Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

One week ago it was time to leave the beautiful Gili Islands for Lombok.


Gili Trawangan

We took a boat to Bangsal and then a bus to Senggigi on the western coast of Lombok. We had been extremely impressed with the beauty of the Gili Islands and were thus surprised to see how beautiful Lombok is as well. During the drive from Bangsal to Senggigi there were white-sand beaches on your right and rolling green hills on your left. While Lombok doesn't share the crystal clear and turquoise waters of the Gili Islands, it makes up for it with its lush greenery. Quite amazingly, we were able to stay in a wonderful hotel in Senggigi for a good price. We decided to spend our days there by relaxing, either at the hotel pool or on the beach.


Sendok Guest House, Senggigi, Lombok


Senggigi Beach, Lombok

On Sunday, then, it was time for our boat trip through Nusa Tenggara. I apologize in advance for perhaps using the word 'magical' too often during this blog post, but 'magical' epitomizes this part of Indonesia for me, with which I have completely and hopelessly fallen in love, and I believe Jochem has as well. All the beauty that we've been blessed to witness during the last 2 months bleaks in comparison to Nusa Tenggara. It surpasses everything we've seen so far, and this includes my beloved Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. It may be the most beautiful piece of earth that I have ever seen.

However, as it says in our Lonely Planet: "Be warned - this is no luxury cruise." Indeed, it wasn't anything like a cruise. Life on boat was ROUGH! It was more back-to-basics than any rained-on camping trip I've ever undertaken. Our boat was small and made of old wood and had a certain smell. The trip was a bit too expensive for our budget, so we didn't opt for a cabin but for sleeping on deck. Perhaps naively, we thought we'd be sleeping in dorm-room-like accomodation, but no, we literally had to sleep 'on deck'. We didn't have any place to put our luggage except for a big luggage storage room, so every time you had to get new clothes or your set of toileteries, you had to dive into this room, locate your carefully packed backpack, dig in, locate your necessities and repack said backpack (and, OF COURSE, it was only after you'd done that, that you realized that it might be useful to also get your toothpaste out together with your toothbrush). Luckily, each night we succeeded to snatch a sleeping spot on the top deck (as opposed to the low deck where it was hot and where you could clearly hear the boat's engines roaring) where we slept under the moon and stars, but during the day the top deck was sunny and hot. At night we were often sailing so there was a lot of wind and, thus, it was often very cold. Because we were out at sea, you and everything that you own smells and feels like the sea - you know, that kind of salty dampness that you may recognize after a day at the beach. Add sweat, humidity and heat to this mix and imagine getting dressed or getting under your sleeping blankets. Maybe you're wondering: were there no facilities on board? Oh yes, there were. Small ones. Cramped ones. Hot ones. 3 toilets/showers on 40 people where the water pressure is non-existent and you have to flush the toilet manually with a bucket of water. And, since you don't have your own room, you also have to get changed here. Although I did end up with fabulous beach hair (so Bic (and I know that you're reading this, even though you appear to have vanished from the face of the earth), if you're still interested in volumized hair: go on this boat trip!). I've never felt dirtier in my whole entire life.





Having said all of that, I must underline that IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!!! Our company, Perama, was professionally organized. Our tour guide, Gary, was sweet, attentive and knowledgeable. And the amazing crew on board did absolutely everything to please us, including cleaning up after us, preparing our sleeping spots every night and cooking 3 meals a day. I'm actually very proud of myself for having handled these difficult living arrangements for 5 days and 4 nights. It made me realize that while I like having a routine and definitely don't like to give it up, I AM able to let it go when the situation calls for it and still enjoy myself. I only had one low point - this was on the last day of our trip. I'd been pretty sick for a couple of days by then (sleep-deprived, dehydrated, still sunburned from the Gili Islands, with belly aches and a liquid stomach) and in the morning I wasn't careful enough when putting in my contacts and the wind blew one on the floor. Jochem and I spent 15 minutes frantically looking for it with flashlights in the very dirty sink and on the very dirty floor and I was like: "Get me off this )(*&^%$#@! boat!" Miraculously, Gary found it and all was well again. What really made the trip worthwhile for me, though, was Nusa Tenggara itself. This is beauty of the remote, deserted and parched variety. The mesmerizing landcape is made up of deep blue waters studded with hundreds of moon-like islands. It is beautiful in its harshness.





