Adelaide, South Australia

21 hours and 1549 kilometers after we left Alice Springs we arrived in Adelaide. We only had 3 days in Adelaide and I had high hopes - Adelaide is supposed to be a food lovers' town. I was a little bit disappointed, though. Australia is a big country and I'm convinced that Australians could enjoy themselves in their own country without ever feeling the need to travel elsewhere, but the cities that we've visited in Australia thus far have been incredibly dull. The cities are made up of wide lanes more than anything else and sights are often not very close together. Public transport is a hassle and the streets are incredibly pedestrian-unfriendly. There appears to be a huge contrast between Australian cities and the great Australian outdoors and Adelaide was no exception.

But there were some highlights. At the State Library of South Australia we were allowed one hour of free internet per day. We received a free guided tour through the national history exhibition at the South Australian Museum. We had lunch at the Botanic Gardens. Most importantly, three times a week the Central Market houses 250+ food stalls where you can purchase everything your appetite might fancy from poppy seed bagels to homeade hummus and from South Australian cherries to Italian pasta. These sights were lovely.

But even before I actually came to Adelaide I had decided that there was one thing that simply had to be done there: WINE. South Australia is home to some of the country's most famous wine regions and so, one Wednesday afternoon, we went on a tour through the Barossa Valley. Here we drove through the Torrens Gorge, saw a Big Rocking Horse at the toy factory in Gumeracha, bought chocolate fudge at Angus Park Fruits, enjoyed the view at Menglers Hill Lookout and talked while standing more than 100 meters apart at the Whispering Wall. It was quite a decadent affair with a 3-course lunch. The weather was perfect with not a cloud in sight. And, of course, there was wine. I quickly realized that one only really needs one or two wine tastings, but after a long period of near-sobriety, it was great fun. The biggest surprise of the day was the Choc-a-Bloc at Lambert Estate - a delicious port made with real dark chocolate.











Yesterday night we took our fourth overnight bus and this morning we arrived in Melbourne. Here we're staying with Eyal and Marieke in St Kilda's and I can't begin to stress how nice it is to be staying at an actual home with friends. Eyal and Marieke share a lovely apartment with their Jack Russel Terrier puppy called Eddie and although none of us feel like Christmas due to the lack of cold and snow, at least we're together.

Tonight Jochem and I will take a train to the restaurant where Eyal works as a chef and I'm very excited to have dinner at an actual restaurant (I bought fancy shoes especially for the occasion). Tomorrow we plan to do some shopping for our Christmas meals and at some point we also hope to be able to drive down the Great Ocean Road together and spend a couple of days there. As always, we'll keep you posted. Please know that we think of you and miss you very much.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!

Alice Springs, Northern Territory

Most of last week Jochem and I were based in Alice Springs. I use the word 'based' because we didn't see a whole lot of Alice Springs itself, short of their beautiful Olive Pink Botanic Gardens. This is because we were out on a 3-day/2-night camping trip to the Outback with our tour guide Adam and 19 fellow travellers.

This trip was definitely one of the highlights of Australia for me. We had a great tour guide and an amazing group and we saw some absolutely beautiful things out there. After a short stop in Stuarts Well for a camel ride, we made it to Uluru. Uluru is the biggest monolith in the world and has a surprisingly large range of different angles at every turn. We did the Base Walk all around Uluru and were constantly surprised by yet another different nook or crannie. It's difficult to explain, but it's really very impressive and fascinating.


one of Uluru's many different faces during the Base Walk @ Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Unfortunately, there was also a lot of rain. Sadly, this meant no red sunsets or sunrises for us while snapping pictures of Uluru, but on the other hand we had a good time hiking because it wasn't very hot either. I'm grateful for that, because when the sun was shining and the skies were clear, you would soon be overwhelmed in a nasty pool of your own sweat and exhaustion. Besides, we got to see what not a lot of people get to see - huge waterfalls falling from the sides of Uluru.


experiencing a very cold and wet sunrise @ Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

