Wednesday 20 February 2019

Ubud

I’m doing my favourite thing – analyzing my day In a foreign country through the bubbles of a local brew…or two.

I’m now in Ubud. Ubud is probably the second most popular location in Bali for travelers (I prefer traveller to tourist) to the famous beaches of Kuta and Seminyak. It’s only 37km away but it takes over an hour to drive there, such are the roads and traffic. Indonesian roads are designed for bikes but more and more cars are fighting for space. Patience is required and Balanese have this in abundance. Australian drivers would not cope. I hired a driver. It costs $25 and is far less stress than catching busses. The driver is a young man who has been living on Bali for nine years. He comes from Medan on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. He worked in banks for a while but the low pay and boredom drove him into other pursuits. I like him already. He loves music and used to sing in a band but all his band mates went off to marry. He hasn’t found a new band yet. Now he drives cars and loves it.

Ubud is at elevation and is in such contrast to life on the busy, noisy popular beaches near Denpasar. In Ubud you get your highs from spiritual retreats and spas, rather than from bars or discos on the beach. It’s regarded as the spiritual heart of Bali. The king has his residence here. Temples abound and it’s a lure to intellectuals and inspirationals from all walks of life and parts of the world – writing festivals, art galleries, yoga retreats, museums. If you visit Bali you need to balance your experience with a visit to Ubud.

Feeling frustrated. For the past few days I’ve had this bizarre problem with my tongue. It’s on fire. To look at it, one half is white as if blistered. The whole tongue is super sensitive to touch and temperature. To eat is very painful. I load up on drugs to dull the pain. This has been going for days with little relief or improvement. The top lip is also effected, like a slowly developing cold sore. Please don’t let this be shingles. Can you get shingles on the tongue? If it is, I could be suffering for months or more. That would be unbearable…

Monday 18 Feb 2019

Poor Bali. Through little fault of its own doing, its popular southern beaches are magnets to ocean rubbish. I suspect the island’s geolocation and the surrounding ocean currents conspire to cause this environmental problem. Some of the rubbish is manmade but much of it is flotsam. First thing early morning the locals, who rely heavily on these beaches for their businesses, rake up the rubbish into piles. They then go into a bigger pile, then…

It’s morning on the beaches and the surf is active with surfing schools. The Chinese make for the most entertaining students to watch. They seem to be forever in the wrong place doing the wrong thing and constantly being rounded up by their frustrated Balinese teachers. Instructions are ignored! Perhaps a common language is the problem. Anyway they are wet and having fun in their own way.

I arrived into Denpasar right on midnight after a 2-hour departure delay from Cairns. A thunderstorm diverted our plane back to Mackay so they had to fly another one up from the Gold Coast.

Then it took forever to find my little hotel in Legian, Bali. Into bed at 1:30am.

Legian is one of the popular beach areas in southern Bali. Very touristy but close to the airport. Finding an Indonesian breakfast is hard. Menus are heavily westernised sadly.

I’m off again…

I’m about to embark on another 12 months of non-stop travel throughout Asia. I will mostly revisit places I travelled to on my last 12-month outing – Nepal, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia. I spent long enough in each of these places to establish relationships and connections and to become familiar with how things work. I can catch up with old friends and explore these countries further. There is always more to do and see.

In these travels I would like to include China and Taiwan where I’ve never been before, and revisit Japan and Vietnam where I have been but many years ago.

When? I Plan to leave Australia at the end of January 2019.

Saturday 12 August 2016

Spend the day going from Chiangkhong in Thailand to Huay Xai, just across the river border. I had to go through customs and immigration of course. Surprisingly a 30-visa this time was $30US. When I flew in to Vientiane it was $45 and to get a 30-day extension, it was $60! Don’t understand the differences. Walked to a nearby hostel for the night.

Wednesday 3 August 2016

Today I will take the slow boat to Huay Xai, on the Thai border. I pack up and leave my unimpressive guesthouse around 7am. I grab some breakfast then some food to take on the boat and wander down to the jetty. There are many boats lined up but it’s easy to get directed to the right one. You can pay for tickets on the boat. The day is a continuation of Monday. Amazing jungle-covered hills and peaks line the river while rocky outcrops in the river keeps the skipper awake. About two thirds of our way the motor cuts out! We drift. Backwards. This isn’t good because we could easily smash up against rocks. Two very young boat boys are told to jump in and grab a rope to drag us into the bank but they have no hope. A boat coming from behind latches on and pushes us onto the bank. The skipper sets about fixing the problem and within 40 minutes we are away again. Just as we get on the edges of Huay Xai, a storm hits and we have to seek shelter on the bank. We get saturated. Then it’s a short final ride into the township of Hauy Xai. I have no accommodation booked so just wander up the street until I find somewhere cheap with wifi. Then a quick walk into town for dinner.

Monday 15 August 2016

Caught minivan bus from Pak Mong to Nong Kiaw. No ticket selling office in Pak Mong. Had to wait on side of road with a sign made by a helpful old couple. Nobody spoke English here. Very difficult to travel in this part of Laos in public transport.

Sunday 14 August 2016

It’s pouring with rain. Catch the bus from Huay Xai to Pak Mong. Sadly it’s a stupid sleeper bus. I hate them. You share a bed with someone and they are not designed for looking out the window, which is the best part of bus travel. I can understand using theses buses at night but no I during the day. Takes me 10 hours and I arrive at Pak Mong around 9.30pm. Fortunately there is a guesthouse close by.