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    K‘Road

    26 janvier, Nouvelle-Zélande ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    My goal is to constantly explore new places. That‘s why I decided to go to a cozy Emergency Room last night. Apparently, the solar exposure I had endured during my 20 km hike on the 24th meant business - sunstrike-business. The night was fine, but in the morning the symptoms started. The helpful staff at the hostel looked over my semi-fainted version on the wooden bench and said: “Well, there‘s a hospital not far from here, but we‘re not qualified to do first aid.“ So I kept lying there. Eventually, I did make my way upstairs to my dorm - my searingly hot dorm - where I wasn‘t really able to do much of anything, let alone stand or sit up. That, on the bright side, gave me the chance to catch up on some sleep which I had neglected during my travels so far. It turns out, however, that a combination of sunstrike, dehydration (I wasn‘t even able to get up and get some water) and an involuntary day of fasting does not make for a great combination. So, later at night, when people returned to the dorm, a truly kind girl from Germany went to the Emergency Room with me and stayed for the 4 hours we were there. It would have taken longer, but I just wanted to lie down and rest, so as I started to feel slightly better, I decided we might as well leave.
    Gladly, I feel better today. Still not awesome, but getting there.
    All the activities I had planned for the last two days obviously didn‘t take place. However, I did take some lacklustre pictures of Karangahape Road (K‘Road), where my hostel has the pleasure of residing among lots and lots of party joints that just love a heavy bass. Until 5 am.    En savoir plus

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    First Proper Day in Auckland

    23 janvier, Nouvelle-Zélande ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    After I had landed in Auckland, I took 3 buses to get to my hostel. When I asked a local guy for that one bus stop, he told me, he‘s pretty sure, that‘s not even a place in Auckland. It was. And 30 minutes later, I found it. But yes, Auckland. Honestly, after the first few hours and the first night there, I couldn‘t wait to get far away from here. From the airport to the hostel you get to see various industrial sites, homeless people and drug addicts. The place where I‘m staying is conveniently located in an area where wild, loud parties are celebrated until late in the night. How do I know that? It‘s almost 3 am and the beat out there is quite something… Also, the first few interactions with people here (locals and most people at the hostel) reminded me too much of Germany. Distant and disinterested. All of that plus being tired from not having slept in 40 hours, made me miss Bali and regret coming here.
    On the next day, the 24th, I found another girl here, who had the exact same impression of this place, and we decided to go exploring together. We went to the harbour and just kept walking in all directions. We ended up watching a performer from Japan, who was doing his best to entertain the crowd with his skill set (balancing on a plank of wood or breathing fire and swirling a burning rope around). He was definitely entertaining with his whole demeanour, and the crowd was very patient with him. He took his sweet time getting to the point and I am pretty sure that people in Germany just would have walked away. Nevertheless, he was fun to watch and made us smile a few times. Something neither of us did the previous night.
    Thankfully, we got another perspective on the city. Buildings and the environment in general were a lot better around the harbour, and we truly enjoyed nature. Towards the end of the day, we went to Devonport via ferry, where we were able to see a stunning sun set. Let‘s see what the next few days bring. Apart from a terrible sun burn. 😬 But I maintain, I can‘t wait to get out of Auckland.    En savoir plus

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    Last Day in Bali

    22 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Yesterday morning I asked at the front desk if I could check out in the late afternoon today, not at noon since my flight departs shortly after midnight. They said, sure, no problem at all. Nice! Yesterday night I wanted to confirm the exact time of my checkout. The staff kindly told me it‘s still no problem, but I should pay them around 30€. Which would be a little more than a single extra night would have cost me at this hotel. ^^
    At least I could leave my luggage there throughout the day. When I further inquired where I might be able to charge my phone when I get back to pick up my luggage, I was told I better do that in Denpasar. Around 30 minutes away from my hotel via car. I asked if there was no chance I could do this in the lobby. The guy said, oh, yes, of course I could. So… I‘m still a little confused.
    As I mentioned yesterday, had I gone to a spa on my first day here, I wouldn‘t have done anything but that for the days to follow. So, yes, I went to another spa today. The massage part was relaxing. The supposedly relaxing beating with some searingly hot leaves of some plant I had to take was more than a bit too much to handle. I was relieved when it was over, maybe that counts as being relaxed.
    I took an extended stroll along the promenade and found a fantastic restaurant with a beautiful view of the beach and the setting sun, “Gioi Ocean Gourmet“. Another great experience with the staff, though there is the point where too much kindness is a little exhausting. I‘ve never said ’thank you’ so many times a day. Or a week. Though my favourite and most sincere ‘thank you‘ was when the waiter handed me my peanut butter/vanilla milkshake. Yeah, yeah, shame on me. But it was my last day.
    When I was walking on the beach for the last time, watching and photographing a semi-cloudy sunset (like a thousand other people) and looked back at my time here, I got a little sad that it was over. That feeling faded quickly as soon as I got back to the main road and got asked by every shopkeeper for 2 km if I wanted to buy their stuff. I‘m not exaggerating. And it’s not like they accept your ‘no‘. They keep talking, get more insistent and sometimes follow you for a bit. Also, cab/grab/gojek drivers honked at me to ask if I wanted a ride continuously. There is a lot of traffic here. And the aforementioned drivers make up at least two thirds of the vehicles. Just in case you were wondering how many times I was honked at. As enjoyable as Bali was for me most of the time (not on Jan 13), this is something I’ve grown to hate and won‘t miss. It was my impression, however, that men have an easier time here and aren‘t badgered as much.
    Oh, fun fact. While I'm writing this in the hotel lobby, I get to listen to the reggae versions of the world‘s most famous Christmas songs on repeat. ^^

