Are we on the moon…..nope Mount Bromo

After a few relaxing days in Yogya and exploring the one of a kind temples in the surrounding area we headed to the world’s most amazing volcano’s – Mount Bromo.  We jumped on another 12 hour bus ride and headed towards East Java in order to make the sunrise hike to marvel at this other-worldly sight. After a 3:30am wakeup call we headed up to Gunung Penanjakan view point for Sunrise where you can see 3 volcanoes, including Bromo revealing themselves in the morning light. Afterwards we took a short jeep ride to the base of Bromo itself and make the 1hr hike up to the crater

Mount Bromo is an active volcano and part of the Tengger massif, in East Java, Indonesia. At 2,329 metres (7,641 ft) it is not the highest peak but one of the most famous in all of Indonesia.  It was even shut down to tourists and locals forced to evacuate in the area in 2010 and January 2012 due to increased activity

Sun rise over the mountains

View of Bromo from look out

Standing on the edge of the cliff looking down to your left at the ash covered surrounding area and to your right at the deep drop into the sulfur and lava filled crater you would actually swear you were on the moon.  We spent about an hour admiring this amazing feat of Mother Nature before making the hike back down the dusty trail to the bottom where we hopped back on a minibus headed back west. 24hr drive for 5 hours on a volcano – Amazing.

Making the hike up Bromo to the crater

OOO_Talia and Jonny 

Back in Indonesia - Yogyakarta

After being awake for approximately 40hrs –(following a Canada Day eve on an epic island with no rules, missing our first ferry, just making the last bus back to Kuala Lampur making it just in time to head right to the airport for a 4hr wait, followed by a 2hr flight), we let out a massive, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” of relief. We were really looking forward to our highly anticipated return to Indonesia. Our fingers were crossed that we would find the same type of positivity and open-arms we received in Bali and Lombok.

If you recall (only if you actually read this blog) our goodbye Indonesia Round 1 post, we were kind of rattled in our search for “culture” in Bali and Lombok (although it is there is you step outside of resort overloaded south Bali); that is until the amazing realization that the people is where the magic really reveals itself.

I can say after just 5 days in Yogyakarta aka Yogya, that positive Indonesia feeling and the uniqueness that you look for as a traveler is here.

Unlike Bali however, English is harder to come by and Javanese culture punches you in the face around every corner. It’s the good punch through. Like the one from a grade school playground crush (even though it’s egotistically devastating when it hurts more than one from a dude). Western food is harder to come by – which is great because indo food is great. Transportation is slow and long… but wherever you get dropped off always seems to make up for the slow haul in a minibus or becak (rusty and unfit for the road bicycle rickshaw).

Art and culture is in abundance along with music and streets littered with cafés spreading the love with the amazing aroma of Sumatra and Java coffee beans.…….. and then there are the people… Just magic. They are pumped to teach you Bahasa Indonesian and even more so to practice their English, or in the case of Java French also, which in itself is a truly amazing thing. These guys teach themselves through tourists, music and movies.

The history also comes alive here. Yogya has seemed to find a great marriage between history, tradition, chaos and calm, with a more modern way of living.  You see this everywhere:  whether it’s In the streets and markets or at the breathtakingly beautiful and remarkably well maintained Hindu and Buddhist temples of Prambanan and Borobudur just an hour away that are.

Becaks lined up on the street

Driver asleep at the wheel

Women selling goods in one of many markets

Sun rising over Borobudur temple 

Profile view  

Entrance to Prambanan temple

Token tourist shot in front of temple

We were looking to soak up the Java and Indonesian culture in our short time left there… And so far, that is exactly what we found. Let’s see how our short time in Yogya compares to Java’s east coast in the Beautiful Beach Pagandaran.

Until next time…

OOO_Jonny and Talia

Canada Day in Paradise

Since we had only heard of them the day before, we really didn’t know to expect of the Perhentian Islands, a set of islands off the North East Coast of Malaysia. The one page print-out in our hostel in Penang promised white sand beaches just a few kilometers off the mainland so we figured- hey, why not. We were ready for island life again.

What we found when our “ferry”  (aka a small speed boat that fits about 12 people) rounded Perhentian Kecil, the smaller of the 2 inhabited islands, was nothing short of a scene out of the movie “The Beach”.  But not like what that beach in Thailand looks like now (we have it on good authority that it is now crowded and dirty with wall to wall tourists…but I haven’t been there myself) but what it looks like in the actual movie.

Arriving on Long Beach

Our first glimpse of Kecil 

We opted to stay on Long Beach, the busiest of the handful of beaches on the island. It has about 10 places to stay and 5 restaurants…..so really not that busy.  After surveying the spots that had vacancies we settled on a room at Panorama, a hotel/dive school/restaurant/bar/live music/internet café venue.

