still safe and very much alive)....There is just so many better things to do on an island paradise besides sit in a painfully slow connected internet cafe and update your personal blog...but now I've started so hopefully this is a good one....
One thing I have to say, and I really emphasize about Bali...if your first stop is Kuta, where I recommend staying for about 1 or 2 nights, in which time you will hear any of the following sentences about six thousand times, (imagine all sentences with funny balinese accent...roll the Rs and high-pitched)..."Transport?", "Motorbike?" "Sarong?", "I give you good price, morning price", "Come inside, jus looking", and of course, "Yes, please?"...anyway, if your first stop is Kuta, you dont have to bring anything at all...as long as you dont mind quality made knockoffs...the board short and t-shrit selection here is tremendous..everything from Volcom Stone with an obviously wrong logo to Balibong to T-Shirts that dont quite make sense, but you know where they are going...ex. "Harden Up Princess", "Josh is Gay", "I-Pood"..the clothing options here are endless for the average male skate/surf look....for the ladies there are more garments that I can imagine, but the exact words to describe them escape me. I would just say there is a lot of different dresses and stuff. Barganing is a lot of fun though, and I've learned that it is almost impossible to give back an offer that is 'insulting'. Basically, whatever price they start with, cut it down to anywhere around 10 or 20%..Example of a conversation.."How much?" "For you, 250 000.." "Yikes, thats way more than I thought." "What you want for price?" "How about 30 000?" "Oooh, no cannot do that price"...and then as you start walking away...."Okay, how about 40000?".......Anyway, Kuta is an interesting place, but way over the top touristy. As soon as my luggage was found (yay) we got out of there and went to Ubud.
I was able to get some nice beach time in Kuta and spend some time with my cousin Danny who I'm sure I'll see again when I go back to that area.
Ubud....this is a great place. We stayed ina second floor room with hot/cold shower, free breakfast, swimming pool and incredibly friendly staff all for 100K/night...thats about $12 CAD. What a deal....Ubud is in the middle, so no beaches, but it has a lot art and temples in the area and the unforgettable Monkey Forest where Balinese Macabes? Socialize with the forest visitors..especially those brave enough to carry any kind of food with them. Some great pictures from here...cant wait to show everyone. Another highlight froim Ubud involved a Temple called Ganung Kawi. According to our Lonely Planet book it is located in Tempak Siring, which is approximatley 11km NE of Ubud. 11Km, thats no problem on a Bike..."Hey Kate, let's rent bikes and go to Tempak Siring for the day, stop at the Elephant Cave." Unfortunately Lonely Planet neglected to mention for those attempting the journey on Bike that it is ENTIRELY (no joke, the whole way) Entirely up hill. Everytime we would come over a crest, or around a bend..the hill just kept going. Katie and I made it though and we are still in love as ever..although there was some mild swearing a couple times during the climb. The ride back was a blast.
After a couple more days in Ubud we visited Tirta Gangga and now we are in Lombok leaving for Gili Trawangan tomorrow. I will write about those adventures in a nother couple weeks.
Thank you everyone for reading this far. (Now the softy goo-goo gaa gaa crap) I apologize if there is spelling and grammar mistakes littered throughout this script, I have no time for editing and I type looking down at my keyboard usually (most of my co workers know my typing style). Happy Thanksgiving Everyone and Happy Belated Birthdays to Sara and Manette and Nathan and Brennan?..how about Tom, i know his birthday is this time of year. I really hope I havent missed anyone else...Vanessa?.
As for my family and close friends we miss you so so much. Mom and Dad I think about you all the time. I think you guys might really like Bali (except maybe the quality fo the mattresses - Dad) I love you a lot and can't wait to see you and tell you about all our adventures....and I hope my crapload of stuff in the basement isn't getting on your nerves. I always smile when I think about you.
Grandma Fry, Grandma IJ, my brothers, Vanessa, Aunties, Uncles, and all my friends, I think about everyone a lot and I hope everyone is enjoying whatever they are doing in Calgary and Alberta and the other parts of the world. Thats all for now....Note - Please send me your addresses to my hotmail address and I will send you postcards.
Auntie Carla, please send me yours, your Kids, and Grandma's mail address to my hotmail.
Mom - Please send me Grandma's mailing address.
Someone comment on my blog! Tell me whats shaking in Calgary. Flames winning?
