Indonesia

Today we left Lombok and flew back to Bali.

The next couple of days our group is going to start to split and head home, or on to further travel.

We had a last group lunch at the Greek place!

Oskar, Wendy & Jo left today to fly home.

And then there were 4...

Afternoon beers...

Dinner on the beach...

Dolly flew to Thailand today, she has another couple of weeks before flying home to UK.

And then there were 3...

April left to fly home to Australia.

And then there were 2...

Lyn and I stayed on a few extra days in Legian. We didn't do a great deal except to lazy around the pool and eat whenever we got hungry. I needed a few days off after the stress of the group travel.

Enjoying our last lemon Bintang.

Big thank you to Wayan for driving us around and our tour of Java. See you next time my friend.

So, this is the end of Lyn & mine's adventure for 2019. Tomorrow we fly to Sydney for a few days and then it's over again for another year. Yes, of course next years travel is already in the works, but you will have to wait for that itinerary. Suffice to say, since we have bikes stored in Germany there might be another ride next year.

Our hotel grounds - Puri Bunga Bungalows - Senggegi Beach, Lombok.

I love this hotel, stayed here last year. The pool is amazing and the grounds are full of blooming frangipani trees. We were on holidays today, and just spent the day relaxing by the pool.

Lunch.

Sunset, then dinner.

Today we did a snorkeling trip to the Gili Islands. Glorious weather, crystal clear waters, lots of colourful fish and a few turtles.

We were transferred by minivan about an hour up the coast to where the boats left for the Gili's. Joys of travelling in a group, we had the boat to ourselves. During the day we stopped at 3 islands, had lunch on one of them. Our snorkeling stops were full of colourful fish and just like last year I got to swim with a turtle again. Its just amazing.

I think the group had a great day, I certainly did.

After witnessing another magic sunset from the balcony of our bungalow, Oskar and I shared a giant fish for dinner.

Another lazy day by the pool. I love these pool days!

After a lovely relaxing day yesterday, today we hired a minivan to take us on a tour.

Our first visit was to the village of Banyumulek, that Lombok Pottery craftsmen of the village, where you will find local women producing pottery from materials and with a very simple way, a unique system, which is able to attract many foreign tourists as well as domestic tourists. Next is the village of Sukarara, a village which became a center of handicraft and Double Ikat woven native Sasak. Next we will visit the village of Rambitan/Sade is a traditional village that is still firmly holds the Customs and traditions of their tribes, both in socializing among themselves as well as in maintaining the architecture of their buildings. Tanjung Aan Beach , is approximately 5 km from the beach of Kuta, a beach with white sand that is so enchanting and cleanliness of its crystal-clear water.

So a few cultural stops, then the afternoon at the beach.

Tanjung Aan Beach.

Again, back in time to watch the sunset, this time from down on Sengeggi Beach, then dinner out.

Hotel pool day, only heading out for cocktails and food.

Same today as yesterday.

Time for another change of scenery. We depart Bali Island today to fly to Lombok Island. As our flight was late afternoon, we spent the day at a Nusa Dua Beach.

Our flight was delayed so we spent a bit of time at the airport trying to amuse ourselves.

By the time we arrived in Lombok and were transferred to our hotel, it was time to head across the road for a pizza dinner.

Today we threw in a day tour to mix things up a bit, couple of beach stops, ending with sunset on Kuta Beach.

PANDAWA BEACH - we went for a swim but there was a strong undertow.

DREAMLAND BEACH - water looked beautiful, but way too rough to swim in the ocean. we had lunch in a nice little warung near the beach.

NUSA DUA BEACH - much nicer, we spent a few hours here and dipped in the water several times.

KUTA BEACH - sunset beers with the masses.

A change of scenery, but the next couple of days were much of the same. Beach/pool time, lemon beers/cocktails and great food!

We even found Bali's Stonehenge!

More of the same today, ending with a fun cocktail session at sunset.

We had a full day out today.

First stop, ALAS HARUM where we tried LUWAK COFFEE.

Kopi luwak or civet coffee is a coffee made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract. Not-really-digested, then pooped out, collected up, cleaned, roasted and ground for our drinking pleasure. A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world.

We were not sure how much of the shit was removed from the coffee, cause we all - bar Wendy - thought the coffee tasted like shit! These animals are nocturnal and they are only in the cages during the day while they sleep. They are let out at night into the wild and have be trained to return at dawn to a big feed of red coffee berries, which they love. So during the day they poop out the undigested coffee beans which are then collected to make the Luwak Coffee.

Second stop, TEMPAK SIRING - THE HOLY SPRING WATER TEMPLE - where Miss April and I entered the water and were cleansed under the springs.

Third stop, TEGALALANG RICE TERRACE, the valley of the rice terraces where we stopped to enjoy the view and have a great lunch. Lyn and I ventured down into the rice fields.

Fourth stop, TEGENUNGAN WATERFALL, where Lyn, Miss A and I were the only ones to brave the steps down and swim in the water below.

GREAT DAY OUT!

It's a hot day in Ubud again today.