After dropping off our bags and getting settled, we ventured out to do what you are supposed to do on this island…..chill on the beach! In addition to the most amazing, refreshing, transparent azure water and fine white powdery sand, zero cars or roads and nothing but Bob Marley and Jack Johnson blaring all day long across the beach, the area is supposedly a heaven for those into snorkeling and scuba diving. Although we didn’t partake in the underwater happenings, the people we met who did spoke very highly of the day trips and dives around the island. We choose to spend more time at the various beaches and dipping in the glorious water.  For the rest of day 1 we enjoyed Long Beach and then took the 15 minute stroll over to Coral Bay, the smaller, quieter beach on the opposite side of the island. It boasts the same beautiful water and sand, but with some coral lining the water’s edge.

Beach side set-up on Long Beach

At sunset the restaurants on Long Beach spread out grass mats in the sand at little tables and light tiki torches to set the mood for evening filled  with Chang’s (local beer) and Monkey Juice (local alcohol) and dancing in the sand.  We enjoyed a gentle few with some new friends we met throughout the day….. who strangely enough seemed to almost all be from our home and native land – CANADA.  It may have been a coincidence that we were meeting all these Canadians but it was amazing timing since we were going to spend Canada on this Island paradise!

Beach Bar getting set up for sunset

Changs on the beach

One day we decided that we would take a walk to the other side of the island to experience it from other perspectives.  In order to get to the other side of the island you need to take a path through the forest/jungle. Walking for about an hour will get you to 3-4 remote beaches and panoramic view of this amazing group of islands in the South China Sea.  As we approached the entrance of the path into the jungle a 2ft long iguana darted out about 6ft in front of us - this is something that I did NOT anticipate. Iguanas have about the same effect on me as snakes – paralyzing fear. So we stood just outside the entranceway to the path for upwards of 30mins (I wish I could say that I was exaggerating this, but actually it was probably closer to 45mins) while Jonny and a handful of locals tried to convince me that it would be fine and I should take the path. Eventually after much discussion I finally agreed on the condition that Jonny carried me across the dark part of the path until we passed where the Iguanas were and that he would put me on his back anytime another iguana poked his or her head out.  I wish I could say that the rest of the stroll was a breeze ……..but it was totally worth it. We spent the afternoon exploring lookouts and private beaches, including one named Adam and Eve, aptly names because you actually feel like the only 2 people on earth while you are there.

View from the lookout

Stairway to Heaven 

Adam and Eve Beach

Finally….. CANADA DAY ARRIVED! Although our hotel was having a Jamaica party that night we partied with our new Canadian and other international friends on the beach like we were on Parliament Hill. 

Happy Canada Day!!

Our Jamaica paint for Canada Day

We partied so hard in fact that we slept in the next morning and missed our ferry in the morning…..oppps. This in the end spiralled us into the longest travel day ever in order to make it back to KL in time for our 6am flight back to Indonesia…….but soooooo worth spending Canada Day in Paradise.

OOO_Talia and Jonny

Penang, Malaysia

After soaking up the city and mall culture in Kuala Lampur we decided to head 5 hours north to the state of Penang.  Much like the rest of our Malaysia journey, we hadn’t done much research on Penang but heard that the capital city of Georgetown had good energy and in 2008 was listed as a Unesco World Heritage site. On top of that, the food there is supposed to be amazing and authentic (if you like traditional Chinese, Malay or Indian fare) so we were convinced!

After some confusion at the bus station and then a long walk outside the station, we finally found our coach and set off on the 5 hour journey to Penang….which was actually more like 7 hours. When we finally reached the island the bus stopped and let us out literally on the side of the road/highway. Completely unaware of where we were on this relatively large island state we figured we would try and flag down a cab. After about 20 mins we did just that and negotiated ourselves a half-decent rate to Georgetown, which our cabbie informed us, was about 30mins away.

When the cabbie first pulled into Georgetown we weren’t really sure what to think. It seemed like just another rather unimpressive city, with, great ANOTHER large mall. It was only after we got dropped off within the smaller quieter streets of the Heritage section did we really get to see the Georgetown charm, streets lined with pre-war houses and shops and 19^th century churches, mosques, etc.