    Quick update: After a long day/night, a sleepless 8-hour flight, extensive passport checks and declarations, I have safely arrived in Auckland, NZ. Further updates will follow.    En savoir plus

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    Ice Ice Bali

    21 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Since the day was still young, I went to Bali‘s first and only Ice Bar which I had discovered the previous day. Provided with gloves and a jacket, in I went. Everything is - as the name suggests - made of ice. The bar, the slide, decoration, chairs, even the glasses! I was instructed not to touch ice with my tongue. It‘s hilarious to think that people would do that in there. I‘m sure there are some… I was in the bar with 3 other people. Not much going on. Especially if you consider that the 3 other people were the present staff… ^^ I got a few drinks (all Mocktails, considerably cheaper than anything with alcohol) and chatted with the staff who were very nice and curious people. The lady for sure animated me to get the most out of that experience. It was fun to see how motivated and happy she was. We took pictures, lots of pictures, played air hockey (I assume that‘s what it‘s called) and took more pictures. The music was terribly loud, unfortunately, so I left after about 35 min (you had 1 hour in there, also, it was -7°C and I was freezing).
    Then I went to the spa and got a massage. Had I done this on my first day here, I probably wouldn‘t have done any of the other stuff but gone from spa to spa.
    Last but not least, I strolled along the beach and attempted for probably the last time in Bali to catch the sunset on photo. It‘s the closest I‘ve ever come here. But there is room for improvement.
    For dinner, I went to a highly praised sushi bar and I promise, I didn‘t have a milkshake! (Though it wasn‘t for lack of trying. Apparently they were out of all the milkshakes that late in the day…)
    P.S.: I‘ve added two pictures to make you see how awesome rocks are here!    En savoir plus

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    Cooking Class

    21 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    It finally worked out, I got to join a cooking class today! Another one of those days with an early start. I was supposed to wait for my driver at my hotel, who then texted me and showed me a picture of his flat tire. I then booked my own car and made my way to Nia‘s cooking class in Seminyak, north of Kuta. Upon arrival, we left for the local market to be shown all kinds of typically Balinese ingredients, some of which you can see below.
    We then were brought back to the cooking class where I had the pleasure of being in a small group of three - with a couple who lives in Munich! (It was only towards the end of the class that the chef asked us why we were speaking English all the time and not a single word of German to each other… But since he was raised British, it seemed only right.)
    We were instructed to follow three rules:
    1. Don‘t chop off a finger (not sure if he specifically ruled out other body parts).
    2. Only say nice things to others.
    3. Don‘t talk about politics, religion, Australian football.
    Our group kinda broke the third rule every now and then. Yep, you guessed it. Australian football again. Can‘t stop talking about it.
    All of us went on to make 9 dishes in total. This cooking class (Nia Bali Cooking Class) is one of the best rated ones out there for Bali and this is absolutely justified. They ran a tight, efficient ship. While we were watching and listening to the chef explain something, his staff cleared out stuff we wouldn’t need anymore (we hardly ever noticed), brought in the next trays of utensils etc. Highly efficient and well-organised. All the chopping, mortaring and frying finally paid off, when we all sat together and enjoyed our 9 dishes. There were so many leftovers! None of us, however, thought to bring tupperware. Ah, what could have been.
    All in all an awesome experience, the chef really knows his stuff, I learned that candlenuts are a great laxative (you never know when that knowledge might come in handy) and I met 2 great new people! Also, the food was yummy.    En savoir plus

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    Kuta

    20 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Yesterday I contacted the AirBnB support and was able to arrange another accommodation here in Bali for my last 2 days, since the original one in Uluwatu was anything but clean. I chose my new place to be in Kuta, which ideally lies just north of the airport. While this is better, a little bit cleaner and in a much nicer location with better surroundings, it‘s also not what the pictures might have led you to believe. It‘s a shame, but it‘ll do.
    But first, I met with my friend from yesterday at a cafe and had a healthy start with a yummy avocado sandwich for breakfast, accompanied by a matcha/avocado milkshake. (I‘m open to debate how healthy the latter is… But it‘s the only one for today, I promise!)
    After a surprisingly long drive to Kuta, I wanted to explore the area. Very touristy, but at least you can just go out and always find something to do, unlike in Uluwatu. Also, I prefer Kuta over Ubud so far. It‘s similar, but less crowded and the shops aren‘t squeezed together as much.
    I strolled along the promenade, considering to see the sunset there later, but boy, it was rough out there! Cloudy, strong winds, and later, rain. Lots of it. The waves were so strong, they washed a few fish ashore. The reviews for this beach said that it wasn't polluted. Well, see for yourself. I sought refuge from the bad weather in a restaurant I had been meaning to try, called Daily Social. It was a chic place with incredibly kind staff and, from what I could tell, delicious, meticulously prepared food. And - hang on! Is that another milkshake on that picture? Oops… But two are enough!
    Also on my schedule for the day: My first trip to a Hardrock Café. I had a blast! And… another milkshake. Shame on me. But it was so good. The best one ever. The most calorie-dense one, too. That cream was heavy! (Insert comparisons to body parts with high fat content here.) Maybe this should be the last milkshake for the time being. Only maybe.
    I figured I’d better get back to my hotel, though not without getting something to protect me from the rain. Ponchos were sold out. I therefore had the choice between parasols or a proper umbrella. I chose the umbrella and I use it with pride.    En savoir plus

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    Dinner!