One thing I have to say, and I really emphasize about Bali...if your first stop is Kuta, where I recommend staying for about 1 or 2 nights, in which time you will hear any of the following sentences about six thousand times, (imagine all sentences with funny balinese accent...roll the Rs and high-pitched)..."Transport?", "Motorbike?" "Sarong?", "I give you good price, morning price", "Come inside, jus looking", and of course, "Yes, please?"...anyway, if your first stop is Kuta, you dont have to bring anything at all...as long as you dont mind quality made knockoffs...the board short and t-shrit selection here is tremendous..everything from Volcom Stone with an obviously wrong logo to Balibong to T-Shirts that dont quite make sense, but you know where they are going...ex. "Harden Up Princess", "Josh is Gay", "I-Pood"..the clothing options here are endless for the average male skate/surf look....for the ladies there are more garments that I can imagine, but the exact words to describe them escape me. I would just say there is a lot of different dresses and stuff. Barganing is a lot of fun though, and I've learned that it is almost impossible to give back an offer that is 'insulting'. Basically, whatever price they start with, cut it down to anywhere around 10 or 20%..Example of a conversation.."How much?" "For you, 250 000.." "Yikes, thats way more than I thought." "What you want for price?" "How about 30 000?" "Oooh, no cannot do that price"...and then as you start walking away...."Okay, how about 40000?".......Anyway, Kuta is an interesting place, but way over the top touristy. As soon as my luggage was found (yay) we got out of there and went to Ubud.
I was able to get some nice beach time in Kuta and spend some time with my cousin Danny who I'm sure I'll see again when I go back to that area.
Ubud....this is a great place. We stayed ina second floor room with hot/cold shower, free breakfast, swimming pool and incredibly friendly staff all for 100K/night...thats about $12 CAD. What a deal....Ubud is in the middle, so no beaches, but it has a lot art and temples in the area and the unforgettable Monkey Forest where Balinese Macabes? Socialize with the forest visitors..especially those brave enough to carry any kind of food with them. Some great pictures from here...cant wait to show everyone. Another highlight froim Ubud involved a Temple called Ganung Kawi. According to our Lonely Planet book it is located in Tempak Siring, which is approximatley 11km NE of Ubud. 11Km, thats no problem on a Bike..."Hey Kate, let's rent bikes and go to Tempak Siring for the day, stop at the Elephant Cave." Unfortunately Lonely Planet neglected to mention for those attempting the journey on Bike that it is ENTIRELY (no joke, the whole way) Entirely up hill. Everytime we would come over a crest, or around a bend..the hill just kept going. Katie and I made it though and we are still in love as ever..although there was some mild swearing a couple times during the climb. The ride back was a blast.
After a couple more days in Ubud we visited Tirta Gangga and now we are in Lombok leaving for Gili Trawangan tomorrow. I will write about those adventures in a nother couple weeks.
Thank you everyone for reading this far. (Now the softy goo-goo gaa gaa crap) I apologize if there is spelling and grammar mistakes littered throughout this script, I have no time for editing and I type looking down at my keyboard usually (most of my co workers know my typing style). Happy Thanksgiving Everyone and Happy Belated Birthdays to Sara and Manette and Nathan and Brennan?..how about Tom, i know his birthday is this time of year. I really hope I havent missed anyone else...Vanessa?.
As for my family and close friends we miss you so so much. Mom and Dad I think about you all the time. I think you guys might really like Bali (except maybe the quality fo the mattresses - Dad) I love you a lot and can't wait to see you and tell you about all our adventures....and I hope my crapload of stuff in the basement isn't getting on your nerves. I always smile when I think about you.
Grandma Fry, Grandma IJ, my brothers, Vanessa, Aunties, Uncles, and all my friends, I think about everyone a lot and I hope everyone is enjoying whatever they are doing in Calgary and Alberta and the other parts of the world. Thats all for now....Note - Please send me your addresses to my hotmail address and I will send you postcards.
Auntie Carla, please send me yours, your Kids, and Grandma's mail address to my hotmail.
Mom - Please send me Grandma's mailing address.
Someone comment on my blog! Tell me whats shaking in Calgary. Flames winning?
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Made it across the Pacific
So we've made it across to Australia here...we fly to Bali tomorrow midday. We're staying one night at a hostel here in Sydney, nice to sleep in a real bed and have a real shower after how many hours of planes and trains (no automobiles yet.)
