The Time to Wander
After Uluwatu, it was time to bid Bali farewell and hopped onto a quick flight up to Yogyakarta in central Java. Without delay we were enroute to the Manohara Hotel at Borobudur which is situated inside the UNESCO World Heritage grounds and does a special sunrise tour for guests. Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. It was constructed during the 9th Century and was only “rediscovered” in 1814. Since that time, the temple and grounds have seen several stages of restoration with the last round concluding in the 1980s – today the temple and grounds are spectacular.
After settling in, we wandered across the grounds to explore Borobudur with a local guide and spent several hours learning about the story of the Buddha depicted on some of the temples 2,500 stone, relief panels. Our guide also was incredibly knowledgeable about the numeric symbolism and geometry of the temple.
During the time of our visit, we were at the tail of the rainy season and tourists still far and few between. There were periods of time where it was just the four of us and the guide alone on the temple. However, when we were ready to leave the temple and return to the hotel, we were directed to the “exit” where we were the lone targets of no fewer than hundreds of vendors all selling the same awful tourist wares. Literally the alleys went on for over a kilometer and it was exhausting to say “no thank you” so many times. Exhausting and puzzling – this seemed to us the most inefficient marketplace we could imagine: how can so many sellers, all with the same merchandise, exist to serve so few customers? We all agreed it would make a great Planet Money segment if you are reading this David Kestenbaum…
That night it was early to bed for our 4:00am wake up. In the dark of the pre-dawn we quietly climbed to the top of the temple and were all rewarded an hour later with a spectacular show. Our expectations for this event were dangerously high as one of the adages we have adopted for this trip is low expectations are the key to happiness. In this instance however, it did not disappoint.
Sunrise on the stupas
Later that afternoon, we left the relatively expensive Manohara Hotel and found the craziest guest/art house nearby. Art house is really the more apropos name for it as nearly every surface of the hotel has been hand painted in quite amazing murals. We were their only quests that night and spent a quiet evening searching for good street food. We were rewarded with the most delicious fried “Twinkie and jam loaf” for our dessert.
The roof of the Eloprogo Art House common space.
C and G chillin.
The next morning we rented two scooters which meant Kim had to join in the scooter driving melee. Luckily, the back roads of Borobodur’s quiet village and open rice paddy fields were the perfect Asian scooter training grounds. Campbell even took a turn scootering around, much to her delight as her first real motorized driving experience. We spent several hours truly exploring with no agenda, and as I write this nearly two weeks later, it remains our favorite afternoon of the trip so far.
Next up on our itinerary was some time in Yogyakarta which is only an hour taxi from Borobudur. Our intention was to explore the nearby Hindu temple of Prambanan but after nearly two weeks in Indonesia with just a shower or two, the skies opened up to an unbelievable deluge and our plans for a sunset tour on our second evening were jettisoned. Campbell and Kim were caught out in the rain and made it home by fording the ankle deep rivers that had only minutes before been city streets. The current was so strong that Campbell’s flip flop was a casualty of the weather.
The rain was the perfect excuse for a family swim in the hotel pool and we swam alone in the monsoon rains until the lightning strikes and thunder were just seconds apart overhead.
Other highlights from our time in Yogya include our tuk tuk rides through the city to watch the local batik and shadow puppet artisans practice their centuries old trades. We also ventured to the city’s Bird Market to view the thousands of birds, fish, bats, cats, squirrels and other animals for sale or trade. We desperately wanted to purchase one of the beautiful handmade bird cages being made on site for our pet Thor, and while the cages were a bargain at only $5 USD, the logistics of shipping them home were too daunting. Especially since Gil’s contact lenses never made it through the Indonesian gauntlet of customs – we are still trying to get them shipped home…
As we depart Indonesia for our time in Thailand, we carry with us a lasting impression of how kind the Indonesian people were during our travels. We never sensed the tourist fatigue, sometimes rightly so, that is an undercurrent in some places. Everywhere the people were patient and always genuinely happy to share a small bit of their country with us. And above all they drive like maniacs and don’t have a scratch or any feelings of road rage.
Terima Kasih for the memories Indonesia!
We arrived in Denpasar, Indonesia in the early afternoon after a tropical shower. As we cleared customs, a sea of “taxi” drivers that wanted to take us to our hotel awaited. After being caught up in the frenzy, we were quickly whisked away by a young Indo driver with a giant Playboy sticker on his car. Even though he was using made up “credentials”, he turned out to be quite nice and an astute driver – giving us the low-down on how the locals drive in Indonesia. It was amazing to witness so many motorcycles and cars maneuvering in such tight quarters without incident.
