Nusa Lembongan and Kuta, Bali, Indonesia

Unfortunately this blog is not titled 'Gili Islands,' and does not go on to describe the tropical paradise known as the Gili Islands where we had hoped to spend our last few days. Because of Preston's 'tummy incident,' the five-and-a-half hour boat ride over seasonably rough seas was strongly cautioned against by the doctor. Though Gili had long been the desired location to end the trip, we decided to try to make the best of the situation and find another beach to spend our remaining time. Our research led us to Nusa Lembangon, a small island just off of Bali's southeast coast. The relatively short boat ride to get to Lembongan confirmed our suspicion that crossing the sea at this time of year would be taxing: six-foot swells tossed the boat around, soaking us with water as wind tore off the tops of the waves.

When we finally arrived at the main beach, the island seemed less than tropical, and a thoroughly underwhelming substitute for the Gili Islands. The hotels there imposed two-night minimum stays, which, though a mystery at first, became abundantly clear: most people would not  choose to spend a second night at Nusa Lembongan's Jungut Batu Beach.

(Having said that, Nusa Lembongan is famous for its surfing, and it was cool to see surfers catching the massive waves that broke offshore.)

We spent the first afternoon feeling sorry for ourselves as we sat under a cloudy sky on the pool deck, but that evening displayed a brilliant sunset, and as the sun sank into the ocean our sentiments began to change. We had a beer, reflected on our trip, and, laying under the night sky, realized that we didn't have it so bad.

Pool, beach, ocean: A winning combination.

This sunset helped us turn around our moods

The next morning, we decided to make a day of Nusa Lembongan, and rented a scooter to tour the rest of the small island. This ended up being a GREAT decision. Hiding on the other side of the island, we found a beautiful and secluded beach called Dream Beach. The beach housed one small resort and no boat traffic. It was a great place spend a couple of hours having a delicious lunch and soaking up some sun (and a lot of clouds - even a little rain).

 Our Dream Beach lunch table

Our self-guided tour also took us to some other fun places on the island: across an old bridge to tiny surfing beach, to a small mangrove forest, to Mushroom Beach (which actually housed a very impressive resort) and through some local villages. By the time we reluctantly gave the bike back, we had made a great day of exploring and enjoying Nusa Lembongan. Though the second day was much better than the first, we still had no interest in extending the stay, and took off on the first boat for mainland Bali the next morning.

Intense.

Devil Tears Beach at high tide.

Because the following evening was the last night of our trip, and we felt sorry for ourselves for missing the Gilis, we decided to splurge and stay in an actual hotel, instead of just a budget hostel. When we got to our destination, the Kuta Beach area of Bali, we set out looking for a hotel. We were disappointed, however, in mega-resort after mega-resort that charged too much money for an impersonal and manufactured experience. Our spirits were pretty low after walking over a kilometer in the 85º heat with all of our bags, but when we were on the verge of giving up and heading back to the 'budget' section of town, things took a turn for the worse. Jessica stepped on an uneven part of the sidewalk and severely rolled her ankle. We got Jessica set up in a restaurant with her foot elevated and wrapped in ice, and as we sat there sweating, Jessica in a great deal of pain, her ankle swelling up before our eyes, things seemed pretty bad. In a last-ditch effort, Preston ran up and down the block looking for a place to stay, and, miraculously, we found exactly the type of hotel we were looking for. The Vira Bali, just down the block from where Jessica sat, was small and beautiful with an incredible staff and gorgeous pool. Both the luxurious room and comfortable pool turned out to be great places for ankle rehabilitation.

We spent the last night of our trip in style. We enjoyed Pina Colada's poolside, dined at the hotel's fancy restaurant, savored our bathroom shower which could magically produce both hot water AND high water pressure (both a first in months!), and watched movies. It was a great way to both celebrate the trip and pamper ourselves in preparation for the 30 hours of travel we have coming up tonight...

Though Bali has had its downs, its had some great highlights as well, and we are happy to have spent our last few days here!

