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Funemployment - Part I

July - October 2017
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  • TravelerFunemployment - Part I
    Day 19

    Kelimutu

    August 6, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    I slept surprisingly well in the worst accommodation I have ever stayed in, despite the fact that the sheets reeked of tobacco, and there were people yakking away directly outside my window till the wee hours of the night. We have to meet our driver at 4.30am, but both Jonas and I are ready to go at 4.15am. The drive up to the park entrance is long and winding. After paying our insane entry fee, we walk up to the lookout point and get there around 5.30am. We're not optimistic. There are too many clouds. According to Jonas’ GPS app, this lookout point is between two of the three lakes.

    The sun rose just after 6am. It is spectacular, but the clouds failed to dissipate except for a 30 second window over one lake. The water is pale blue. It is beautiful. The second lake remains covered with clouds. Around 6.50am, we leave dejected because we went through a lot of hassle and we paid a lot of money for this experience. Walking back to the parking lot, we saw a second lookout point over the third lake. There were a few people there. We go up to see that the third lake - a darker shade of blue than the first one - is clearly visible with few clouds. Wow. The first lake is also visible. It's breathtaking. We never saw what color the second lake was (they change colors periodically due to mineral content and other factors; I later found out it was green). On my way back to the parking lot, I had a brief reunion with Pierre.

    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kelimutu-vo…

    https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Flore…    Read more

  • TravelerFunemployment - Part I
    Day 19

    Escape From Moni

    August 6, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Jonas and I head back to Moni after seeing the second lake. Back at Homestay Jhon, Jonas packed up and left, while Roger, Carol, and I await our transport. All of a sudden, the tap in the sink that didn't work earlier starts dispensing water.

    Roger had negotiated a 100,000 rupiah fare to the airport. It is a great fare. I plan to take local transport to Coconut Garden Beach Resort from the airport. When our transport arrived, we found two other Spaniards seated in the back. They are headed to the same resort where I am booked to stay, and they had each paid 250,000 rupiah to be driven 15 minutes further. In a moment of carelessness, I told Control Freak Homestay Jhon Lady that I am also going to Coconut Garden. She tries to charge me 250,000 rupiah. I momentarily lose it - she's behaving as if Coconut Garden is halfway to Larantuka. I start: "are you insane? It's just up the road". Roger senses the tension and he jumps in and says that I should stick to my original plan. The two other Spaniards in the car are fuming.

    As the car rolls out of Moni, I turn around and stick my middle finger. The Spaniards laugh and join me.

    Puta Moni.

    When we dropped Roger and Carol off at Maumere airport, I disembarked to say my goodbyes, and then I simply returned to the car. The driver doesn't catch on that I had only paid to be driven to the airport. The two remaining Spaniards and I giggle as he drives us to Coconut Garden.

    Do I feel bad about scamming someone less fortunate than I am? Yes.

    Do I feel bad about scamming the scammer? Absolutely not.

    https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Flore…    Read more

  • TravelerFunemployment - Part I
    Day 19

    Coconut Island Beach Resort

    August 6, 2017 in Indonesia

    Coconut Garden Beach Resort is exactly what I needed after the stress and hassle of Moni. It bills itself as an eco-resort. I'm often cynical about places which describe themselves as such. The bamboo structures were beautiful and clearly made from sustainable materials, but I question the wisdom of planting impatiens and bougainvillea on a beach, and not having proper drainage in the outdoor showers (everything just soaks into the sand; soap and shampoo and all).

    The resort is isolated so it has a captive market for meals. The meals were organic and prepared from scratch. Other travelers complained about lack of meat dishes, but I was fine with that as I rarely eat meat. The meals were expensive by Indonesian standards. There isn't much to do other than laze on the beach. It was exactly what I needed. The beach is pretty, the sea is shallow and warm, and the sunsets are spectacular. The other travelers are relaxed, friendly and chatty, but they belong to a more upmarket demographic than most other travelers I have met on the road. They can't seem to relate to what the two Spaniards and I went through before we got to Coconut Garden.

    I booked for only one night as this stay was a result of changed plans. It cost way over my budget (the cheaper rooms away from the beach weren’t available). I liked it so much that when I checked out at noon I asked the staff if I could stay on the premises until after dinner. They said yes. So, I had another lazy day sitting under the shade, snoozing away all day, and occasionally venturing out into the sea. Bliss.

    https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Flore…    Read more

  • TravelerFunemployment - Part I
    Day 20

    CAPA Resort Maumere

    August 7, 2017 in Indonesia

    I left Coconut Garden after dinner and moved to Capa Maumere Resort, the original place I had booked as a special treat after the rigors of the cross-Flores trip. I am staying here two nights, although in reality I am just here for under 36 hours. Capa is a nice resort, but there isn't a sandy beach there, just a rocky beach and an infinity pool. I'm glad I'm not spending more time here as it isn't anywhere as captivating as Coconut Garden.

