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Moritz Sievers
Moritz Sievers

Moritz Sievers

traveled in 8 countries Read more
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  • Schleni on Tour
    Tegallalang Rice TerracesSwim with a viewMie GorengFinally I found a birthday cake 😅Warung Biah Biah

    Tegallalang Rice Terraces 🌱

    November 16, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

    On the third day in Ubud we finally were motivated enough to get up before 7 am in the morning - which was totally worth it. We could enjoy the sun in the morning in our nice accommodation during a short yoga session. After breakfast we drove to the famous rice terraces Tegallalang. They were touristy and impressing at the same time. So many people tried to sell us something 🫣 but we had a nice hike there and treated ourselves with a cold drink in a restaurant above the rice terraces afterwards -nice view! and they even had a pool to use 😍 we stayed for about two hours because of the heavy rain that started after we finished our swim there 😅
    The rest of the day we just enjoyed good food and relaxed. My highlight was a local restaurant which a local recommended to me: Warung Biah Biah. We went there for dinner and tried different balinese spaecialties 😍    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Unsuccessfully waiting for the rain to ease up
    Coffee, cacao and tea tasting🧡Hidden waterfallOfferings in front of the waterfallTegenungan waterfallUma Anyar waterfallFirst Nasi for MoPizza in the evening

    rainy Ubud ☔️

    November 15, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    Ubud is said to be the center of Balinese spirituality and starting point for day trips to beautiful rice terraces and waterfalls - but above all we found that Ubud was rainy. 😅☔️ in all the weeks that I traveled during rainy season I had never seen a rain like in Ubud - which wasn’t too bad most of the time because finally after three month of not seeing each other Mo flew to Bali and finaaaally we met again in Ubud 😍 so when another apocalyptic rain fall was starting we could also enjoy our time together in cozy Cafés and restaurants just talking to each other and catching up. 🧡
    Still the rain caught us most of the days during our trips in and around the city, because we didn’t want to wake up early and at first we didn’t get that the best time for starting activities in Ubud is always between 6 and 10 am. 😅🫣 If you leave your hostel after that time, there was a high chance of getting soaked😃

    So it was a good chance to test the resistance of our rain capes and practice our motor bike driving skills (hello aqua planing) 😅🫣 At the beginning of my trip I would have never guessed that I would dare to ride a scooter in such a busy and flooded city like Ubud 😄 seems like you can get used to almost everything 😅

    The first day we went out of the city to visit a coffee farm (free coffee, cacao and tea tasting of self-made products!😍) which was very interesting and nice. They showed us how they grow and produce their coffee and we could try coffee types like avocado and coconut coffee.
    Afterwards we drove to the Tegenungan Waterfall, which was actually very impressing but unfortunately looked very brown (due to the rain) and was also very touristy. A big Resort was built right next to the waterfall and played club music all the time 😃 even if we discovered another hidden (and very beautiful) waterfall right next to the Tegenungan we weren’t completely happy with our first waterfall experience on Bali and so we went to see the Uma Anyar waterfall afterwards. This one was located in a small village nearby and wasn‘t touristy at all - so beautiful 😊
    Before we headed back to the city center Mo tried his first Nasi Goreng.
    Even if I found Ubud still quite touristy I liked it so much more than Canggu because for me the vibe felt so much more relaxing. In the evening we went out to have pizza (because the Italian restaurant was highly recommended) and called with Fynn, Mo‘s best friend who would join us in a few days, to make some plans for our travels together. 🍕    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Buying some offerings on the market
    Us volunteers in traditional balinese clothingOn the way to the templeThe hindu temple where the purification ceremony took placeDuring the purification ceremonyAstrology reading with Baka (Kadek's father in law)Kadek's Yoga Shala - preparing for the classesYoga class in Kadek's gardenMy first two yoga classes 😊

    Balinese traditions in Demulih II 🕉

    November 13, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    During the workaway the other two volunteers and me could participate in a purification ceremony, which was an impressing experience.
    In the morning we went to the market to buy offerings for the ceremony. Kadek organized traditional Balinese clothing for us, because otherwise you can’t enter the purification temple. The whole ceremony took quite a long time because a Hindu monk was guiding us through Bangli’s holy river where we put the offerings on different mini altars which stood for different gods. He showed us how to pray for each of the gods the way that the Balinese people are doing it. We passed 5 mini temples in the river, climed through a small cave and ended at a waterfall. In the end we were completely wet😅

    Also we went again to Kadek’s father in law, who gave us a Balinese astrology reading. He told us not only about our personalities but also about the specific Hindu god that takes care about each of us.

    Next to the traditions that we got to know during the the time at Kadek’s place, it was also very exciting for me to teach my first yoga classes. Kadek told his students (people from the village) that I would teach two of his classes and I was happy to see that many of them showed up. With Kadek and his translations it worked out that we had a good time doing yoga together.

    Very Special memories for me that I will keep in mind and heart for sure for a long time😊    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Mushroom Satedelicious 😍Jamu in the makingWayan is probably one of the craziest persons I know 😅Gado gado for breakfastDemulihOne of the family templesDemulih 🌅DemulihLearning about the balinese hinduism

    Balinese traditions in Demulih I 🕉

    November 12, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Kadek taught the other volunteers and me so much about the traditions, food, culture and Hinduism on Bali.
    We made mushroom sate 🍢, the traditional Balinese medicine drink „Jamu“ (made from fresh ginger, turmeric, palm sugar and coconut milk - sooo delicious and healthy!) and had a lot of fresh Indonesian food.