After a very cold and wet night camping in the campsite's kitchen at Yulara, we made our way to Kata Tjuta where we hiked the Valley of the Winds. This was my favorite part during the trip - Amanda, Jochem and I were hiking up front and I felt in great shape. Moreover, Kata Tjuta is breathtaking. It is a collection of massive head-like structures set in a beautiful green valley - absolutely magnificent.


hiking the Valley of the Winds @ Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park


the view from the Karinga Lookout @ Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park


with Katharina and Amanda @ Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Our second night in the Outback had a much nicer end to it than the first one. We drove to King's Creek Station, made a huge campfire and had (vegetarian) chili con carne for dinner. Afterwards a few of us stayed up (despite having to get up the next morning at 4.30 AM for the third time in a row) drank beers and played drinking games. At night we slept at the campfire under a billion stars.


being driven around in the Outback

We started the third and last day of our camping trip at 7 AM in Watarrka National Park to hike through the King's Canyon. To get there, we first had to hike up Heart Attack Hill, but it was well worth the trouble. We were rewarded with amazing views over the canyon's rim and were constantly surrounded by beehive-shaped domes and waterholes.


out of breath after climbing the very steep 100 meters that comprise Heart Attack Hill @ Watarrka National Park


enjoying the view from King's Canyon @ Watarrka National Park


inclined to jump into the refreshing waters of the Garden of Eden @ Watarrka National Park

After that particular hike I was exhausted and my ankles started to give out. With the temperature also climbing, I was glad to be heading back to Alice Springs. At night our group had dinner and drinks together at the Rock Bar and I've been told the festivities lasted well into the night.


sitting, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere

We had very little time to recover from our camping trip because the next day our next tour commenced at 8 AM. We had arranged for a tour to the MacDonnell Ranges because I couldn't bring myself to leave the Outback without seeing these as well. This tour was very different from our camping trip, but equally enjoyable. There were just the five of us, including our tour guide Regina. The West MacDonnell Ranges are located just west of Alice Springs and are not very far, so we never spent more than an hour on the road at a time. Regina oozed relaxation so we felt very relaxed throughout. The food was great and we never had to clean anything. We saw a variety of different sites - I added some pictures below to give you a general idea of how beautiful the area is.


listening to the trickling water effects of a gum tree @ West MacDonnell National Park


Simpsons Gap @ West MacDonnell National Park


Standley Chasm @ West MacDonnell National Park


Ochre Pits @ West MacDonnell National Park


about to jump into the waters of the Ellery Creek Bighole (also known as 'Alice Springs' Beach') @ West MacDonnel National Park

On Monday morning we left Alice Springs and embarked on our longest bus ride yet: 21 hours to Adelaide in South Australia. Despite feeling relieved for fleeing the heat, I also felt a pang of sadness for leaving such beauty. I will always remember the Outback as a perfectly balanced landscape of red earth, green flora, blue skies and white clouds.



If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!

Mt Isa, Queensland

We are in the Outback!



Mind you, despite a 19-hour bus ride we are still in the same state (i.e. Queensland), but we have made our way from Far North Queensland to North West Queensland and it sure feels like a world away.



The bus ride itself was surprisingly comfortable, although I did leave a Very Important Bag behind in our first bus (from Cairns to Townsville) stocked with back-up medication, amongst other things. I keep forgetting and misplacing so many things lately that I start to feel like Mag! Hopefully I’ll be able to get the bag back from Greyhound tonight.



As I wrote in my last blog, we decided to make a quick stop in Mt Isa, which is about halfway between Cairns and Alice Springs, because spending 33 hours on a bus wasn’t something we were willing to do. We ended up having a nice time here in ‘the Isa’, which is how the locals lovingly call their hometown. You’ll see posters everywhere saying: ‘Remember: You’re not a real Aussie ‘till you’ve been to the Isa’. It’s very cute.

I like the Outback! Once again I’m reminded of how much more I enjoy the back country of a place rather than its beaches (unless, OF COURSE, we’re talking about Nusa Tenggara. I LOVE Nusa Tenggara!). Mt Isa is a beautiful place with a perfect color palette of red earth, green fauna, blue skies and white clouds. It lives and breathes ‘small town’, but with its 41,000 square kilometres it’s equivalent in size to Switzerland.

