Karimun Jawa

My trip to Karimun Jawa was quite relaxing and absolutely spent with excellent people. I was able to go on the trip with some of my co-workers, which is always a plus because they are Indonesian which means we are less likely to get scammed. It is also way cheaper to travel in large groups than pairs or singles when you are in Asia, so the trip wasn't a major slice into my travel budget. 

We took an overnight bus to get to Jepara, and let me tell you this was probably one of the most scary experiences of my life. The driver was, I'm sure very experienced, but also took as many risks driving on this one trip as I have taken in my entire life. Given it was an overnight bus ride I slept not a wink. For those of you familiar with the Knight Bus on Harry Potter, this is what it was like. For those of you not so familiar here is a video clip:

Once we arrived in Jepara we spent some time laying on the curb being pestered by an old Indonesian man trying to find out all of our religions and who among us was single. Then we were trasferred to the ferry dock to sit and wait for a few more hours and eventually hopped the speed boat to the island. 

watching the sunset

Here I very easily fell asleep, though was in and out throughout the whole trip. We arrived on the Island, had dinner and went for a swim, which ended in not 1, but 2 injuries. There were many sea urchins in the water and the dock were were close to wasn't exactly meant for swimming. We all passed out quickly and easily after the power and aircon was turned on at 6:00. 

outside our bungalow. please ignore my crazy hairstyle post 24 hours of traveling.

I woke up almost instantly after the power was shut down at 6:00am due to the sudden influx of heat. We got ready and set off for our snorkeling journey. As soon as we reached the boat it started pouring rain, and we forced our minds to accept the fact that we were going to get wet anyway, however most of us were freezing. 

right before it started to rain

Finally being able to hop in the water felt like jumping into a hot tub. I quickly removed my fins since they were squishing my toe injury from the previous trip. This may have been a bad decision because I ended up cutting my opposite foot on some coral. This forced me back onto the boat where I was inked by a squid! Not even lying! The kid on our boat caught it with his bare hands!

A squid. inking.

Anyway the benefits of the snorkeling were some awesome fish and kick ass underwater pictures. We also stopped on an island where some of the bravest of us (yours truly included) got to travel with sharks! 

That night involved lots of fun large group games and an early night with the plans for the following day being beaches! Unfortunately we woke up to more pouring rain, and ended up spending the day lounging around reading, listening to music, discussing life, and attempting to nap. That evening when we to the local square for dinner, and I have to admit I was quite happy to have something to eat besides fish and rice. I had some chicken sate. It was a nice little area with warungs and a nice grass seating area. We also got to shop for some souvenirs. 

The next morning we left of the ferry, and had lunch at the port. We spend far longer waiting for our driver than we were supposed to, as he had decided to scam us and tell us we were leaving on a private van at 12:00 rather than a public bus at 3:00. Needless to say this trouble ended in us losing out on money in the long run, and almost a fight by some of my dear friends. Then were were off to Semarang, the third largest city in Java. 

Labuan Bajo

The rest of our time in Flores was spent in Labuan Bajo, the capital city. We spents one day just figuring out where to stay, where to eat and what there was to do. John and Eileen signed up to dive, as they were told it was one of the best spots in the world to do so. Ange and I planned out our 3 days: one snorkeling, one trekking to a waterfall, and the other trekking a crater lake. Needless to say our plans didn't fully work out.

The treetop was an excellent restaurant to eat both lunch and dinner at as they offered the lowest price on beer and western and Indonesian vegetarian options.

Sunset from treetop 

We were able to find a boat to rent for 40 dollars total and found snorkel gear for a reasonable 3 dollars. Our night was spent in a fanned room on top of the hill, and though I have no real complaints, the hotel was not worth the 9 dollar apiece price. We went down the road and were able to rent a bed in a hostel for 6 dollars each. The hostel man (Gregorious), was super kind and he hooked us up with the boat for snorkeling and later in the week a ride to the airport. The hostel was full, but people come and go so often that you can meet many from different countries. Gregorious also kicks out those who are just there to party, however did allow us to play cards and have a beer in the room one evening. WiFi is from across the street, and unreliable.

Our day of snorkeling was a huge success, except we both ended up sunburnt. I saw so many new fish and began naming them on my own. The green and yellow fish became known as "packer fish." They all had such radiant colors, and we were even able to see a small shark. I also got to swim along side a fish that was only about half a meter smaller than I am. Kanawa island was absolutely the best of all the places we had snorkeled (in all of Indonesia), and was much more clean than the other locations. We took cooling showers and ate at the Mediteraneo restaurant across the way. The sea bass was excellent, the dessert was awful.

The next day was what I will refer to as a "blue balls day of traveling." We got super excited and almost reached a point of satisfaction, but ended the day in more pain, without reaching a climax.