Our first day was mostly spent on Lombok. We made a quick visit to the village of Masbagik to view the craft of pottery-making by the local women and saw how the local men make wooden boats by heart in the village of Kampung Padak. In the afternoon and evening we spent a couple of hours on Gili Kondo for some snorkelling, a walk around the nearly deserted island and a bonfire barbecue.


Gili Kondo

We sailed all night and woke up near the island of Satonda. In 1815 a nearby volcano erupted that caused a tsunami, which accounts for a beautiful salt water lake on the island. It was magical to swim in this lake - it is like swimming in a giant green crater and if you sit still long enough, wild fish therapy fish will come to nibble at your dead skin. This place was one of the highlights for me during this trip.


Satonda

After Satonda we sailed for 6 hours to Kilo/Donggo Beach on the island of Sumbawa for swimming and snorkelling. We sailed all night and witnessed a couple of truly magical things on the boat - millions of stars, a bright red full moon and glow-in-the-dark algae that glowed up when it was disturbed by the fish. I was laying on my back, listening to my friends' playlists, looking up at the sky. It was my favorite moment on the boat.

The next morning THE highlight of the trip commenced: our visit to Komodo National Park on the island of Komodo.


Komodo National Park

Here we saw a couple of big and small dragons laying in the sun digesting their meals of previous days.


Komodo National Park

However, we also stumbled upon one dragon as it was eating a deer! Only later did we understand how rare this is - our rangers, who had worked at the park every day for a year, had only seen it 3 times, while our tour guide, Gary, had only seen it once in 2 years. We were extremely lucky, then, to have seen this!


Komodo National Park

The park was gorgeous, but dangerously hot - I could literally feel my skin burning despite the protective clothing and layers of factor 50 that I had just put on.


Komodo National Park


Komodo National Park

Which is why I was extremely happy to be heading for Red Beach on Komodo, which is the most beautiful beach I've ever seen and comes as close to a deserted island tropical paradise as I can imagine. I think it's called Red Beach because the white sand is studded with red dots of crumbled red coral.


Red Beach, Komodo


Red Beach, Komodo

After swimming and snorkelling some more, we headed for Labuan Bajo on Flores, which was as far east as we would travel. When you look at a map, Lombok and Flores look really close together, but in reality it's about 850 kilometers apart. We only had a couple of hours there, which we spent at a cafe overlooking the sunset over the harbor. At night, back on the boat, some people got off at Flores and some new people boarded and we slept in a drizzle of rain.


Labuan Bajo, Flores

The next morning we woke to another magical moment: dolphins jumping out of the water near our boat. We made our way to the island of Rinca for more hiking and more dragons in Komodo National Park.


Rinca


Rinca


Rinca

After another gruelling exercise in the burning sun, we sailed to Gili Laba for yet more swimming and snorkelling.


taking the smaller boat out to Gili Laba


Gili Laba


Gili Laba

One last night of sailing and we found ourselves in Labuan Haji on the island of Moyo.


comparing nail polish colors in Labuan Haji on Moyo

We walked through the village and its beautiful rice fields.


Labuan Haji, Moyo


Labuan Haji, Moyo

In the woods we played like children at this waterfall. Jochem acted dangerously on the rope (no worries, Linda, I preached him about it until his ears fell off), while I enjoyed the simple pleasures of shade, coolness and fresh water.


Moyo


Moyo

Our final stop of swimming and snorkelling was the tiny island of Keramat.


Keramat

After that things happened very fast. We sailed back to Labuan Lombok, took a bus back to Senggigi, found a really nice hotel room, had about 4 showers apiece, ordered room service and crashed into our beds. In the morning we took a cab to Teluk Nare, took a boat back to Padangbai on Bali, found a room at the same hotel that we stayed in 2 weeks ago, arranged our transport to Sanur on Sunday (where we will FINALLY see my parents again) and had a big lunch. I plan to do absolutely nothing in Padangbai but rest from an, arguably, very difficult, but very rewarding trip.


back in Teluk Nare on Lombok with Stefan, Alvaro and Aleix

I bet that I'll be fabulous on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

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

Gili Islands, Indonesia

We are on Gili Trawangan, which can only be described as tropical paradise!



On Sunday morning we took a VERY early flight from Singapore to Bali. From the airport we fought to get a cheap taxi (as opposed to a more expensive airport taxi) and drove to Kuta. We didn't like Kuta at all - it's like a Balinese version of Salou, which says enough, I think. But we went there to book a bus to Padangbai. Luckily we were able to get a bus that same day. In the afternoon we arrived in Padangbai, found a nice hotel, and relaxed on the beach. The next morning, then, we finally took a boat to the Gili Islands.



