Terima Kasih, Indonesia, You're My Number One

Sunset view from Potato Head Beach Club

How I had missed girly girl time! In the early afternoon I got to the hotel where Marisol and Maja were staying, dumped my bag and immediately thereafter scootered over to Potato Head Beach Club where the girls were spending the day. After having been on my own for quite some time and later in the company of two (most fun and entertaining) boys, being able to do the girly girl thing was beyond fun. Posh beach club, several servings of the best cocktail I have tasted in my life, and GIRL TALK! Handbags, boys, pedicures and lots and lots of giggles.

Potato Head Beach Club

My backpacking experience has been great among other reasons because it has been so diverse. I've gotten to do the simple budget thing sleeping with bedbugs and showering with salt water one day, and later that same day enjoy a cocktail by the pool in one of the finest beach clubs I've been to.

I can think of worse places to be. Potato Head's refreshingly tangy ‘Kookaburra,’ with lemongrass gin and homemade vanilla sugar ‘lovingly muddled’ with fresh mint leaves and lime and layered with passion-fruit and vanilla foam is hands down the best cocktail I have ever tasted..

As if our Potato Head day wasn't enough we spent the following day at an even nicer beach club (if that's even possible), down in Uluwatu. Nammos is as exclusive as they get yet still preserving the authenticity of a beach club, located on a secluded beach isolated by the surrounding sea and rocks so that the only way to get there is by descending some 50 metres in an elevator from the top of the cliff all the way down to the beach.

Descending in the elevator to Nammos Beach Club, Uluwatu, Bali

Beach babes!

I've been trying really hard to decide which I like best, the very basic and authentic island beach feel of say Gili Air, or the getting pamper on a beach bed served one cocktail after another without having to lift a finger; and I don't think I can decide between them! Probably it's the balance of the two. It's definitely not option three, standing in the cold dark London winter under an umbrella waiting for the bus dreaming about the former two options. It's starting to seem to me like anything is better than being back in London. Should be interesting to see how I'm going to adjust to life once I'm back, which won't be long now. I still don't have a ticket back, should probably look into that soon.

Nothing beats a lunch like this

Marisol left to go back to Singapore that day and Maja and I "moved in" with one of her friends Birgitta, who lives on the island. And what a house she has! I no longer need to wonder what my dream house would look like if I got to design it; she has it! Spread over three floors half of the house is open plan as if it was a part of the garden (or the garden part of the house) and the other half whilst having four walls, still has floor to ceiling windows which for me are always a winner. The ground floor is completely open on three sides so it gives the sensation that the kitchen and the living room are a part of the lush green garden. Beautifully furnished with simple and big bold furniture and flowers I couldn't imagine a nicer place to come home to and/ or entertain people. The two guest bedrooms had floor to ceiling windows almost replicating the feeling of the same openness as you could feel in the living room - but with the added benefit of aircon and perhaps a bit more privacy. The master bedroom was on the second floor and on the third floor her "office" or work space (she's a fashion designer). I have never seen anything like it. I want it. Apparently her neighbour is thinking about selling....time to start playing the lottery for real.

My dream home. I want it!!

Maja diligently taking notes

Birgitta's maid took such good care of us not even the best beach club we had visited had managed to be as attentive as she was. Her cooking was beyond five stars and she was a truly lovely person and fun to be with - on our last day she even gave us a cooking class.

Birgitta's driver Eddie took us on a day trip to a place that's off the beaten track and not mentioned in any Lonely Planet editions I'm sure, namely a graveyard where people are not buried but rather left to decompose out in the open. Located by a lake, it was a long drive from Seminyak; a good 2.5 hours each way but so worth it. We got to see a lot of the landscapes including more stunningly green rice paddies, and we got to see Bali prepare for one of their biggest ceremonies / holidays they have which is in the honour of their ancestors. Many people were decorating the streets and temples in their villages, building large offerings for this two day celebration that was starting the next day. We even saw countless pigs being "prepared" to be cooked for this festive occasion. It is impressive the amount of work that goes into these preparations, and it is impressive the amount of holidays and ceremonies they have throughout the year! Culture is at the heart of the Balinese way of living and it is very apparent everywhere you look.

Once we got to the village we chartered a boat to the graveyard which was on the other side of the lake. I wasn't sure what to expect to see, as Eddie hadn't really told us anything other than that we'd be going to a 'place where you see dead people.'

