7am wake up call
På Gili vaknade jag varje morgon av de två moskéerna som hade bönerop klockan halv fem på morgonen. De skulle behöva några nya högtalare då det enda vi hörde var ett sprakande ihåligt ljud. Vi kom till Ubud och påmindes om trafiken. I morse vaknade jag vid fyra av alla tupparna som gal och sedan var det fullt pådrag hos grannarna vid sju. Är helt slut. Känns bra att vi ska byta boende idag!
Solen skiner däremot som vi aldrig sett den i Ubud. Hittade uppföljaren till min bok i en secondhandbokbutik för 60 000rp (ca 30kr) och lite annat smått och gott igår. Så det blir en riktig chilldag idag.
Ciao!
- Nastasja
A half pint of latte, please
We are back in Bali, in Ubud that we love. It was obvious that we needed our break on Gili T to appreciate Bali. We now feel almost at home walkin around here. Had a nice lunch and then found somewhere to sleep. Changing to a different place tomorrow with a nice pool.
Going to find a book shop and buy the second Game of Thrones book as I seem to be quite obsessed. Daniel is racing through a different thick book in the same genre.
Latersss
- Nastasja
What we have learned from travelling in Indonesia
- It seems that from most places you need to have a ticket out of the country to be able to go in the first place. Check this beforehand. The same situation can occur for the next country if it has a visa limitation.
- Many nationalities (including Sweden) are allowed a VOA (= Visa On Arrival). It costs 25 US dollars per person. We did not need passport photos despite all that we have read about it. Your passport also has to be valid for the next 6 months.
- Before you fly there you have to fill in a paper stating whether you are bringing in more than 1 million rupiah (currently this is 500kr). If so, you have to go through an extra procedure. So take out money there.
- The mosquitos are aggressive and like to bite. So come armed with spray or buy some good stuff here that is effective and cheap! Indonesia does have mosquitos carrying the virus that can gives you dengue fever - good to read up on the symptoms.
- DON'T DRINK THE TAP WATER. Ask if the ice in your drink is from bottled or filtered water, if not, don't have ice. Also be wary of the food you eat due to the heat - we are used to high standard in our restaurants and sometimes it's good to have a critical eye.
- Stay clear of the local alcohol called Arak. People have been known to get methanol poisoning.
- Be prepared to suffer from tourist diarreha. So bring stomach medicin and maybe tablets that keep you hydrated. If you have cramps - buy Buscopan.
- The Indonesian toilettes range from squatting toilettes that are a hole in the ground with foot rests, to Western toilettes. A lot of the time there is not toilette paper available, so ALWAYS have a roll with you... and hand disinfectant is a good idea too.
- The first night in a new place can always be nice to have booked beforehand. But prices are higher on the internet and when you get here, especially during low season you can bargain. And make sure to check the facilities before you agree - most places are good but sometimes you can save yourself a rubbish night.
- In Bali 93% of the people are Hindus. The temples are holy and you are expected to wear respectable clothes. This means a sarong around your waist (even guys). Also it is good to cover your arms, and in some places you are supposed to wear a scarf-like item round your waist too. This will help you not get fooled by people who can see you are a tourist too.
- The rest of Indonesia is 98% muslim. Make sure you wear the right clothes to respect the peoples' beliefs, especially in and around the mosques. From what we have experienced, the tourist areas are more liberal/accepting (like on the Gili Islands).
- At this time, a big bottle of water should cost 5000rp in a shop.
- Bargaining is a custom and even the locals do it with each other (though not to the same crazy prices). Sometimes you can knock off up to 50% of the price. (Expensive in Indonesian is "mahal").
- Thank you in Indonesian is " terimah kasih".
- One letter or postcard needs stamps worth totally 10 000rp.
- Cooking classes are widely available. A fun way to learn about the culture!
- A traditional Balinese dance is worth attending. They cost around 80 000 rp and are for approx. 1,5 hours. The dancers are dressed up and the musicians are very good.