    We hiked on the highest hill of the village (which was not very high 😅) and had a nice view on Demulih, where we also saw glowworms 😍 But we stopped halfway and Kadek explained to us, that we can’t go to the top of the hill because the people of the village of Demulih are still mourning. When somebody of the village dies, all the other people of the village are at least for the next 12 days not allowed to go up the hill, where the highest temple of the village is located.

    We also went to Kadek’s father in law, who is a spiritual master and already 91 years old. He explained a little bit about the beliefs of the Balinese Hinduism to us. Unfortunately I can’t remember most of it, but it was so interesting! I remember that he told us all of the nine main gods that Balinese people believe in - but I can only remember Brahma (creates everything), Vishnu (takes care of everything) and Shiva (destroys everything)… what a great experience 😊✨    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    The beginning of the huge garden of Kadek's guest house and yoga place
    Kadek's gardenKadek's gardenMy improvised mosquito net hanging 😅 - more to prevent the frogs and geckos for coming into my bed2One of my room mates 🐸Offerings in the village of DemulihKadek's yoga shalaWayan, who takes care of Kadek's guest house and gardenView from the fourth level of Kadek's garden/ the yoga shala 😍Kadek's meditation room

    Workaway in Demulih 🪷

    November 11, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    When I began my journey on Java I did some research about workaway opportunities in Indonesia. A girl recommend workaways to me because often you stay at a family and get the chance to experience the culture and traditions of the locals in another way. I contacted Kadek, who offered volunteers to stay at his home or in his guest house in exchange for some work in his yoga Shala and guest house in his village in Demulih on Bali. We planned my stay for 5 days, and Kadek asked whether I could help him with gardening and also with his yoga classes that he offers for the people in his village.

    His yoga shala and guest house is in the same village where his family lives and because he already had two volunteers who stayed at this familiy house, he asked me whether I could stay in his guest house. It is surrounded by a beautiful garden divided in four levels. On the highest level the beautiful yoga shala is located with a wonderful view on the garden. After touristy Canggu I immediately loved the place which is in the middle of nature. In the village life seemed to be still very traditional, almost every family has their own family temple. The other volunteers and me were probably the only tourists in the village.

    Luckily I could switch the room because at first Kadek offered me a room with a lot of hornet nests and hornets flying around. After that (the memory of Denise being stung by a hornet on Java was still very lively😅) I happily welcomed the two frogs and geckos in my new room as my new room mates 😅 Even if the accommodation was very very simple (the mattress was so hard! 😃 and the bathroom was on the other side of the garden - without sink and couldn’t be closed 😃) it was magical to sleep in the guest house surrounded by the sounds of the nature. 😍    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    When you have been craving a smoothie bowl for days - and then finally there it is! 😍
    Hipster mealsShoooopping time1🍰🍰🍰🥹 birthday present from Denise 🥹🧡Denise even organized a birthday candle for me to blow out 🎂😍2Italian food for my birthday in CangguCelebration in CangguSandbarSaying goodbye to Denise after 3 weeks of traveling together🥺

    Balinese Birthday 🎂

    November 9, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    From Red Island on Java Zoé, Jonas, Denise and me went by shuttle, ferry and another shuttle to Canggu on Bali. The ferry from Java to Bali took us only about one hour but the whole journey to Canggu was again about 9 hours… It was kind of sad to leave Java after about 5 weeks (which was longer than I planned to stay 😅) but I was also looking forward to a new culture 😊

    Canggu in Bali welcomed us with one million western tourists, hipster Cafés, restaurants, clubs and many digital nomads. Denise and me stayed in a party hostel and had a cultural shock when we saw all the tourists in only swimsuits in the streets after Java and its moslem culture where most of the times only Indonesian tourists could be seen. But sometimes (between all the tourists, restaurants and clubs) we could already see some of the Hindu Balinese temples and traditional offerings they put everywhere.

    Even if I would say that Canggu was just not my favorite place and way to touristy for me, I would say Denise and me enjoyed the shopping and the western food (after plenty of days with only Nasi or Mie Goreng before that😃) - finally Smoothie Bowls and Cakes again! 😍🍰
    Also I thought it could be cool to celebrate my birthday in Canggu, as it is such a party place. But unfortunately exactly on my birthday I wasn’t feeling completely well. It was not too bad but I must have eaten something wrong (ironically when I had local food all the time before I have never been sick from the food- maybe I am already not used to western food anymore haha🤣).

    Sooo at first I couldn‘t celebrate my 28th birthday as enthusiastic as I wanted. But I was so happy to still be traveling with Denise, she was such a great birthday date! 🧡 in the morning we went to a fancy brunch place, Denise even organized a birthday candle I could blow out, which led to a happy birthday song in the middle of the café 😅 I got a birthday present from Denise (so sweet of her!) and Carola organized a voucher for a spa in Canggu that I could use for a relaxing Balinese birthday massage 😍💆‍♀️ in the evening Denise and me went to an Italian restaurant (😅) which was sooo good!
    After that I felt good enough for a little bit of partying - so we went to the Old man‘s bar and the Sand Bar - a Club directly at the beach. 🥳we stayed until 4 am and had a really nice last evening together. Next day Denise and me had to say goodbye after about three weeks of traveling together - so sad since we had such a good time together! 🥹🧡 I made my way to a workaway nearby Ubud and was already excited to see a less touristy village on Bali. 😊    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Beautiful sunsets at Red Island Beach
    Always Nasi or Mie Goreng in the eveningFinally more veggieeeees!Communication is not always easy 😄how hitchhiking looks like on Java 😅Sunset time - barbecue time 😍Trying to communicate with our host who didnt speak english at all 😅Finally Martabak again!! 😍😍