Maja and Eddie and the very special tree

As we stepped off the boat we walked through a gate that had human skulls placed on either side of it. It took me a while to comprehend that they were real - I suppose in our culture we don't tend to leave heads lying out in the open. Right ahead of us after passing through the gate was a huge tree (wish I could remember the name of it) and peculiar thing about this type of tree was that the people from this village say it is because of this tree that the corpses don't smell, that the tree soaks up the smell of the decaying flesh and therefore we can't smell it. Eddie explained the scientists claim it is the climate up by this volcanic lake that prevents the corpses from smelling, but when they tried to place some bodies further away from the trees they started to smell.

The graveyard wasn't big. The area covered approximately 40 square metres and consisted of a stack of human skulls carefully lined up on an altar like stone structure to the left of the big tree I just mentioned; six graves next to each other in a row in front of the skulls, and finally (and quite surprisingly) a huge pile of garbage next to the graves.

The first of the three that attracted my attention were the skulls. I was fascinated by them, I had never seen anything like it! Felt a little morbid taking pictures of them but I thought it was OK seeing others were doing it too. They didn't look real, it looked like they had been framed somehow because of the fact that I thought they looked rather beautiful (not that I'd like to have this altar as a garden deco). The skulls in the bottom row were almost entirely covered in dark green moss, almost the same colour as the stones they were resting on, and the top ones were clearly newer additions to the collection as they were in better shape than the ones in the middle or bottom rows.

The graves

I moved on to look at the graves themselves. Eddie told us the corpses had been placed there for approximately two months ago. This fact surprised me, I didn't realise how quickly the flesh disappeared - there were only skeletons left, hardly any flesh on the bodies. The bodies had been placed underneath a (not so sturdy) triangle shaped bamboo structure, and had clothes on. I glanced over at the pile of garbage and thought it was a little disrespectful and odd that they would out a dump site right next to their friends and relatives who were resting in peace here for eternity; but after having taken a closer look I realised it wasn't only ordinary trash like coca cola cans and plastic bags and the likes, but also human bones and clothes.

Pile of  'garbage.' 

So apparently what happens is that once the corpses are reduced to mere bone and they need more room for newcomers, the skulls are stacked in with the others at the altar next to the big tree, and the rest of the body along with the clothes are dumped in this pile of trash. Chucked out, just like that! And don't think the head is all that special either. Once the skulls break, due to wear and tear they're also thrown away in the pile. Guess that's one way of keeping a graveyard small. It is only this particular village in the whole of Indonesia that have this tradition. Others bury their dead in a way we're more used to calling "normal."

Fascinating and totally worth the drive!

     

On one of the nights Maja and I went for dinner at a Japanese jazz restaurant where apparently the expats as well as the locals like to socialise. Already before going the idea of the possibility of living in Bali one day had popped into my head, and after this night the attractiveness of that idea grew even stronger. I may be wrong but I it seemed to me that the expat community in Bali is very different to that I've seen in other places in Southeast Asia in that people do it for reasons that don't involve exploitation or sex. And the type of people are ones I think I could get along with just fine.....

Moving on to the highlight of my stay in Bali (or alternatively, probably the highlight of my life): python handbags. And python shoes. And python passport holders. And python wallets. And python bracelets. Anything python, really. In every colour. For every occasion. All at prices Primark couldn't even dream of beating! And it was all there, laid out in the shops waiting for me! Is a shame they weren't selling python backpacks because I'll tell you I might have purchased one and filled it up with all these pythony goods! With all my best intentions I was really only going to buy one bag, but instead ended up with a few different ones along with other items unable to only walk away with the one bag.

they're so pretty! and they're MINE!

Indonesia has officially become the number one country on my list of favourites. It has done so because of the friendliness and hospitality of its people, the fascinating and deep-rooted culture and traditions, the culinary marvel that is each eating experience, the diverse and breathtaking landscapes, and last but not least - the shopping of course.

I wouldn't be surprised if be day I end up relocating to Indonesia. But for now, it was time to see what Kuala Lumpur was all about.

Leaving Gili Air - For Real This Time!

Just off the boat with my feet dipped in paradise. I knew I had made the right decision - clearly.

Back on Gili T
I'm very glad I went back to the Gilis. I could have spent the week until Maja and Marisol arrived traveling around Bali; in fact I had already looked up several places I wanted to see on the north side of the island that Lonely Planet and other travelers had recommended to me. But I don't regret my decision to skip all that and go back to the paradise islands - after all, if I had found paradise why not take advantage and enjoy it whilst I still could? Another reason for leaving the Bali tour for another time is that in Indonesia the public transport system isn't great, and the way to travel around is by having a personal driver. It isn't one bit expensive, for USD 40 you can have him for the entire day, but it does get tricky if you want to have one for a whole week and you're traveling alone; that's when it comes in handy having a travel buddy to split the costs which I didn't have.

