Hi guys!
So I am back from Indonesia safe and sound. All my travel compatriots got back more or less safe and sound as well. In the future I will elaborate but for now a brief summary of my trip:
12/22: Nagoya - Seoul - Denpasar airports all successfully traversed. Hotels for both parties were checked in to.
12/23: Took our time getting up. Saw Kuta beach. It was dirty. Wandered around town. Booked a driver for the next day.
12/24: Visited some cool temples and a really pretty beach. Had dinner on the beach at a posh restaurant. Tried to go partying but some wires got crossed that were sorted the next morning.
12/25: Successfully made it to the airport and arrived in Labuan Bajo. Most places were closed for Christmas. Managed to find a wonderful little cafe run by a lady from Britain and her local husband where we spent the day relaxing. Got on the boat on time and enjoyed the welcome party.
12/26: Visited Rinca Island. Saw the adult Komodo Dragons that they feed hanging around. Had a nice hike. Later went snorkeling at Spider Island. Saw some awesome fish. That night there was a big storm. Everyone got seasick. My stomach was fine until one of the other girls was sick but I managed to suppress the nausea and get to sleep.
12/27: Visited one of the Gili Islands and walked through the local village to a waterfall in the forest where you could jump into a pool below. Didn't jump but enjoyed playing in the upper pool and watching some of the others jump. Later on went snorkeling at a tiny, tiny island. Choose to swim in instead of taking the boat. Spent some time fishing garbage out of the coral and putting it above the tide line while I looked at the fish. Still scared of dark water. That night disembarked on Lombok Island and were taken to our hotel for the night.
12/28: Took a taxi to the airport and got back to Denpasar by lunch even though it was delayed. Got driven to Ubud where we checked into our gorgeous little hotel. Did some exploring of town and had dinner and checked out the town and the spas.
12/29: Explored some more of the the Ubud shops and checked out the market. Booked a dance. Went to a spa and were pampered for four hours from massages to hair treatment to a rose-petal bath. Saw some traditional dancing in the evening. Ate dinner at a place that looked okay but was not on the same street where we'd eaten our other meals.
12/30: Heather, Maggie, and I were all sick to various degrees of very bad. Figure it might have been non-bottled water in the drinks. Spent the day in the hotel room while Rachel and Shana went out. Rachel and I left the others and took a van to Tulamben that night. Made it there alright. Went to bed.
12/31: Managed to eat some breakfast. Met our diving instructor Made. Finished the book part of the course. Walked into town to look around a bit in the evening.
1/1: Did our five confined water dives in the hotel pool (that was only finished on the 27th of December) Was nervous at first but it went really well and was a lot of fun.
1/2: Completed first two open water dives. One to a coral wall and one to a coral garden. Cannot express how magical it is to get so close to so much amazing and bizarre life. Rachel bumped into a stinging hydroid and got a bit of a rash and we learned to keep better track of the whereabouts of our limbs. After dinner went walking on a black beach (Tulamben is right below a volcano) and down the road a bit.
1/3: Did our final two open water dives. Both to the wreak of the USS Liberty submarine that was torpedoed in WW2 and was originally very close to the beach but was pushed a bit deeper when the volcano erupted. Swam around it and then through an open cargo hold on the second dive. Accumulated three hours of ocean dive experience total.
1/4: Went to a temple, coffee/cocoa/spice plantation, the Ubud market, and a grocery store on the way back to the airport. Had a very relaxing nice day. Got dropped at the airport at 8 and stayed into our flight left at 3:30am.
1/5: Denpasar - Seoul - Nagoya. Slept most of the way. Heather picked Rachel and I up from the airport. Found out that what we had was contagious and that Maggie is still sick. Since my symptoms are over and Heather was just given some antibiotics and told to rest figure I'm probably okay.
I am currently enjoying being clean and being able to drink tap water with the happy anticipation of having a proper sleep in my own bed. Hope all your holidays went well!
12/22: Nagoya - Seoul - Denpasar airports all successfully traversed. Hotels for both parties were checked in to.
12/23: Took our time getting up. Saw Kuta beach. It was dirty. Wandered around town. Booked a driver for the next day.
12/24: Visited some cool temples and a really pretty beach. Had dinner on the beach at a posh restaurant. Tried to go partying but some wires got crossed that were sorted the next morning.
12/25: Successfully made it to the airport and arrived in Labuan Bajo. Most places were closed for Christmas. Managed to find a wonderful little cafe run by a lady from Britain and her local husband where we spent the day relaxing. Got on the boat on time and enjoyed the welcome party.
12/26: Visited Rinca Island. Saw the adult Komodo Dragons that they feed hanging around. Had a nice hike. Later went snorkeling at Spider Island. Saw some awesome fish. That night there was a big storm. Everyone got seasick. My stomach was fine until one of the other girls was sick but I managed to suppress the nausea and get to sleep.
12/27: Visited one of the Gili Islands and walked through the local village to a waterfall in the forest where you could jump into a pool below. Didn't jump but enjoyed playing in the upper pool and watching some of the others jump. Later on went snorkeling at a tiny, tiny island. Choose to swim in instead of taking the boat. Spent some time fishing garbage out of the coral and putting it above the tide line while I looked at the fish. Still scared of dark water. That night disembarked on Lombok Island and were taken to our hotel for the night.
12/28: Took a taxi to the airport and got back to Denpasar by lunch even though it was delayed. Got driven to Ubud where we checked into our gorgeous little hotel. Did some exploring of town and had dinner and checked out the town and the spas.
12/29: Explored some more of the the Ubud shops and checked out the market. Booked a dance. Went to a spa and were pampered for four hours from massages to hair treatment to a rose-petal bath. Saw some traditional dancing in the evening. Ate dinner at a place that looked okay but was not on the same street where we'd eaten our other meals.
12/30: Heather, Maggie, and I were all sick to various degrees of very bad. Figure it might have been non-bottled water in the drinks. Spent the day in the hotel room while Rachel and Shana went out. Rachel and I left the others and took a van to Tulamben that night. Made it there alright. Went to bed.
12/31: Managed to eat some breakfast. Met our diving instructor Made. Finished the book part of the course. Walked into town to look around a bit in the evening.
1/1: Did our five confined water dives in the hotel pool (that was only finished on the 27th of December) Was nervous at first but it went really well and was a lot of fun.
1/2: Completed first two open water dives. One to a coral wall and one to a coral garden. Cannot express how magical it is to get so close to so much amazing and bizarre life. Rachel bumped into a stinging hydroid and got a bit of a rash and we learned to keep better track of the whereabouts of our limbs. After dinner went walking on a black beach (Tulamben is right below a volcano) and down the road a bit.
1/3: Did our final two open water dives. Both to the wreak of the USS Liberty submarine that was torpedoed in WW2 and was originally very close to the beach but was pushed a bit deeper when the volcano erupted. Swam around it and then through an open cargo hold on the second dive. Accumulated three hours of ocean dive experience total.
1/4: Went to a temple, coffee/cocoa/spice plantation, the Ubud market, and a grocery store on the way back to the airport. Had a very relaxing nice day. Got dropped at the airport at 8 and stayed into our flight left at 3:30am.
1/5: Denpasar - Seoul - Nagoya. Slept most of the way. Heather picked Rachel and I up from the airport. Found out that what we had was contagious and that Maggie is still sick. Since my symptoms are over and Heather was just given some antibiotics and told to rest figure I'm probably okay.
I am currently enjoying being clean and being able to drink tap water with the happy anticipation of having a proper sleep in my own bed. Hope all your holidays went well!