On our first night in Penang we decided to see if the food lived up to its reputation and we headed out to find some real authentic Dim-Sum.  We found what we were looking for at Tai Tong Restaurant. Plastic chairs and tables, fluorescent lights and endless carts of mystery dumplings (and more) being pushed around on stainless steel carts. Jonny was in heaven, and while I do love Dim-sum I was a bit uneasy because we were in pretty much the biggest game of mystery dinner ever. This ended with me twice biting into balls of shrimp when I swear the lady said “pork” (PS – in case you don’t know, I HATE seafood of any kind). Even with these minor setbacks the food was fantastic and we loved our first real Asian Dim-Sum experience.

Jonny enjoying some Dim-Sum

Endless carts of mystery food

Next up – back to the mall! This is after-all what they do in Malaysia. This time instead of shopping we decided to hit up the arcade and a movie. We stepped into probably the biggest arcade I have ever seen. It also had the most diverse crowd you could imagine from giggly teenagers playing Dance Revolution on Kinectic (for just 50 cents you could play for 15mins….which we did, obviously) to chain smoking middle-aged men that back home you would be more likely to find at the horse races or Indian Casinos. After getting our fill of games we caught a movie and then headed home.

Intense round of Dance Central underway

Jonny getting in on the games

We spent the rest of our time in Penang essentially wandering; making our way through the charming streets and watching the daily street life before taking off to our next randomly selected adventure – Pehrentian Islands…. Which until our second day in Penang we had never heard of. Stay tuned!

local man driving his becak  

Man at work on the street

OOO_Talia and Jonny

Couple days in Kuala Lumpur

After nearly 30 blissful days making our way around Bali and Lombok, our time in Indonesia had come to an end.  No, not because we wanted to leave, but because our 30-day tourist visa was about to expire. We had pretty much already made the decision that we wanted to come back to this magical country and explore some other islands and in order to do that we needed to exit the country and come back, scoring another 30-day tourist visa. This is essentially what brought us to Malaysia.

Being the hub for Air Asia and only a short 2 hour flight away, Kuala Lumpur offered us a cheap and convenient spot for a “visa run”, and we figured since we are here we might as well see a bit of Malaysia before jumping back on a flight to Indonesia. Our flight into KL landed pretty late at night so by the time we cleared customs and made the 1 hour drive into the city to our hostel we pretty much went straight to bed, conserving our energy for exploring the booming metropolis the next day. The next morning after breakfast of toast and peanut butter on the roof of our hostel (score – they actually had peanut butter here!) we decided that we would explore the area we were staying in, Chinatown and Central Market, and then head into the city centre in the afternoon.

Entrance to Central Market

Since we had done little to no research on Malaysia prior to our arrival we really did not know what we were in store for, and what we found when we went outside was big time SHOCK! NO, it wasn’t particularly culture shocked and KL itself is a pretty clean, modern infrastructure type place, but coming off of 30 days of pure island lifestyle we were not ready for the city life again. Crowded sidewalks, non-stop honking, multiple lanes of traffic…. A town with more than one street for that matter was really an overload to our new island style senses. After about 30 minutes of trying to get oriented, first in Chinatown (we were a bit too early and places were only just starting to set up at noon) and then trying to find the subway, we were overwhelmed and decided to retreat into the central market to make a new plan.  We had a coffee, strolled through the stalls of the much quieter central market – essential an indoor arts, crafts and stuff market – and then decided we would head to the subway again and do what it seems most Malaysians do…. Go to the Mall.

A short walk to the subway and 3 stops later we found ourselves at KLCC the upscale shopping centre attached to the Petronas towers, Kuala Lumpur’s landmark claim to fame, and the worlds (second) highest office towers. Over our 2 days in KL we spent more time than I care to admit wandering the 6 floors of luxury loot, however I somehow remained empty handed while Jonny did some damage at Top Man an Uniqlo . Another bonus we found at the mall, they had a western style grocery store that carried Salt and Vinegar chips (really hard to find outside N. America) and PICKLES!! REAL DILL PICKLES. Ok, they were no strubs but after nearly 6 months without any, these pickles did the trick. We bought a jar and then immediately ate the whole thing in the food court.

Modeling our Pickles

Inside KLCC Shopping Mall

After exploring the mall and surrounding area we headed to a delicious little food spot, quite fittingly called Delicious. It had been recommended to us by former travel partner Kait who had come here just a few weeks back. We opted for the tea for 2 menu which consisted of a little tower of mini crust-less sandwiches, tea biscuits, scones, truffles, strawberry’s and your selection from the day’s variety of desserts, oh and of course a tea…..which we both traded in for a coffee.