Take a moment to let that sink in: the CITY Mt Isa is as big as the COUNTRY Switzerland. We’re in the Outback alright, where only superlatives apply.

We spent a couple of hours exploring a small part of this big town. We went to the Australian Tourism Award-winning Outback at Isa for some background information on the region.



One late afternoon we walked to the City Lookout for a beautiful sunset overlooking the mines in the valley.





Most of the time, though, we spent relaxing at our hostel the Travellers Haven. It’s an old and worn place, but the rooms are cool and there’s a nice swimming pool that we spent quite some time in.



I relish the dry heat in the Outback and can’t wait to explore more once we get to Alice Springs. Our bus leaves tonight at 7.30 PM and we expect to be in Alice Springs at 9.15 in the morning. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to catch up much once there, because we booked a 3-day camping trip to Uluru on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and will be on another tour to the MacDonnell Ranges on Sunday. At 10.30 AM on Monday morning we’ll take another overnight bus to Adelaide. I'm so excited!

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!

Cairns, Queensland

We're not in South East Asia anymore, Toto. We arrived in Cairns on Tuesday morning after a long night of flying and one stopover in Darwin. Cairns is in the state of Queensland, on the coast, in the far north. Its main attraction is the Great Barrier Reef, but more on that later.

It's a little bit weird to be in Australia. There is a lot of space and there aren't a lot of people. The wideness of the roads reminds me of the US. We are thankful for the dry heat here, which everyone seems to be suffering from, but which we welcome with open arms after Ubud's oppressive humidity. The Australians are incredibly friendly, everything is well-organized and it's a relief to be in such a clean environment where the toilet and shower are nicely separated. It is, however, extremely EXPENSIVE here. It's quite a shock! No doubt we were becoming quite spoiled in South East Asia, but this requires a bit of an adjustment. Luckily, we are no strangers to living on the cheap. We have a huge kitchen at our hostel and, although the groceries are also very expensive, it's definitely cheaper than eating out and it's also nice to be cooking again. Our hostel also has AC and a pool. For the last 2 days we stayed in a quiet and clean room with one other couple and a boy who was staying there longterm. But when we first checked in, we ended up in a dorm room with 4 very young boys who spent their days sleeping and their nights drinking, which was less than ideal. Overall, the travellers here seem much younger than in South East Asia and of the kind that come here to work for money and then spend it all on partying. As you might have guessed, this isn't exactly my kind of crowd. It's like being in a college dorm again at the age of 28. Mostly, I feel old. But now that we're in our new room I feel much better. I guess it just takes some time to get used to Australia.

Our first day here was a bit of a bust. I needed to find a nurse to give me the second booster rabies vaccination that I had brought all the way from Indonesia. It took a while to find a clinic and we had to wait a while to see a doctor. I was then referred to a very crabby nurse who told me that the vaccine might be useless. Mind you, she told me this AFTER she had already given me the vaccine, meaning that it was now too late to give me a vaccine that they could guarantee would work. I looked at her while thinking: 'What the HELL do you mean?!' Why anyone would give a patient a vaccine that one is unsure of is actually working is beyond me, especially considering the fact that rabies a lethal disease. The word 'malpractice' comes to mind. The nurse and the supervisor kind of seemed to want to get rid of us, telling us to call some company in France that makes the vaccine. I was sick with worry and Jochem was clearly getting angry. We stood our ground and when the doctor heard about out ordeal, he was mortified and came to our aid immediately. He made some calls with the French company, the doctors on Bali who had treated me before and a couple of travel doctors and he agreed to personally give me a new vaccination on Friday morning, free of charge. What a relief! Perhaps he was trying to avoid a lawsuit, but it's always nice to be recognized when people make potentially fatal mistakes. So, in conclusion, I've now received 3 rebooster rabies shots and will probably not die a mad death.

Welcome to Australia.

But look at Cairns - isn't it pretty?


