Pondicherry, India

Arrival: 06/11/2009

Departure: 06/14/2009

Sight Seeing: The beach

People: Confusing

Food: Good

Accommodations: Good

Pictures: Pictures of India - Coming soon.

Summary: We've heard the first place you stay in India you will hate and I completely agree. Nothing against Pondicherry, but the culture shock was a lot to handle.

Details: Getting to India was a task in itself (1 hour taxi to India Embassy, 1 hour wait to pick up our India Visa, 1 hour taxi to airport, 3 hour wait for flight, 3 hour flight to Singapore, 8 hours overnight in the Singapore airport, 4 hour flight to India, 4 hour bus to Pondicherry). And to top it off our fun travel adventure, our backpack was wet and smelled like piss when we picked it up from baggage claim. Welcome to India! By the time we arrived in Pondicherry, we crashed out. The following day we took a local bus to the beach which looked more like the local dump. The remainder of the time we walked around the town watching people's hygiene habits - peeing in the street, throwing up standing (how does one do that?), blowing snot rockets into their hands, all that good stuff.

Jakarta -Java, Indonesia

Arrival: 06/03/2009

Departure: 06/10/2009

Sight Seeing: Freedom Park, India Embassy

People: Indifferent

Food: Delicious, lots of noodles!

Accommodations: Djody ($15 per night)

Pictures: Pictures of Indonesia

Summary: The only thing decent about Jakarta is the food. It's a hug city with over priced everything (except food). It's the LA of Indonesia.

Details: The only reason Adam and I went to Jakarta for an entire week was to get our India Visa. Luckily we found a room with AC, Indonesian TV, and internet, otherwise we wouldn't have lasted long. We walked around the city every morning when it was still relatively cool outside and didn't find much worth mentioning. The food stalls were delicious offering Mei Goreng, a fried noodle dish, and chicken noodle soup. That's all folks.

Surabaya - Java, Indonesia

Arrival: 06/01/2009

Departure: 06/03/2009

Sight Seeing: Chinatown

People: ???

Food: Good

Accommodations: Decent, minus the cockroaches ($12 per night)

Pictures: Pictures of Indonesia

Summary: Not much going on in this city for tourists. No one speaks English so that was interesting. I had a head cold so it was a good place to be sick and do nothing.

Cemoro Lawang - Java, Indonesia (countless jokes about the town name)

Arrival: 05/31/2009

Departure: 06/01/2009

Sight Seeing: Gunung Bromo (active volcano)

People: Decent

Food: Poor

Accommodations: Horrible... worse than a scary movie set.

Pictures: Pictures of Indonesia

Summary: Getting to the top of Gunung Bromo was quite a journey - from overnight buses, to hiking the 2329m volcano - but the views at the top were amazing.

Details: An overnight bus dropped us off in Probolinggo at 2am right in front of a tourist company. They proceeded to try and rip us off with volcano tour packages. After analyzing our options, we opted to be taken to the city where you start your hike up the volcano called Cemoro Lawang. The journey was not too bad considering we had almost a full bottle of Arak (a locally coconut fermented alcohol). By the time we arrived in Cemoro Lawang, the party continued until about 5am when we finally decided to catch some Z's. The next morning we talked around the local villages admiring their agriculture sometimes a little too close where we were walking through their fields trying to navigate back to the main road. I'm just glad firearms are illegal in Indonesia. The next morning we decided to start our hike at 4:15am to the top of Gunung Bromo to see the volcano at sunrise. Actually hiking the volcano was pretty easy, getting to the start of the trail was the hard part. Getting to the trail head consisted of us walking through clouds of fog across a foreign moon like field of black sand and lava rocks. Pretty trippy. But like I said, when you get to the top, it's all worth it. Luckily for us, the fog decided to part just long enough for us to enjoy the views and snap some pictures.

Lovina - Bali, Indonesia

Arrival: 05/28/2009

Departure: 05/30/2009

Sight Seeing: Beach

People: Money Hungry

Food: Good

Accommodations: Decent ($6.5 per night)

Pictures: Pictures of Indonesia

Summary: Lovina has a short strip of a black sand beach, but the local continually harass you to buy transportation, jewelry, sarongs, etc. Does it look like I need transportation on the beach? NO! It left a sour taste in my mouth.

