Destination: Indonesia

Vihdoinkin surffausta

Sat, 1 Jul 2006 | By surfinns | Views [455]

30.6.- 1.7.2006 Kuta beach, Bali, Indonesia   Koska Balilla ollaan täytyy oppia surffaamaan. Stan lupautui meille opettajaksi ja vuokrasimme laudat. Yllätyimme kuinka kylmää vesi oli. Ihan pahaa teki kastautua. Noh, eihän siitä surffaamisesta ... Read more >

Tags: Beaches & sunshine

Kuta

Fri, 30 Jun 2006 | By surfinns | Views [450]

29.6.2006 Kuta beach, Bali, Indonesia   Minä en haluaisi olla täällä. Haluan takaisin Borneolle. Nousin ylös myöhään ja lähdin aamupalalle ja heti sen jälkeen katsastamaan kuuluisaa Kuta beachiä. Matkalla oli kymmeniä surffiputiikkeja ... Read more >

Tags: Beaches & sunshine

Gallery: Bali

Tue, 30 May 2006 | By janski | Photo Gallery

Miscellanea: Java

Thu, 18 May 2006 | By taroso | Views [1028]

And you think you have it rough : Sales Rep, married, four month old kid, travels for thirty days around Java and Sumatra at a stretch and only gets to spend one week at home in Surabaya between tours. Some other companies provide 1 week a year, ... Read more >

Tags: General

Yogyakarta: Batik Sellers

Tue, 16 May 2006 | By taroso | Views [3137] | Comments [2]

It seems like Yogyakarta's Batik Sellers will do almost anything to get a sale. An old resident of the Kraton referred to them as the "Batik Mafia" (he'd worked as a tour guide, and said that back in the seventies there were far more Australian ... Read more >

Tags: General

Yogyakarta: Temples and Volcano

Mon, 15 May 2006 | By taroso | Views [2781] | Comments [1]

I've visited Candi (temple) Mendut and Borobudur twice in a few days. The second trip was much better than the first, and also allowed me to see Prambanan. The first time was for the 2550th Waisak ceremony, which commemorates (Gautama) Buddha's birth, ... Read more >

Tags: General

Solo: Hindu temples in the hills

Wed, 10 May 2006 | By taroso | Views [1544]

Five Homestay Cakra residents - Wayu ( Homestay owner and driver), Dodi (gofer and guide), Doug and Nerese (guests from Oxford; in Solo for the month while Doug receives gamelan tuition), and myself - went on a daytrip yesterday to Candi ... Read more >

Tags: General

Solo: Palaces and Music

Sun, 7 May 2006 | By taroso | Views [1054] | Comments [1]

The Museum of the Kraton Surakarta has mainly large-ish displays and artifacts - carriages, bronzed reliefs, displays (ugly), statuettes, and weaponry. A small part of the Kraton Surakarta is accessable through the museum - a dirt-floored courtyard ... Read more >

Tags: General

Bali to Java: Whistlestop tour

Fri, 5 May 2006 | By taroso | Views [1630] | Comments [1]

I've had a fair amount of travelling (with two time zone changes) over the last three days - the laundry list is 30m bemo (Lovina - Singaraja); 2h bus (Singaraja - Gilimanuk), 1h ferry (Gilimanuk - Banyuwangi, Java), 6h train (Banyuwangi-> Surabaya), ... Read more >

Tags: General

Lovina: Seven words written on seven subjects

Mon, 1 May 2006 | By taroso | Views [907]

Hotel Perama: Frog in bathroom. Lonely Planet's 'recommendation' correct. Lovina Beach by day: Black sand. Quiet. No swimmers. Many hawkers. Lovina Beach by night: Almost pitch black except for fishing lights. Hotel Damu: Third floor, ... Read more >

Tags: General

24 hours in Bedugul: Culture Shock by Nightfall

Sun, 30 Apr 2006 | By taroso | Views [1078] | Comments [1]

Bedugul, in the mountains about halfway between Ubud and Lovina, was like another country yesterday: 1. Get out of the bus at about 12:30 pm; look around futilely for people to suggest places to stay. 2. Wander down hill with Ian from Edinburgh who's ... Read more >

Tags: General

Northeast Ubud by Motorbike

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 | By taroso | Views [1411]

The major festival of Galungan is coming up next week, many temples are being spruced up, and preparations are being made. As part of the celebrations, the Balinese construct tall bamboo poles from shorter lengths, with their tips bowed over suspending ... Read more >

Tags: General

Miscellanea [Ubud/Bali]

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 | By taroso | Views [1295]

I'd a lazy day today - heat rash left me disinclined to move much (anyone know a sure-fire cure for the thing? Showers and hydrocortisone don't seem to be making a huge difference), so I read a book and dozed. Anyway - miscellanea: Excitement :... Read more >

Tags: General

East Ubud by Foot

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 | By taroso | Views [968]

Evidence of worship is everywhere in Bali. You can't travel more than a few hundred meters without seeing a Hindu temple of some size and description, the footpaths are carpeted with offerings on squares of banana leaf or in containers of woven palm ... Read more >

Tags: General

West Ubud by bike

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 | By taroso | Views [991]

This morning I had the opportunity to visit a Hindu Ceremony, but that would have blown my budget, so instead I hired a bike and cycled down the hill to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. There, in a tamed rainforest setting (trees with masses of gnarled ... Read more >

Tags: General