There are 3 Gili Islands: Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan. They are close to North West Lombok. Gili Air is closest to Lombok and is very quiet. Gili Meno is between the other 2 Gilis and is pretty much deserted besides a couple of fishermen and a few couples on their honeymoon. This scared me a little bit, so we decided to go to the island that is the farthest removed from Lombok: Gili Trawangan - the Party Island. I suppose that one could party here if one wanted to, but if you stay on the northern side of the island, you hardly notice this, even though the island is quite small. Most of the bars and extravagant hotels are found on the southern side. It took us a while to find accommodation, but just as it was starting to rain, we were able to get a sweet bungalow in a tropical garden at Warna Homestay, where the water that comes out of the shower is salty (?).





On Monday we took it slow and explored the island a little bit. It turns out that you can purchase magic mushroom shakes here and that there is no police on any of the islands! But with the Indonesian authorities still rewarding foreigners with the death penalty for drug use, we're staying far away. Not that we feel inclined to use some by any means - I have hardly drunk any alcohol at all during this trip, because I just don't feel like it.

On Tuesday we had something very special planned: a snorkelling trip at 4 different reefs around all 3 islands. It was just magical - the sun was shining, the skies were blue and the water was crystal clear. We were on a boat with a glass bottom and no matter how deep the water was, you could still see all the way down to the bottom of the sea - amazing. We visited Good Heart Reef, Turtles Reef, Garden Fish Reef and Bay Rock Reef. We also had lunch at a beach shack on Gili Air. While snorkelling we saw colorful coral, a shipwreck, turtles (!), lots of small sea life and every tropical fish you can imagine, mere inches from our face. This was just what I needed after 2 months of plowing through humid jungles and wet mud.











But, alas, despite the waterproof factor 50 that we lathered on, we still got severely burned. OUCH! It hurts to even sit, so we've been hiding from the sun for a little while, but we hope to get a few more hours of tropical paradise in before we leave for Lombok tomorrow - we come armed with 2 bottles of factor 50 and sarongs to block the sun.



We only have 2 days on Lombok, which we'll probably spent at the beach in Senggigi. On Sunday we leave for our boat excursion to Komodo to go dragon spotting!

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

Singapore Inc.

After a week in Singapore, I have mixed feelings about the place. It's hard to explain. Ordinarily, I would write a chronological account, but in the case of Singapore, this would turn out to be one long and boring summary of things seen and done, and I want to do better.

First of all, our hostel was lovely. Up until Singapore we had always been able to afford a double room, but here that wasn't an option for us anymore. Remember how I told you about the many hours that Jochem and I spent behind a computer in the Cameron Highlands looking for a couple of dorm beds? It turned out that our efforts had not been in vain. The Travellers Inn is a small hostel where 6 people share 3 bunk beds in 1 airconditioned room. There is a small but cosy common room where you can watch movies or write. Breakfast and internet use are free. Most importantly, this is a family business and, as such, it breathes genuine hospitality. Patrons Daniel and Jenny couldn't have been better or more helpful hosts. If you need a cheap place to stay in Singapore, this is the place to go.

Moreover, there is just so much to see and do in Singapore! It's really quite overwhelming and almost impossible to make choices. The amount of neighorhoods alone worth visiting is difficult to imagine. Of course there is the Colonial District and the financial hub CBD. There are the Quays by the water. There is Orchard Road and all its diversions. Let's not forget about Chinatown, Little India and the Muslim quarter called Kampong Glam. And this is just the city center that I'm talking about - on the outskirts of the island there's even more to see.

We did lots of things during our 7 days in Singapore, but there is also a lot that we didn't do. We visited 0 museums. We skipped the world-famous Orchid Garden. We didn't pay 30 Singapore dollars for an original Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel. But we did watch the light show from Merlion Park. We rode the 165-meter-high Singapore Flyer. We tempted fate by riding a cable car over the city.

In short: Singapore is expensive, but there are many ways to enjoy the city cheaply. Here are a few of my favourites:

I guess that this is a bad first example, but a guided tour with the Original Singapore Walks is well worth the 30 Singapore dollars per person. The tours are given by quirky historians who know how to tell a good story. Soon you'll be mesmerized and hanging from their lips. Helena told us a great story about the Kampong Glam neighborhood, where she personally outfitted me with this pretty sarong. If I'd had the money, I'd have spent all on these tours. There is a different tour every day through a different neighborhood. If there is one thing worth doing in Singapore, it is this.