We spent the first couple nights at the Calmtree Bungalows in Canggu and were all captivated by the relaxed environment despite being so close to the bustling beach scene of Bali. We had some amazing traditional meals at the hotel and Old Man’s bar at the beach down the road – Laksa Seafood Curry is our new family favorite. The beach at Changgu had some decent surf but the water conditions and garbage all around the beach made our time there short. In the future, we will likely dedicate a post to the problems from garbage and plastics in particular.
Chilling in the Calmtree Bungalows
Cool mural at Old Man’s, Changgu
While in Bali, each of us spent several hours as students with the Rip Curl Surf School. The first tour was a beach break session at Legian Beach for Kim, Campbell and Gunnar. Gil, being the more advanced pupil, took a reef trip to Sanur in East Bali the next day. The reef trip was spectacular – Gil and the crew took a boat ride out to the reef called Baby Reef which was producing small but fun waves.
Quickly after arriving in Bali, we were introduced to our new favorite tropical fruit, the purple mangosteen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_mangosteen). When broken apart it reveals many soft and juicy pods and was a highlight of breakfast each morning.
Campbell with her nightly mocktail
Mangosteen
It quickly became apparent that scooter travel was vital to getting to where we needed to be, so Gil rented a motor scooter and ventured out into the chaotic streets of Bali to explore. Everyone should experience the excitement of driving a scooter around Bali. It was not uncommon to see a family of four with two kids sandwiched in between mom and dad on one scooter – really, who needs that SUV? Kim even spotted a mother nursing her baby – old and young alike, EVERYONE travels by scooter. In fact despite all the traffic bedlam, we were amazed to never see any accidents or even a single case of road rage. The Indonesian ability to stay calm and smile during any situation is a trait that we could all learn to emulate.
After Changgu, we caught a taxi to Kuta to meet up with the crew from Bobby’s G-Land Surf Camp. We were warned that the eight hour van trip from Bali to G-Land would be long and hard but could not have imagined how the last couple hours of the trip would be a white knuckle, intense drive over bumpy, muddy, and rocky roads to arrive at Bobby’s camp at 5am exhausted and still numb from the trip we had just undertaken. The road had washed out a few days earlier, so we hiked the last few kilometers on foot. We can all say that we stretched our edge during that journey.
Our GPS Way Points to G-Land
G-Land, also known as Plengkung Beach, is an internationally renowned surf break situated on the Grajagan Bay in Alas Purwo National Park, East Java. In the park there are only three camps permitted to operate. There are no stores, hotels or tourists – it is incredibly remote.
Our next five days in G-Land were magical. As the tide built during the day, a world class left point break starts to form over the reef. This is why surfers for decades have been traveling across the globe and through the jungle to reach this exact spot. Depending on your experience level and equipment preference, suitable waves develop all along the peninsula from Kongs to Speedies on down to Tiger Tracks – so named after the actual tiger tracks found on the sand one year. Each morning, the camp boat would take us out to survey the best breaks and drop us off where needed. The swell was firing our first and second days and it was thrilling to be sitting on the shoulder of the break in the boat, riding the mountains of swell and watching the three Aussie’s at camp: Nick, Jared and Josh ruling it. After Gil’s session in the bigger waves, we would motor the 5km down to Tiger Tracks for a session all to ourselves. Gunnar and Gil had a super fun time riding doubles on a longboard and by the end of the week, both Gunnar and Campbell were catching waves all on their own.
Our Bungalow at G-Land
Saying Goodbye to the G-Land Crew
Epic Surf at G-Land
When the tide would ebb and the reef became too shallow for surfing, Campbell and Kim would spend hours searching for large cowry shells and tried their hand a fishing one evening with the resident camp fisherman, Dragon.
Our biggest challenge at G-Land was defending ourselves against a local monkey population who had become accustomed to stealing food. A couple alpha males had quickly set their sights on Gunnar and were food jacking him whenever he had a meal in front of him. We got pretty good at using the sling shot to defend the G-man.
Monkies of G-Land
The local staff at Bobby’s were amazing. Ramat was the leader of the team and he tended to all our needs. He arranged our meals, drinks, ding repairs, and monkey protection whenever needed. Alan was our boat captain and because it was still the early season and there were just three other campers, we had the boat all to ourselves each day. Each time he delivered us to the shore at Tiger Tracks, it was like arriving at our own private island.
