Indonesia

Wow, Indonesia. The craziest 2 weeks of my life, mostly due to the fact that I am traveling without any debit/credit cards and very little cash that I can borrow from a friend. The trip started by nearly missing my flight. Not because I slept to late, was stuck in traffic, or got lost. Oh no, I was sitting in the airport as my plane boarded. I was sitting at my gate as my plane boarded. Actually, I watched my entire plane board and I just sat there. Turns out there is a 1 hour time difference between Vietnam and Malaysia (my transit stop over), and the entire time I thought it was an hour earlier than it really was. To make matters worse, AirAsia’s terribly inefficient manner was in full force that day, and the sign at my gate said Destination: Singapore on it. So as my fellow passengers boarded the plane, I just sat there and listened to my music. Luckily for me, the ear insert on my headphones fell off while I was flying form Vietnam to Malaysia. Because of that, I was able to hear what people were saying around me, even as I was listening to music. Because of that I was able to hear “Will Tracey Kaplan please come to the front counter, your flight is awaiting you”. When I boarded the flight, everyone was already seated and waiting on me. Whoops. On the bright side, I wasn’t the only one. Another person had the same problem and that’s how I came to know Austin. He’s about my age, and he’s teaching university a few hours north of Bangkok. We got to talking and turned out we have a lot in common. He ends up coming with Mj and I back to our hotel and we all grab dinner together at Kuta Beach, Bali. The next day, Mj and I head to Ubud, a quite, artsy town an hour away from Kuta. Austin decides to stay another day in Kuta and we part ways. Ubud is a really nice, serene town and its chock full of culture. Also the town where the lady from “Eat, pray, love” lived while she was in Bali, if you’ve read that book. So, the first day we go to a traditional Balinese dancing show. Afterwards, I devise a brilliant plan to get money without doing an expensive wire transfer. Since my mom has the same bank as I do, I did an online transfer from my account into hers, and then had her deposit cash into Mj’s account, and then she could take my money out of her account with her debit card. Okay, so maybe not so brilliant, but I was pretty proud of it…
The second day we are in Ubud, we wake up late and meet Ellys, the Kiwi/Indonesian who is staying in the guesthouse beside us. She’s super cool and is in Ubud to do research for a book she is writing. After breakfast, Mj and I go rent bikes and head off to explore the windy hills and rice paddies of Ubud. It was a great idea for the first half of the afternoon. Though Bali has been rainy up until this point, we wake up to a bright and sunny day. The scenery is absolutely beautiful, with sprawling rice paddies, palm trees, and green hills dotted with numerous temples and cultural sites. Mj and I stop to have lunch at a random side café we see on the street. We’re not too hungry, so we get one meal and share it. Oh my god. It is the best meal of my life. Seriously, it is AMAZING. Peanut sauce, tofu, tempe, fresh vegetables. SO delicious, and so begins my love affair with Indonesian food. Anyway, we order another dish and eat every last bit, even though we are not in the least bit hungry anymore. As we leave the restaurant, we start cruising down a hill (I’m behind Mj), and I see this motorbike pull out of the street without looking both ways, and Mj just heads straight into the bike from the right side and flips over it, with her bike crashing down on top of her. It looked like something straight out of a movie. As soon as I see it happen, I throw my bike off, and run to Mj, inspecting her for blood and wounds. As soon as I see she only has some scraped and bruises (and a black face from the asphalt), I just burst out laughing. I really should have taken a picture—I obviously wasn’t thinking straight. It was quite the epic fall. Then Mj gets a ride back to town to find the owner of the bike and I’m left to bike back to town by myself. Uh-oh, I think we all know about my sense of direction. Or rather, lack there-of. So, I of course get myself very lost and when I finally turn around, I see a sign that says “Ubud” on it. Haha, I had gone so far in the wrong direction, I wasn’t even in the same town I started from! Anyway, I eventually find my way home and rush to get to Mj, since I have all the money, which means she cant get water or food…she must be in so much pain! I run into our room, scream for Mj, and she’s just having a merry time, singing in the shower, and laughing. Whaaat? Turns out she is fine and laughing about the whole situation. Naturally, I’m the one freakin out.
After Mj cleans up, we head to the market to buy some souvenirs, even though I literally have 80,000 Rupiah on me (about 8 USD). When I get to the market, I begin some hard bargaining (always), and when I tell the girl I only have 40,000 rupiah, she looks at me and replies “But you have more, you can go to bank”. It just made me sad, b/c I realized that whatever they have in their pockets is probably all the money they have at all.