One of the things that I really loved about Singapore is that there is so much wild nature in the city. What can I say? The only thing I did on Orchard Road was see a movie - I couldn't care less about the expensive shops.

There is Sentosa Island, which I found quite weird. It's unnaturally clean, tourists are everywhere and there is always music playing from invisible sound systems. It's kind of like being in Disneyland, except that it's NOT Disneyland - this is 'just' an island. But we couldn't resist the (admittedly, totally scary) cable car ride and the sight of the beach. After seeing that and taking this picture, we ditched the island and went on a 9-kilometer hike on the Southern Ridges on the mainland, which ended in a beautiful canopy walk.



It seems that there are about 100 Buddhist temples, Hindu temples, Chinese temples, mosques and other places of worship worthy of your visit. To be honest, we had seen so many of these religious buildings in the past 2 months (does Angkor Wat ring a bell?), that we were simply too tired to do anything besides walk past and take a picture. We did make a stop at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery up north, where we found this amazing Buddha sculpture. Or, 'supposedly', this is Buddha.



One of our last activities was a hike through the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve for a patch or urban primary rainforest and a visit to the Tree Top Walk at the MacRitchie Reservoir. It just baffles me to find things like this in a cosmpolitan city like Singapore.



But there is also something weird about all of this. There are so many beautiful places in Singapore, but there are hardly any people there. I never understood why, although I never dared to ask either. Perhaps the people are no longer impressed with what they see as a normal part of their surroundings? Or do the well-to-do people in Singapore look down on such simple pleasures as walking and having a picnic outside when there are so many more prestigious/more expensive entertainment options to choose from? Or are they simply too busy working in order to pay for their affluent lifestyle? Who knows, but it stuck with me. I have come to know neighborhoods like Chinatown and Little India like messy and chaotic pools of people. Is it busy? Of course. Is it sometimes overwhelming? Certainly. Does it smell? Unfortunately, this is also true. But there is also a sense of authenticity there that I missed in Singapore. Everything is just so CLEAN and ORGANIZED and devoid of proof of human life. Perhaps that's a little bit too harsh - the cleanliness and organization obviously guarantee a nice stay in the city and you'll always feel safe. Kind of like Asia for beginners, I imagine. From everything that you see and hear and witness, you get the sense that Singapore sees itself as a self-made Utopia, which I find a bit creepy. I bet that you expected me to love this kind of strive for perfection, but the truth is: it makes me a bit anxious. I once read in a guidebook that Singapore is managed by the government in the same way that an executive would run a multinational corporation - I guess that says it all.

Which is why there were not a lot of people at the beautiful Botanic Gardens when we were there, even though there was no rain for once and the sun was even showing its face. Where were all the students with their quickly-assembled fridge-leftover picnics and cool beers? Where were all the mothers with their toddlers? Where were all the runners with their dogs? It remains a mystery.







By the way: it was at the Botanical Gardens that I FINALLY found a good plate of pasta worth eating.





And this brings me to my absolute favourite thing to do in Singapore: EAT! There are many beautiful restaurants and bars with extensive menus while soft lounge music plays in the background and you overlook Marina Bay and the Singapore River. Skip all of these places. There's no time! Instead, get thee to a food court, also known as a hawker center, order up some local cuisine for a few bucks and start people watching. Because it's amazing - the way that the people in Singapore come together at these food courts. Young and old share in the meals. Old men drinking Heineken sit next to yuppies in suits. It was almost my favorite thing.



Because my favorite thing in all of Singapore was a little corner restaurant hidden on a busy street in Chinatown. This vegetarian restaurant, called Thousand Veggies, has got to be the BEST vegetarian restaurant in the world (or at least it was voted best in Singapore, which I think must say an awful lot in a city where eating seems to be the favorite pastime next to shopping and going to the movies). Because it's one thing to make good vegeterian dishes by leaving out the meat and fish, but to use fake meat and fish, and to make it almost indistinguishable from the real thing - that is craft indeed! I had laksa with fake shrimp that looked like shrimp, smelled like shrimp and tasted like shrimp. Our grilled fish had a slightly different structure from a real grilled fish, but it still tasted the same. It even had fake scales! Jochem (because he's being sympathetic, or so he says - I believe that he's turning into a vegetarian) ordered fake steak, and although he said it tasted more like a really good beef burger (which is a feat in itself!) you've got to love a chef who would put a thing like a vegetarian steak on the menu! The restaurant itself was splathered with names of famous vegetarians and quotes that leave little to the imagination when it comes to eating animals. I suppose that someone who isn't vegetarian could be put off by such an overly-present vegetarian vibe, but I loved it.