    Red Island - Barbecue at the beach

    November 5, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Our last days in Red Island Beach were very chilled. We continued to go surfing - I didn’t give up even if I catched only one or two waves each session 😅 in the mornings I also had time for doing some yoga 🧘🏼‍♀️one of my highlights was a barbecue at the beach during sunset which we organized. Zoé and Jonas bought themselves a fish at the market and two surfer locals also joined in with their fishes. Denise and me hitchhiked to a vegetable stand and bought a lot of veggies (three people on a scooter is not as uncomfortable as I thought😂).
    It was so delicious to finally eat a lot of veggies again! Indonesian people don’t eat a lot of them - the locals were so surprised when we offered them something of the salad that we had prepared - Ade, one of the locals, laughed and told me that they never eat salad 😅
    Even if the communication with our hostel host and the owner was most of the time very complicated (and funny 😅) because they couldn’t speak English, our host was so friendly - on our last evening they gave us some Martabak as a present - salty and sweet traditional pancake/egg sandwich which we already tried on Karimunjawa and were hoping to find somewhere again 😍    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Fish market 🎣
    Waiting for coffee (Kopi) in a mini warungThose cute kids who asked for picturesCrossing the river (man kennt es)After crossing the river - mud mud mud😅Coffee plantThe secret beach - finally!A voice from aboveFresh coconut water for us 😍 they were so friendly!Palm sugar

    Secret Beach 🌴

    November 4, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Some people told us about a „secret beach“ that should be close to Red Island. Denise and me decided to spend one day at the secret beach since it should be one of the most beautiful beaches of the region. Even if there were different descriptions of the path we should take and of the duration it would take us to get there, we just took off with a rented scooter and followed the description of the woman who borrowed us her own scooter for a few hours (obviously there is no official renting station in the Red Island village😅).

    We parked the scooter, went past a fish market and a lot of cute kids who wanted to talk to us in english. We arrived at a small Harbour and asked the fishermen for the path to the secret beach. They couldn’t speak English but pointed to a hill next to the Harbour and demonstrated hiking movements. We wanted to take the path they showed us, but there seemed to be a river between us and the path on the hill - the fishermen demonstrated that we would have to cross it first. We shrugged our shoulders and went through it 🤷🏼‍♀️😄 before we left the men seemed to try to communicate to us that from 4 pm on the water of the river would be as high as our chest - so probably it would be better to be back before that time 😅 our sliders were so muddy when we came out of the river, but luckily our clothes didn’t get wet.

    On the other side of the river two locals showed us the beginning of the „path“ on the hill. It was very muddy and overgrown with plants. We had no idea how long it would take us to go to the beach but we did understand that it should be one or two kilometers to hike across the hill. We actually immediately lost the path but luckily the two locals somehow came with us (even if we didn’t ask them to and even if they couldn’t communicate with us at all😁 but somehow they must have understood (before us) that we could never find the way on our own)… the uphill hike was all the time muddy, slippery and full of undergrowth. There were many times where we almost fell. We had to start to go barefoot at some point… I was switching between swearing the whole time (we just wanted a relaxing day at the beach and didn’t expect this muddy hike at all) and laughing very hard about myself 😅

    The nature was amazing (we saw coffee plants ☕️😊) and after about one hour of muddy hiking (😮‍💨😂) we finally reached the secret beach which we then learned was called Wedi Ireng 😊 but since we knew that the river would start to rise we didn’t have much time left, so we went swimming and had to start our hike back (still together with the two friendly locals who were kind of guiding us 😅).

    On our way back ( I would have never found the path on my own 😅) we suddenly heard a voice coming from one of the coconut trees. We looked up into the tree and saw a man right on top of the palm tree 🥥🌴 he could speak English and said that he wanted to invite us to his house for a coconut. He was climbing down (so quickly!) and showed us a small hut in the middle of the palm trees, where his wife sat and prepared what we learned would be palm sugar in the end. They were so friendly and gave us two fresh coconuts (the coconut water was so good! Maybe especially because of our exhausting hike in the mud 😅).

    It was not a big surprise for me that the water of the river had already been risen until chest height when Denise and me arrived at the river. I already prepared for getting changed into my swimsuit, but one of the fishermen saw us and picked us up with his boat to drive us to the other side of the small river 🙏🏼

    Back home in the village we heard that walking to the secret beach is just not really recommended during rainy season😄 to conclude, it was a very muddy discovery tour and we expected the day to be totally diffrent but in the end we met many super friendly locals and also learned some things about the nature and people in Java 🤷🏼‍♀️😅    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    1First surf attempt for Zoé and me in Red Island
    1How it looks like if locals are surfing in Red Island😳🤩How it looks like if locals are surfing in Red Island😳🤩How it looks like if i am surfing in Red Island 😂Our beautiful bungalows - with a garden in the middle 🍋Way to the beeeeachDragon fruit escalation 😃Finally relaxingBest Mie Goreng ever!