    19 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Dinner deserves its own post! We met up again and since we share a love for sushi, we found a little gem called Yuki Uluwatu. It cost a bit more there (still less than ordering sushi back home), but that was money well spent! The food was just exquisite. We each needed a moment to regain our composure after tasting everything we had ordered. Our taste buds were too overwhelmed with joy. The place itself was also cool, the staff very kind. Enjoy the pictures!
    Taking a look at my new watch, we decided to call it a night. That also had something to do with the amount of rain coming down...    En savoir plus

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    Nyang Nyang, Uluwatu

    19 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ 🌧 30 °C

    Next stop thanks to semi-safe scooter transport: Nyang Nyang - a rather long beach with beautiful, huge waves and a strong current. That meant no swimming for us, even though now we felt like it. Instead, I took pleasure in collecting seashells. It is quite the pastime to collect those amidst piles of trash on the beach…
    We rested before preparing for the steep hike back to the top (really steep!). We rewarded ourselves with food at the local restaurant, though we both regretted that choice. We had a serving of frying oil, spring rolls on the side. My friend had frying oil with fish and chips on the side. And I ordered what turned out to be the saddest attempt of a BLT I have ever seen. I needed a moment to process my disappointment. A moment kindly given to me by a gecko above us, who took the liberty of doing its business on my phone…
    After lunch, I trekked to the cliff that was only 1.5 km away from the restaurant. Nice view, though a few monkeys around, waiting to take your stuff.    En savoir plus

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    Padang Padang, Uluwatu

    19 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    This morning I met up with a friend from the hostel in Nusa Penida. We checked out the area and focused on beaches. The first one, Padang Padang, is rather easy to reach, touristy, but it‘s a decent beach for swimming (not for us today). It‘s mainly a beach for surfers, but we also spotted some climbing behind us. Ever present: locals who ask you about buying their stuff. Repeatedly. Just in case you change your mind 5 minutes later.
    For avid fans of fun with flags, this is an exciting one! The red and yellow flag indicates the area patrolled by lifeguards. Yes, this is something you should know about. Not necessarily the flags. Only the reference to The Big Bang Theory.    En savoir plus

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    Uluwatu

    18 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    I signed up for a boxing class this morning, 8 am. Mainly, it was a great cardio workout, but a bit of shadow boxing was involved. 400 burnt calories later, a few of us enjoyed a round of billiards and then, I had to check out. A shame, really, the hostel was a great spot with a bunch of cool people and helpful staff.
    I made my way back to the harbour, as the picture shows below. You can see the main island of Bali at the horizon. On some points of Nusa Penida, you could actually see Mt. Agung (biggest volcano on Bali) and Mt. Batur really closely. It was a stunning view - though no pictures…
    When I reached Sanur, the harbour on Bali, I tried to book a driver online. Apparently, there are restrictions with where Grab drivers (it‘s an app) can pick you up and the harbour was one of the restricted areas. Unfortunately, my driver failed to communicate this and kept telling me to keep walking and keep going to different places with no end in sight. However, there are seemingly hundreds of normal taxi drivers around that area and they are amazingly aggressive when it comes to securing business. They lie to you, give you extremely high prices, contact their colleagues via Walkie Talkie about where you want to go, they follow you, they pester you relentlessly, they gradually decrease their prices a bit the further you walk away, but they don‘t leave you alone. Eventually, I gave up as my original driver had a few problems with communication. I think I negotiated a somewhat decent price, though and usually - as soon as the people get your business, they turn out to be really nice. But every time this happens, it is extremely uncomfortable. At the hostel I heard from another girl that she too, was dragged into a shop by a relentless woman, and the girl actually ended up with a pronounced hematoma from that grab around her wrist. However, I also hear that this gets even worse in other places, e.g. Thailand. I can‘t confirm that yet, of course, but it is interesting, how many times I‘ve heard it now.
    Late in the afternoon, I had made it to my new AirBnB. Well… It certainly looks nice in the pictures. I‘m in the white house, unfortunately not in the cooler looking cabins. There‘s a pool and a kitchen area that looks like a pool bar. So far, so good. The inside of my place, though, is anything but clean or appealing. There are fleas in the bed and moth flies everywhere else. The lock on the wardrobe is a joke. You can turn it around all you want. Nothing gets locked. ^^
    I thought I might cheer up when exploring the area. I booked a scooter driver to get closer to the beach Padang Padang (what a ride, you better hold on tight and definitely ask for a helmet - they often don‘t have two or you might end up getting theirs, which is a nice gesture, but not safe for them either). I had dinner first (another disappointment, sadly, (I did have a fantastic breakfast, though)) and wanted to go to the beach, but an impressive thunderstorm was forming and hitting, so I got back instead. Yeah, so far I don’t really like Uluwatu. We‘ll see what the next few days will bring.    En savoir plus

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    Previously Unseen Footage

    17 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    A slow day, finally. After having gotten up anytime between 1 am and 6 am in the last week, I allowed myself to sleep in today and had nothing scheduled. I swam 2 km in the pool, played some basketball and chatted with a few people. Therefore, there are no new, exciting pictures for you today, instead you get a collection of all those pictures I‘ve taken since I got here, that would otherwise not have made it here. Most of them were taken in Ubud, some here on Nusa Penida. Like the guy sitting in a tree like a monkey, trying to take a picture of Kelingking Beach or the sentiment about coffee shared by those who don‘t wanna face the fact that there are, in fact, other beverages out there. But then again, according to the song the employees of the hostel listened to on repeat and sang earlier today, all you need is coffee and a joint.