And now we are in Indonesia, on the island of Bali, in the town of Padangbai, on the eastern coast of the island. We celebrated first by having a beer on the beach, as it was our first encounter with a real beach (we strongly feel that Sentosa doesn't count). And we have some exciting things planned! Tomorrow we take a boat to the Gili Islands. There are 3 Gili Islands, but Jochem wants to go to Gili Meno to act out Elizabeth Gilbert's period of silent solitude at the end of Eat, Pray, Love. I'll be happy as long as there is beach and sun. After that we're going to spend a few days on the beaches of Senggigi on Lombok before going on a 6-day cruise through Nusa Tenggara with one goal only: to spot a Komodo Dragon! And, you know, to snorkel. After that we need to haul our hasses back to Bali, to Sanur to be precise, in order to meet my parents at the beautiful Respati Beach Hotel for a week of absolutely nothing. I'm not sure how I'll be able to keep in touch in the mean time...



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

Melaka, Malaysia

On Thursday, then, it was really time to say goodbye to the Cameron Highlands. We took an early bus back to Kuala Lumpur and 5 hours later I was still in denial.


waiting for our next bus at Puduraya bus station in Kuala Lumpur

In the early evening we finally arrived in Melaka in southern Malaysia. Melaka is a lovely little town on the Straits of Melaka.


Sungai Melaka

Here you will find Komodo's little dragon brother swimming in the downtown river.


Sungai Melaka

We spent 2 days in Melaka. One of the highlights of our stay would have to be our guesthouse Emily Travellers Home. To get to the main area of this guesthouse you have to walk through a kind of tunnel, balance on a couple of stones set in a fish pond, and cross over a small bridge suspended over another fish pond. It is like entering a completely different world. We were staying at a small hut set in a tranquil garden. We had our own deck and mosaic bathroom. There is a lounge area where Malik, our hospitable host, appears to always be cooking something on the fire pit. His pet bunny, Mr. Playboy, hops around in the garden. There are jungle showers, which means that you are standing in a big room filled with rocks and plants, taking a shower under the clear blue sky. Sometimes you can see a rainbow when you shower in the morning. It was lovely.

Melaka is a surprisingly small city. Our first stop was the Menara Taming Sari, which is an 80-meter-high revolving tower offering views over the city. Matt and Aimee, fellow travelers whom we'd met in the Cameron Highlands (where else?), told us that it was quite an eyesore. At that they were right, but we went in anyway. It's actually a fun way to see the city and it was the first time that we caught a glimpse of the ocean in almost 2 months.


Menara Taming Sari

I would say that Melaka is famous for 2 things. First of all, the city is home to a beautiful collection of colonial architecture - sometimes intact, sometimes in ruins. It's all because of the Indonesians/Chinese/Portuguese/Dutch/British. Combined with the sunny weather it makes for some pretty pictures of downtown Melaka.


St. Paul's Church


St. Paul's Church


Sungai Melaka


Stadthuys

Since the Dutch were also involved in Melaka in the 17th century (they sure got around), and because this is still very much evident in contemporary Melaka, and because we couldn't resist, you end up with pictures like this.


Town Square

Another thing that Melaka is famous for is its Nonya food, named after the Baba Nonyas or Peranakans, who were Chinese immigrants who took the religion of the Chinese but the customs, language and dress of the Malays, according to the Lonely Planet. Still being a vegetarian (4 months and counting!), it took a while to find something, but in the end we succeeded and found these pretty vegetarian Nonya spring rolls. Mmm...


Chinatown

But, I must admit, that besides walking around a little bit, we did absolutely nothing else but eat. And get massages. But I trust that Jochem will post a little clip of that particular adventure soon in our picture gallery.


Town Square

Now we are in Singapore at the Travellers Inn. Singapore is the most expensive country in South East Asia and we plan to stay for a week so there was no way to get around it anymore: we are staying in a dorm room. Let's see what this city has to offer!

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

A PS on the Cameron Highlands

What I forgot to mention is how NICE our fellow travelers have been in the Cameron Highlands! I'm not one who easily talks to other people and usually let Jochem do the talking, but here the people have been easy to talk to. We've even exchanged contact details with a couple of them. This I simply had to mention!