After the market, Mj and I meet up with Elyss (our Kiwi/Indonesian neighbor) and head to dinner. We end up at this really nice restaurant that has been featured in the Londoner, b/c they are having a special Sunday satay night. I get tuna satay with peanut sauce, and it was probably the 2nd best meal I’ve ever had (the first from a few hours before, wow am I a lucky girl!). After dinner, we start chatting to the owners and they give Mj a special birthday cake since we never got to adequately celebrate her birthday in Vietnam. We aso meet Joe, who is the owner’s friend and a very talented painter, who has apparently sold a painting to Mel Gibson. Impressive. We continue chatting throughout the night and agree to meet up the next day for dinner and salsa dancing. Oh, and we randomly run into Austin, from the plane ride to Indonesia.
The next day, Mj and I decide to walk around the rice paddies. After about an hour of walking through the fields, we run into a Balinese man, who is farming. He tells us how to get back to town and then proceeds to lead the way. But not before stripping Mj to help her “shower off” in a waterfall, and all kinds of other crazy stuff that he does. But, he does eventually lead us out through an intricate maze, which we never would have found on our own. However, I still find a way to get lost. After the Balinese man leaves, we come to a fork in the road. I decide to go right and then Mj and I get so lost. We end up falling knee- deep in mud and rice and feeling like we are so far away from town. Turns out there was a guesthouse about 25 meters away and the boy who works there shows us the right way, haha. On the bright side, Mj and I find this amazing pool while we’re lost and we decide to upgrade guesthouses so we can spend a luxurious day lounging by the pool (in the rain). Unfortunately, we aren’t able to find the same pool again, but we do find a nice guesthouse with a different pool, which we deem acceptable.
After checking into the new hotel, we have this amazing lunch that takes about an hour to be made, but SO worth the wait. And there was an adorable puppy to entertain us as we waited for our food. Another funny thing: As we were waiting for our food, some man came up to us and asked if we were the girls who were walking around "lost" in the rice fields, sinking in the mud. Turns out he was watching us for about 15 minutes in his hotel room, laughing. Haha!!
Anyway, after eating, we are so full and content, we decide to skip out on salsa dancing and just visit mini-marts instead. A weird thing I do when I travel is that I absolutely love to visit mini-marts, so we did that and of course, ran into Austin. We went back to our guesthouse and played cards for a few hours, wrote a note to Ellys, apologizing for skipping on dinner + salsa, and crashed out,
The next day is spent traveling to Sengiggi, the beautiful port town en route to the Gili Islands, where we will spend Christmas. When we finally get to Sengigii, after a horrible 5 hour ferry and 3 different van/buses, we are dropped at a tourist center (surprise surprise), where they try to sell us a trekking tour. We haggle for almost 2 hours, before I realize they are ripping us off. We go next door to another tourist center to check prices and the man I was previously talking to begins yelling at the other people in Indonesian, and there was a big panic and a lot of scared people. Everyone was shouting and at this point, I decide to just go have dinner. So, we leave everyone behind, and eat at this restaurant, where we meet these two Indonesian boys and play cards with them. After learning the card games for about 5 minutes, they begin kicking our butts and that’s when I decide its time to go to sleep. We head home, book the trekking tour to Mt. Rinjani (the worst idea ever oh goodness), and get ready for the Gili Islands!
We wake up early, head to another shady port town where we spend 2 hours waiting for our boat to the Gili Islands and have a terrible time with all the sketch people at this border town. We meet Erika and Barry, a Brit couple who are traveling for 2 years, and who we end up hanging out with for most of our trip at the island. The entire time we’ve been in Bali, its been rainy and overcast, but for some reason, the Gili Islands are in their own little bubble. The weather is brilliant and sunny for the 3 days we are at Gili Trawangan (aka Gili Tralala).
December 25, Merry Christmas from Gili Tralala! Is there any better way to spend Christmas day then lying out at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world? I wake up early, find our bathroom “door” (I use the word “door” lightly, its more like a few shingles) torn down by a drunken Mj, lie out by the beach for several hours, and go home to find Mj still in bed, nursing quite a bad Christmas Eve hangover. While Mj is still in bed, I decide to explore the island by walking the entire perimeter (small island, so this shouldn’t take very long). I don’t get to far before I meet Ryan, and end up spending the day hanging out with him, snorkeling and eating dinner. While snorkeling, I see a sea tortoise, so awesome!