Entrance way to Delicious

By now we had somewhat gotten used to the city life again and were ready to go back and brave Chinatown.  For those of you who have been to Canal St. in New York City (their Chinatown), Chinatown in KL is like that…..but on crack! Jonny begrudgingly followed me around as a wandered, perused and bargained my way through, making a significant number of purchases which I rationalized at Christmas gifts for friends and family…… yesssssssssssssss Christmas gifts. After spending much for time that we should in Chinatown we headed back to the hostel to take care of many things we were behind on such as flights, banking, blah, blah.

Bright lights of Chinatown

Wandering the narrow streets

Deep in important negotiations

The next day we just took it easy and explored more of the local area around us before heading back down town in the late afternoon, back to the mall!! This time we only spent a short time there before heading over to grab a drink at Skybar, the rooftop bar at the Swanky Trader’s hotel near KLCC.  Although we weren’t too impressed with our Mojito’s and goat cheese platter (which actually ended up coming with Brie NOT goat cheese……. I know First World problems), the venue was pretty happening and it offers a killer view of the Petronas towers. 

Sneak peak of the towers through the trees

Inside the Skybar on top of the Trader's Hotel

Petronas Towers at night 

The Petronas towers are twin skyscrapers which from 1998 to 2004 were the tallest in the world until Taipei 101 went up in Taiwan stealing their thunder. They are actually quite impressive, demonstrating a great of Islamic and modern architecture. After our drinks we had planned to go get some dinner at a more upbeat part of town, lined with fancy restaurants and bars but instead opted to grab a quick bite (at the food court of course……mall culture) and head back to get some sleep before our early morning  bus the next day to Penang. 

OOO_Talia and Jonny

Indonesia Round 1 Finale

Before I get into this blog, let me start by saying that at the time of writing this, we have left Indonesia after a month, been to, and left Malaysia already (just for a week) and are now back in Indonesia. This time tackling Java with the hope of soaking up as much Bahasa Indonesian culture as possible.

In the interest of getting whoever reads this thing up to date, this will act more of a summary (starting from where we left you off last) and reflection of our time in Indonesia, round 1. Sounds good? Cool.. here we go.

I think we left off in The Gilis? Whats that? Oh just one of the 17,000 (slight exaggeration but relevant number given its how many islands make up Indo) slices of paradise that can be found in Indo.

After 3 weeks of beaching we felt we owed it to ourselves to get some physical activity in before ending off round 1.....with more beaching that is. The perfect opportunity revealed  itself to JJ and I. A 3 day trek up a volcano.. not just any volcano.. The Rinjani. Only the highest volcano in Lombok…

More-so than just physical activity, we were craving to get a deeper dive into what Indonesia has to offer… Where better to search than Lombok, what Bali was 25 years ago (so they say).

We left the Gilis and planned to stay one night in Senaru, the launching pad town for the trek before embarking on the 3 day journey. What we found there were some amazing waterfalls, a ping pong game (NO… not the Thailand kind) and some great laughs with the locals and trekking staff. Side note.. they are SICK at ping pong….

Stepping stones over the river 

Two hours later we reached these amazing falls 

Well worth the hike

 Next up… the trek - You would think that 5+ months on the road would put us in decent shape….  It doesn’t.. at least not from a cardio standpoint. That is where we saw the immediate difference between us and Clegger, That girl basically ran up 2000m of altitude via tropical, turned rocky, turned gravel terrain.

What she discovered an hour before we did, was an amazing sight - a volcano, in a Lake, on a volcano. Think about it……. picture it… or just look at these photos

Ladies at the starting point of the trek

View at end of Day 1 - Volcano in a lake in a volcano

Hanging out high above the clouds

The girls at the end of day 1  

Sunset on day 1

After day 1 of the trek we woke up to Clegger poking her head out of her tent….looking a little worse for wear with a question…

Clegger: Hey guys… What are the symptoms for altitude sickness?

JJ: light headedness

Jonny: Major dumps

Talia: Headaches

CK: dehydration

Clegger: I think I have altitude sickness…

Jonny: Are you sure because I have been going like crazy this AM, and I feel fine…….

We started out the day 2 trek but Clegg was getting much worse and given some of her symptoms (i.e. Vom-poo….sorry Clegger) she was suffering from some pretty bad dehydration in additional altitude sickness. After about 3 hours of trekking we reached the lake where we had some scheduled chilling time. After some team deliberation we decided that would be the end of the road for us for the day given we already had to carry Clegg the last hour – she was in no shape to keep going. That and it’s too dangerous to ascend when you have altitude sickness….. So we hung out at a lower altitude with locals, hit the natural hot springs and took on the views that made you feel like you were in the land before time (another epic movie I was reminded of on this trip [refer to a prior blog where I found that travelling makes you think of the most amazing classic movies]…. Although, we still haven’t watched Harry and Hendersons…. Next rain day for sure). Since we had spent the night at the lake instead of at higher ground we didn’t summit the volcano, based on the advice of Salmon, our guide, we doubled back the way we came which was a safer route for Clegg.

