Back in Thailand

This past week was probably one of the least cultural weeks I have had. Thailand is so touristy, you just have to embrace it and go with the flow. I left Bali and got into Bangkok around 8pm where I met up with Leo Waible!!! Me and him have a history of meeting up in the most random places, just add Bangkok to the list.

We had a hotel, changed and headed out for the night. Leo had never seen the Ping Pong show, so we headed over to Patpong. We got dragged into this bar where half of the girls on stage were lady boys and the other half were fat and naked doing strange things with their lady bits, so we downed our beers and shots and tried to make an escape but "mama" tried to charge us with a $200 bill!! We said bullshit, getting better looking girls and maybe we would pay to watch, so we ran out which made Mama pretty angry. We went to another one where the girls just dance on stage in their bikinis... and you can order them or something. Anyway, I got dragged up on stage for a dance, which was humilating because I felt like a fat cow next to all these tiny Thai girls. I think Leo got a picture somewhere. From there we went to some after hours club, danced some more, and called it a night around 5am.

Leo!

One of our bajillion tuk tuk rides that night

The next day was extremely unproductive... we did try to go see something but we got lost and didn't make it before it closed. That night we met up with some of Leo's friends that work in a club on Rama 9, which is the street with all the high end clubs. We hung out with his friends, drank, danced, watched the dancing show (which involved no ping pongs) and had a good time. These girls were so funny. They are kind of like waitresses, but they get paid to hang out, drink with you and basically entertain you for the night. By the end of the night, all the girls were in the bathroom throwing up... I would too if I had to do shots with every man in the bar! After that place closed, we headed to another after hours club called Spicey and again called it a night at 5am. We are worthless! But now I have seen Bangkok by day and night. Check.

Anne and Ming at the club

Garfield was another one of Leo's friends... she was a dance teacher and to do Thai dancing, you have to stretch your fingers all the way back. It was terrifying.

Leo left the next day to go back to Singapore and I hung out in Bangkok until my overnight bus to Chang Mai. I got to Chang Mai the next morning and decided to just go straight to this little hippie town called Pai. I got there, found a cute little bungalow for about $5 a night and stayed in Pai for about 5 days. Didn't do much, hung out, went to see some bands, went to a waterfall, hung out at the pool, walked around, did a hike, just a really mellow week. Two things I did that were cool was ride an elephant and took a cooking class. The elephant was funny cause it was really hard to stay on, and then when we got to a little creek, the elephant flung you off into about a foot of water. Imagine being knocked off an elephant and laying on the ground right next to its feet, it was fun/ frightening... so I did it and probably will never do it again.

The cooking class was amazing. We learned how to make 5 different dishes that were all so good. The teacher, T, was so cool. We did lunch, took a break and then had a big dinner where we invited friends and drank and ate all the food we had cooked. It was an awesome day and I look forward to cooking these dishes at home! I met a group of people who were in Pai learning thai boxing. They tried to convince me to participate, but I declined. I had a lot of fun with them, they were all amazing and very fun people. Made my time in Pai.

The bridge to my bungalow

the elephants

waterfall

Pip on the awesome swing

Nice view


Niamh (pronounced Nieve because its crazy Gaelic) dissapointed because we couldn't find the waterfall we were looking for

Curries! I can make those now!

Action shot

Our dinner party

It was Paul's birthday so we got him a cake at 7-11

I left Pai the next morning for Chang Mai. I was only there for a night and a day, so I don't have much to say about it. Went to a Wat, walked around, not too exciting. Then I took another overnight bus back to Bangkok and now I am waiting for Gary to arrive before we head to Laos!

The Wat

Part of Chang Mai

The Islands of Indonesia

After leaving Sumatra, I did two nights in Bali in this area called Kuta, and it was disgusting. Haha, it was like the cheap, party area, no culture at all and the locals there are just trying to make money off you, so I left for the Gili Islands. The Gili Islands are these tiny islands off the coast of Lombock, very laid back and beautiful. I met two pilots and hung out with them mostly. We snorkled, walked around, rode bikes, slept on the beach... all the regular beach stuff people do. I also met an Austrian girl, Stefanie, who I conviced to come with me on a boat trip from Lombock to Flores, stopping at Komodo to see the komodo dragons.