Mario and his cheeky smile

It was funny arriving back on Gili T and seeing that many of the same people I had met last time were still there. I'm telling you, these islands are hard to leave! Some backpackers who had only intended to stay for two or three nights were now approaching their third or fourth week just on the Gilis, and had no intention of seeing Lombok, Bali or Java like they had originally planned. I was so glad to hear this, I wasn't the only one! The difference of course was that I did actually leave but came back three days later. Like I said, once you've found paradise, it's hard to justify leaving!

It was a party night the day we arrived (so it was either Monday, Wednesday, or Friday but difficult to keep track) and before we had even finished checking into a bungalow the owner was encouraging us to buy some party booster pills off him. "If you want to go like a tsunami tonight, I get you what you want. Anything. You tell me, I get. But maybe first relax and buy weed yeah, I give good price." It was 11am and we hadn't even gotten our backpacks off our backs and into our rooms.

Zipp Bar on Gili Air <3

Chill and Agil, who found it very funny I was back

I wasn't much in the mood for party so Gili T wasn't where I wanted to be. I left Ross and Tom the next day and moved to Gili Air. It was just too funny walking down the street from the harbour towards Nina Cottages where I had stayed last time, past all the beach bars where I had been hanging out only a few days earlier. Everyone recognised me and came up running to say hi (although more people shouted after Jenkins than me), laughing at the fact I was back. "Everybody always want to come back" they said; and its true, no doubt. After Gili Air I see no need to search for a better beach holiday destination. Ross and Tom arrived a couple of days later and although they had had a good time on Gili Trawangan, they agreed Gili Air is what it's all about.

The sad truth about remembering it all - or not remembering it all
In the beginning of my trip whenever I experienced or saw something that in my opinion was remarkable I would always think "I'll soak in this moment and remember it forever." I thought if I just stared at every little detail, soaking in the tastes, smells, and sights I'd be able to recall it later and savor the memories from my incredible trip.

At this stage however, the prevailing thought in my head when I see or experience something I'd love to keep in my mind is "there's another thing I won't remember soon."

It is absolutely impossible to remember all the amazing nights I have seen and been through, and it makes me sad that I won't be able to keep them ALL with me until the day I die. And it's not always about the amazing things, more often than not its the mundane things I'd love to preserve in my head, like the things I see and think and what I feel just walking down the street looking for accommodation, the people I see around me, the streets, the houses, the smells - the constant sweating (in my head when I think back on my trip I'm sure I'll always think of myself as being as fresh as if I had just stepped out of the shower). Or like a random night such as my last one on Gili Air (eh, like the third or fourth time I celebrated my last night on this island that seems impossible to leave), where one of the locals had a birthday party at Paradiso. Such an amazingly fun night. They included Tom and me into their celebration like we had been friends forever; rice wine from Lombok which they had bought earlier was flowing freely, I alternated between rocking the dance floor and whipping the boys asses at ping pong (drenched and dripping of sweat), and laughing and talking with everyone. I'm sure that before long many of the funny and heart-warming details from that night will be lost and forgotten.

I was happy to be back :) smoothies, beach, and snorkeling!

But if I could choose one thing to remember from that night it would be a German girl Tom and I met earlier that day who stayed for the party - if only physically. She was hilarious, but I'm not sure I can accurately portray the entertainment she provided us for the evening. Already by the time Tom and I came back from snorkelling (saw two more turtles, yay!) she was pretty drunk - and this was at about 5 pm. After this she kept knocking back the drinks and smoking funny stuff like it was going out of fashion, looking more and more glass-eyed. Every now and then she would take a power nap and then again we would see her spaced out head pop up here and there. At one point she rocked up with a magic mushroom shake in her hand and we just thought it was a disaster waiting to happen - but there was no talking her out of drinking it. Luckily she only managed half before she forgot she ever had a special cocktail so we asked the waiters to take it away. She had a go at the dance floor a few times but to be honest it looked more like she was just trying to keep her balance and stay upright than dancing, swaying from side to side with her feet following with a slight delay (now this was fun to watch!). Shortly thereafter she went to "bed" on one of the beach loungers and slept there. She offered us great entertainment for the night though, considering she was probably one of the most boring people I've ever spoken to. She had absolutely nothing interesting to say be it sober, drunk, stoned, or on shrooms.

