After the volcanoes of Java Island (see blog) I went to Bali and which coincidentally was celebrating the major festival of Nyepi. This is a Hindu tradition near the end of March that celebrates the end of the old year and the start of a new one according to 'saka' (Balinese calendar based on the lunar cycle). I read about this holiday in the guidebook and it said something about the town shutting down so get a good book and catch up on your sleep. Ok literally, the town shuts down and when I tried to leave the hotel to get some water the gate was closed and no one was allowed outside. Crazy huh? The tradition is based on a belief that evil spirits descend on the first day of the year and will think the island of Bali is uninhabited so they leave the local people alone for another year. At this point I was glad that I splurged the extra $3 a night and got a great hotel with pool, restaurant, bar, etc. Also the day before they had a party in the streets with huge impressions of demon spirits being conquered by warriors (see pics) so I'm assuming that this was mocking the sprits and showing the Balinese triumph over evil. Ok I have no idea but it was pretty cool to be a part of.
As far as the rest of Bali I only stayed in the resorty surfer area at the south end and didn't bother to take pics of the crowded beaches, Hard Rock Café, Circle K, McDonalds, etc. For me this was a place to catch up on email, laundry, book flights, lobster and sushi dinners for less than $6, read a book, and then catch a boat to the Gili Islands – more specifically Gili Trawangan population 800 and known for great diving, local dishes with 'magic mushrooms' and all night parties.
I flew from Singapore (see blog) to Yogyakarta on March 8th and soon learned that the flight I almost booked for the day before crashed upon landing killing 21. There have been many concerns about airline safety in the region due to aging aircrafts, lack of maintenance, and the need to keep flights cheap. Here is a link to one of the articles (click here).
I met a Taiwanese guy who was headed the same way so we shared a cab into the small town of Borobudur to visit a Buddhist temple that ranks among the three greatest monuments in SE Asia along with Bagan (Myanmar) and Angkor Wat (Cambodia), both of which I also plan to see on this trip. Borobudur has almost 1,500 panels that illustrate the Buddhist tales and teachings. The temple was abandoned but rediscovered in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles who was the governor of Java (main island of Indonesia) at the time and also responsible for transforming Singapore. We ended up splurging ($20 each per night) to stay at the Manohara Hotel which is directly at the base of the temple with spectacular views from everywhere including the free breakfast.
After two days at the temple we headed to the east side of Java Island to see Gunung Bromo, an active volcano in one of the most incredible volcanic landscapes I've seen. We stayed at a great hostel near the edge of the park and paid about 50,000 Rp ($5.46) per night for a private room with great views and again a free breakfast. We chartered one of the many old school Landcruisers to drive us into the crater and up to a viewpoint for sunrise. We hiked around the rim of the crater through plumes of acidic vapor. One of the many things I enjoy about traveling in developing countries is you can still venture into some of the most spectacular places, to your own peril if you're stupid enough.
I'm off to Bali (see Blog) to warm back up and find some good diving.
Daily Budget – 200,000 Rp – ($22.00 US) Private Room – 50,000 Rp – ($5.46 US) Internet (per hr) – 7,500 Rp – ($0.82 US) Dinner – 25,000 Rp – ($2.73 US) Beer – 9,000 Rp – ($0.98 US) Flight to Malaysia – 602,000 Rp – ($65.79 US) Load of Laundry – 25,000 Rp – ($2.73 US)