The group at Gili

Every bar had signs like this

So the boat left from Gili, went to Lombock and started the 4 day trip out to Flores. The boat itself was pretty basic. Just a deck to sit and hang out, another upper deck with mats to sleep, a kitchen and a toilet (which was just a hole in the boat out to the ocean). We stopped at several islands and snorkled, hiked a little and snorkled more. The snorkling was actually very impressive, all kinds of beautiful fish. There were 15 people on the boat, so it was a little crowded but everyone got along. Its hard for me to sit on a boat for 4 days and not get bored, which is why there is such lack of excitement about this boat trip. haha.

Stef and Me

Our boat

One of the islands, beautiful!

We caught a squid! But I think the staff ate it cause we never saw it again

My favorite spot on the boat

Komodo dragon!

Group shot

So one of the main reasons for this boat trip was to get to Flores, which is supposed to be really beautiful and not touristy at all... very untouched. So when I arrived, I realized it was so untouristy that it was next to impossible to get around! I wanted to get out to this volcano that three bodies of water all different colors, but it was about a 20 hour bus ride out there, and the flights back to Bali from that side of the islands were often unreliable. My visa was about to run out so I couldn't take the chance getting stuck out there, so unfortunately, I didn't get to see as much of Flores as I wanted but I still managed to explore.

Stef had more time than me so she hopped on the bus, but luckily I was with this guy Mark and we rented a bike for a day. Since there is no bike rental shop, basically you walk up to a guy on the street, ask him if you could rent his bike and he says yes or no, and you are off. So gave this guy $10 and took his bike. We rode around looking for a waterfall, but nothis was marked! So we stopped a few times to try and ask directions, but no one spoke english so we didn't have much luck. Every time we stopped on the side of the road, within 2 minutes, the entire village would be there to stand with us and just stare and laugh, it was hilarious. Kids would see us and run after the bike and scream and laugh, I guess they don't see many white people.

Rice paddies

Indonesian gas station

On a hunch, we saw a little road and turned down it, parked the bike and started walking. As we were walking, this guy started to walk with us for a bit, not saying anything, just walking with us. Soon we got to a little village and 4 more of his friends started walking with us. They asked if we were going to the waterfall, we said yes, and they said they would take us (this is all sign language since we don't speak Indonesian and they didn't speak English). At first, I was really worried. It was 5 guys, two with machetes, taking us into the jungle. But in the end, they took us to the waterfall which we would have NEVER found on our own. It was amazing!!! It was this huge waterfall with these giant cliffs on either side that you can jump off and swim around. So beautiful and worth all the time we spent looking.

Our guides

the waterfall

The town I stayed in, view from my hotel

I left Flores and headed back to Bali. I had about three days so I went to Ubud, which is this little artsy fartsy area. It was nice, nothing special. We rented bicycles, cruised around and I just tried to enjoy my last few days in Indonesia. I was sad to leave, but I will be back.

Offerings, all over Bali

Monkey forest

Beautiful statues all over

Lake Maninjaou and Padang... aka more paradise

I left Lake Toba to head more south to a town called Bukitingi. It was a 17 hour bus ride but thankfully, I had company to share my misery. They let people smoke on these buses!!! It was terrible!

We got to Bukitingi in the morning, got a room and explored a little. We were pretty exhausted from our bus ride so we took it easy. The next morning we took another bus to Lake Maninjaou, which isn't that far but becuase you have to wait until the bus is full to leave, we waited for like an hour and a half in this small town, on a bus, blaring techno music in the heat... lovely. But we finally made it and it was worth the wait! We got a bungalow right on the lake for $5 a night (which we split). The water was perfect, the place was beautiful, the people were amazing... I really love Indonesia if you haven't picked up on that. haha.

We walked around, swam, drank, swam some more. It started pouring rain on one of our walks, so a guy on a motorbike asked if we wanted a ride. We said sure, hopped on the back (three people on a bike is not abnormal... 5 is the most people I have seen on one). We went to grab tea with this guy and he asked if we wanted a tour the next day. We said we were poor and he made a deal. He was a teacher, so he said that his students would take us to a waterfall if we helped them practice english... piece of cake. So the next morning, the students met us and we spoke english, which was easy for me, and hiked up to the waterfall. We got done, ate lunch and then decided to rent bikes. Its about a 7 hour ride around the entire lake, so we just rode for like an hour and half, but on our ride we passed a school where people were enjoying a Sunday afternoon volleyball game. They saw us and called us over to play, so we did, and man, I felt so cool. People cheered and screamed and laughed every time Dave or I touched the ball. Dave is 6'4" so he spiked the ball one time and people screamed like he had just won the olympics. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen.