Cairns Harbour

The very next day we went on a 2-day snorkelling trip to the Great Barrier Reef - surely, the # 1 must-see tourist attraction in Cairns. We were very excited, but ended up a little bit disappointed, if you can believe it. There was nothing wrong with the company or with the boat - to the contrary! Our boat, the Kangaroo Explorer, was super nice. We had our own cabin and our own bathroom and the boat had AC and the food was amazing. If we'd had this boat in Nusa Tenggara, it would've been the trip of a lifetime.


Kangaroo Explorer


Hold onto the shade for dear life!

And that's exactly the problem. Although trained from birth that making comparisons is a bad thing, it was virtually impossible for us NOT to compare the Great Barrier Reef to Nusa Tenggara. And we feel that when compared, the Great Barrier Reef bleaks in comparison. Perhaps the reef is a far better place for divers because it's not exactly near the coast - it takes about an hour and a half to get there by boat which ensures that the water is deep. Not only is this sometimes quite scary, it also makes it much harder to see things. In Nusa Tenggara the coral is close to shore and as a snorkeller you can get extremely close. That wasn't the case at the Great Barrier Reef. Moreover, the visibility was often poor and the water was absolutely infested with thousands of jellyfish. The first time I almost had a heart attack from desperately trying to avoid them, having just read Bill Bryson's account on the box jellyfish in In a Sunburned Country, about a man who had so much pain after being stung that he kept screaming even when unconscious. Yikes. I got used to them during the next few times in the water, and at certain places there weren't that many, but during our last snorkelling trip there were so many that we had to get out because it was simply impossible to enjoy the reef with so many jellyfish in your hair/face/neck, despite wearing a stinger suit at all times.

I saw no jellyfish in Nusa Tenggara. Jochem saw one. You catch my drift?

But, you know. We saw the Great Barrier Reef! There were huge coral formations up to 30 meters high! We saw turtles, and a stingray and even reef tip sharks! And the boat was awesome.


about to hit the jellyfish-infested waters with our much-needed stinger suits


Here I go!


Nemo (also known as a black clownfish)


I survived yet again!


sunset on board

When we came back we decided to explore Cairns. We took a bus to the Cairns Botanic Gardens because (1) we wanted to see some typical Queensland flora and (2) it was free. We walked from Saltwater Creek through the area with the Centenary Lakes to the Flecker Botanic Gardens, where we picked up a brochure and took ourselves on a self-guided walk. This was both a rewarding and frustratring experience as the brochure was a little bit unclear and I kept failing to find the right plants and had to drag Jochem behind from yet another tree in order to listen to me as I read aloud the very interesting decriptions of flora. But we had a laugh, in the end. We ended our visit with a walk on the Rainforest Boardwalk and, for a while, it was like being in South East Asia again. Mosquitos included.


Saltwater Creek


Flecker Botanic Gardens


Rainforest Boardwalk

Today we've been busy getting ready for the next leg of our trip in Australia, but we made a quick stop at the Lagoon on the Cairns Foreshore Promenade. Cairns doesn't have a beach, so the very clever people here built themselves a very popular 4800-square-meter salwater swimming lagoon. It sounds corny, which it is, but it's great fun. There is a small beach and grass surrounds the area and there are places where you can barbecue - it's a nice family place. We've been having great weather in Cairns, nothing but blue skies and sunshine, despite the rainy season, so we took a dip this afternoon.


Lagoon

We've booked a couple of overnight buses to save money on hostels, which sounded like a great idea when we booked, but right now sounds like suicide. Our bus to Mt Isa leaves at 12.25 AM tonight. First, we need to drive down to Townsville, where we'll arrive around 5 AM. Around 7 AM we board a new bus which will arrive in Mt Isa about 12 hours later. Then we're still only halfway to our final destination, which is Alice Springs, but we decided to make a 2-day stop in Mt Isa because travelling in a bus for 33 hours seemed like madness. Mt Isa is a rich mining town in the Outback with just 22,600 inhabitants. Yikes.

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!