    I thought about hiring a car to take my to a famous ikat weaving village in Sikka, but I wasn’t feeling it as I’d already blown my budget so early in my travels, and not having a job to return to was causing me some financial anxiety. Besides, I would probably have been tempted to purchase an ikat I could ill afford. So, I mostly hung out and enjoyed my first reliable wifi in over a week,

    https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Flore…    Read more

  • TravelerFunemployment - Part I
    Day 22

    Maumere to Denpasar

    August 9, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Wings Air IW1821 | MOF/DPS
    Economy Class
    Aerospatiale ATR72-500 | PK-WFM
    ATD/0830 | ATA/1024

    ===============================================================
    I really wanted to go to Tana Toraja in South Sulawesi. The Torajans are known for their funeral ceremonies, and August is peak funeral season. But, Tana Toraja is a ten hour bus ride from Makassar city up winding mountain roads. I just can't face that right now. The one thing I hated about the trip across Flores was that I had to manage my intake of water in order to not have to go to the bathroom as I was mostly at the mercy of bus drivers' biological and petrol refilling schedules. Before each travel day, I downed over a liter of water before going to bed and didn't drink anything two hours before the bus ride. The enforced dehydration wasn't pleasant as I am one of the most hydrated people you'll ever meet. I'll reserve Tana Toraja for a future trip, along with maybe an overland trip to the Togean Islands.

    When I was planning this trip, I emailed Santra Putra, my go to place in Ubud, Bali, to ask if they had rooms available. They replied that they were fully booked for August. While at Coconut Garden, I emailed them again, and they said they could accommodate me for a week. Although my original plan was to look at connecting from Bali to other places, I think the universe is telling me to just go to Bali and enjoy myself there. I'm going to listen this time.

    https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Flore…    Read more

  • TravelerFunemployment - Part I
    Day 22

    Penestanan & Ubud

    August 9, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Arriving at Santra Putra, I was warmly welcomed back by Karja and Made. I was saddened to learn that their dog Neko has been killed by a motorcycle. In his place was a skittish black dog named Baca; Made was nervous about me making friends with him. Made (of Made's Warung opposite Santra Putra) happily welcomed me back too. Karja sat with me at breakfast several times. It felt like coming home.

    Ubud has a way of sucking you in, and before long, you're immersed in it. Since I've already been here three times, I didn't really have a list of things to do and places to see other than Pura Lempuyang in the eastern part of the island. I was happy just to be here and to experience things as they unfolded. I did seek out yoga classes, though (I've been casually doing yoga at my former workplace) and so I scheduled a lot of my activities around the daily 2pm or 4pm yoga class near my accommodation.

    A typical day would be: wake up, eat breakfast at Santra Putra (prepared by Ketut), wander somewhere, eat lunch (sometimes at Made's Warung, sometimes not), chill, yoga, relax and watch the sunset from my verandah, dinner at Made's, chill and eat some fruit, sleep. The days melded into one another.

    It is easy to romanticize Bali. I try hard not to compare the Bali of today with the Bali I experienced in 1993. But, it is clear that the influx of tourists and development has strained Bali's infrastructure. Traffic is noticeably worse - it takes ages just to exit the airport. My room at Santra Putra looked directly into rooms from two new developments next door. They were so close I can hear the other guests showering. Many of the new villas and guest houses are more upmarket and almost all of them are foreign owned. Migrants flock from other parts of Indonesia to partake in the tourism and construction boom. It goes without saying that these new arrivals are culturally dissimilar to the Balinese.

    Mercifully, the trash problem has improved greatly compared to my last visit in 2013. I learned from Karja that many of the villages have taken steps to tackle the problem. At Penestanan, Karja had been elected village head. Under his leadership, the village now disposes trash in a central receptacle for a private contractor to remove. There is no central municipal authority for management of trash in the Ubud area. In Central Ubud, I now see trash bins everywhere, and signs urging people to sort between organic and non-organic trash. Karja says that the villages haven't quite reached the stage where they are willing to sort their recyclables. Hopefully that is the next phase.

    https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/…    Read more

  • TravelerFunemployment - Part I
    Day 23

    Blanco Renaissance Museum

    August 10, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Often described as the Salvador Dali of Bali, the flamboyant Antonio Blanco lived on a grandiose property next to the Campuhan Bridge. The museum housed his paintings, many of which were of female nudes, his favorite type of muse. Some were also overtly sexual. The museum also had a giant squatting man sculpture at its front entrance which I absolutely loved. There is a collection of exotic birds in the garden.

    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/blanco-rena…

    https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/…    Read more

  • TravelerFunemployment - Part I
    Day 24

    Monkey Forest

    August 11, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Always good fun to be had here. Highlights included a monkey picking stuff from his scrotum and eating whatever it was he picked, and me making the mistake of opening my backpack for a drink of water and having monkeys climb all over me as a result. My water bottle has a squirt top, and I had to squirt the most persistent monkeys to get them off me.

    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sacred-monk…

    https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/…    Read more

  • TravelerFunemployment - Part I
    Day 25

    Agung Rai Museum

    August 12, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Commonly known as ARMA, this museum houses an extensive collection of Balinese art as well as works by Walter Spies, a German artist who lived in Ubud between the two world wars. Balinese art tends to be dark and it is amazing for the textures that artists can tease out from varying shades of black and grey. My favorite pieces were a collection by an unknown artist about Arjuna's life as an ascetic, and a humorous take on the Lion Air jet that missed the runway at Bali in 2013 (there weren't any fatalities). The museum grounds were pretty. While I was there, jazz artists were rehearsing for a jazz festival. It was a little jarring to listen to jazz while viewing traditional paintings.

    https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/…    Read more

  • TravelerFunemployment - Part I
    Day 25

    Cat Cafe

    August 12, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    I stumbled upon this gem while walking back from ARMA. All the kitties were long hair breeds. They appeared well taken care of. Two kitties - Momi and Noel - took an immediate shine to me. Momi purred while I petted her and she later jumped onto my lap. Noel even allowed me to rub his belly. This is the highest honor a kitty can bestow on a hooman!

    https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Indonesia/Bali/…    Read more

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