    In case you‘re wondering what these little packages with mentos are, you find them everywhere here. Just the packages, not the mentos. They are considered offerings and mainly contain an incense stick, plants/flowers, often a drink, and usually some kind of food. I‘ve seen baked goods, mainly. Crackers or cookies. I just found the pragmatic use of a wrapped, reusable mentos hilarious in comparison to other offerings that easily spoil. Cleverly done. Let‘s hope the gods approve.

    Speaking of incense, do you want to bring the smell of Bali to your home? Now you can! With this easy, three-step, natural ingredients recipe, you too can feel authentically Balinese. All you need is: Exhaust fumes. Spread everywhere, be generous. Next, take a ridiculous amount of incense sticks, place them all over. You really can‘t go wrong here. The last ingredient: Soffell - Your trusted mosquito repellent spray. Just apply it to whatever you think might profit from being safe from mosquitoes. (A secret but brilliant tip: That stuff also works great as a perfume. Not even lying.)

    Lastly, let me conclude by talking about safety. Bali knows that when you get there, you want your stuff to be safe and kindly provides you with lockable storage options. They really do work. I mean, you have to de-rust the mechanism first to be able to actually lock it. And then you just pray nobody has larceny in their hearts paired with upper body strength. Another inside tip: If you‘re travelling with toddlers that are prone to temper tantrums, keep them away from the lock. They WILL be able to open it.    En savoir plus

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    Another Beach Day (Tembeling Beach)

    16 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    4 am. That‘s when we (3 friends from here and I) got up and were driven to Diamond Beach - which we already saw yesterday) to see the sunrise. If you‘re now waiting for pictures of said sunrise… So am I… It just got less dark. No sun in sight. Well, we were there, so we just hiked down to the beach to enjoy the view. On the way there, we saw that two guys down there were writing something in the sand. They might have forgotten the little word “need“, but we all had a chuckle. Having hiked down to the beach was when my inner hobby-geologist was triggered. I found so many cool rocks! What I will do with them? Yes. It just matters that I have them.
    When we got back to the hostel, the day was still young and we decided to go to yet another beach, Tembeling Beach, which has got two natural pools to relax in. Well, one of them had apparently burst on one side the previous day and was being fixed while we were there.
    You can either get a scooter to the beach or walk. Everyone I‘ve met said that the scooter is way easier, 3 km takes too long to walk, it‘s rather a difficult hike. What a load of waffle. It was challenging because there are parts that are incredibly steep, so walking up/down with added slipperiness has its challenges. Honestly, the biggest challenge was just declining all those aggressive offers for a scooter ride again and again - on the way down and up. Also, the scooter ride actually seemed way more dangerous than just walking…

    The beach itself was stunning. The waves were so big and strong that they easily carried big, heavy rocks to the shore. It‘s therefore too dangerous to just walk in the water and let the waves wash over your feet. Guess, how I found out… A few decorative cuts on my feet later, I went for the natural pools there, but the water was just too murky because of the work that was being done on it. I didn‘t stay long, as we needed to get back up in time for our next destination: lunch. Mie Goreng to gain some strength for the last stop of the day, another trip to Kelingking Beach (just like yesterday). We encountered monkeys there, just like last time. These monkeys are a lot more aggressive than at the Monkey Forest in Ubud. They got too close to a kid there, who got scared by them, started crying, which aggravated the monkeys. The kid‘s mum took her son‘s ice-cream out of his hands and threw it at the monkeys. One of them caught it and went off, followed by a bunch of other jealous monkey mates. While fun to watch, I had to take precautions with my own ice-cream, which I decided to eat closer to the shops, further away from the monkeys. I also got a coconut water. While I was eating my ice-cream, I was rearranging the napkin on my cone and placed the coconut water next to me. Next time I checked, a monkey had grabbed it and run off. When I tried to return to the others with an inedible part of my cone, there was a hoard of monkeys blocking my way. I had to “pay for passage“ by throwing my cone towards them and watching them catch it diligently in midair. We were even bullied out of our little hut in which we sat while we were waiting for the sunset (took too long, we left before that happened). The monkeys just got too close and aggressive for comfort. They probably got that way because of tourists who are/were constantly feeding them against instructions. Now the monkeys insist on their right for food.
    Upon returning to the hostel, we joined a yoga-session in progress and soon after, a “family dinner“ with everyone there.

    P.S.: I took the liberty of adding a few photos of a few of the residents in my hostel here. ^^    En savoir plus

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    Beach Tour: West of Nusa Penida

    15 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    The west of Nusa Penida has Kelingking Beach as the best beach to offer. That‘s also where we encountered a few more monkey. You really had to pay attention. They snuck up to you so quietly and quickly…
    Rather close to Kelingking Beach, are the Broken Beach (the one with the archway with its own little coast and Angel‘s Billabong (last two pictures). Not much to mention here, apart from seeing a lot of tourists, especially Chinese ones dressed like they‘re about to go to a gala, just to get the perfect picture for their instagram.
    Back at the hostel, I enjoyed a Poke Bowl and a somewhat early night. Even though there wasn‘t a lot going on today, I‘m quite tuckered out.    En savoir plus

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    Beach Tour: East of Nusa Penida

