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

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

Put the lime in the coconut…. Gili Islands, Indonesia

Do you like beaches with powdery white sand and turquoise water? Do you like places with no cars? Do you like seclusion? Do you like dancing on the beach until dawn? ……… Then why are you not in the Gilis?? If you haven’t heard of this place you should look it up. It is a set of 3 tiny islands (you can bicycle around the largest one is less than an hour) off of Lombok where there are no cars, white sand, endless diving, snorkeling and beach parties and friendly locals just for good measure.

After a 6am pick-up by Wayan in Balangan, we arrived in the Gili Islands, Lombok just before lunch via the fast boats from Pandagbai, Bali. The fast boats are a pretty easy ride and only take about 1.15hrs, if the water isn’t too rough you can also enjoy the view riding on the roof which Kait, Clegger and I did. We had pre-booked our stay at D’Harbour hotel before we arrived and much to our delight the place looked even better than it did in photos. Our home for the next few days were gorgeous thatched roof bungalows set among gorgeous gardens conveniently located behind one of the islands hotspots for food and beach partying - which we absolutely took advantage of. It was a bit more costly than our usual places but at only $30/person/day we weren’t exactly breaking the bank.

Our home for a few days

After settling in and feasting on tacos in the D’Harbour bar (which the boys did on a few occasions since these tacos were so good) we headed immediately to the beach.  Although there is not much surfing on the island we did manage to find the one spot where they rent boards and there are some very VERY minor waves that you can surf for about 2 hours a day. This small beach bar where you rent the boards was run by some of the best Island locals I have ever met, they were the epitome of island life and just spent every day hanging out on the beach and surfing…they even showed off for us by surfing on their heads – no joke.

Amazing beach with Lombok in background

Jonny w/ his massive board... only way to catch these mini waves

Jonny and J.J headed out to catch a wave

Clegger making her way out for a surf

After a few hours of surfing and exploring the island we headed back to our bungalows to get ready and dine on the beach before heading to the islands best (and only) Reggae bar, Sama Sama, for the night’s party. We danced to reggae, partook in the local vodka and danced until well into the evening before we all started to fell asleep; ok well I pretty much fell asleep, so we headed home. The next day we rented bicycles and nursed the effects of the night before at the various secluded beaches around the island. That night we uncovered an amazing night food market just minutes down from our hotel so we took in some local favorites and the boys put down some fresh fish.

Investigating the fish before purchase

Checking out the local favs

Carts in the night market

After the night market we headed back to D’Harbour, who happened to be hosting the nights big party so we enjoyed some Bintangs and danced in the sand until before we knew it, it was 4:30am.

Beach party bonfire

Making some local friends

On our last day on the island we decided to take our rented bicycles on a cruise around the entire island to explore. After discovering an amazing beach bar at 11am …well beach hut with drinks is probably a better description, we decided to turn it into an island pub crawl as well. Over the course of the day we uncovered the islands most private beaches, homestays and bars, away from the backpacking masses, which just added to the magic of the Gilis. Our final stop for the day was a hidden spot on the north end of the islands for sunset.

One of the amazing hidden spots on the island

Cheers!....it's 12 o'clock somewhere

Sunset yoga poses

That night we had one more delicious dinner in the night market before heading back to D’harbour for some gentle Bintangs and a few hands of Shithead (our new fave card game). Next up 3 days on the Rinjani volcano in Lombok!

OOO_Talia and Jonny

Bukit Peninsula, Indonesia

After a few days in Can-Kuta we were ready for a change so we headed further south on the island of Bali to the Bukit Peninsula in search of serene beaches, more surfing, less people and less McDonalds. This is exactly what we found in our first stop and home for a few days, Balangan. Balangan, along with the rest of the beaches along the Bukit peninsula are some of the most amazing, paradise evoking spots I have ever seen. White sand and crystal water beaches concealed between huge bluffs at the end of long hidden roads that only a few venture down.

We stayed in in the Balangan Sea View Bungalows which sits on top of a hill overlooking Balangan beach. They certainly don’t call this place the Sea View for nothing, from our balcony we could watch the massive waves rolling in as well as the very experienced surfers catching them.