MY FAVORITE SOUTH EAST ASIA

ACCOMMODATION our apartment at Father's Guest House, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

ALCOHOLIC DRINK Beerlao, Laos

BAR N/A (Why drink when you can eat?)

BEACH Red Beach, Komodo Island, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

CITY Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

CLUB N/A (Jochem has no rhythm)

COUNTRY Indonesia

DISAPPOINTMENT Si Phan Don, Laos

DRINK fresh sugar cane juice with a splash of green orange, Cambodia

FELLOW TRAVELLERS Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

FOOD # 1: vegetarian noodles at an Indian food stall in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, # 2: vegetarian laksa at Thousand Veggies in Chinatown, Singapore and # 3: vegetarian amok curry in Kratie, Cambodia

LOCALS Laos

MELTDOWN Bed bugs in Kuala Lumpur or food poisoning on board in Nusa Tenggara? Bladder infection in Sanur or possibly rabies-infested monkey bite in Ubud? I wonder which is worse - I can't decide.

MONUMENT Temples of Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia

MUSEUM N/A (no excuses here)

NATURE Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

RANDOMNESS I've had reflexology foot massages in every country we've visited in South East Asia during this world trip.

RESTAURANT Thousand Veggies in Chinatown, Singapore

SURPRISE Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

WEATHER Luang Prabang, Laos

I wouldn't have wanted to miss...
...the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

I could've skipped...
...that second day in Melaka, Malaysia. If I had skipped it, I would've had one extra day in the Cameron Highlands!

I want to go back to...
...Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia and combine it with a trip to Maluku and Papua.

[inspired by The Other Flying Dutchman]

Ubud, Bali

daily offering at the family temple of our accommodation

We spent the week in Ubud. Ubud is beautiful. I mean that literally. The streets in Ubud are beautiful, the compounds in Ubud are beautiful, the people in Ubud are beautiful, the food in Ubud is beautiful and the natural surroundings in Ubud are beautiful. The Balinese in general appear to worship beauty and it's awfully nice to be surrounded by such experts for a week.

Sometimes I wonder whether we're making good use of our world trip. We met a lovely married vegetarian couple called Matt and Aimee in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia (where else?) and when I read their blog it seems that they're seeing so many more places and doing so many more things. We prefer to set up camp in one place and explore from there. We did the same in Ubud. We knew we'd have 8 days here, so we thought it was key to find a nice place to call home for the week. Ubud is a little bit more expensive than, say, Padangbai, so we didn't have any luxuries like AC or a swimming pool, but we can't complain - we found a bungalow in the back of a family compound called Artini Cottages I.


street entrance to the compound



our bungalow

What I didn't like very much about Ubud was the HEAT! I'm not sure whether it was actually hotter in Ubud than elsewhere on Bali or whether I just wasn't used to the humidity anymore after all those weeks spent at the beach, but it was dreadful. It makes me long for the dry heat of the Outback like you wouldn't believe (though I fear that I might regret saying this later).


our bed

One other thing that I loved about our accommodation was Brownie. I'm not sure who Brownie belongs to because he just seems to appear out of nowhere, but I LOVE him!!! I want to adopt him and take him home and give him a bath and a brush and walk him down the street! Besides the practical issues, Brownie, of course, isn't mine to take - he has a home here on Bali. But on a certain level I'm so certain that in some past life he used to be my son or something.





In Ubud I freed up some time to take a couple of yoga classes at the Yoga Barn. The Yoga Barn is probably the most beautiful (there's that word again!) yoga studio I've ever seen. It's situated in a rice field and surrounded by palm trees. The studio is quite literally a barn. I had my yoga classes upstairs and instead of glass windows there were just a couple of wooden beams so you were surrounded by rice fields and palm trees and plants and flowers from all sides. It was lovely, but with the AC missing, it was also HOT, which made every class feel like a Bikram Yoga class (and NOT in a good way either).