    15 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    The roads in Bali are in bad condition. The roads on Nusa Penida are in worse condition. So many potholes, huge ones, the roads are only scooter-sized, so moving forward is a constant stop and go. Now we know why the beach tour on this island takes 8 hours. You just drive that much. For comparison, Nusa Penida is about twice as big as Barcelona.
    The first two beaches on the list were Atuh and the more famous Diamond Beach. They‘re right next to each other. Traditionally, wherever you wanna go, you better be prepared to de- and ascend lots of amazingly steep steps. We (the Dutch girl I met here and I) started with Atuh Beach, but didn’t walk down because of rain-induced slipperiness. I, however, did go down to Diamond beach. What a view! See for yourself. The sand was so glaringly white in the sun. Walking back up was quite the challenge, but all those HIIT workouts paid off.
    FYI, you cannot or rather should not swim on any of the beaches here because the currents are so strong. Shame, really.
    As for the pictures, the last one of the beaches is Atuh Beach, which lies directly next to Diamond Beach, just less spectacular.
    The drive there and to the next beach was quite long, so we stopped for lunch and saw a neat little storm forming.    En savoir plus

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    Nusa Penida

    14 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    This morning was the last in Ubud. I checked out and saw that my host had already rated me on AirBnB: “nice guest, [very friendly] guest, good guest“. This was a kind send-off and the same way I felt about my host: nice host, very friendly host, good host. ^^
    Today, I went to Nusa Penida, a small island to the south-east of Bali. I had to take the ferry, of course and distinctly remember a guy on it - a worker - who had butt-long, brown hair and was wearing a cap. He was slightly obese, his behind wasn‘t very secretive. But striking, however, was this: You know what earlobes look like if someone has worn those tunnel earrings for a while and really stretched the hole to the extent, it can‘t possibly go back to a natural state? He had that too, though the solution he found, was kinda genius. Instead of a tunnel, he just had a wad of rolled up cash in his right earring hole! What a striking figure!
    The island itself has more nature, is less touristy and unfortunately, it has a big problem with pollution. The parking space adjacent to the harbour was just littered with trash, especially flattened plastic bottles. I honestly don‘t know how it got that bad!
    This time, I didn‘t book a driver online but trusted one of the many taxi drivers waiting for the crowd at the harbour, trying to lure you in. I was sceptical because if it‘s the wrong guy, they will rip you off. However, the guy turned out to be a warm, chatty bloke with the best English out of all the drivers I‘ve had so far. It was actually possible to have a conversation with him and I could learn a few things about the island. I would gladly share them with you, but I forgot. But! I remember one thing: They don‘t grow rice here because it isn‘t wet enough on Nusa Penida. Also, it was raining torrentially for hours soon after he said that.
    The hostel is located in the middle of the rainforest. There‘s nothing around here, just the hostel with its own restaurant. So you can‘t just quickly step out to go on a shopping spree/just go to the supermarket/go sight seeing.
    As it is with hostels, you get to meet new people. I‘ve met two fellow Germans, a Dutch girl, a French girl, an American and a Swede! Der får mig verkligen att vilja fräscha up mina svenskakunskaper, som blir allt suddigare ju mer spanska jag lär mig! Wouldn‘t you agree?
    Now, here in the hostel area, dinner options are limited and sadly not all that typically Asian which I was hoping for. I had a Buddha Bowl - which was healthy but lacking spices. I was a bit too hungry and forgot to take a picture of it. The chocolate brownie with ice-cream for dessert, though, was yummy.

    P.S.: There are ants in my bed... Wish us a good night... 👋🏻    En savoir plus

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    Mt. Batur

    13 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    What a day! I don‘t quite know where to start. Let‘s try it with something positive. I booked a sunrise trekking tour to the volcano Mt. Batur (last eruption in 2000) and had a very early start at 2.10 am, when I was picked up by a driver who got us to the base camp where we arrived at 3.15 am. We had a cup of tea and a banana pancake and started to ascend the mountain. There is another mountain next to this one, but it was said that Mt. Batur is way easier. If you have a decent fitness level and enjoy hiking 1717m uphill (and down again), yes, it‘s manageable in the darkness with a flashlight and a somewhat fast pace. I actually did quite well and was soon told to move ahead of the group together with one of the two Brits. The other Brit - well, let‘s put it this way. I‘m sure he wasn‘t officially informed that you should be a) physically somewhat fit, b) not have pneumonia and c) not be inebriated. He stopped about halfway and decided not to continue. (Eventually, he did come to the top but much, much later and there are many scooters coming and going, offering you a paid lift…)
    Then we found our spots, ready to watch the sunrise. I prepared my equipment (camera and tripod) and moved a bit further away to get a better view without people or huts in the way. I took some beautiful pictures.
    And now, let‘s move to the next part. I will try VERY hard to keep the language PG-rated.
    For a brief moment, when I wanted to adjust the angle of the camera, it decided it was tired of taking photos of the sunrise and would rather hurl down a few meters. Well, +#*%&&%. A quick first look did tell me it was still working somehow - but it had volcanic sand in every hole, there were scratches and the pole filter didn't fit anymore. It made funny noises and the crunchy sounds from zooming with the lens filled me with horror. Nothing I could do in the moment except trying to deal with the shock and assess what was most important: at least the camera still seemed to be working. How well, I couldn't find out, as we were on a schedule and I had to rejoin my group for breakfast . It was to be prepared on volcanic rock. I looked around, but all I could see was a dog and the guy was certainly happy. I could see why. He was eating my banana toast and eggs. Honestly, I wasn‘t that hungry anymore.
    The trek downhill followed. During panicky troubleshooting and analysing the situation with someone who was thankfully still awake, I tripped over some rock and my phone, inspired by my camera‘s gutsy jump, followed into its footsteps and then looked the way I felt. The screen was completely shattered. As soon as I touched it, I got splinters. After some more urgent troubleshooting and a lot of moral support, I drove back to my AirBnB and started to solve the smörgåsbord of problems by taking a nap.
    Hardly refreshed, I tried to locate phone repair shops nearby. It was quite a hike. Again. The first 7 shops couldn‘t help and said this wouldn‘t be possible in Bali at all. Funny enough, all of them were quite shocked when I showed them my phone. Luckily, I kept trying. The eighth one could help me! Within four hours, they repaired my phone. What a relief! The two guys were very kind and helpful. When one of them told me to leave me phone there, he gave me the phone number of the shop to inquire when I could pick it up. I pointed out that - if my phone was with them - how would I be able to reach them? He noticed the mistake, started laughing and said “smaaaart“.
    Finally, when this problem was fixed, I went for dinner. (I had already had a Japanese-style pancake earlier as a snack (5/5).) For dinner, I went to a restaurant that was recommended to me by the couple from Melbourne that I met a few days ago. “This is Bali“ is a restaurant which I usually wouldn‘t have gone to because - while modern - it wasn‘t that cozy and you were really squeezed together with the other guests. But! The food (rice with tempeh (fermented soy beans) and a mango salad) was superb, so was the service. I gladly gave a good tip and enjoyed seeing their gratitude.