View from our balcony at Sea View

Since the beaches along the peninsula are quite spread out the best way to explore is by hiring scooters and head out on your own in search of paradise. It was pretty late in the day by the time we got settled into the Sea View and had a quick swim so we didn’t have time to explore other beaches that day but we decided to arrange for our scooters for the next anyways. We opted to get them for 24 hours so that we could use them for the night as well and after a late lunch we hoped on our new wheels and drove down to the Ulu Watu temple to watch the sunset.

In addition to being a really famous surf spot, not for the faint of heart surfer, Ulu Watu has a Hindu temple that people and tour buses come from all over Bali to see at sunset. The temple itself isn’t much to write home about compared to many other more ornate ones I have seen, but the setting of the temple is incredible. It sits on top of a massive cliff on a section that jets out over the ocean and because of its position on the island the sunsets here are one of a kind.  There is also a traditional Kecak Fire dance put on every night after sunset at the temple. Kait, J.J and Heather grabbed some tickets but since Jonny and I had already seen the show in Ubud we opted out and decided to wander around the temple a little more taking it all in, while dodging aggressive monkeys.  After the show the five of us rode off into the night, had some dinner at our hotel and went to bed after a few hands of cards – we needed some good rest for our totally to prepare for our epic beach day.





After a quick breakfast at the Sea View, a few Skype calls home, a quick lesson for Clegger on how to drive a scooter since she was going to have to drive her own today we headed out in search of BEACHES. We spent the day beach hoping along the coast on all the beaches we were able to find – here are a few highlights;

Padang, Padang: probably the best beach we have come across yet in Bali. If you blinked while driving by on the road you would miss it hidden down at the bottom of the hill. The beach itself is not much bigger than a suburban back yard. You have to walk about 5 mins down a staircase carved into a rocky cave to get there but once you pop out its nothing but powdering sand and turquoise water.

Ulu Watu: This is not technically a beach; it’s an incredible surf spot, only for experienced riders where you get out into the break by sliding into the water in a cave and paddling through. Like most other spots along the peninsula the entry spot is at the bottom of a cliff. We stopped here at had lunch at Blue Fin, a wicked spot on the edge of the cliff. We watched the surfers catch wave after wave, dreaming that one day we could be like them……highly unlikely.

Surfer catching a wave at Ulu Watu

View from Blue Fin restaurant

Bingin and Dreamland: After Ulu Watu we set out in search of Bingin beach, a supposedly white sandy beach with waves ok for a beginner surfer. We rode for a while following each sign we could find that said Bingin, each proving to be a dead end. After over an hour of searching we finally found what we believed to be the spot where you park your bikes to walk down to Bingin but after talking to the locals there they informed us that Bingin is a rocky beach and we would be better off at Dreamland. Back on the bikes for another 5 mins, a 5 min hike downhill and we found ourselves at beautiful Dreamland. For some reason I have no photos from dreamland so images courtsey of Google Images

Balangan: After a day filled with scooting, swimming and bronzing we headed back to our home beach to watch the sunset and the day’s surfers heading in with a couple of Bintangs from one of the thatched roof huts on Balangan beach.

Path down to the beach

Bintag after a hard day

Sunset in the beach hut

Jimbaran: Ok, so this beach is not actually on the Bukit Peninsula, it’s on the other side of the southern tip of the island and is filled with endless resorts. We didn’t go here for the beach we came here for the food. Every night Jimbaran beach is taken over by seafood restaurants that set up tables on the beach and serve massive (and overpriced) seafood dinners where you select your own fish. This was a treat only for the seafood lovers in the group. Jonny, J.J and Clegger indulged on a ridiculous sized seafood feast while Kait and I dined on chicken burgers - trust me this was not their strong suit. But after grabbing some fresh corn on the cob from a man with a BBQ on the beach, we all left satisfied

Team seafood enjoying thier dinner

After diner we headed back to Sea View where yet again we ran into people we knew from back in Canada, completely unexpectedly!

Random Canadians run in

Such a small world. Jonny and I had a couple of Bintangs with them before heading to bed to prepare for another 6am wake up call. Next stop Gili Islands!!!

OOO_Talia and Jonny