The whole not working thing is weird to adjust to, it is still a welcome change, but lately I have the occasional dream where I show up at work and they are like "Where have you been?" "You didnt even call in sick or anything and you've been gone for like 2 weeks... ". I just tell them "Don't worry about it", and play it cool, although i know in my head (in my dream) that I actually havent showed up in like two weeks and someone is going to get me for it, I sometimes say "I was just cleaning underneath my desk, so you didnt see me...or...I was working off site, at the Repair shop, ya know?"
Here's the thing though, the Airline has misplaced our bags, throwing a total loop into the equation. I just got a call a few minutes ago and they have located ONE of the TWO bags, its in Melbourne. Fancy that, eh? At least its in the right country, on the proper side of the ocean. I'm hoping the other is found before we have to go to Bali, or else there might be a slight extension to the Sydney "layover" of our trip until Quantas locates our baggage. Quantas will compensate us for any fees due to changing our flight to Bali as well as Hotel Stays in Bali, and so if the bag is found in say...3 days, this could all work in a little extra spending funds for Kate and I...although I would rather just find our bags and be able to stick to the original plan.
I want to write about our last week in Ontario, because it was a lot of fun, but I am getting kicked off this PC right now. I'll update it soon enough. Bye for now everyone. Don't worry about my luggage situation, heck, Im not.
The whole not working thing is weird to adjust to, it is still a welcome change, but lately I have the occasional dream where I show up at work and they are like "Where have you been?" "You didnt even call in sick or anything and you've been gone for like 2 weeks... ". I just tell them "Don't worry about it", and play it cool, although i know in my head (in my dream) that I actually havent showed up in like two weeks and someone is going to get me for it, I sometimes say "I was just cleaning underneath my desk, so you didnt see me...or...I was working off site, at the Repair shop, ya know?"
Here's the thing though, the Airline has misplaced our bags, throwing a total loop into the equation. I just got a call a few minutes ago and they have located ONE of the TWO bags, its in Melbourne. Fancy that, eh? At least its in the right country, on the proper side of the ocean. I'm hoping the other is found before we have to go to Bali, or else there might be a slight extension to the Sydney "layover" of our trip until Quantas locates our baggage. Quantas will compensate us for any fees due to changing our flight to Bali as well as Hotel Stays in Bali, and so if the bag is found in say...3 days, this could all work in a little extra spending funds for Kate and I...although I would rather just find our bags and be able to stick to the original plan.
I want to write about our last week in Ontario, because it was a lot of fun, but I am getting kicked off this PC right now. I'll update it soon enough. Bye for now everyone. Don't worry about my luggage situation, heck, Im not.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Home sweet home!
We're finally here! After flying into Toronto on Monday we took a Greyhound bus to good ol' Sudbury -- a warmup for the many buses we'll soon be travelling on!
We spent the first few days at home relaxing- sleeping in, drinking coffee on the dock in the morning, fishing, canoeing, and having Sauna's (that's Sow-na! haha ) every night. As much as I love Alberta, it's so nice to be home.
Tonight I'm taking Dave into town for a dinner with the "eccentric" side of the family...should be fun (or at least interesting). This weekend we plan to go camping on Manitoulin Island (Providence Bay, in case you want to Google-Earth stalk us) with my sister and her boyfriend. I'm really looking forward to hiking the cup and saucer trail-- my parents used to take us there when we were kids. There are so many thing I wish I could show Dave while we're here, but we are here for less than two weeks so we'll try to get in as much as possible.
We leave for a little road trip to Ottawa on Sept. 25th...then back to Toronto on Sept. 28th for our flight to Sydney, Australia!
We spent the first few days at home relaxing- sleeping in, drinking coffee on the dock in the morning, fishing, canoeing, and having Sauna's (that's Sow-na! haha ) every night. As much as I love Alberta, it's so nice to be home.
Tonight I'm taking Dave into town for a dinner with the "eccentric" side of the family...should be fun (or at least interesting). This weekend we plan to go camping on Manitoulin Island (Providence Bay, in case you want to Google-Earth stalk us) with my sister and her boyfriend. I'm really looking forward to hiking the cup and saucer trail-- my parents used to take us there when we were kids. There are so many thing I wish I could show Dave while we're here, but we are here for less than two weeks so we'll try to get in as much as possible.