Walks and yoga in Ubud
The view from our terrace at Puji Bungalows.
Our street, Jalan Bisma.
At the water temple behind Starbucks and Café Lotus.
These door frames <3
A bridge over some water and loads of rubbish.
Fruit in our garden.
There are geckos everywhere!
The mounds of rubbish in Bali is terrible. 
Something or someone crossing the road, haha.
Rice fields.
After the rain.
A boy putting out gifts for the gods.
A latte after lunch.
Then we went to....
Yogabarn! 
We attended a beginners class and did yoga for 1,5 hours. It was hot and sweaty but the setting was great and so was Cat, the instructor.
We went to Café KAFE and these two people, strangers to eachother too, started singing and playing music. So nice!
GO TO UBUD!- NastasjaA trip to places around Ubud
We met taxi driver Ketut on the street and payed him 400 000rp for the day to take us to five different places. First off was the NEKA Art Museum. 
The door frames everywhere are SO beautiful, and the barong statue is super cool.
After that we went to a coffee farm. I was impressed by the plants and that, but the way they kept the animals was not nice.
Coffee beans.
The Luwak - an animal related to the cat family. In the wild it lives in trees and is nocturnal.
Fresh ginger.
Not being able to sleep thanks to all of us visitors walking around stressing them out :(
We asked what they used the bats for. "Pets", our guide said.
The coffee.
So the luwak chooses the best coffee beans and swallows them whole. An enzyme in their intestines breaks down the caffeine. They then poo them out and the people gather them.
They are washed and peeled by hand.
Then washed again and peeled a second time.
Then they are roasted for a few hours.
Then they are ground to powder by hand in a big pestle and morter.
We saw the biggest spider so far on our travels.
Coffee and rea tasting. We also bought a cup of luwak coffee which was nice.
After that we went on to see some wood carving.
Pretty impressive stuff.
The handcrafting in Bali is amazing. Stuff made out of stone and wood everywhere! They built a restaurant next to our hotel in Sanur in like four days.
After that we went to Goa Ganjah - the Elephant Cave.
Mainly to see the big Barong carved into the stone above the entrance, to scare away evil spirits.
Coconuts.
We finished off the day by going to Agung Rai, or more known as ARMA, another museum.
This painting was my favourite.
And when we walked closer we could see why painting looked so alive. The texture was so cool.
The atmosphere and environment round the museum was beautiful too.
- NastasjaTemples Uluwatu and Tanah Lot
On our way from Sanur to Ubud we stopped at two temples - Uluwatu on the Bukit Peninsula and Tanah Lot a bit further up from the city Seminyak.
We spotted monkeys at Uluwatu.
Very friendly there......
Cute little ones though!
It was sweltering hot but the breeze from the sea was lovely.
Daniel donning the sarong.
Only worshippers allowed inside.
We then went to Tanah Lot and the weather was so weird so I didn't really get any good shots. But it was really pretty.
The waves were massive and crashing against the cliffs.
A nice day out but our taxi driver was a right grump.
- Nastasja
Caraway Cooking Class in Sanur
At the food market.
Chillies everywhere.
Dried fish that didn't taste nice.
Deep-fried banana, jack fruit and sweet potato.
Spices.
Tuna wrapped in a banana leaf with lemon grass, a kaffir lime leaf and curry.
Making one curry base.
Here's another.
Sate = meat/chicken/fish on skewers. These are chicken marinated in sweet soy sauce.
We made the spring roll wrappers from scratch. Here daniel is painting the thin pan with the mixture.
Let it set on the heat and when it bubbles, turn it onto a flat surface and fill, fold and roll.
Like so.
Grating some kind of green vegetable or grass for the colouring.
(In the white bowl). Poured into the pancake mixture. we then filled the pancakes with grated coconut and palmsugar (something for you to try Aunty Lima!).
We also made peanut sauce from scratch, chopped vegetables and stuff.