Lyn, Oskar and I went for a walk around the centre of Ubud, past the monkey forest. No need to pay to go inside the monkey forest, there are enough of the cheeky buggers out on the street. Regular refreshments were necessary.

Regular refreshments were necessary - coffee happy hour.

Bruin beer o'clock:

And this was the day Wendy had her fall and trip to the doctor.

Out and about around town. Lotus Garden. Radlers. Pool. Massages.

It's hot again so some pool time after breakfast at our hotel.

We did brave the heat and went for a walk to the Ubud Lotus Garden in the main street.

Then a few beers to cool off.

A walk through the Subak Juwak Manis rice fields, stopped for a drink.

Another quick look at the lotus garden, more flowers out today than yesterday.

Happy hour coffee at Mingle Cafe.

The night ended with cocktails and dinner at Mingle Café.

Another hot day, we visited another temple complex.

Borobudur
Borobudur, or Barabudur is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, not far from the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indonesia.
It is the world's largest Buddhist temple.
The temple consists of nine stacked platforms, six square and three circular, topped by a central dome.
It is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated stupa.

After a quick look around the shopping street in Yogykarta (we didn't buy anything) we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and a relaxing afternoon.

Today we had a massive driving day all the way across Java. A very early start and a late finish, we spent the day in the van.

To recover from yesterdays long drive, we crossed over back onto the island of Bali and had a relax day back at Pemuteran Beach.

Our last day on our Java tour, on our way to Ubud, we stopped at the Twin Lakes lookout to watch the monkeys.

We stopped for BABI GULING lunch!

Today we had a big drive to get into the mountains near at Mt Bromo National Park. We checked into our hotel and chillaxed for the rest of the day.

It was a lot colder up at this altitude and we all bought beanies to wear tonight, but mostly for tomorrow. As tomorrow we are heading up Mt Bromo to watch the sunrise!

Up at 2.30am to drive up to the top of Mt Bromo to watch the sunrise. Us and 500 other Toyota Land Cruisers full of tourists (mainly Indonesians).

There were huge crowds at the top of the mountain which was a little surprising to me. Sure it was a great sunrise, but just great. And it's not like it was a reward after trekking up to top of the mountain, everyone there had arrived in a motor vehicle that waited in line to get to the top and then searched for a non existing car park. Not quite sure why this sunrise attracts so many viewers.

It was cold and very dusty, hence the face masks. Before returning to attempt to find our vehicles for the winding trip back down the mountain, we stopped at one of the little refreshment shacks to have a warming drink.

We waited roadside for our lifts to find us, then joined the still existing line up down the hill.

It was cold, but not freezing as we expected. Personally, I prefer SUNSET to sunrise, the timing and all! But this was quite an experience. After the sunrise we stopped in the SAVANNAH VALLEY for a couple of photos.

Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, known locally as Taman Nasional Bromo Tengger Semeru (TNBTS) is a national park located in East Java, Indonesia.
It is the only conservation area in Indonesia that has a sand sea,[2] the Tengger Sand Sea (Indonesian: Laut Pasir Tengger), across which is the caldera of an ancient volcano (Tengger) from which four new volcanic cones have emerged. This unique feature covers a total area of 5,250 hectares at an altitude of about 2,100 meters (6,900 ft).[2] The massif also contains the highest mountain in Java,[3] Mount Semeru (3,676 meters (12,060 ft)), four lakes and 50 rivers. It is named after the Tengger tribe. An erg (also sand sea or dune sea, or sand sheet if it lacks dunes) is a broad, flat area of desert covered with wind-swept sand with little or no vegetative cover.

The Tengger Sand Sea has been protected since 1919. The Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park was declared a national park in 1982.

Another big drive day today, we left Bromo and headed to Yogyakarta, via a stop off at Prambanan Temple.

Prambanan Temple Compound
Prambanan or Rara Jonggrang is a 9th-century Hindu temple compound in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, dedicated to the Trimūrti, the expression of God as the Creator, the Preserver and the Transformer. The temple compound is located approximately 17 kilometres northeast of the city of Yogyakarta on the boundary between Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces.

So today we are leaving the island and my friend Wayan (who Dolly and I met here in Bali last year) is taking us on a 7 day tour to his home island of Java. I have left the itinerary totally in his hands. We will be all travelling altogether in a minivan and Wayan is organizing the accomodation, tours and has the task of finding us places to eat.

A very early start today as we left the beautiful relaxing Nusa Lembongan to start our JAVA TOUR. Wayan and our driver was waiting to collect us at the port when we arrived.
As we were the first boat trip of the day, there was a lovely lady who put offerings on the boats motors for morning blessing.

We headed north up into the hills, driving up the middle of the island of Bali to the northern coast. Lots of monkeys on the side of the road who did not seem to be scared of man or machine.

We stopped for lunch at a place overlooking the lakes, it was a bit chilly up there and we all opted for BAKSO - a kind of soup for lunch. Very tasty, as well as the coffee and lemon tea, which warmed us all up.