    P.S.: It seems the camera is fine. But it doesn't feel as innocent anymore. The tripod might have cushioned the blow a bit, but then again, that wouldn‘t have happened without it in the first place.    En savoir plus

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    White Water Rafting

    12 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    I finally got to do something I‘ve always wanted to do: White Water Rafting. The River Ayung in Bali offered the perfect opportunity. We were told that the name of the river means “beautiful woman“, so I felt I had no choice but to book a tour on that very river.
    As yesterday, it started to rain as soon as I got into the car to be driven to the location. Considering that it is the nature of rafting, getting wet shouldn‘t be a concern. I still maintain we wouldn‘t have gotten completely soaked if our tour guide didn‘t have an absolute blast splashing us with water all the time and leading us under waterfalls whenever he could find one. It was his first day on the job, as he told us. One of the two gentlemen from the Netherlands on the tour with us (5 people + guide) asked him if he was nervous. He confirmed that. Then the other gentleman replied jestingly: “You should be!“ Five out of six people were laughing. Maybe something got lost in translation… After we were equipped with everything, we were shuttled to the river. Suddenly, our tour guide frantically jumped out of the shuttle, yelling, “I quickly buy cigarettes!“ And so we waited. Eventually, we arrived, walked down a lot of stairs again and were about to get thoroughly wet. The anticipation was fantastic. I have attempted to describe the breathtaking nature here before, so just that. Forest scenery, river, to the sides countless plants, the sounds of animals… It makes for a nice change to see healthy forests, I will say that.
    The tour lasted for 1.5 hours with a little break in between in which I enjoy my refreshing coconut. I was also asked by the lady running the shop to buy our tour guide something, because that‘s what you do as a lady. I‘ve already been thoroughly annoyed by people constantly asking you to buy their stuff, that was a new level of annoyance. I simply asked, why, and the lady turned around, shaking her head. Back in the boat, our tour guide told all of us that it‘s nice to be married to one wife, but two would be so much better. He kept mentioning that.
    The tour was over much to soon. We walked back to the meeting point and got a free meal at the local restaurant. The food was better in contrast to yesterday’s. The two gentlemen from the Netherlands and I chatted about travelling, climate change and politics until we figured we probably can‘t solve all that over lunch.

    For dinner, I went back to the restaurant from my first day. Unfortunately, the experience wasn‘t nearly as nice. No complimentary drink and actually, they forgot about me, so it took a while for the food to be served - which, incidentally, also wasn‘t as magical as almost a week ago. It‘s time to have a better experience tomorrow!

    By the way, our guide offered to take pictures of us under the waterfall. I wonder at which point he got sceptical… See for yourself. ^^    En savoir plus

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    ATV Quad Tour

    11 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    Today I got a mud bath. In a manner of speaking. Also, I thought it was about time to practice and polish my driving skills. What better way to do that than with a 250 cc ATV through torrential, day-long downpour in the Balinese rainforest? The track was amazing! It had few man-made elements like bumpy asphalt, insecurely built cobblestones and a rough river bed and even a cave, but most of the track remained natural with knee-deep mud, a few rivers, waterfalls every now and then, steep uphill/downhill driving, incredible slipperiness due to the constant rain and additional water. All of this in a beautiful, diverse rainforest! Due to the immense amount of mud, I got stuck quite a few times, but the guides were ready to help. Others got stuck, too, but from what I could tell, I was special and later told, to drive directly behind the tour guide. Probably because I was the star student and others could only learn from my skills… Or so I keep telling myself. ^^ The quad took some getting used to after all my experience driving a whole range of different cars over the years. (For readers unfamiliar with myself, that was a big fat lie…) Steering took a lot of strength at times as well as braking, but I got used to it. Even though I thought the rain would complicate the whole experience, I actually believe it added to the fun. We all looked like we had just mud-wrestled after we finished the tour. The woman behind me even got a special mud facial. She did thank me for that, but something makes me doubt the sincerity of her words.
    Once the tour and the refreshing shower afterwards were completed, we were shuttled to a restaurant not far from the tracks. While I will say that I enjoyed the view and the company of a very kind couple from Melbourne, the food was definitely lacking quality. After only positive experiences with food so far, I thought Bali just didn‘t know about bad cooking. Turns out, I was proven wrong twice. For dinner, I had a déjà vu. A bland chicken curry, an equally bland milkshake without ice-cream (this is where I draw the line) and yes, a bland dessert wrap with coconut grating. The cinnamon sauce they said would come with the dish was substituted by balsamic vinegar sauce. As much as I love a good surprise, I had strongly mixed feelings about that. Not to mention they failed to bring me cutlery for both dishes. Gave me enough time to at least capture the optical beauty of the dishes.    En savoir plus