    Red Island - dragon fruits & surfing

    November 3, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    The region around Red Island Beach (Pulau Merah) was almost exactly like i imagined it to be. Because it is off season we seemed to be almost the only tourists around here (only on the weekends Indonesian tourists are visiting red island).
    We finally came to a rest - had a nice accommodation with small bungalows which are built around a small garden in the middle of it. What a nice view when you come out of your bungalow in the morning and first thing you see is a lemon tree 😍🍋
    Red Island Beach is called like that, because you can see a big hill/ island right in front of you in the ocean when you sit at the beach. In some months the sun sets directly behind that island and the sky is turning red.
    The beach is also known for its good waves and so we rented some boards and tried to surf. Due to the strong current and sometimes way to big waves for me, it was most of the time practicing in the white water or being in a washing machine for me 😅 but being on a board again (at least the majority of the time haha) and seeing that jungle island right next to you makes it still totally worth it! Also just watching the excellent local surfers here was also so much fun! They are also so friendly („This wave for you miss!!“)!
    The warungs here in the village didn’t have many options, actually the first days we were eating either Nasi or Mie Goreng all the time 😅 but to be fair, one of the Mie Gorengs was the best one I ever had (for 1 €😂).
    Beside the friendly people another highlight at Red Island Beach was the variety of delicious and fresh fruits you can buy. Especially dragon fruits were so gooood here. Each time we bought some, the friendly Rosmiata gave us way more of the dragon fruits to try than we paid for.    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Denise - still able to laugh after biten by a hornet
    Amira and her badminton racket, shielded me from the hornet which was under the lamp 😅Protecting masks for the sulfur in the ijen craterMinors carrying the sulfur up the craterEdge of the Ijen craterIjen crater and crater lake 😍Hiking back to the parking spot - such beautiful surroundings!!Amira prepared Mie Goreng as breakfast after our hike

    Ijen vulcano complex 🌋

    November 1, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    After that loooong trip to Mount Bromo we were looking forward to arrive at our hostel at Banyuwangi because we were so exhausted. We finally wanted to have a good sleep and thought we had booked a nice hostel for relaxing one night and one day before starting our next hike to the Ijen vulcano complex.

    Unfortunately it was not as relaxing and uncomplicated as we thought when we arrived. Our room in the hostel was kind of open so we had many mosquitoes inside. So Denise and me wanted to hang our mosquito net… whereby Denise got stung by a hornet 😳😳 We asked Amira, the manager of the hostel to help us to get rid of the hornet, which was the point where it started to become funny 😅Amira came with a badminton racket and tried to kill the hornet whereas Denise and me kind of cheered from the outside of the room 😃 she seemed to have some experience because she killed the hornet in the end (and also a cockroach which we then saw in the room)… both with the racket 😅 we were so tired after everything that had happened on that day…
    We had some sleep (but the muezzin already called his prayer at 4 am in the morning 😣). Next day we only relaxed and went to bed very early because our Tour to the Ijen vulcano complex was about to start at half past midnight 😳

    We had a tour booked and our driver brought us to the starting point of the hike where we arrived at 1:30 am. The others ate a Nasi Goreng before we started the hike to the Ijen crater with our headlamps (it’s always Nasi time). It began to rain during the uphill hike but our guide „Sule“ gave us some rain ponchos. The hike was less exhausting than we thought even if we hiked uphill all the time. After about one hour our group of about 12 people and our guide arrived at the edge of the crater. We saw a lot of other tourists on the hike and also a lot of locals who offered to carry us on wagons to earn money (must be sooo much effort for them 😳😞).
    It was still dark when we started to hike down into the crater, which was kind of hard to do and felt sometimes more like climbing. We could already see the sulfur smoke coming out of the crater but we didn’t have to put on the masks yet, which were provided from the tour we booked to protect the lungs of the sulfur. It was also the first time that I saw sulfur in solid form, when I saw the mine workers carrying the sulfur up the crater. For me it felt very bad to see the minors doing their work, carrying the sulfur up the crater, whereas us tourists were climbing down into the crater. Sule told us that he has been a minor before he could start his guide job. The workers there are carrying between 70 to 100 kilograms each time they climb up the crater!! But they only earn about 2 to 3 euros for those 70 kilos… and it takes them so long to climb up and down again (and it is obviously Incredibly exhausting!!) so they can only do about two loads each day.. they often don’t have the money to afford good masks to protect themselves (or any mask at all!😳) and they wear bad rubber shoes for the climb… it was very sad to see. :( and us tourists are climbing down and up and make their work probably even more difficult which made me feel very very bad. ☹️ On the other hand tourism allows some of them (like Sule) to work as a tour guide which seemed to be at least a better job. Since Sule told us that he is still doing that dangerous work in the months in which no tourists are coming we gave him some money in the end, to support him (maybe to at least be able to buy a proper mask for the job). Sule is still such a warm hearted guy who wears a smile all the time.

    Down in the crater it was still dark and there was a lot of sulfur smoke. We had to wear the protecting masks. We could see a little bit of that blue fire which is created by the burning of the sulfur when it starts to have contact with the air (I didn’t understand the cause of the reaction completely 😅).

    When we climbed up again it began to get brighter and we could see the crater lake which is colored in an amazing blue.

    Arriving on top of the crater the sun had begun to rise behind a mountain which allowed us to see the whole crater in day light - what an incredible beautiful view!

    Also the landscape on our hike back to the parking spot was amazing!

    We drove back to the hostel, where Amira prepared Mie Goreng (fried noodles) as breakfast for us. It was 9 am but felt like afternoon for me. We went to sleep afterwards until a shuttle arrived at lunch time to pick us up to drive us to our next stop: Red Island - relaxing, surfing and sunbathing sounded perfect for us after these adventurous days.    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Hike to to viewpoint for sunrise
    Sunrise at the view point3View on Mount Bromo craterhappy to finally arriveNoodle soup at 6 am (normal indonesian breakfast)Bromo Crater2Offering at the Bromo crater29 hour bus drive to Banyuwangi

    Mount Bromo 🌋

    October 31, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    It was a loooong, adventurous and exhausting travel to Mount Bromo - but in the end totally worth it!
    In total it took us about 10 hours to get to Cemorolawang from Semarang.