After 4 hours travel we reached the north coast and our stop for tonight. We are staying @ Doubleyou Homestay in Pemuteran Beach. Lovely rooms with outdoor shower room. And the pool was set in a beautiful garden. Lucky the temperature at sea level was much warmer and we all had a swim in the lovely hotel pool.

We crossed the busy road and headed to the beach to watch an amazing sunset. There was some kind of festival on at the beach and there were lots of locals out eating and enjoying the entertainment. We found an assortment of food outlets that managed to satisfy all of us.

This morning we went snorkeling off Menjangan Island. The sun was out and the water was just amazing and we saw lots and lots and lots of colourful fish.

We stopped at 2 different locations, and had lunch in between.

After lunch we had another snorkeling stop.

And now some really good underwater pic our guide took with Dolly's underwater camera.

After our snorkeling trip return to the beach, Wayan was waiting there for us to take off straight away. We drove the short distance to the nearby port to wait for a motor vehicle ferry that would carry us from the island of Bali to the island of Java. We had a short wait and then the crossing took about an hour, plus we had to wait our turn to berth on the Java side.

Once on Java we drove straight to our accomodation for the night as it was already late afternoon. Tonight we stayed in bungalows @ Mirah Hotel and after a full day out we all took time out to have a relax before dinner. I found the hotel pool and went for a swim.

We walked just a short distance up the street and found an restaurant with outdoor seating to have dinner. Wayan had to act as interpreter as the restaurant staff did not speak English. I'm proud of the Bali Seven as none of them complained about the location of our eating establishment. Some of our party have not travelled very much and especially not in Asia so I was a little worried they might be a bit fussy about where we eat. But everyone seemed happy with tonight's (and last night's choices).

Lazy day by the beautiful pool of our hotel.

We went out only to eat.

Today we did a day trip to Nusa Penida, the bigger island right next to this one.

We were picked up and transferred to boat near the mangroves. Speed boated across to Penida Island where we bumped around the unkept roads to a couple of lovely sights.

KELINGKING BEACH - spectacular from above, none of us fancied the climb down or back up.

Lunch stop before we head to the beach.

CRYSTAL BAY BEACH - another lovely spot, but a bit rough for us all to go for a swim. I braved the cool water but had to watch for the strong pull out to sea. Punters on the beach opted for a nap in the shade with the sound of the waves hitting the beach.

We returned to Nusa Lembongan and walked down the street for cocktails, then dinner.

After a lazy morning we took a taxi to the Yellow Bridge that joins Nusa Ceningan to Nusa Lembongan.

We found a nice place to have lunch - OCEAN BROTHERS HOTEL & RESTAURANT that let us use the pool also. It was a very relaxing day and we stayed there watching the sunset. Just on dark we walked back across the Yellow Bridge and ate in a very local place, then struggled to get a taxi back to hotel.

Moving day today, we checked out of the Grand Kumala Hotel in Legian and were transferred to Sanur Harbour to catch a fast boat to Lembongan Island.

We watched as everyone's luggage was carried down the beach to the waters edge and deposited on our boat. Then it was our turn to wade into knee deep water and climb in the back of the boat.

Boat journey was less than an hour, then we waited for our luggage to be unloaded then were transferred to our accommodation. Transfer to our accomodation was included in the ticket for the ferry. The Cozy Villas will be our home for the next 5 nights, and first impressions were good. Great pool, and our villas are great too.

We ventured just to the closest warung for an early dinner as we did not have any lunch. Think we all gunna like this island stay.

We spent the morning lazing in and around the pool. Testing our snorkel masks and underwater camera and generally doing nothing. Wonderful.

Starting to get hungry we walked down towards the beach to see what we could find.

DREAM BEACH & DEVIL'S TEAR BAY

We stopped for a late lunch which turned out to be even later as we waited almost an hour for our food.

Then had to rush home for a quick swim before our 5pm pick up to return to Dream Beach for cocktail happy hour to watch the sunset. Happy hour cocktails were 2 for price of 1 @ IDR100,000 .

We got the free transport back to our accommodation and returned to the place next door for dinner again.

Our flight from Rome to Bali was via Bangkok, where we had to change planes. We met Dolly at Bangkok airport and shared a flight with her to Denpasar.
My good friend Wayan was at the airport to collect us and deliver us to our hotel in Legian. There waiting for us, having arrived earlier in the day, was Miss April, Wendy, Jo &Oskar. Welcome to the Bali Seven, let the Indo Adventure begin.

After catching up with everyone, and sorting out the hotels rooms and who was sharing with who, we went to a restaurant just down the street for our first 'group dinner'.

So, the Indo Adventure has begun! We had a relax day around Legian today just to get our bearings and to recover from any jetlag - (hey some of us had flown from Europe remember). Weather is beautiful of course and after breakfast we decided to go for a stroll around the nearby streets, do a little shopping.

Then we headed down to the beach for a drink and a bit of lunch.

Back to the hotel for an afternoon swim and some relaxing.

Dinner was had at the Souvlaki Greek restaurant that Dolly and I frequented last year when we were here.