landscape

Lake

Students at waterfall

Me resting after the walk

Our cabin

The next morning, we packed up and headed to Padang with the intention of going to the Mentawai Islands, which is a famous surf spot but also home to these indigenous jungle people. Its pretty hard to get to, which is why we had to forfit our plans. The boats only went like once a week, so we would be stuck there for a week and neither of us really had time. So I am coming back just for that! We hung out in Padang which is a really cute city right on the water.

While we were out one night, we stumbled into a bakery and met the owner who was pretty cool and spoke perfect english. He asked if we wanted to go out the next night, so we said sure, see you at 7:00. He picked us up and we went to a local place and had the BEST freaking meal ever. Chili crab, deer, grilled grouper (which is my new favorite fish), and veggies. It was so good, and then he paid!! He was happy to show us a good time, I am telling you, these people are freakishly nice! After dinner we we went to his friends bar that overlooked the city and had a beer.

When he dropped us off, he offered to take us out for breakfast and drive us to the airport... we were like, um, whats the catch here. No catch. Just being friendly. So I reluctantly got on a plane and left of the be best places I have ever been. Ugh, so sad. In Bali now to explore the island side of Indonesia.

This is Sumatra

This happened almost every day. People would come up to me and ask to take their pictures with me and Dave. No matter what we were doing, watching the sunset, eating, walking down the street, people wanted to take a picture. Even at the freaking airport, a guy who worked there asked if he could have a photo with me! What do they do with these photos??

Chili crab and our host Didi

When I die, I want to go to Indonesia

I guess when it takes me a long time to update my blog, it means I am having too much fun, which, I think is a good thing.


After Thailand, I landed in Medan and as soon as I got off the plane I knew I would love this place. Medan itself isn't that great, but the first night I was there, I met a Dutch guy on the street so we went to the movies. Its funny how things like meeting people on the street and hanging out is such a normal part of travelling, I love it. The next day I had to try and get my camera fixed, so I jumped into a tuk tuk thing with the nicest driver I have EVER had. His name was Russli and we drove all over town trying to find a place to fix my camera, but after no luck, we went and I bought a new one and then hopped on a bus to Bukit Lawang.


Bukit Lawang is known for its Orangutan sanctuary. I went on a two day trek in the jungle and got to see them in real life. They are cool, very big... and orange.

On the bus to Bukit Lawang I actually met a boy named Haidir who is from this tiny town. His dad conveniently owns the trekking company I went with, but even after the trip we hung out. The owner of the place I stayed was also amazing. We all went fishing, had a BBQ, went tubing, and went to bat caves. The people in Bukit Lawang are SO nice and friendly, its very laid back. A few years ago they had a devastating flood that killed almost 400 people, so you can see the remains of some of the flooding, but the people are still thriving and it was an amazing place to start Indonesia.

View from my room

Orangutan

Bukit Lawang

Coconuts at Haidirs house

Our grilled goldfish

Learning to make curry!

They dye their chickens heads... and no one could explain why

After spending 5 days in Bukit Lawang, I went to Lake Toba, which is one of the many crater lakes in Sumatra. It used to be a booming tourist destination but that faded for some reason so now there are tons of hotels with no guests, which means cheap lodging for poor backpackers ($2 a night!!)

I was with some friends from Bukit Lawang, I shared a room with Anouk from Amsterdam... fashionistas: keep your eye on this girl! She is going to be amazing designer! She already has a very impressive portfolio with only bigger and better things to come!



Anyway, we rented motorbikes, cruised the island, ate, relaxed, swam, pretty uneventful but relaxing and perfect at the same time. Very nice place. There was a funeral going on at our hotel while we were there, and man, what a party!! That funeral was three days long with a lot of singing and drinking and dancing... it was quite a sight!

Standard house in the area

Beauty day with Anouk and Aaron

Badass scooter drivers

On the drive

My first week in Indonesia was more than I could have asked for. Sumatra is like a hidden gem in Southeast Asia, far away from the sunburnt drunk crowds of Thailand... so come here, but don't tell your friends cause I want to be able to come back and have it be the same perfect place I remember.