Munduk - Bali, Indonesia

Arrival: 05/27/2009

Departure: 05/28/2009

Sight Seeing: Mountains

People: Indifferent

Food: Decent

Accommodations: Poor

Pictures: Pictures of Indonesia

Summary: Don't go here. There are a ton of stray dogs that look like they have rabies.

Ubud - Bali, Indonesia

Arrival: 05/24/2009

Departure: 05/27/2009

Sight Seeing: Arts community, temple, white water rafting

People: Nice

Food: We finally ate burritos and they were excellent!

Accommodations: ???

Pictures: Pictures of Indonesia

Summary: Nestled inland and in between rice paddies, Ubud is a community of artists and art lovers. There's a ton of art galleries, tourist shops and restaurants giving Ubud a unique feel. Denise, Ryan, Adam, and I went white water rafting one day.

Tulamben - Bali, Indonesia

Arrival: 05/16/2009, 05/23/2009

Departure: 05/19/2009, 05/24/2009

Sight Seeing: Snorkeling and diving

People: Friendly

Food: Decent

Accommodations: Coral ($8 per night)

Pictures: Pictures of Indonesia

Summary: Tulamben is another costal town. The black rocks that lead into the calm waters give it an eerie feel, but once you go into the water it's another story. Just 30 meter off the shore lays the remains of the U.S. Liberty which sank in 1963 from the eruption of a near by volcano. You can explore the ship, surround coral, and marine life by snorkeling or scuba diving. Adam and I did four scuba dives over two days and both agree it was one of the most amazing dives we've ever done. We saw barracuda, schools of jack fish, and tons of other tropical fish like Nemo and Dori. The diving was definitely a highlight of the trip.

Candidasa - Bali, Indonesia

Arrival: 05/13/2009, 05/19/2009

Departure: 05/16/2009, 05/23/2009

Sight Seeing: The Beach

People: Friendly and Helpful

Food: Good

Accommodations: Kelappa Mas (The Golden Coconut)

Pictures: Pictures of Indonesia

Summary: Candidasa is a beautiful costal town. There used to be a coral reef off shore, but it was destroyed by dynamite fishing back in the day. Huge cylinder blocks of concrete are now placed where the coral once stood and break the waves of their continually pattern displaying a spectacular water. There are a number of restaurants and accommodations right on the water which makes Candidasa a very relaxing town.

Denise and Ryan joined us in Candidasa during our second trip and accompanied us for the following two weeks. Words can't describe how nice it was to see their familiar faces! We enjoyed their company and conversation. Love you guys!

Kuta - Bali, Indonesia

Arrival: 05/11/2009

Departure: 05/13/2009

Sight Seeing: Surfing Beach

People: Friendly, but sales focused

Food: Good

Accommodations: ???

Pictures: Pictures of Indonesia

Summary: Kuta is a dirty backpacker town just a short drive from the airport. Having no idea what to expect, we went there first. There is a long stretch of beach where surfers and too many people hangout.

Singapore, Singapore

Arrival: 05/08/2009

Departure: 05/11/2009

Sight Seeing: Orchard Road, Little India, Botanical Gardens, City Center

People: Friendly and Educated

Food: Excellent

Accommodations: Singapore Marriott

Pictures: Pictures of Singapore

Summary: Darcie found her new home in the Marriott.

Details: Adam and I booked a hotel in Singapore in advance so we wouldn't have to find accommodations in such a large and expensive city. We stayed at the Marriott and got hooked up with a beautiful room on the top floor. The view was incredible and really gave a good picture of how advanced Singapore is, with towering skyscrapers and jungle gardens intertwined. During check in we opted to pay a little extra for the executive package which included breakfast and happy hour. After we dropped our bags off, we walked around the city a little. Everything in Singapore is large. The buildings, the city blocks, the sidewalks, the trees. It's extremely clean and orderly. There are people everywhere and of all different races. Needless to say, it's a very entertaining city with excellent people watching. We ended up getting some sushi and heading back to the room to relax in our clean and comfortable accommodations. Later that night we were first in line for happy hour. We were expecting beer and peanuts, but what we got was far better than either of us could imagine. There all kinds of foods that we've been craving but haven't seen since the start of our trip. Not to mention a full bar with wine, beer, and spirits (no champagne though). Adam and I loaded up on everything multiple times through out the night. It was awesome!!! The rest of our time in Singapore involved walking, eating/drinking, and just relaxing in our nice room.