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

And now for our last country: Indonesia. Unfortunately we only get to spend 9 days here, but what a better way to end the trip than in Bali! We arrived at Denpasar airport on the evening of the 18th, and after receiving our last Visa of the trip, caught a taxi to Poppies Gang St. in Kuta to find a hotel for the night. Originally, our plan was to head to the Gili Islands the next morning, but we soon found out that it was too late to book a ticket. Not wanting to waste a day in Kuta (the Cabo San Lucas of Bali) we decided instead to make our way to the mountain town of Ubud. It was a painless 45 min drive from Kuta, and from the second we stepped out of the van, we were happy we came. Ubud is unreal. More than any other city we've been to, this is a town that feels like you're in a painting. Moss-covered stone statues and greenery abound, art galleries, silver shops, and restaurants are everywhere you turn, and on top of that, the sidewalks are littered with colorful offerings to the Hindu gods. It's intoxicating.

 Offerings to the Hindu Gods. These were placed everywhere, including in the middle of sidewalks and pathways... Tread carefully, you don't want to anger the Gods.

 Monkey Forest Road, the main drag of Ubud, and completely lined with beautiful restaurants and art shops. 

Inside a Hindu temple.

Statue of Ganesha.

 At the Monkey Forest Road market.

We ended up staying in two different places, but both were more of a garden than a hotel, with our own little bungalows set amid botanical gardens. (This for a mere $30/night.) We spent our first day just walking around the city, and that night we went to a Fire Dance. Trey and Whitney had told us about this, so we knew it was going to be good. Basically, a group of about 75 men dressed in traditional garb chant (and chant and chant), making cool, eerie music for dancers in incredibly ornate balinese costumes. Hard to explain, but it was awesome. (We have a couple videos of this, remind us to show you.)

Walkway of our first hotel.

Path to our bungalow at the second hotel, Dewi Sri.

 The pool at Dewi Sri.

 Entrance to Dewi Sri.

 When the hotel grounds end, the landscape becomes rice paddies. 

 Fire dance! These were the men doing all the chanting.

 The storytelling dancers. Cool costumes.

 This was where the actual fire dancing came in. They set a huge pile of kerosene-soaked coconut hulls on fire, and this guy danced in them. It was nuts!

 You can't see the guy in this picture, but he is making that light by dancing through the embers.

The next day was another of just wandering. Also on recommendation of Trey and Whitney (or their blog at least), we ate lunch at Three Monkeys. If you picture a terraced field of rice paddies, and then replace one of those tiers with a restaurant, you have the Three Monkeys. Awesome setup, and they had great pizza, too!

 Lunch at Three Monkeys.

That evening we walked to the end of Monkey Forest Road, which, it turns out is aptly named. The end of the road is a forest with stone walkways that are literally crawling with Long-tailed Macaques. These monkeys are so used to humans that they will grab in your pockets, or unzip your backpack if they think it has food in it. We bought some bananas from an old lady, and decided to try our luck.

Preston and his monkey friend.

That night, unfortunately, Preston got really really sick. We won't go into the details here, but from a certain breakfast food, Pres got food poisoning, and at around midnight, we headed to the emergency room. He had to spend the night in the hospital, but was feeling much better by morning!

 Ready to rock after a long night in the hospital.

We didn't do anything the day after Pres got sick but lay around and recuperate. The following day, Jess decided to explore the hills surrounding the city (Preston still didn't have the energy). Campuhan Ridgeway Walk starts just off a main road, but within 5 minutes you are up in the hills, surrouned by terraced rice paddies and sunshine. Yet another reason to love Ubud.

 Campuhan Ridgeway walk.

 On her way back from the hike, Jessica noticed a ton of people inside one of the temples, and found out there were traditional Balinese dance rehersals going on. The moves are very intricate, and these girls were really impressive! (The creepy eyes are actually part of the dance)

Ubud is definitely a place to come back to one day... and maybe with a bigger budget, to fully take advantage of this beautiful, artsy city.

Miri, Niah Caves, and Kuching, Malaysian Borneo

After visting Gunung Mulu National Park, we returned to Miri on July 13th. We had already purchased plane tickets to fly out of Malaysian Borneo from Kuching, a city 320 miles to the south, for the 17th of July. We knew that we had only four days for see several destinations and cover 320 miles, so we pieced together a schedule that would let us do it all.