Dec 26- Mj and I go snorkeling together and have the greatest time! The snorkeling is fantastic. At one point, I saw this incredibly beautiful water snake. It was bright blue and silver and very majestic looking. My first thought was “Wow, this is so cool”. Then, the snake looked right at me, and my next thought was “Oh my god, get out. Get out. Get out”, and I swam as fast as I could until I was out of the water. Haha!
On our way home, we meet Juliana, a Brazilian businesswoman who invites us to go to the jungle with her in Malaysia. Darn, too bad I will be back home in the States by then! Later, we run into the British couple and enjoy the sunset and our last dinner on the island with them.
Dec 27- We travel to Senaru to begin our Mt. Rinjani trek. At senaru, we visit these 2 enormous waterfalls—the biggest I’ve ever seen! We are taken there by an Indonesian man, but we separate from him on the way back, and of course get very lost. Mj and I are walking for about 10 minutes, when it starts pouring rain. Typical. Then, we run into these 3 very mean looking cows in the middle of the path. I freak out, and start cowering behind Mj. Then, the cow turns to its right, says something to its big cow friends, and suddenly we’re staring at about 8 angry looking cows. I cower behind Mj for a few more minutes, then sprint ahead and run as fast as I can past the cattle. Haha, I’m such a dork, scared of cattle.
Dec 28. First day of the 3 day, 2 night trek up Mt. Rinjani, an active volcano that is one of the largest peaks in Indonesia. We wake up to the rain, and spend a while debating whether we should still do the trek. I convince our hesitant group that we should just do it, and off we go! Little did I know what was in store for us… we spend 3 hard hours trekking with our backpacks before they finally give us lunch, and then we trek for 4 more hours up one of the steepest inclines I’ve ever climbed. We arrive at camp and watch the most beautiful sunset illuminating the surrounding volcanoes and land. End of Day one, the supposedly easiest day of the trek. Yikes.
Day 2- Wake up at 2:30 am to begin the rigorous 4.5 hour trek up the volcano to the summit. We all have flashlights and start climbing at about 3am, before breakfast.. Oh, my god. This is the hardest trek of my life. The last hour is almost straight up volcanic ash; the incline must be at a 60-degree angle. We literally have to stop every 3 or 4 minutes to catch out breath and every 2 steps we take brings us 1 step back, as we keep slipping backwards on the loose volcanic ash. At around 7am, we finally make it to the summit—thank goodness! Although we miss sunrise, we still have a spectacular view of the crater, the lake below us, and Bali in the far distance. The way down the volcano is SO fun, we literally slide down the mountain. By the time I reach the bottom at 9am, I have about 2 lbs of volcano in my shoes and have fallen maybe 8 times. Haha, love it! Finally eat breakfast after that intense hike, relax for about 5 minutes, and hike another 2.5 hours until we reach the lake. So incredible. At one side of the lake is a big volcano, with smoke coming out of it; it looks just like a science fair project. At the other side of the lake is a big forest, full of beautiful trees. At the other side, are hot springs and hot waterfalls. After having lunch, I lead the group through 5 more hours of rock-climbing/hiking. It was so much fun, we were literally climbing hand over foot and some areas felt more like rock climbing then hiking. Although I don’t know what everyone was thinking following me…. Surprisingly, I didn’t get us lost though. We reach camp just as the sun is setting. Total trekking time for day 2= 14 hours. Wow, we are all hurting. Blisters, leg cramps, knee & hip problems, one of the trekkers even broke her toe on a rock, eeek. The next morning, we just want to get the hell out of here. We wake early to a “breakfast in tent” and spend the next 4 hours practically running down the mountain.
After the trek, we race back to Lombok, where we just barely make the last ferry to Bali.