Poor Ross

Tom and Ross - who at this stage still didn't know what nightmare lay ahead...

One more thing. Poor Ross. Now there is someone who is determined to take backpacking the rough way quite literally. In Thailand he lost his wallet with both of his cards in so he was relying on finding Western Unions in each place he went to in order to be able to have money sent to him wherever he was. On the Gilis of course they don't have such advanced banking systems (the only ATM on Gili Air works whenever anyone is bothered to load it with cash which then lasts for about a day) so he was flat out of cash. No problem he thought, just go to the Western Union in Lombok the next day.

That would have worked out just fine except he then realised his flight wasn't on the day after next like he had thought, but actually on the very next day. Ok, change of plans, go to Bali and withdraw cash before heading to the airport. He had to get a flight from Denpasar to Sydney through Melbourne, have four hours in Sydney to get to a bank downtown to withdraw cash from his bank in Oz, back to the airport to catch his flight to Samoa.

It was a solid plan, if only he had caught his boat in the morning..... He was in the harbour on time, but for whatever reason still missed the boat. You never know with Southeast Asia, maybe the boat parked further away, maybe it never came, maybe it left earlier than the ticket said....whatever the reason, he missed it. Which in turn meant that all the Western Unions would be closed by the time he would get to Bali with the afternoon boat. Which in turn meant he'd have no cash until he got to Australia.

Getting cash out in Oz would probably have worked if only he had remembered to apply for an Australian tourist visa since his working visa had run out...! This last minute realisation didn't cheer him up much, and despite his best efforts to get a visa online he was unable to complete the application process because of the unreliable and very sporadic wifi connection everywhere on Gili Air, so he never got to the final page of the application process.

The cool Mario and me

So..... With no money, no leaving the transit area in Australia, and no idea what to expect from the next couple of days Tom and I waived him goodbye and went snorkelling. Wonder if he ever made it to Samoa? Poor Ross....

So many funny memories, so many good times.

This time leaving Gili Air I felt ready. And with butterflies in my stomach, that same old feeling of excitement, I headed back to Bali once more but this time to Seminyak to spend some quality girly girl time with Maja and Marisol! Come think of it, last time I did the girl thing was with Alicia in Vietnam!

Indonesian cooking

I hadn't expected to like Indonesian food as much as I did - how could I have, I had no idea what it was like never having tasted it! But since day one it officially replaced Thai cuisine as my top number one favourite! It's quite different to other Southeast Asian food in terms of flavours and presentation I thought. What I like about it is that it has huge regional differences and whilst dishes are similar they're never the same anywhere. Each cook adds their own touch to the dish. During my stay in Indonesia I had barely any meat. The vegetables they use are abundant and varied, and the flavours blend so nicely there's really no need for meat. My number one favourite dish was Gado-Gado, consisting of boiled or steamed vegetables (spinach, sprouts, potato, cabbage, string bean), fried tofu and tempeh (soy bean bread), boiled egg, and peanut sauce. And in every place it tasted different so you could easily eat it several times a week without getting bored of it.

Olah-Olah is another dish I will be sampling at home reminiscing the meals I had on the beach eating this vegetable curry cooked with coconut milk and Indonesian fresh spices. And from now on the only acceptable dip anytime anywhere is Sambal, which is a tomato based chilli dip that just goes well with everything.

Because I was enjoying Indonesian cooking so much I decided to sign up for a cooking course so I could get some of the basics down taught to me first hand by an experienced native chef.

The course I chose was Lobong Cooking Experience and I chose it based on the five out of five stars it had on Trip Advisor (what would I do without good old TA?¿?)

The half day experience included a visit to the local market, cooking of nine traditional dishes, lots of explanations of the origins of the foods and spices, and a cookbooklet to bring home with us. The course was held at their family compound. Balinese people live in compounds that are like little houses grouped together, and are homes to the family members. They all face the sacred volcano Gunung Agung. Each compound has a temple, sleeping areas, socialising areas, kitchen, and bathrooms. New structures are added as the family grows - the bride almost always moves into the groom's family compound. In this compound there were 19 of them living together, which is considered rather small..! It was a stunning place, lots of space and greenery around,very quiet and peaceful.

The way Balinese normally eat is that lots of food is cooked first thing in the morning for the entire family and everyone helps themselves throughout the day whenever they're hungry. So what we were cooking on our cour was ceremonial food more than anything, not something the Balinese would whip up on an ordinary day.