    From Semarang to Surabaya by train 🚊:
    Actually the train to Surabaya was totally fine and only about 4 hours.

    From Surabaya to Probolinggo by bus 🚌:
    When we got to the bus station in Surabaya it started to become weird. So many people were trying to convince us to take their bus to Probolinggo, they were very intrusive and the whole thing was very unpleasant. Luckily we had read in a blog which bus company should be a serious one (or at least one of the more serious ones…) and so we were looking out for that one. We felt like we still paid much more than the locals for the ticket.

    From Probolinggo to Cemorolawang by mini bus 🚎:
    After about 2 hours we arrived in Probolinggo but unfortunately there was an even worse situation. The mini busses to Cemorolawang are only driving when all seats are paid for but there were no tourists anymore. Again many people were intrusive, trying to convince us to take their bus and pay more money than usual for it. At that point we were already so frustrated and exhausted. Tried to organize a Grab taxi but he told us he couldn‘t pick us up in that „bison area“. Back then we didn’t understand yet what he meant. So we walked to another pick up point, happy to get away from the weird people at the bus station. Unfortunately the people followed us and threatened another mini bus driver who wanted to take us to Cemorolawang for a normal price, so that man drove away. We were kind of scared, since it slowly got dark and we didn’t have an idea what to do. The weird men followed us still and in the end we accepted their offer even if we were scared. But we had no alternative and went into their minivan (prepared a knife and pepper spray inside of it because we didn’t feel safe😳) …after 2 hours of a bumpy road we finally arrived in Cemorolawang - so relieved 😮‍💨 but also sooo exhausted. Jonas had googled the weird situation that we got into and told us that it is widely known that a mafia is controlling the area around Mount Bromo. Our hostel owner confirmed it.

    Finally!!! Hike to the view point and Mount Bromo 🌋
    We started the hike with our headlamps at 3:00 am in the morning. The four of us and Jules, a french guy that we met wore thick clothes because it was so much colder in that area (and especially in the middle of the night) than in indonesia in general. We were already freezing during the night when we slept. In the end I wore way to many clothes because the uphill hike warmed us up. I had to stop to get rid of clothes 4 times 😃 first we walked on a main road, later on a small rocky path to get up to the viewpoint where we arrived 2 hours later. A beautiful sunrise and a Noodle soup (at 6 am😅) were awaiting us. The view on Mount Bromo was incredible.😍 Even if it was still morning it started to get very warm when we went downhill again, starting our way to the Mount Bromo crater, which took us again almost two hours I think.
    When we arrived on the edge of the crater me and Denise were pretty exhausted. But it was nice to see the crater and the offerings on top of it. In the tradition of Indonesian people mountains and especially vulcanos are said to be in favor of the people when they offer something up to them.
    After we came back to the hostel we started our way back to Probolinggo (to the mafia nest 😅) which was again a very unpleasant stopover. We took a bus which should take us in the direction of Banyuwangi - the starting point for the next vulcano hike. The bus drive was awful. It was said to be a 6 hour drive, but in the end it took us almost 9 hours with the bus - without AC, but with guitar playing locals in the bus who were asking for money and smoking people. 😩When we finally arrived in Banyuwangi it was already dark and unfortunately the bus brought us to a station which was on the outside of the city center where no grab or taxi was coming to. We had to wait and organize for one hour or so until our hostel sent us a shuttle to pick us up.

    maybe we should have booked a tour including guides and transport for the Bromo trip which would have been a lot less complicated, but we wanted to do the whole thing on our own and so it ended up to be a veeeery long day 😮‍💨😅    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    😍
    Kota Lama in SemarangKota Lama SemarangLocal food - but in a proper restaurant instead of a warung 😃Start of our journey to Bromo

    Stopover in Semarang

    October 29, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    From Karimunjawa Zoé, Jonas, Denise and me took a speed boat to Jepara (back to Java). I was kind of sad to leave the island after we had such a nice time there🥹 From Jepara we took the bus to Semarang. Since we planned to hike two vulcanos (which were far away) in the next few days, we chose to make a stopover in Semarang.
    When we arrived there, we visited the old town (Kota Lama) in the city, where we could see the influence of the dutch colonialism in the buildings. It looked very cozy in the streets of the old town in the evening (as Denise would say „des hod ma daugt“😅).
    We had nice Indonesian food (this time in a proper restaurant instead of a Warung (which is a typical place where you can eat or buy something in indonesia). Finally some vegetables!

    Our hostel in Semarang was awful 😩😅 it smelled like chicken, the people were smoking in the reception hall, there were no sinks (which seems to be a common lack on java 😃), no toilet paper, and at 11.30 pm they started construction Work in the hostel 😒 luckily Denise could convince them to end it („Are you serious?“😂)
    We booked the hostel for the next day and went to sleep early as we had to catch a train the next day in the morning to start our journey to Mount Bromo. 🌋    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Morning run on Karimunjawa
    Best Nasi Goreng so farMy favourite beach on the islandWatched the sunset from the viewpoint Bukit LoveLast dinner with our guidesBonfire 🔥 ...this time flr real

