august 11th

i finally booked a ticket home! i am flying to greensboro out of bali on august 11th (arriving august 12th) and am very excited! cant wait to see everyone again...

so to play catch up... had an uneventful 14 hour trip from yogya to bromo, and got up at 3am to hike up to the summit to see the sunrise... unfortunately the weather wasnt cooperating and all we saw was deep mist growing lighter and lighter - no actual sunrise or colors or even views of the surrounding countryside - disappointing. i was planning to stay the afternoon to hike some more, but it was very difficult trying to find my way around the mountain and to where i was supposed to go (no signs, no maps, etc) so decided to have a javanese massage instead! that evening i caught the night bus to bali, only to find that the trip i had booked (to lovina, bali) was no longer running. ive never met such disorganized tour operators (and this was for a tourist shuttle made for westerners, brochures in english, booked at the hotel for premium prices) - i think the deal was that they dont actually run the trips themselves, just book you on all of the individual operators who will (supposedly) take you were you want to go - which means no one knows anything about the trip, speaks english, or is able to be responsible and correct problems that occur, being delayed so missing connections, etc. needless to say, the whole thing was an exercise in patience. it is a very humbling experience going from asian countries like malaysia and singapore where everyone speaks english and even (unfortunately) apologizes for not speaking perfect english (when youre in their country!) to going to a country where i have been constantly chastised for not speaking fluent indonesian, being laughed at hourly for the "funny" way i look, and given a lower status than locals (even though paying a tourist price) for services.

anyhow, eventually i did get to my destination in bali and spent yesterday lying on the beach, swimming, and reading. today i went to the nearby hot springs and Buddhist monastery. tomorrow im going diving to one of the best dive spots in bali! Lovina it turns out is maybe a little too quiet for me - the lack of tourists compared to what i guess they normally have here means a 24/7 barrage from touts so not a moment peace to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Plus since im traveling alone at the moment, i would like to head somewhere where there are more backpackers my age so will have friends to be made! I think i will head to Kuta after diving and see how that is for a change...

bali

made it to bali via bromo safe and sound! i must say it was not the most... relaxing trip up here, but very glad to be here and heading to a black sand beach! more dets to come...

BOROBUDUR AND PRAMBANAN

been having a great time in yogya- highlights were the day trip i took to BOROBUDUR AND PRAMBANAN. borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere and prambanan is a super cool Hindu temple not far from it. they were both stunning, beautiful, and interesting.

besides that, havent been doing too much, just hanging around the city, looking for flights HOME in august (booking tomorrow -very excited!), getting a new pair of prescription sunglasses, shopping for presents for my darling niece and nephew, etc etc.

the world cup "football" games are a big deal here because of all the Europeans traveling here. i watched a couple of them, including see america win at the last minute with an exciting goal!

i head out to Bali tomorrow via Bromo - its a 2 day trip but should be really fun. Looking forward to climbing bromo and then getting into Bali! im taking the ferry into Lovina which is one of the more chill beach towns on the island (btw Bali is an island but a very very big island - didnt realize this!) and then from there seeing how things go - cant wait!

Yogya

Made it to Yogya, safe and sound! The flight from banda aceh to here cost a little more than i was expecting but i guess thats how it goes when you book your flight the day of at the airport! and the timing worked out perfectly so the lack of hassle was probably worth it.
i like this city already, something kinda quirky and comforting about it. i just got checked into a hotel, i dont think im going to stay there the whole time but its in the area i want to stay in and my first choice was fully booked and it is cheap and clean so will stay here tonight and tomorrow find somewhere else! i think im going to be here a total of 1 week but taking day trips for a couple of the days to temples and such around here

xo!

Weh Cool

In pulau weh and absolutely loving it! While bigger (in size) and more developed (in terms of roads and motorbikes), pulau weh is somehow even more isolated and chilled out that the Perhentians. There is only a dozen westerns here... and this is "busy" for them! Its a real, true life, non commercialized, living indonesian island town. With more indonesians than westerners and a perserved way of life, this is out of the norm for a traveler to find. Love it! The diving here is INSANE - so freakin awesome you wouldnt believe it. Stunning reefs and OOC marine life. Good thing too since there is nothing to do here besides snorkel and dive! Rom (the english girl im travelling with) and I have a really great room right on the sand where the major highlight is the big wrap around porch. We have done a lot of good sitting on that porch! Besides the porch sitting we spend most of the time at the dive shop - they have a library of interesting books and a computer with internet that occasionally works (only when its very sunny out because of the satellite). Today we rented a motorbike (which means paid one of the guys US$10 to use his while he was at work at the dive shop) and drove around the island (roads! what a novelty!). We got chased for a bit by some crazy monkeys, but made it safe and sound besides that. All in all its been a fabulous week!
Monday I leave with Rom and she gets on a plane back to england and i will catch a flight to jakarta to go down through java and check out some temples and volcanos before making my way to bali. ohhhh bali. the only weird thing is that apparently for these inter-indonesian flights/airlines, you dont book a ticket ahead of time, you just show up at the airport. strange. will take some adjusting!
Another good discovery is that indonesian is verrry similar to malay, in that all the worlds i know in malay are the EXACT same in indonesian! (at least in sumatra) which means instead of learning a whole new vocab, i can build on the one i already know.
Learning more about the tsunami and how devastating it was for this area has made me really sad but grateful for the safety we have had in the states!

pulau weh

off the island today! taking an overnight bus to KL and then catching a flight to indonesia and making my way to Pulau Weh (near the top tip)

so excited!

onward!

so the time has come - im leaving the island tomorrow! i cant believe it, ive been here for so long now i barely remember life off the island!

next stop - indonesia

im heading to KL with 3 of my friends from the island (night bus!) and then onto indonesia with one of those friends, Rom for a week of diving before she goes home and i will have to find new people to travel with!

cant wait!

updates

the big update on island life here - i completed my advanced scuba dive course yesterday! for my advanced course i learned navigation, buoyancy control, deep diving (up to 30 meters), wreck diving, and night diving. went to a sight called T3 that was so ridiculously cool, and my night dive was my other fav - we went with flashlights and you see completely different creatures at night, plus it just changes your perspective on everything.

also, went to the mainland last week for shopping and was amazed at what an island girl i had become - the cars and motorbikes were a huge adjustment, as well as being in such a big, noisy, chaotic place. not fun! back to my island i go... im currently planning to leave in approx 2 weeks - a lot of my friends from the island are leaving then and it will be at my 2 month mark... sounds about right! now to find a travel buddy and plans...