The visit tothe market in the morning was interesting. It was a very authentic place with no other tourists around. I always think it is wonderful to see the side that's not been adapted for tourists, to really see the authentic side of things. It was pouring down with rain so the market was unusually busy as everyone was trying to cram inside. It was good fun to learn about the various foods, spices, and utensils. On interesting observation was that nothing had a price tag, but rather if you wanted something you had to negotiate the price, every single time.

After the market we went to the family compound and cooked and cooked and cooked! I got confused with so many dishes being cooked and prepared at the same time and wasn't sure what dish I was working on at any timeout since I was mostly keen on learning how to make the peanut sauce and Sambal I tried tray extra attention to those. Indonesian cooking is extremely healthy, they don't use any of the sauces Chinese and Thai cuisines do that may not be good for you, like oyster, soy, sweet and sour, etc. No MSG here! Just lots of shallots (hardly ever onion), chilli (mmm yum...), and LOTS of garlic (MMMMM YUM...!). a lot of the skills I learned I realised I could apply to my own cooking, they're very basic details that can add a lot of flavour - even if you're only planning to pan fry some chicken for dinner. Simple easy ways to marinade the chicken so that it ain't quite as plain. Whilst not very complicated, Balinese cooking was certainly time consuming so I won't be cooking this every day that's for sure.... Or perhaps I will, it's not like ill have a job to go to when I go back! It was a beautiful day, and here are some of the things we cooked:

Ubud, the sleepy yogi town; and Kuta Beach, party central

It was difficult for me to get used to the idea of having to go home, and thinking about it distracted me a lot from enjoying Ubud...probably it's a whole lot of a nicer town than my clouded mind let me understand.

Still, Ubud is small, cultural, cute, and has a lot of character. For being so small (population 30,000) it sure has managed to become the centre for a lot of things in Indonesia like art, yoga, and culture. Why it's all concentrated here I don't know? Should probably google it :)

I liked Ubud. It was actually bigger than I had expected but even so only had three main streets. The most noteworthy thing about Ubud was the shopping. The number of jewellery and clothing & souvenir shops was pretty impressive, there was no room for anything else in the whole town. Some of the people I met there only went for the shopping! I wish I had more space in my backpack, as I would've wanted to load up on all the beautiful things I saw.

Another thing I noticed about Ubud was the amount of yoga centres, shops, and yogis - there were more in Ubud than London I bet! I knew Ubud had become yoga central in Southeast Asia but I didn't expect this. I like yoga, it makes me feel great and the retreat in Thailand was enjoyable to the max. But there is only so much yoga talk I can take, it was a little overwhelming.

Finally I will always remember Ubud as the town that had the worst death trap pavements I have ever seen. You really had to pay attention as you were walking down the streets there, as it would have been too easy to trip in the uneven pavements or step into one of the many huge deep holes right in the middle of the walkways.














It rained quite a lot during the few days I stayed there. Sometimes the rain would last for the whole day, and sometimes it came out of the blue and stopped just as abruptly to make way for clear blue skies. There was no way to tell what the weather would be like the next day. I almost booked a sunrise trek to Mount Batur when I was there but in the end I didn't dare to as I was afraid it would rain and the whole experience would be torture. But when it was sunny man was it hot! Luckily there is a monkey forest in Ubud, which I visited one day to get a break from the heat. It's outdoors; but the trees are so high and dense that it provides the perfect shade from the midday sun. It was like a scene from the Jungle Book, temples covered in green moss and vine like vegetation, little monkeys running around chasing each other.

I stayed in Ubud for three days. I probably would have stayed longer if it wasn't for my old PT Ross from London who happened to be in Bali at the same time, and so I decided to go and meet him on Kuta beach. There's no real public transport in Bali so I had to take a taxi for the two hour drive from Ubud to Kuta beach. It didn't break the bank luckily as it only cost USD20!

Market stall selling silver jewellery

Kuta beach was, if you ask me, hell. Poppies lanes one and two was where the concentration of shops and bars were, and this is where I stayed. Kuta beach has nothing original about it; its' malls selling all western brands, clubs playing music too loudly, and very, very, drunken tourists. Seeing Ross after such a long time was awesome. In fact, it was so much fun I think I got a bit carried away as somehow going out for one beer with him and his travelling buddy Tom Tom resulted in a 1 am speedboat ticket purchase back to the Gili Islands the next morning. So....at 11am I somehow found myself with my feet a few metres from Gili Trawangan's shore. Funny how things go sometimes. So much for discovering new places....oh well, there's always next time!

Wayan Family compound where I stayed

On the boat on our way to Gili Tee!

Getting our tickets to Gili Tee