    Bonfire on Karimunjawa

    October 28, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    On our last day on Karimunjawa I went jogging in the morning - even if I went at 8:15 am it had already 28 degrees 🥵 after one last smoothie bowl we drove to the ‚Sunset Beach’ and chilled there for the whole day 😍 had the (so far) best Nasi Goreng and Denise and me went to The View Point Bukit Love for the sunset where we had a nice view on the coast of the island. In the evening we had a nice snack (called Martabak- a guilty pleasure but I will try to find it again somewhere because it was so good haha)

    After that we went out to have dinner with our guides from the other day (nice Gado-Gado!) and they even made a bonfire at the beach for us for our last evening together. Zoé, Jonas and me went swimming in the night to see the plankton glowing in the water which was so magical ✨    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Nemo and meTried to attract some fishesDenise and me 🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️🧡Denise and Zoé in front of our boatPedro ⛵️DJ bonfire

    Snorkel trip 🐠 on Karimunjava

    October 27, 2022, Java Sea ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We went on a snorkel trip, where our guide Pedro showed us two other small islands and two spots for snorkeling. The corals there are so beautiful. We saw many fishes, three water turtles and sea urchins (Seeigel). One of the other girls told us she was swimming with a small shark - but nobody else saw it 😳 but all the others (except me) saw a shark from the boat.

    On one small island Pedro and our boat driver were preparing lunch for us and even grilled fresh fish. We were the only people on the island and had a lot time to relax. It was such a nice day - thinking of maybe doing a diver certification at some point - there is so much to see under water 😍
    At the end we drove into the sunset with our boat and headed back to the Harbour.
    🐠🐡🐢🐡🐠
    Because Pedro told us there would be a bonfire at the beach we drove there after dinner - unfortunately no one was there 😃 still it was a very funny evening - DJ bonfire was killing it😂🔥    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Smoothie bowl - i' ve missed youuu 🧡🫠Gas stationLunch time at Bunga Jabe - such a lovely place 😍Passion fruit dessertDinner at the hostel1Karimunjawa sooong

    In love with the island life

    October 25, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Next day we just enjoyed the island, the good food (fresh passion fruits🫠), empty beaches, driving with the scooters, and an awesome sunset swim😍
    In the evening Luppa, the owner of the hostel, prepared traditional Indonesian food for us - fresh fish, Tempe and rice 🙂 😍as it is common in indonesia we also ate only with our hands🤷🏼‍♀️😄

    Later some tour guides from karimunjawa who also chilled at the hostel in the evenings were singing together, showing us their own „karimunjawa song“ 😃    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Extending our sleep at one of the Warungs
    On boardOur hostel - so cozy :)Sunset beach - the Indonesian owner of the resto visited Germany a couple times and is BVB fan 😃2

    Karimunjawa Islands

    October 24, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We arrived at the harbour in Karimunjawa at 5 am in the morning and tried to sleep a little bit more in one of the Warungs (restaurants) at the harbour (more or less successful, at least Zoé can sleep everywhere😅). Then we could go onto the slowboat ferry at 7 am and it took the ferry about 6 hours to go to Karimunjawa. We tried to sleep on board (again more or less successful 😅) and finaaaally we arrived at the Harbour in karimunjawa. Went to check in our hostel „The Bodhi Tree“ (so „herzig“ there like the Swiss couple would probably say 😊).
    Then we rented scooters and drove to the Sunset Beach. Even if the roads were not always good on the island, the landscape was so amazing. Arriving at the beach we noticed we were almost the only tourists there and it looked like paradise to me 😍 we stayed until sunset and then went back for dinner at the (to be honest very unhygienic) fish night market. Was quite happy to be a vegetarian at that moment haha (even if Zoé and Jonas said the fish was very delicious in the end) 🙂    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Military parade in the streets of yogyaDenise and me with the indonesian woman who invited us to her house - she is so small 🐭So many nice plants 🪴😍Sate 🍖Night bus to jeparaOur solution for too much AC in the bus

    last day in yogya

    October 23, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    On the third day in Yogya I finally saw something of the city itself 😄
    Denise and me went to see the sultan‘s palace together with Elise from France. We saw a traditional dance and music performance (Ramayana), which was quite interesting to watch (but also very long and we got veeeery hungry) . On our way out we ran into a military parade and also into an Indonesian woman who randomly invited us to her house for a drink. At first we weren‘t sure whether it was a good idea to go with her, but in the end we followed her into her house. She offered us a drink and some of her self made pastry. We had a nice chat with her, she told us about her life in indonesia. Being a Christian she seemed to be so much diffrent from all the Muslim Indonesian women.
    After we left her house we had a nice last day in Yogyakarta, just walked through the small streets without a specific aim.

    At 11 pm Denise, Jonas, Zoé and me took a night Bus to Jepara, to then take the ferry to the Karimunjawa Islands - we had enough of the City and wanted some relaxing time on an island (and also hoped for better weather) 😅    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Prambanan temple
    Chess at a bus station

    Yogyakarta Prambanan

    October 22, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Next day we were visiting the Prambanan temple - a hindu temple which was also built around the 9th century - so about the same time like Borobudur. There were also smaller Buddhist and Hindu temples around the area, which I found to be even nicer in the end.
    Also we had the worst Nasi Goreng so far - actually it was only rice, a very small portion but so much more expensive than normally 😄    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    what a sunrise view
    at least we saw the vulcanos 😍Denise 🇦🇹, Zoé and Jonas 🇨🇭and Wanwan 🇮🇩Borobudur templefirst floor of the temple: sculptures of karma 🕉Mushroom restaurant

    Yogyakarta - cultural center of java

    October 21, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    After the almost ten hour bus drive to Yogyakarta I arrived at Laura’s Backpackers hostel. Went to see the Malioboro Street in the evening (of course it was raining) - so many people in the street were trying to convince me to come to „an extraordinary exhibition“ or an „awesome art gallery“. Luckily I was told that this was going to happen, unfortunately it is very common in Yogya that people are trying to scam you. It is the cultural art center of java, the place where Batik art has its origin and some people take advantage of it. They bring tourists to questionable places where they talk them into buying batik art (or even force them to).