We thought to rent a motorbike and drive to the nearby village and waterfalls. Ange was very confident she would be able to drive us both, but we crashed 5 meters from the rental shop, and opted to pay quadruple the cost to take a car. After the driver and guide failed to understand our desire to go to the village ( after trying to show us one single building and pretend it was the village) they took us to Cunca Rami waterfall. The hike was brutal, all downhill and rocky, followed by walking through muddy puddles and rocks.. I wish to god I had taken my hiking boots though they would have been soaked. We counted our losses because it was worth it for the view, and the refreshing swim.

Cunca Rami Waterfall

On the way back we decided to go barefoot. Our feet were very dirty, our flip flops were muddy and we had to walk through mud fields anyway. However eventually we reached the rocky area and my toe nail got caught on something and began to bleed. This wouldn't have been such an issue except that they I hit the same toe on a rock. My feet had had it, and I still wasn't at the top of the steep hill. Ange yelled words of encouragement, but I was done. I did push through to the top, where the Indonesians did some first aid and got directions to the real village.

Part way to the village we were told we could not go sue to rain. However we knew this was just a rip off. We yelled and screamed and swore at the guy in charge, and then eventually returned to the city blue thighs, toes, and balls in all. We had had enough. The next day was for relaxing only.  It was perfect because john and Eileen felt the same way after their dive. They needed a break.

And so our last day in Labuan Bajo was spent wandering around, finding the cheapest beer, sitting and drinking while playing golf and cribbage, and eventually walking (me limping in tow) to the local night market for fresh fish,rice, vegetables, and juice for 4 USD.

We left early the following morning for the airport. I ended the trip more than a little homesick considering all my family was together back home for my brothers CD release party and I was leaving some super awesome friends behind to continue their journey on to Bali.

(sorry for the lack of pictures...whoops!)

Puncak

I have a ton of blogging to catch up on from my last vacation, but for some reason haven't felt like blogging about any of it. I'm in a bit of a funk I'd say. My last trip was able to get me out of this funk, and now I'm on a planning spree for my next vacations!

Anywho....the whole point of this blog is to tell you about my last awesome trip to Puncak! It was mine and Matt's first trip together, so I was a little nervous about it, but overall I think we did an excellent job planning and enjoying together, as well as balancing each others different travel styles out well.

We left pretty early from Karawaci and Matt was able to borrow a car from his work and we hired a driver through his work as well. The driver was excellent, always on time, and always knew where we were heading. The trip there was a bit long, and upon arrival at Puncak Pass Resort, we were shown to our room, which wasn't quite ready for us. We sat outside discussing what we wanted to do for the afternoon while they completed the cleaning process. The room was nice, equiped with 2 twin beds, an excellent shower (always a plus,) a fridge for our beer, a television (which actually was used once or twice during the rain,) and a fireplace!

After putting down our things we quickly packed a picnic lunch and set off for a bit of exploration. Not going far, we found a beautiful pond, and a nice private view overlooking the city of Bogor below us. Here we ate our peanut butter and banana sandwiches, chips, and chocolate. After arriving back to our room we changed and prepared to do further exploration. A short walk up the road we discovered a tea planation, and quickly paid the 30 cents to get in and walk around.

Our explorations soon took us Telega Warna which can be classified by my standards as a dirty lake. Later when I looked it up I found out it was one of the main attraction in Puncak. We sat and people watched (and monkey watched) for a bit as well as considering doing the flying fox before realizing how slow it was. When we decided to leave we happened upon a random little uphill hiking trail and opted to take this path back. The hike up hill was a bit scary as the rocks were slippery and even in my hiking boots I kept slipping. Eventually we realized we were on the edge of the tea farm and decided to head back through there instead of down the slippery slope. Matt noticed a tree with peoples names carved in it and stopped to carve our initials inside of a heart. What a sweetie :)

On the way back to the hotel we stopped for some beer, and while we were searching we ended up getting stuck in the pouring rain. Eventually we just had to make a run for it and spent the rest of the evening planning for the next day. The restaurant at the hotel had an excellent burger by the way, which I downed with a whiskey coke. Matt was quite cold at dinner but I found this incredibly cute. When we got back to the hotel room we tried to get the fire going, but I've never started one inside, so I failed and we had to call a hotel worker. The smoke was awful, as they didn't have a good airing system and we had to keep the door and windows open, which kind of defeated the purpose of the fire.