The view from our balcony when we were in Sanur.
A long way to Lovina
Hello peeps! A few mornings ago we got up and ate breakfast and packed our bags. 20 minutes before we were to be picked up by our taxi a man knocked on our door. Instead of the man we bartered and booked with and everything, this new dude was going to take us to our sights.
We got into the car and... no seatbelts. We were lazy and couldn't be bothered to find a new taxi so we stayed and Daniel told him to drive carefully (which he did all day).
Our first stop was for lunch with a view over the rice terraces /padi rice fields at Jatiluwih. We then walked through the fields and it really is worth it's consideration for a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Our next stop was up in the mountains by one of Bali's volcanoes. This is the temple in the water - Pura Ulun Danu Bratan in Lake Bratan. It really is the nicest we have seen so far.
Our last stop before Lovina was the lovely waterfall - Gitgit. It's said to be te highest with its 35 metres. At the top where you see it coming down in two the pool beneath is 5 metres deep and you can easily jump in. Which we had no idea about. It was so beautiful!
We got dropped off at our hotel, Rambutan Boutique Hotel (or Rambutan Cottages as it says on the sign post by the road). We booked a standard room for two nights but were upgraded this night because of an over-booking. The room is big, the bathroom is nice and they've taken the batteries out of the AC control. We've had too many mozzies in our room too, but hey, it's Bali!
Laters!
- Nastasja
Just rain
I hate blogg.se's app. Haven't been able to post anything for weeks (as you might have noticed). We left Ubud for Lovina, spent two nights there before we went down to Padang Bai. We bought tickets to Gili Trawangan (the biggest of the three Gili Islands) with a fast boat. The problem is that the weather has been bad for a week so we had to take a slow way over. It took us ten hours from when we left Padang Bai until we checked in at our homestay. Via a 2,5h minibus drive and then 30 minutes on a local boat.
The first day here we walked the 8km round the island. Got loooovely tanlines (bonnabränna) and said hi to a friend from Ulricehamn who works here - Johan Karlsson. We spent the first half of yesterday on the beach before it started raining and it hasn't really stopped since.
Sat in a café for most of the day today and are going to have pizza tonight. Might as well leave our flip flops at home because the roads are so flooded we might as well wade.
Seeee yaaaa
- Nastasja
Picture bomb from Sanur
The road by our hotel.
The man.
In Bali 97% of the people are hindus. So every morning (and other times during the day) there are these kind of offerings put out for the gods together with scented sticks that make the whole place fragrant.
At Sanur Beach. It was very quiet here, probably more so due to it being low season. The beach wasn't all that nice, quite dirty and the water was only clear during low tide.
Someone barbequeing whole fish.
Two people fishing.
More offerings.
These cool fishing boats were lined up all along the beach. Daniel wants one for himself back home!
The view whilst we were eating.
Before we got Dehli bellies we drank stuff with ice in - here's my favourite so far: fresh lime juice with ice.
Due to rain season these black clouds gather and creep up on you sometime every day and drench everything. Then they go away again.
Now we're in Ubud we've been able to compare Sanur with something. The people down there are definitely lesd friendly and they harrass you way more to buy stuff. The town itself doesn't really have a lot to offer except its closeness to Bukit Peninsula and those temples there + the tours that run up to Besikah (the mother temple). It's also a gateway to the the different islands such as Nusa Lembongan, Lombok and the Gili Islands.
After yoga post
WOOP-DE-WOO!
I want to rate today's yoga experience as the best experience in Bali so far. We went to a place off the main roads called Yogabarn and the room was open with dark floors and open walls. The wind blew through nicely and we heard the trees sway in the wind and the sound of the stream down below.
We're now at a café called Kafe. They serve loads of food and a nice selection of cakes and coffee; lots of it is organic, vegetarian and rawfood. Definitely worth a visit if you're in Ubud. On Jalan Hanoman (jalan = road).
Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures later if the wifi will co-operate. We've booked another two nights at Puji Bungalow and upgraded our room a bit, so now we have a fridge, somewhere to lock our valuables and aircon (not really necessary... Haha. And a mosquito net.)
Laters!
- Nastasja
Sanur to Ubud
Hey!
Sorry about the scarce posts but we've not been feeling to good. Been here in Sanur for almost a week and have been pretty much been bed-ridden for half the time. Went out yesterday to lie on the beach which was nice.
Today we're checking out of Ambian Kokoro Hotel to go to two temples and then get dropped off in a place called Ubud. We've booked a taxi driver for the day for 380 000 rupiah (about 180kr). We tried out our bartering skills yesterday and I think we're a bit too soft as everyone uses sob stories and it's hard to be hard.
We're happy to leave Sanur as it's quite sleepy. Ubud is supposed to be home to beautiful nature sights, good spas and relaxing yoga classes and a busy city with markets etcetera.
Bye for now!
- Nastasja
Bali update
Hi!
We're having an afternoon bap after a long first half of the day. We signed up for a cooking class yesterday and were picked up this morning at nine (half an hour late because the hotel gave the wrong adress, haha). We were joined by two Australians and were dropped off with the rest of our group to explore a food market. Our guide/chef, Dewi, showed us around. We got to try stuff on the way - a fruity juice that's good for the blood, small dries fish (with the head, eyes and all) that tasted salty anf fishy, fruit such as snake fruit and something else that was like a cross between apple and potato.
We then got lifts to Dewis house were we were given aprons, name tags and a recipe folder each with today's recipes. (Apparantly she changes te recipes every day and has classes every day).
We helped chop, mix, stir, fry, roll, fold and eat the different kinds of food. In the end we had: spring rolls filled with garlic, red onion and bamboo shoots. A vegetable curry with three kinds of veggies. Rice. Lamb curry. Satay sauce and chicken skewers. For dessert we had green pancakes with coconut and palm sugar filling!
It's been interesting talking to all these people we were cooking with. One New Yorker was telling us about his family tree and how his Swedish ancestor travelled from Liverpool-New York-Illinois. The Australian couple told us that two days after they'd booked their trip here their house of 23 years, with the memories with their three sons, burned down in the fires in the Blue Mountains just outside of Sydney. Around 200 homes have been destroyed and other years it's been common for maybe 1 house to burn down. Luckily no one has died. It makes you think..
We've mainly spent our time by the beach here in Sanur. We've got to decide today whether to go to Nusa Lembongan (an island) or to Ubud (more central) or stay here and see some more of this area/the south.
Latersssss
- Nastasja
Last post in Australia
Hey guys and gals!
After a fantastic 3 months in Australia it's time for us to move on. We've seen and done some amazing things, met loads of great people, drank many 7Eleven coffees and eaten too many sushi rolls to count. Our last month in Melbourne turned out to be jobless for us so we've just walked and walked and discovered the city.
We're now at the airport in Adelaide after the biggest ho-ha in Melbourne. We booked a one-way ticket to Bali the other week and have not thought more about it since. The girl at the check-in told us she couldn't let us fly to Indonesia without a ticket out as the visa runs out after 30 days. That wasn't the only problem. As most countries in Asia have visa limitations they would have to make sure we had flights out from ALL those countries all the way back to Sweden. Luckily we have Australia as an option as well as we have our Working Holiday visa here until September too. So we booked a one-way ticket from Bali to Perth that we won't use just to be able to get there in the first place.
Update: this info seems to differ a little depending where you book, with whom and if you're just lucky/unlucky.
Now we have to plan ahead a little more so we will have to look into what countries we want to go to a bit more and then maybe book an open-dated ticket home too.
Our flight leaves Adelaide at 3.50pm so we're just chilling. Not sure what the time difference is in Bali, but think it's GMT+8.
Take care for now and stay tuned for updated!
- Nastasja and Daniel