Dec 31- Happy New Year’s Eve! We spend the first half of the day trying to find accommodation, but everything is completely full. Turns out showing up to the biggest tourist destination in Bali on the day of New Year’s Eve was a bad idea. After having lunch, Mj and I decide to just go to the beach and meet someone whose place we can crash at. Within 20 minutes, we meet Sarah, a Brit trying to sell us a surfboard. We get to talking and turns out she has extra room at her hotel….score! Then, she introduces us to Brian, who has an extra bed….yes! She also introduces us to a baby monkey, who pees all over me….sweet! ☺
After showering, we try to find Sarah’s hotel to begin the pre-New Year’s Eve celebrating, but search to no avail. We end up making terrible drinks, as Mj and I have only a few thousand rupiah and can only afford one juice carton. So, we make drinks of 2/3 vodka, and a splash of juice. Ughh, no bueno. After the drinks, we spend 25 minutes walking through elbow-to-elbow traffic to get to the beach, and then celebrate the New Years on the ocean. Do a bit more partying on the beach, and head to bed around 4am.
Naturally, I wake at 8am, ready for a day at the beach! Mj goes to Dreamland with the Indonesian boy she met the night before and I spend the day trying not to think about my growling stomach, as we only have just enough money to get a ride to the airport. When Mj gets back from Dreamland, she says her Indonesian friend can give us a ride to the airport, yay! We have a whole 85,000 rupiah (about 8 USD) to spend, and I go NUTS! I buy 2 sandwiches, soda, Indian food, and a chocolate bar! Woo! I spend everything I have, and get ready to go to the airport, where things get really crazy.
Because Mj’s friend can only take us to the airport one at a time, Mj goes before me. When I get to the airport, I rush in, get my boarding pass, and walk upstairs. There’s a big line at a long desk that blocks the entrance into immigration. What is the line for? To pay a 150,000 rupiah exit fee. Oh my goodness. I have no money, no debit cards, and no credit cards (since wallet was stolen in Vietnam). There’s only one thing to do. Sneak past. I walk to the left of the line, pretend like I’m an airport employee and walk right past the exit fee desk. I get in line for immigration and notice EVERYONE has a sticker on their boarding pass, saying they have paid the exit fee. Oh god. I wait in line, smile at the immigration officer and hold my breath as he looks at my documents. He looks back at me, looks down again, and pauses. 10 seconds pass. Then, stamp, stamp, stamp, and he lets me go through. Phew. At this point, I think it’s all over.
I spend the next 30 minutes looking all over the airport for Mj, who I can’t find. I finally realize she is probably waiting at the exit fee table, because she knows I have no money and she wants to give me money for the fee. So, I go to airport staff and have them page her, saying “Mariane O’ Connor please meet Tracey at Gate 2”. After another 15 minutes, I go to look for Mj at the immigration counter, and see her frantically running past the officers, in tears and looking quite stressed out. When I see her, she exclaims, “Oh my god, the plane plane! Have I missed the plane!?”, to which I reply, “No dude, we still have an hour and a half before it leaves…”
Haha, because she didn’t have a watch, she thought the page meant the plane was leaving, and as it turns out, she had checked her debit card in her baggage underneath the plane, and also had no money to pay the exit fee. She took an alternative route than I did (the criminal way of sneaking onto the plane) and broke down crying, until a British lady felt bad for her, and paid the 150,000 rupiah fee for her.
Okay, we calm ourselves down and wait for our gate to begin boarding. This is where things get tricky. I think I’m in the clear until I notice the man checking boarding passes is not only looking at the exit fee sticker, but he is taking off part of the sticker for collection. Oh no, I’m in trouble. Even if I begged a stranger for money to get the exit fee sticker, I wouldn’t have time to wait through the immigration lines. I look at Mj and she says “You know what you have to do. You have to sneak onto this plane”. Oh goodness. This man is checking people one at a time, just like in the States, and there are 8 other security personnel 10 feet away, checking everyone’s carry ons. How is this going to work? The man before Mj gets his boarding pass checked, and I take 1 step forward. Mj moves forward 2 steps, and I take one step back, then 2 quick steps forward, pass the man, and turn my back away from him. I hold my breath. A few seconds pass. I’m just waiting for him to tap me on the shoulder and ask for my boarding pass. A few more seconds pass. Nothing happens, and I finally breathe a sigh of relief. Until I see the see the secondary boarding pass/passport check. Are you kidding me? Oh god, this check has 2 men and a distance of about 3 feet between the men and a wall. No way to sneak pass. I have to take my chances. I give them my boarding pass; they take a look, separate it out, and let me pass. Finally make it. Wow, the most stressful experience I have ever had at an airport. Of the thousands and thousands of people that left that airport, I would say I am the only person to not pay the exit fee. Way to stick it to the man!