The following morning we woke up to an excellent breakfast free of charge (well, included in the hotel cost.) I ate an omelet, chicken sausages, yoghurt and fruit, veggies, and a double espresso. I was quite satisfied and ready for hiking afterwards. We were a bit confused about how to get to our hike as there are so many waterfalls located in the area, however eventually we found the correct route. After being passed by the vice president of Indonesia (!) we made it to the correct place and paid our fee (I forget the price.. Less that $5 each) and started our hike. It was 2.7 km to the set of 3 waterfalls and the hike was very easy, other than the portions where we had to shout "permisi!" all to have no one respond, thus leading us to force our way through the indonesian hiking at half the pace. Oh, and the picture taking everyone wanted with us. No thanks!

At the end of the hike we found 3 beautiful waterfalls (Ciberueum). I was unable to get to the 3rd one since you had to walk through ankle deep water to get there. Matt took my camera and his waterproof boots and snatched a picture. On the way back I had to pee quite badly, so I went off on an unmarked path. Matt followed behind and gave me a high five when I finished, and then we continued on the unmarked path. For about 5 minutes we stood in complete silence listening the the nature around us. I took several very deep breaths.

After finishing the hike we went back to the hotel quickly to shower and then headed to Gunung Mas to meet Matt's co-worker Ivy for tea. Ivy's family owns a Villa inside the plantation so she was able to take us on a walk around the tea plantation and took several excellent pictures of us. We also got to sample tea, Whedeng (ginger and milk tea) and pisang coklat keju (fried bananas with cheese and chocolate) which were much better than they sound. They also gave us suggestions for our evening and the following day and assisted with times of departure.

I did manage to find a Middle Easter Restaurant for dinner ( Royal Al Jazeerah.) The food was a bit expensive, but Matt and I weren't super hungry, so we were able to split an appetizer and a meal.We stopped at a nearby Indomaret for ice cream and then headed back to the hotel for an evening of wine (brought from Jakarta) and cheese, overlooking the outdoor area and discussing life.

The next morning we woke up and ate another delicious breakfast. Then we hopped in the car and headed to Taman Safari. Here we did the driving exploration and got close and personal with some deer, zebra, water buffalo, and even a hippo. It was cool to see that the animals roam at least slightly free and aren't in teeny tiny cages, though the lion and tiger area did make me a bit sad.

Once done with the safari portion we explored the park and had some coffee, and finished by walking to yet another waterfall.

From there we took the train back to our car and drove to lunch at Cimory Riverside Restaurant a local creamery. We started out with putting our name in as the place was packed and then went to the shop to buy some chocolate and ice cream, as it was Easter. I quickly snarffed down the ice cream before our name was called. Matt and I shared the Beef Alfredo and Chicken Cordon Blu, both excellent choices considering they had dairy in them. We were also able to try some delicious yoghurt smoothies.

This trip was full of exploration and I can honestly say it satiated my need for travel. More mountains and hiking, less beaches and snorkeling please! Sorry Matt...thanks for being such a great travel partner. Cannot wait to explore more of this world with you!

Chasing dragons: Komodo and Rinca Island

We arrived at Labuan Bajo, Flores a little late, but luckily already had our tour arranged. It cost us 170 USD for the tour which included but he following:

Pick up from the smallest airport in the world. They pass our bags to us through a window.
A boat ride out at sunset with a delicious lunch,snack, and dinner. We were also able to see jumping dolphins and flying fish.

A late night swim and evening looking at stars on the boat.
A night on the boat. This wasn't the most comfortable simply because of the fact that there was no air circulation in the cabin. Our friends had a mouse in their room and ended up sleeping in the open air dining area. 

A early morning breakfast followed by a 5km trek of komodo island. It took about 1.5 hours and we were able to see komodos, green pigeons, yellow cockatoos, native deer, civet cat, and spectacular views of the island. Our ranger also picked us fresh custard apples as a snack.
We returned to the boat for avocado smoothies and snorkeling off of pink beach where we could see trigger, parrot, and banner fish.

watch out! hunting komodo ahead!

check those muscles

Then we ate lunch while being transferred to Rinca island for another 5km trek. Here we saw water buffalo, wild pigs, smaller komodos, and the trip ended with spotting a baby komodo dragon. This trek had excellent views.

sticks used for poking dragons nose if they begin to attack.
They can't see well, so they use their nose to hunt.

The gang at the top of the hill on Rinca

baby komodo!!!

From here we traveled back to Labuan Bajo to stay at the hilltop hotel.

Cool facts
Komodos lay about 30 eggs, but depending on the temperature only about 3 survive.
The temperature also determines the sex. Warm weather means more males.
The mother wants to eat her own babies. Therefore komodos live in trees until they are about 3.
They start out the size of a large gecko and grow to about 2-3 meters depending on sex and age.
They can swim 50-100 meters in the water.
They hunt their prey, bite them and let their poison slowly work to make the prey easier to catch about 3 days later.

I'd say the dragons were cool, but for sure the best part was the view of the stars from the boat. There were so many, and it was so bright.