I bought a card for 5 yoga classes. I started on Tuesday with Ying Yang Yoga. This class was challenging, but even after 4 months I could feel that the Bikram Yoga classses that I took in Utrecht had left me strong (I guess he's onto something, that Bikram). The next day, however, I took a Slow Flow class which was just awful. I was clearly out of shape after travelling for 3 months and my body still ached from Yin Yang Yoga and I couldn't hold a single pose. It was after this class that I realized someone had stolen my expensive limited edition Havaianas. In retrospect, I'm fine. The people at the Yoga Barn felt horrible and reimbursed me so that I was able to buy a new pair of Havaianas (not the same kind, though, them being limited edition and all). But at the time I was so enraged I could've slapped someone. If your personal possessions aren't even safe amongst a couple of fellow yogis on one of the most peaceful places on earth, then what?! Moreover, the flip-flops weren't just flip-flops to me - I bought them especially for our world trip as a treat to myself for making the trip possible through sheer will and determination. But what can you do? Now I've grown used to my new Havaianas and peace has returned once more.

The next day I took my very first meditation class. I've experienced with meditation a couple of times, but it's quite hard and you really need a teacher. I took a Tibetan Bowl Meditation class, which was interesting. It's hard to explain, but let me try. My fellow yogis and I were rubbing ourselves with mosquito repellent and trying to get comfortable in a lotus pose (which, by the way, isn't comfortable at all), while a young man who looked exactly like the young Dalai Lama from Seven Years in Tibet unwrapped a collection of, what I assume to be, Tibetan bowls. He said some prayers and told us to do as we wished during the meditation, but without making noise or disturbing the others. I looked at the clock. It was 8 PM. The meditation class was supposed to last for a full hour. I was getting a bit scared - how the hell was I supposed to sit still for 3600 seconds?! Suddenly everyone lay on their backs and I followed. The teacher told us to put our heads towards him so as to hear the Tibetan bowls best and so we did. He also told us that we could get up and leave 'once the meditation was finished' and I remember thinking to myself: how am I supposed to know when it's finished?! I tried to be calm. I placed myself in shivasana (also known as corpse pose) and vowed not to move until the end of the meditation. And guess what? I didn't. But it was difficult. At first I suffered from what Elizabeth Gilbert calls a 'monkey mind' in Eat, Pray, Love. My mind kept swinging from one thought to the next and it was wearing me down. I tried to focus on my breathing and also used the 'ham sa' ('I am THAT') mantra (also stolen from Eat, Pray, Love - maybe you're starting to see a pattern here). Also, I kept feeling the mosquitos feasting on me and BOY is it difficult not to move when you're being bitten and it itches, but I remained still. After what seemed like forever, I notice that I'm having a lot of difficulty breathing. In fact, I'm constantly out of breath. This makes no sense, for I've been lying on this yoga mat for a while now. And then, suddenly, I see an image in my head that's both crystal clear and plain weird: there is a sumo wrestler sitting on my chest. Is this why I've been out of breath? Moreover, there is writing on his massive legs. On his right leg, placed on my left arm, in big, black capital letters, is the word FEAR. On his left leg, placed on my right arm, in even bigger letters, is the word FAILURE. Suddenly I notice that my arms hurt like hell. Especially my right arm is starting to burn. Then, out of nowhere it seems, I turn my head to the left and I just KNOW that the meditation is over. I open my eyes and sit up. I remain seated for a little while longer before making my way out of the room in the darkness. As my eyes get used to the dark, I notice that except for one other person who's still seated, I'm the last person to leave the room. I look at the clock. It's exactly 9.30 PM. I've been lying still for 90 minutes.

Isn't that WILD?!

The next day I had the most amazing yoga class I've ever had. It was my favorite kind of yoga, Hatha Yoga, and the teacher was the exact right mix between kindness and pushiness, but I think that the class went so well because my mind (not my body) felt stronger after that meditaton class. I've grown infatuated with meditation and truly believe that yoga without meditation is kind of missing the point. I can't wait to start taking more meditation classes back home. On Saturday I took my last yoga class, an Early Bird Yoga that started at 7 AM. I feel rejuvenated by all this yoga!