    At the free dinner in my hostel I got to know Denise from Austria, we started talking and she asked me whether I want to join her to visit Borobudur Candi (temple) next day. In the end one of the Indonesian tour guides „Wanwan“ asked us whether we want to book a tour with him to see some more things than only the Borobudur temple on the next day. We convinced also Zoé and Jonas to join us and so we got up at 3:45 am next day to start our tour and to see the sunrise at a view point where you are supposed to see two vulcanos. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see any of the sunrise 😃 but at least we saw the vulcanos after a while. Went to see the ancient buddhist temple Borobudur, which was build in the 9th century. The temple is designed in a way that you can only go up the temple but not inside and at the moment it is unfortunately not even allowed to go on top of the temple. But still I found it very impressing to see how they built the temple (especially the background information a local tour guide gave us about the diffrent floors of the temple).

    Our next stop was Chicken Church - a building (in a shape of a 🐔) which was originally built for people with diffrent religions to pray together, but it is unfortunately not used for praying and now more of a tourist attraction than a religious building. But we had a nice view (out of the beak of the chicken haha).

    One hour later we arrived at the waterfall we wanted to visit. We were so happy that Wanwan drove us with the car because it was raining sooo much all the way and also when we arrived there. Because of flooding we couldn‘t walk to the waterfall and could only see it from a viewpoint (where you are also supposed to see a vulcano in the background, but it was too cloudy 😞).

    Very hungry, even a little bit cold and to be honest also frustrated we went to a nice restaurant, which had so many variations of mushrooms instead of meat (reminded me of the amazing food at the teacher Training in Thailand 😍). Best thing for me was to try the mushroom Sate with peanut sauce - which is originally from indonesia, but naturally made out of chicken.    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Little hut in sadati homestay where i stayed among others
    Banana pancake breakfast 😍To be honest I didn't feel completely safe riding the bike hereSuch a nice beach - so much pollution🫣🏄🏼‍♀️⚠️ hati hatiTupaiShort reel to summarize the good days in Batu Karas☹️Pills from the "hospital" for Mrs. Lene 😂Quarantine food 😍

    still in Batu Karas…

    October 11, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    I enjoyed Batu Karas and the chilled vibe over there too much to leave after the three days that I actually intended to stay. Soooo more days to come with banana pancake mornings at Sadati homestay, driving around by motor bike (including aquaplaning) to see other beaches, one time with Jule on my back and one time on the backseat of Tupai my (turned out to be driving veery fast) surf teacher 🫣😄…trying to find ATMs that work and still surfing. Unfortunately some strong currents made me crash with my own board and unfortunately that one wasn‘t a softtop like at home. So my elbow had a collision with the board, which actually turned out to be worse for the board than for my elbow 😬
    Dinner with some friendly remote working guys from New Zealand inspired me to search for remote jobs offered by german companies on the internet next morning - have to admit that I kind of like the thought of working in the morning and surfing in the afternoon 🤷🏼‍♀️😄
    And when I planned to leave the next day for Yogyakarta (this time for real!) I began to feel sick. When the fever was rising more and more I was panicking because I thought it could be Dengue Fever which is quite common in the area. Sooo Ingrid took me to a „hospital“ near Batu Karas where they tested my blood for dengue fever (very interesting experience since they took the blood sample directly in the waiting hall - which was consisting of a few chairs next to the reception desk where I was sitting in between other sick locals😅… very sterile)

    The dengue result was negative (😮‍💨) and I was told to take some pills and go to another hospital the next day to take a covid and a malaria test. At Home I remembered that I brought one covid test from Germany and tested myself (almost hoping it would be covid so it might not be malaria). My prayers were answered (😅😟) and so I had the positive result.
    The Following nine days I lived in quarantine in my little hut in Sadati homestay luckily supported by Ingrid, Dadan and my German neighbor. So grateful for them putting food in front of my hut each day😍 my daily highlights: the call of the muezzin (why is it actually never a woman calling?!), listening to the thrilling volleyball match which took place (EVERY DAY) a few houses next to the homestay. The Indonesian live commentator seemed to be very talented, I couldn‘t see and understand anything but still had the feeling to be in the middle of the match the whole time 😂
    also I tried to learn some of the Indonesian words in the meantime, but somehow I can only remember hati-hati (Attention!/ danger) sama sama (you’re welcome) and Teri makasi (thanks) 🤷🏼‍♀️
    But then finally! yesterday I have been tested negative and am freeeeeeee now😊
    and so now I am leaving Batu Karas finally to go to Yogyakarta😊    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    View from my room
    Ingrid and one of the baby rabbitsKathie the catKathie's way to relaxBesch breakSurfer café near the beachCoffee first surf laterLongboarder's dreamGado gado (typical indonesian meal with peanut sauce)JuleWay to the beachFirst longboard "session"One success among a lot of fails 😍Local boys killing it out there