The sunset illuminates the evening sky over Miri

Our first stop was Niah Caves National Park, another cave system about an hour south of Miri. Because we arrived too late on the 13th to make the trip happen on the same day, we spent a night in Miri and continued on to Niah the next morning. Niah Caves are both archeologically and geographically impressive. The caves themselves are massive, spanning several kilometers with ceilings reaching 165 feet in some places. They also hold evidence of human life that is up to 40,000 years old. Painted Cave, the most famous cave, contains cave paintings, as well as ancient burial sites.

We loved wandering through Niah. The monstrous caves do not share the popularity of the Mulu caves, so most of the time we had the caverns alone! It is also much less developed then Mulu, with unlit and decrepit boardwalks, giving the whole experience an 'Indian Jones' feeling. After a long day of spelunking, we returned to Miri exhausted (we walked over 10k!).

A short stretch of the 10 kilometers of boardwalk that we conquered

These red centipedes (or, billipedes, as we nicknamed these extra-large insects) were everywhere

Looking back on the entrance of 'The Great Cave'

Beware! Snakes guard the path to Niah!

Originally we planned to hop on the overnight bus to Kuching that same night. However, after 4 months of traveling and 10k of walking that very day, we were feeling a bit too lazy to pull off yet another 16 hour bus ride. The thought of sitting on a bus for that long was just too unnerving, especially when we had the option to fly the same distance for just $30 more... So, embarrassingly, going against our backpackers' instincts, we took the more expensive and easier option. Though we did have to blow a full day's budget on the ticktes, the 45 minute flight felt pretty relaxing... :)

We arrived in Kuching on the 15th of July. It is a surprisingly hip and artistic city considering its location on the far western shore of Malaysian Borneo. The city is laid out along the Sarawak River, and was greatly modernized under the rule of a British self-proclaimed Raja named James Brooke during the late 1800s. Today, Kuching still maintains a European feel, but is quickly modernizing and is filled with malls and skyscrapers. Like other Malaysian cities, Kuching is a bustling mix of Chinese, Indian, and Malay cultures.

Preston stands along the Sarawak River

A mix of old and new: A building from the Rajah Brooke era on one side of the river, the current parliament building on the other

The city of full of great places to relax, especially along the river

We ate dinner at a delicious local restaurant with some friends me made traveling. The cook used to work for the Kuching Hilton until he quit to open his own restaurant.

Jessica made friends with the cook's daughter!

Really? 100% Discount? No offense, but we don't believe you

Another highlight of Kuching was Bako National Park, about an hour away by a bus/boat combination. The island is full of Bornean wildlife, and loaded with trails to sneak around the jungle looking for animals. We arrived on the island dressed for a casual day of beach walking, but decided to undertake the most challenging hike on the island instead. Although this gave us the chance to see some exotic animals and incredible views, it was a bit of a challenge. After a relatively easy 1 km hike, the trail instantly changed to a grueling mountainous climb. Undeterred, we continue up the trail, but when we were exactly half way done with the hike, the skies opened up and we got SOAKED. We had a camera and phone in our backpack, so we had to hide out under then dense forest canopy as rain fell all around us. We did manage to keep our electronics dry, but they were the only dry thing we owned.

This bearded-pig was the first animal we encountered at Bako, and possibly the strangest we have ever seen (even on par with proboscis monkeys)!

Macaque monkeys were everywhere

After the rain quieted down, we pushed on, but with about 3 km left on the hike, Jessica's sandals broke. Apparently walking shoes aren't made to hike in and then get soaking wet, all after four months of continuous use. Though greatly disheartened, we had to continue, so we jerry-rigged a temporary fix, and continued back to park headquarters. Though the hike was a bit frustrating at times, we can't help but look back on it fondly.

Jessica shows her excitement about the shoe 'situation'

Pitcher Plants

After returning to Kuching, we spent one last night in the city. We spent the evening enjoying Malaysian-specialties, as we were leaving Malaysia to head to Indonesia the next day. After a month of Malaysian food, we are going to miss it! We also spent some time trying to find Jessica some new shoes, but were unsuccessful, and ended up with a bottle of superglue instead.

A typical building in Chinatown

Roti Canai, our favorite Malaysian (technically Indian) food. Flaky flat bread served with a midly spicy curry. Delicious!

Kuching roughly translates to "Cat City," a fact that the locals were apparently proud of. The city was full of cat statues.

Malaysia was a great place to spend a month, especially Malaysian Borneo! Though we are sad to leave, we are looking forward to Bali, the last leg of our trip.