We leave for a little road trip to Ottawa on Sept. 25th...then back to Toronto on Sept. 28th for our flight to Sydney, Australia!
We're in ONTARIO now...
Let's start by thanking EVERYONE who came out from work on Friday and all my great pals who came out Saturday for the BBQ and/or the show. It was really nice to see everyone, and there was some faces that I havent seen in a while...the surprise really put a smile on my face. One more shout out to some of my other special friends who did not come out on Saturday, but made an effort to hang out earlier on in the week. (You know who you are).\
I've gotta say, Northern Ontario is a lot more beautiful than I expected. It is so much different than Alberta's foothills...While they are both beautiful in there own respects, I already feel like a tourist even though I'm still in my own country. I have found that no matter where you go in Canada though, road construction always makes you want to simply lose it. I'm still very realxed thoguh..easy to stay relaxed when you retire (for some months) at 27 yrs old....
Katie's parent's place is a unique little Double Cabin set out in the sticks about 40 min past Sudbury. It is right on the lakeside of Lake Panache and it is quite the dockside paradise...Katie always said it was really nice, but i never would have thought it could be quite so peaceful and pleasant. With lakeside Sauna, great fishing, and calm waters around somewhere at most hours, it is a real fisherman/sailor/boater's dream out here. Maybe I can convince Mom and Dad to bring the ol Tiga out here sometime...haha(i think it would actually be a little far).
Anyway, thats all for now..just want everyone to know we got here safely and Katie's parents have been spoiling us like you'd think that they havent seen her in 7 months or something. The food and accomadation is more than I could have asked for, and I am sure that the accomodation and food will probably go downhill once we arrive overseas...(the 'island paradise factor' makes up for that though.)
We love everyone so much and you are in our thoughts always. Thanks for reading and stay posted for more once we arrive in Wonderful Indonesia...
I've gotta say, Northern Ontario is a lot more beautiful than I expected. It is so much different than Alberta's foothills...While they are both beautiful in there own respects, I already feel like a tourist even though I'm still in my own country. I have found that no matter where you go in Canada though, road construction always makes you want to simply lose it. I'm still very realxed thoguh..easy to stay relaxed when you retire (for some months) at 27 yrs old....
Katie's parent's place is a unique little Double Cabin set out in the sticks about 40 min past Sudbury. It is right on the lakeside of Lake Panache and it is quite the dockside paradise...Katie always said it was really nice, but i never would have thought it could be quite so peaceful and pleasant. With lakeside Sauna, great fishing, and calm waters around somewhere at most hours, it is a real fisherman/sailor/boater's dream out here. Maybe I can convince Mom and Dad to bring the ol Tiga out here sometime...haha(i think it would actually be a little far).
Anyway, thats all for now..just want everyone to know we got here safely and Katie's parents have been spoiling us like you'd think that they havent seen her in 7 months or something. The food and accomadation is more than I could have asked for, and I am sure that the accomodation and food will probably go downhill once we arrive overseas...(the 'island paradise factor' makes up for that though.)
We love everyone so much and you are in our thoughts always. Thanks for reading and stay posted for more once we arrive in Wonderful Indonesia...
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tickets are purchased, how exciting
So we have our tickets and itineraries booked! Yay! Very exciting. We bought our backpacks and soon we'll stat packing them....still compiling a list of stuff to bring.
I've given my notice to work and boy is it going to be different here. Everyone will really miss me and all my hard (and very good) work. They'll make it though, and if not, then I can come back and work here again as it is a great environment and I already know everyone (everything too?)!!
My girlfriend and I really love each other and we are doing this trip together. We are in on it together and everything is just better together. I know that everything will work out as long as she is at my side to keep me strong when times get tough (if they do). I've been reading a lot about Bali and Vietnam so far and it sounds this trip should be unreal!
I've given my notice to work and boy is it going to be different here. Everyone will really miss me and all my hard (and very good) work. They'll make it though, and if not, then I can come back and work here again as it is a great environment and I already know everyone (everything too?)!!
My girlfriend and I really love each other and we are doing this trip together. We are in on it together and everything is just better together. I know that everything will work out as long as she is at my side to keep me strong when times get tough (if they do). I've been reading a lot about Bali and Vietnam so far and it sounds this trip should be unreal!
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