J.J under the waterfall

It was actually like the land before time

Fisherman down at the lake

Camping at the lake

After 2 rough days, NOW, we owed ourselves some more beach, surf and generally epic island vibes……and that is exactly what we got in Senggigi. A small beach town with some high end and low end resorts. We obv stayed in the low-end but the true flavour of Senggigi owes much to the locals there. To be honest, we didn’t truly have a real experience with them until our last night…. But WOW… did it ever leave an impression.

Our "low end" resort in Sengigi 

I think we’ll just post pictures to tell the story… probably easier and more entertaining that way. But to summarize:

• We enter the Happy Café for dinner, knowing it’s our last night, drinking is a tad more aggressive than usual. “Gentle pinting” as I like to put it
• The girls order a pitcher of Monkey Juice
• We become a little louder and rowdier than most of the other patrons (both local and non)
• We request the best tunes for the band (which is one of the best Asian cover band I have ever seen) – led by our soon to be friend Yodi… who likes to call himself “Yodi-Only One:
• After noticing our enthusiasm, the owner of the bar sent us a round of Jose Tequila (or as Berman and I like to call it… Funny Juice)
• He decided to come join us for a few cocktails and then took a liking to us so the next round of shots were Patron, from his personal stash
• After the band ended at Happy Café, we headed to the next bar along with “Yodi-Only one”
• Blah blah blah.. look at the pics

Drinks with our new friend 

Enough Said

1

YUMMMM

Yodi Only-One on the mic 

Although there was a band playing at the next bar, Yodi took to the mic anyways and belted out a range of hits from Smells like Teen Spirit to Don’t Stop Believing.  What Yodi didn’t know is that I have passion for singing too…. All of a sudden the back-up mic was nowhere to be found, and the Asian tweaked cover songs had a little more Canadian flare to them. Ill leave it at that.

This was almost the end of the Cleggers trip, so we headed back to Bali (slowly) the next morning. We spent a chill night back in Ubud with our new besties Ketut and Nyoman back at Sadru’s guesthouse. Clegger shopped her brains out and we SMASHED Nasty Nuris – some of the best BBQ I have ever had…. Ribs ribs and more ribs.

After saying goodbye to Clegger we headed to Nusa Lembongen, a small island off of Bali for a few more days. We went there to relax…but mostly to surf as it is known from some pretty epic reef breaks. There where we met Lana, 20 years of surfing made him more than eligible to captain us out to the break and guide us through the bigger-than-we-should-be-surfing waves. We spent about 3 hours catching waves at Lacerations, one of the famous breaks on the island and then rented scooters for the afternoon to explore the islands hidden beaches. Although our surfing might be more entertaining to you than Lana… he was truly a highlight. A great dude, and owner of NEWBRO surf shop.

Low tide on Nusa Lembongen

Dream Beach - a hidden gem

Sunset on Mushroom Beach

Our time in Indo was winding down big time. Tals, Kait and JJ headed to Kuta for one last day/night to get in some final surfing and I headed to Sanur to squeeze in some Kite Surfing lessons (my newest passion), before Tals and I had to take off to Malaysia.

To go back in time for a minute, when we got to Indo, it was clear that we were no longer in India. We spend 2 amazing months in India where we got everything we were expecting and more. A really magical experience to say the least.

Because of how epic it was, at times, Indo (round 1) felt like maybe we were missing out on culture…I mean, how long could you fall back on beaching it (I could do it a lot.. but we are going for new experiences  and global perspective here). Then at the end of the month it really dawned on me. It was the people. Everywhere we have been, it truly comes down to the people that make the experience, give you the insight your craving and intro to their culture.

At the end of the day that is truly what it all comes down to though isn’t it…. It’s about surrounding yourself with great people. Whether you’re:

… on the road

… living out of a bag or even a suitcase

… at home doing the everyday

… at work, etc….

The best experiences or the experiences you’re looking for will come when you surround yourself with amazing people.

A special thanks for letting us into your lives…

Ketut and Nyomen, Wayan (our driver, not the other 50% of the Bali population), the local beach people of the Gilis (both on and off the main strip), Abdul, Hardy and the rest of the Rinjani team, Senggigi bar owner (no matter how epic you are, I’ll never remember your name), Yodi Only One, Lana, All the dude bros from the Rip Curl Surf School and everyone else I’m probably missing.

Off to Malaysia for a week of… well…. I have no clue because we haven’t done any research.

OOO_Jonny and Tals