The yoga, then, makes up for all the food. Besides yoga we haven't done much but eat and read. There are numerous nice places to eat in Ubud, but we circled a collection of our five favorite places: (1) Kafe (which serves what I lovingly call 'pretentious healthy vegetarian and vegan food'), (2) Bali Buddha (ditto), (3) Taco Casa 'n Grill (Mexican), (4) Pizza Bagus (Italian) and Three Monkeys (expensive Italian). I don't remember it all exactly, but there were a lot of smoothies involved.







On that note, one day we went to Wayan's for her famous multivitamin lunch special, which is, indeed, delicious. There we met Wayan and her daughter Tutti in their shop in northern Ubud.







I've also met Ketut Liyer at his house in southern Ubud. A palm reading by this traditional Balinese medicine man cost as much as one night at our accommodation, but it's Ketut Liyer (did I mention that I'm a huge Elizabeth Gilbert fan?)! He says all the obligatory things, like "I'm very happy to meet you" and "see you later, alligator" and, frankly, I didn't believe a word he told me, but he told me that I'm very pretty (Ketut, PLEASE!) and very lucky (obviously NOT judging by my luck in South East Asia during the last three months). I will live to be 100 years old (let's hope not for the sake of my three children and God knows how many grandchildren). I will be rich (HA! I knew that English degree was good for something!). Now it becomes interesting. Whatever I decide to do with my life, I will be successful (I've no idea what to do with the rest of my life, but I guess it's nice to hear that whenever I do decide on something, it will be good). I will marry only once and stay married for the rest of my life (again, good to know). When it comes to my future children, the man actually has to get his glasses because he 'can't see' (perhaps he senses my dread concerning morning sickness and this little thing called childbirth). He looks and tells me I will have two children. No, three. Alright then. He ends by saying that Jochem is a good man and then asks me why am I not married yet?! For this I look at Jochem, who quickly looks away. And that was it.







On Saturday we decided that it was becoming increasingly ridiculous that all we did in Ubud was eat, so after we hugged some puppies at the Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA), we made our way to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sactuary. Here I read all the instructions on how to deal with the monkeys and I walk in feeling quite confident about knowing how to handle these animals. We sit down to watch the monkeys and after a mere five minutes one particular male specimen goes for my purse. I read the signs and didn't bring any food or drinks into the sanctuary, so why this guy is going for my Body Shop mirror is beyond me (frankly, I find it a little rude). Now, I swear to you that I did NOTHING to upset the monkey, although I might have flinched when he was going for my most-prized possession (my SPF 15 lip balm), but in a matter of seconds this rugrat is looking at me, showing its teeth, and then sinking said teeth into my upper right arm, and I'm just like: 'Well, I guess we need to see another doctor.' Judging by my Facebook account there was a bit of a scare and I'm sorry about that. Please don't be alarmed - measures have been taken, wounds have been obsessively cleaned and rebooster rabies shots have been given.



Sunday was our last day in Ubud and we rented a scooter and saw some of the area surrounding Ubud. We had lunch amidst the rice paddies while observing a pack of wild ducks in a nearby rice field, who were constantly, while quacking loudly, moving from one side of the field to the other. It was like watching a debate in British parliament. That day we saw five different Hindu temples (one from the comfort of our scooter) and my favorite was definitely Gunung Kawi, which is a group of shrines cut into stone cliffs. To get there, you first need to make your way to the town of Tampaksiring, which is infested with vicious dogs who will not only bark and growl at you but actually follow you and your scooter while you make a desperate attempt at escape. You need to park your scooter, walk to the entrance, buy a tickets, put on a sash, walk down (and afterwards: up) a steep stairway and then sprinkle yourself with holy water before entering the ancient site at the Pakrisan River Valley, but it's well worth the trouble. The site is being considered for UNESCO World Heritage status, so there you go.


Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave)


Yeh Pulu


Gunung Kawi


Jochem calls this my G.I. Jungle outfit.


Gunung Kawi

And that's about it, folks. After a week in Ubud, a month in Indonesia and three months in South East Asia, we are 1/3 into our world trip and we fly to Australia tonight. But let's not get ahead of ourselves - let's have some breakfast burritos at Kafe first.

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!