    Batu Karas stole my heart

    October 7, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Made a good decision with coming to Batu Karas 😊 a small fisherman’s village at the south coast of Java. Even if it is sooo different than our villages at home, the vibe reminds me of my beloved Fischland 😄😊 friendly locals living in harmony with some tourists at the sea. Among the tourists there is almost nobody who is not coming to Batu Karas for Surfing 😅 and to be fair, there is actually nothing to do in the village other than surfing and eating 😃 renting a surf board only costs 75,000 Indonesian Rupiah (which is like 5 euro!) for a whole day. The Beach Break in Batu Karas is a Dream for beginners in surfing but also for longboarding pros 😊 so I took a surf lesson with a teacher at the first day (at first thinking that the swell is waaaay to small) and have been surfing a longboard for the first time 👍🏼- and it is sooo fun! Tupai my teacher showed me directly how to do the typical steps on a longboard (hang five, Hang ten), wasted effort on me haha 😅 but at least I made some Progression on the board. Such a chilled spot right next to a Jungle rock 😍 and only watching the pros here has been already a highlight for me! Local Longboarding pros (been surfing right next to first Indonesian female competitive long board surfer😍) are surfing together with very young local boys on short boards who are already killing it (view video)😊 so first days in Batu Karas consisted of surfing, eating good food together with Jule who was my neighbor in the homestay where i stayed and relaxing at the cozy homestay with Kathiee the cat, the four rabbits and their babies that Ingrid (Swedish woman who owns the place together with her Indonesian husband dadan) adopted. 🏡😊 gooood times 😊Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Train drive as usual with oreo
    Squatting toilet in tbe train 😅Nagasari - the thing the indonesian woman gave me in the taxi :D a tradional javanese sweet thingTried to hang my mosquito netHomestay in pangandaranLocal mini bus

    Pangandaran

    October 5, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    From Jakarta I went to pangandaran by train - actually not worse than Deutsche Bahn haha 😅 an 8 Hour drive was only 5 Euro 🤷🏼‍♀️😅
    In total the journey was 10 hours. From the train station in Banjar an Indonesian couple asked me whether we want to share a taxi to pangandaran. Because the drive with public transport would have been 4 hours in total (after that 8 hour train drive 😅) I agreed. - even if I was a little worried that they would kidnap me because it was already dark and since i came to Indonesia I had often the feeling that people tried to scam me haha - when the woman offered me some food in the taxi I waited until she and her husband ate it themself so I could be sure that it‘s not poisoned 😂 looking back that is so funny because I then realized that the couple was actually so nice and lovely 😅
    In pangandaran I thought I can treat myself with a private room in a homestay at the beach - turned out that the people at my homestay were really nice but it was full of mosquitoes in my (not very clean) room 😟😅 also it rained a lot again next day and the city was quite loud and crowded.
    So I decided to go to Batukaras directly next day 😊 the guy at my hostel gave me a ride to the bus terminal (again core training with my big backpack on the back of the motorbike) and then I went by mini bus with the locals to Batukaras 😊    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Old town :) influenced by the time when indonesia was a dutch colony
    Traffic is so overwhelming hereIndependence monumentSuper big mosqueAlso a monument for independenceDragon fruit 😍Not really 😅 got it as a gift in a tourist information2Rain rain rain

    Jakarta - Java, Indonesia

    October 3, 2022 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    I had almost two days in Jakarta and have to say that it‘s Not really my Favourite City 😅 very loud, crowded and i saw a Lot of poverty and pollution. Also you cant really Walk a lot because you cant cross the Streets Most of the time due to the Traffic 😅🫣 so i went almost everywhere By Grab Motor Taxi. I didnt see much of the city because it Took me a Lot of time to organize how and when i Can leave again 😅 and also because it did Rain a Lot (i thought Rainy Season would begin in November 🫣😅). Today i had to wait one Hour together with my motor Taxi driver under a Roof until the Rain would stop 😃- which was why i Missed the national Museum of Indonesia because it was already almost closed After the Rain stopped :D

    What i found interesting about the City is that you Can See the influence of The former dutch Colonialism (Especially in Old town). The people Seem to be Proud of Their independence (at least That’s What i assumed After seeing the independence monuments). To be honest, i did forget that Indonesia was a dutch colony (and actually i am not sure that i knew that in general) …and the Country has an interesting history.
    Most of the people Here are muslim. You Can Hear the muezzin‘s call to Prayer throughout the day in the city.

    People here Seem to be less used to Tourists - In two days i have Been already Asked multiple times by Indonesian people whether they Can have a Photo with me. A Girl in my Hostel told me that it is mostly the colour of hair and eyes which is so unusual for them.

    I think i read that almost 60 percent of the inhabitants of Indonesia live on the Island Java (in total 240 Million people live in Indonesia) - having Been to Jakarta now i Have the feeling to experienced the crowds well enough to Carry on. So i am very happy to leave Jakarta tomorrow - heading to the beeeeach 😍😊    Read more

  • Schleni on Tour
    Shivering meditation 🧐😂Body scrubLast time in that aweeeesome salt water poolLast smoothie bowl 🥹🎉🎉🎉Closing ceremony2🥹 da is das ding!Sooo tired after these four monthEnjoying the last day in chiang mai with erin🧡

    MalaDhara & The Path of Yoga V

    September 26, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Week 4 - a Lot of Studying and Teaching practices until FINALLY we had our exams 🫣 everybody taught a 60 mins Yoga practice, had to do a Quiz on all the lectures - and everybody passed 😍💪🏾🥹 time Went By so fast, Last time in the Pool, Last Smoothie Bowl breakfast and a Crazy weird Last evening learning body scrub techniques and shivering Meditation with so much laughter (Must have looked so weird) until finally we had our closing ceremony and our teachers handed us our certificates 🧘‍♂️🎉Read more

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