I finally learned the definition of "holiday." It is actually quite a new idea for me. My concept of travel previously would have mostly fit into the category "living out of a vehicle/tent and touring around on a dime." Which is all very good fun and I've seen some of the most amazing parts of the world, with the most amazing partners in crime, by travelling this way. But there is something to be said about taking a "holiday." Note: This is to be differentiated from a "vacation." For me the term vacation means action-packed, itinerary done in under two weeks (due to the horribly inconvenient maximum alotted American "vacation days").
So we went to Indonesia and it was a proper holiday. These are the things that I now associate with the beautiful term "holiday": escaping the worst few weeks of winter to sun bathe on a remote island, bottomless cocktails, massages, exotic animals (monkeys!!!!!), delicious and exotic foods, unique culture, mo-peds, and boundless beauty.
We left Sydney at the heart of winter and headed to a tropical hideout, when we returned to sydney, it was nearly springtime. perfect. timing.
The food: simple, amazing, delicious. There was so much to love in this category, starting with the fact that the average meal might set you back $2-3 dollars. This "average" meal consisted of a plate full of fried rice (nasi goreng) or fried noodles, with some vegetables and almost always a fried egg on top. This could be breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The meals got more and more lavish from here, but hardly more expensive. My favorite was usually the vegetarian nasi campur. This consists of a large plate, with white rice in the center, surrounded by a variety of different/interesting little bits of food, including veggies, tofu, peanut satay, some sort of corn fritter, etc. Each restaurant had a little variation of this - yum. Also, extremely popular (for some odd reason) is brick-oven pizza. Most little restaurants with seats just a meter or two from the ocean offered pizza. They were all somehow different from any pizza I'd had before with flaky crusts and sweeter sauces - an unexpected pleasure. One of the best meals we had (well two of the best meals we had, we had it twice cause it was so darn good) was a sunset tuna kebab. After a long, exhausting day of relaxing lazily by the beach or diving (rough life) we would shower off our sunscreen and make our way over to a nearby restaurant on Gili Air. [Gili air is a tiny droplet of sand about two hours on a speed boat away from Bali. You can walk all around this little paradise in just under one hour or you can stop a few times along the way to grab some fried rice, a frozen tropical treat, a dip in the ocean and a nap and that may take you about three hours. I would recommend the latter.] You can choose from a selection fresh fish on display (caught that afternoon, not even on ice). While waiting for the tuna to be grilled we sipped on two for one gin and tonics (happy hour makes it's way to even the most remote of islands) and watch the sunset. I know what you're thinking, but this place really does exist. I wouldn't have believed it either.
The islands: We landed first in Denpasar, Bali. We headed straight for the hills to Ubud. I LOVED Ubud!!!! This is a little rice paddy haven in the hills. This was our first taste of Bali and I fell in love straight away. We spent three days here checking out the Sacred Monkey Forest (where some cheeky monkeys tried to steal Warren's camera bag and sneak a peak up my skirt), watched a traditional Balinese dance (graceful yet rigid), visited a palace, hiked through the rice paddies, and experienced our first couple of cheap massages. We then went over to the west coast to Kuta/Legion. Bali has been ruined here - overcrowded, way touristy, and MAD!!! We stayed a short 15 hours or so and headed for the east coast to hop on a dinky boat and make our way slowly to heaven - Nusa Lembongan. This is a small seaweed farming island (with a mo-ped you can explore it's entirety in about one hour). When the tide is out, all the villagers come to farm their little patch of seaweed. The crop is all neat in rows and then when the tide comes in, it's time to rest. There is no beach for sunbathing, but the sunrise/sunset over the waxing and waning seaweed farm was spectacular! There is a great surfbreak offshore about a ten minute boat ride, that Warren frequented. I frequented the toilet during our week at Lembongan because I got a case of traveller's sickness..blah. After some disguisting sign language and pointing to words in my dictionary, I finally was able to convey my little "problem" to the local medicine lady. After a couple of mystery pills I was all better. I tried and tried to remember exactly what it felt like to be on that island with my man because it was such a perfect feeling. There's a good chance, that if I'm ever missing that you could find me there.
Island hopping continues. Next were the Gili Islands. The guide books describe these as three little droplets of sand in the ocean, and they were not wrong. We landed on Gili Trawangan and then took a little shuttle boat to Gili Air (the quietest and most remote of the three). There are no motorized vehicles on the islands, only horse and carriage - yes! Warren found us a room WITH A/C, an outdoor shower, and a porch only a few meters from the ocean's edge. We got a horse and carriage ride there and posted up. Our most difficult decisions to make over the next 5 days were which cute little beach hut to sit on for dinner, which dive operator to choose, whether we should have our pancakes by the beach or on the porch - it was super rough. There was one small hiccup when I managed to step on a sea urchin. I got about fifty itsy bitsy spins stuck on the bottom of my foot. With Warren and I's combined urine and the coral that Warren used to beat the bottom of my foot until it bled, I was much better the next day. (Isn't the accident prone/stupid injury stuff supposed to happen to Warren?!?) The diving here was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. I'd dare even say it was better than the Great Barrier Reef or at least a tie. We saw a smallish shark, several sea turtles, moray eels, a pigmy seahorse, and loads of tropical fish. We were Bali-bound again to head up to Munduk and really take in the gorgeous mountains of northern Bali. We hired a mo-ped for a couple of days and drove a couple hours to the northern beaches, hot springs, coffee plantations. Our trip ended in Ubud with a precious few more days to eat that yummy indonesian food and explore the countryside.
The people: Indonesians are such a beautiful and peaceful people. They are down-right HAPPY. I've never seen more warm and friendly smiles collectively. There lives are much more simple than ours - for better and worse. I personally found myself envying the simplicity. They worked to feed themselves and their children and when the work was done they played and rested. They seemed less busy overall. Also, refreshingly, the men made physical contact with one another. It was not unusual for a man to have his arm on another mans back or shoulder the entire time they were talking. I saw a grown son sitting and massaging his father for about half an hour. It was beautiful.
The time: Indonesia was something like a time warp for me. I've never experienced this brilliant phenomenon before where time just goes on and on and on......Every couple of days felt like forever and when I thought about the time we had left, it always felt like eternity. It's strange, I know, but without phones and TV and often motorized anything, time takes a different shape and can last a lot longer. Things that make you go hhhhmmmmm......