It is hard to describe the feeling of being at G-Land. Isolated by thousands of hectres of national park, it remains nearly untouched despite the world-class surf break and incredible natural beauty – something that is a rarity in our world today. We are so grateful for the chance to experience it.
After returning to Bali from G-Land we had a couple days to check out Uluwatu in South Kuta. Uluwatu Temple was a let down, and were left baffled as to why this is one most famous temples in Bali – it ranks at the top of the list of places you could miss. It has a a great ocean front locale, but the grounds and buildings are nothing to write home about.
Uluwatu is special in other ways however, from the narrow single track stairs through the cliffs to arrive at Padang Padang Beach, to the crazy, surf shanties that are stacked on top of one another, built into the cliffside at Blue Point Beach.
View of the beach from the Single Fin bar in Ulawatu
In the end, Bali was a bit overwhelming with tons of traffic and new construction, bringing about a period of adjustment as we adapted to a new normal. Yet we always found pockets of nature combined with friendly and relaxing communities. For those that love exploring off the beaten track of Mexico and Central America,we strongly recommend a visit here. We are certain we will be back someday.
Our time in Singapore was short but sweet. Rather than draft a post, we created a little video of our time there instead…
After landing at Sydney airport and taking the train downtown, we climbed the stairs up from metro tunnels at the Circular Quay Station to a bit of a culture shock. There appeared to be more people out enjoying the beautiful Saturday afternoon in Sydney Harbour than we likely encountered in all of our time in NZ.
We stayed at the Pier 1 Hotel, a restored 20th Century warehouse on the wharf right beneath the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge – an ideal location with the best breakfast buffet ever, a foodie heaven each morning.
Sydney and the Rocks District were both metropolitan and charming at the same time. The highlights of our days in Sydney include an epic game of hide and seek in the Royal Botanical Gardens early one morning, a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art, many wild Cockatoo sightings, the native animals at the Featherdale Widlife Park and a fast ferry trip to Manly Beach.
After our stay in Sydney, we traveled by train to Katoomba, a gateway to the Blue Mountains. Our time here definitely exceeded our expectations. The land just opens up to seemingly endless valleys from precipitous drops.
In Katoomba there was modernized tourist attraction that has been around for 80 years called Scenic World consisting of various view points and access points (trams and trains) into the valley. One morning we took the Mountain Devil train from Scenic World to the base of the Katoomba Falls. This train is billed as being on the steepest (52 degrees) pitch in the world and it was pretty cool to feel gravity’s pull as we descended into the valley from above.
Our time in New Zealand was “sweet as” according to the local slang. In other words – rather good.
After our time up north of Auckland, we headed out on the Coromandel Peninsula on the east coast for a few days at Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove – one of our favorite beaches so far.
The trail to Cathedral Cove
Hot Water Beach is one the few places where a thermal spring bubbles up from the sand and allows you to create your own hot tub on the beach when the tide is right. This feature is amazing in theory and is pretty awesome if you can manage to regulate the temperature of your tub with the oncoming beach break waves but this section of beach might be the most densely populated 500 square meters of beach in the entire country. Sharing the duties of canal diverting and tub building with dozens of other tourists from all over the world becomes a serious game of international diplomacy.
Chaos on Hot Water Beach
After Hot Water Beach we were off to Raglan on the West Coast but first we had to stop at the home of he Hobbits – the Shire in Middle Earth. We found it hilarious that the Tolkien film set location was marked for miles out by road signs directing you to the “Tourist Farm.”
And yes, Hobbiton is a serious tourist attraction. We were a little daunted at first by the steep ticket prices and endless stream of tour buses but how can any Lord of the Rings fan pass up a chance to spend a few hours in the Shire? In the end, Hobbiton exceeded all of our expectations and was a highlight of our time in NZ.
The swell in Raglan
Our journey to Middle Earth was followed up by 4 days on the west coast enjoying the surf, black sand beaches and the laid-back atmosphere of Raglan. Raglan is famous for its long point breaks and it did not disappoint. Gil caught the best wave of his life – so good he didn’t really mind that he lost a contact during that session. However, the logistics of having a replacement contact made and shipped to a reliable and known destination half way across the planet has been no small feat…
Our last night in NZ was spent at the residence of Tony and Bridgette Jones in Auckland. They are friends with a Samish Woods family and graciously opened their home to us. We shared an enjoyable afternoon at a nearby park with their small sons, Henry and Patrick, followed by a divine classic NZ lamb dinner. We are so grateful for their hospitality!
Until next time NZ…