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    Campuhan Ridge Walk, Bali, 4.2

    10 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Next on the list was the Campuhan Ridge Walk. On my way there, I felt like trying the durian fruit. I followed its smell until I reached a lady who was selling fruit. I asked her for the durian and was handed what you can see below (she even gave me a free try of a Rambutan). What can I say, the durian was delicious! I would definitely eat another one. I couldn‘t understand what all the fuss was about. I felt cocky and thought I‘d consolidate my new-found love of durian by eating a durian-flavoured ice-cream. That‘s when it dawned on me. Why does it smell so different? Could it be? Thorough research was conducted and, well, what I had eaten was a mangosteen. Well, I have time to try again. And I learned 3 new fruit names. Isn‘t that a hoot?
    The Ridge Walk was a nice change from the busy main streets with loud motors, exhaust emissions and too many people hustling about - all of which are increasingly annoying to me. But after everything I got to see/experience yesterday it‘s tough to compete with that. The walk started nicely with a cute little river and stunning nature. (It‘s also a really short walk of about 2 km in one direction.) Then you get to a quieter village, which still has tourists, but way less. If you wanna buy a holiday home in Ubud/near the center, check there. There are a lot of spas there, too. Frankly, if you have to walk uphill that much every time you wanna go home, you‘re gonna need them.
    In the village, I befriended a dog. And then another dog. And then an-… you get the gist. There are a lot of dogs everywhere you go.
    I saved the best for last: dinner. Chicken satay served on lemongrass stalks (whoever had that idea should have their own temple!) with fried veggies, rice, a vanilla ice-cream milkshake (second best drink so far) and a tempura strawberry ice-cream.
    Last but not least, I took it upon me to locate the chocolate shop I had seen on my first night here but which seemed to have vanished since then. Well, it reappeared. Of course, I only went in there for educational purposes. Quick question: I‘m not under oath, am I?    En savoir plus

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    Ubud Palace, Bali 4.1

    10 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Today I had a late start - apparently staying up until 4 am has that side effect. I thought a less adventurous day would be prudent and went to Ubud Palace close by after a fruit-based breakfast. The thing with temples in Bali is that they are tourist attractions. I was hoping for a more spiritual atmosphere, but boy, oh boy. I left the palace rather quickly. I try to keep my distance for photos, and people blatantly step in front of your lens and take their own pictures. And they do take their sweet time, often enough fully aware they‘re blocking the view. Sometimes, I just couldn‘t be bothered and walked on. I watched a couple walk through the palace with a selfie stick (in fact, almost everyone there had one!) and take the same picture of each other in front of anything that resembled a statue/a carving/or the colour gold. Luckily, once you‘ve seen one temple in Bali, you‘ve kinda seen them all. And I likely won‘t do that again. Now I have my new 100 % cotton sarong and don‘t know what to do with it. Maybe put it in front of the door to keep new ants from getting in. I will say, though, that the ants and I have developed a symbiotic relationship. With any crumb I accidentally drop, they assemble and carry it out the door. That‘s why I could tell my host he wouldn‘t need to clean my room for me. As for the gecko, in case you were wondering, he kept true to his word and only stayed the night.En savoir plus

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    Coffee Plantation, Bali 3.4

    9 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    I decided against going to the third scheduled waterfall, instead my driver suggested to visit a coffee plantation. I‘m glad he did. The one he picked (don‘t know a lot about the others), offered a free tour of what they were growing and doing there. Arabica and Robusta, Cocoa beans and tea ingredients. They also had civet cats that - as I understand it - live alone in cages for a duration of two days and then get exchanged for another one so the special beans for Luwak coffee can be harvested without too much cage time by an individual civet cat… After the short tour, I was led to the terrace with quite the view. Shortly after, I was given a tray with various teas and coffees that are commonly grown and served in Bali. Not being a huge fan of coffee (I think coffee is a good idea, but in practice, this remains a theoretical statement), I was pleasantly surprised by all those that were served with milked and had some sweetness to them. Especially the avocado coffee caught the attention of my tastebuds. As for the tea, all of them were great, however, the ginger tea was delightfully spicy! Never had that before with common ginger tea.
    Last but not least, I went out for dinner again. Had a nice little chat with the staff there and another excellent meal. Balinese tapas, a chocolate/banana smoothie and black hot porridge with cinnamon and banana.    En savoir plus

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    Tukad Cepung, Bali, 3.3

    9 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    The next waterfall, Tukad Cepung, was just 10-15 min away from the previous one. Let‘s sum it up. Nature: Beautiful. Again, you had to follow a stream, either to the left or the right. (Initially I thought I could do it with my shoes on because I thought the water was shallow enough and last time it had felt like the pebbles were wet-tumbling my feet. Long story short, my shoes were soaked seconds later. Who saw that coming? Pain-wise, I maintain it was… an idea. Wouldn‘t call it a good one.) The path on the right let me find the waterfall you can see below (the bigger one, evidently). Walking on, you had to take a left turn after the mossy rocks appeared. While I did follow the other path for a while, let‘s mention the other issue: Way too many tourists. The instagram type. Avoid. Not only did they obstruct the view, the increasingly painful pebbles, the mist, water coming down everywhere in varying intensity and therefore difficulties with the camera equipment made me refrain from going further.
    Almost back to the top, I decided to treat myself to some dragonfruit (I also welcomed the idea to catch my breath after more steep steps) sold to me by a kind elderly lady who must have been so happy to see a customer, she gave me two packages of fried banana for free.    En savoir plus

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    Grudugan, Bali, 3.2

    9 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Next stop: Grudugan Waterfalls. Wow, what a beauty. So far, my absolute highlight. My driver dropped me off at a reception in front of the entrance. It had a big tip jar, requesting 25.000 IDR. It said “TIP JAR“. Yep. I was not allowed to keep walking without the ‘voluntary donation‘. You gotta love the genius of just sitting in nature without actual ownership and requesting people to pay you to, you know, look at nature. From the retrospective, if I had to pay for it, it was money well-spent. Does that make sense? The walk down consisted of countless, steep steps. Then you come upon a little stream. Then you figure out, the stream is the path. Apart from the rocks and painful pebbles in the riverbed, it was quite a scenic walk until you reach a narrow crevice. Because I laid off the cookies since I got to Bali, I fit through! There was water running down the walls occasionally and the sun shining through the crevice with all the mist was a stunningly beautiful view. It was only when I made my way back that I came across 4 other tourists. I was alone exploring this sight and it was breathtaking.En savoir plus

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    Tegallalang Rice Terraces, Bali, Day 3.1

    9 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Today I booked a private driver, Deksur, to embark on a few destinations of my choosing. First, I was taken to the Rice Terraces. A gorgeous spot, about an hour away from Ubud. Though, to be fair, maybe rather 20 minutes if they had a) traffic rules that people stick to (e.g. scooters don‘t get to drive in “packs“, children between the ages of 0-16 don‘t get to drive at all - yes, I‘ve seen several small kids on scooters), b) roads twice the size of the current ones, c) mended roads. We got there, my driver stayed at the entrance while I went on to go into the terrace - of course, after having paid a tidy sum. I enjoyed seeing the place, exploring different paths that are seemingly endless. The trouble I soon encountered was the lack of persistence in signs leading the way reliably. Soon, I was alone, away from all the tourists who mainly paid extra just to use the Bali swings - you guessed it - for their instagram. The paths got rather tricky, incredibly slippery and not entirely secure. Mainly, there were very confusing signs where to go, paths weren‘t clearly recognisable. I felt lost after every second turn. That’s what you get for taking the “road less travelled“. I followed the little huts inbetween the rice fields with people who tried to sell you the 7th bottle of water, bananas, snacks. Upon asking what kind of snack the yellow object in question seemed to be, the woman rocked the packaging rhythmically with her hands and said with a large smile and wide eyes: “Oh, crunchy, crunchy!“ Alas, she seemed to have a terrific time describing the texture of her snack. What it was, I never learned. But I certainly applauded her passion for her product. Walking down the terraces is one thing, up, however, another. The sun was burning down on my head, the humidity making it a bit harder. No problem, though. Until I determinedly stepped onto a loose tile that gave way and led my left foot into a knee-deep puddle of muddy water. Quite the mess. I’m truly grateful I didn‘t go for the new pair of **white** pants I had bought the previous day! Luckily, I encountered two rice farmers shortly after who helped me rinse off and even washed my shoes. On I went to the exit. I got there, but it was the wrong exit. Without proper reception, I was lost for a while. Thanks to the tips of another local to go higher up, I was able to reach my driver and got picked up.En savoir plus

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    Monkey Forest, Ubud, Bali

    8 janvier, Indonésie ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    After having been on a what I would have thought to be 1 hour shopping trip in Ubud that turned out to last 3 hours (I‘m convinced Bali has an issue with people who don‘t wear sizes S and XS), I went to the Monkey Forest only about 10 minutes away from my AirBnB. Everywhere near and inside of the forest there are signs clearly telling you to watch out for monkeys, to keep your things close, not to look them directly into the eyes, not to feed them and not to keep bags just dangling from your arms. It must have something to do with the human brain having trouble processing negations, but they did **everything** the rules warned them about. Those are the same people who complain about being attacked by monkeys - as one ominous trail of blood on a railing in the forest might have suggested. Or the guy who nonchalantly put his shopping bag with “bloody expensive stuff“ next to him on the ground and suddenly witnessed a monkey relieve him of said bag and then jump up a tree with it, placing it diligently a few meters above the guy‘s head and having a blast from the top of the tree. See below for visual aid. The monkeys are adorable and the forest itself is stunning. Just like the amount of tourists who displayed an infuriating amount of disregard for the monkeys to boast on their instagram. The forest is directly adjacent to/surrounded by streets which are frequented by countless scooters. On the edges of the forest it was quite noisy. I even saw employees drive their scooters inside the forest. The monkeys seemed somewhat unfazed by this apparent daily occurrence, but the conditions for the monkeys could do with improvement.
    After a hearty meal (fish soup, rice in a banana leaf, veggie crisps and chilli sauce and a matcha wrap with fried coconut gratings & some fruit for dessert), I returned to my AirBnB. I learned I would have to share my room with a multi-generational ant farm who had a get-together with all their distant relatives and a gecko who wanted to stay “just for the night“ - or so he said.    En savoir plus

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