Singapore: The Bubble

Indonesia had been exhausting. I think I didn’t notice until we got to the airport, where there were modern conveniences. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad we did Indonesia and I wouldn’t have traded it for a Western toilet, a Starbucks coffee, or clean sheets. But I was still so tired of horns in traffic, stares for my white skin, and feeling like at every moment I needed to evaluate for scams or fibs. I think I may be especially susceptible to this exhaustion because I’m in my head so much.

We love the chance to listen to podcasts and contemplate

Indo 4: Motorcycle Wrecks, "Lobster," and Puppies

When we arrived in Medan, it was getting close to dusk. We caught a bus to the center of the city, as instructed by our AirBnB. Once we got there, we found a tuktuk who would take us, but he seemed confused by the address. We told him the address, but when he asked if we meant a certain hotel, we said no because the only info we got was the name of whoever runs their AirBnB process.

Indo3: Bonus Video, because there are just too many photos

Here's a quick video for you.  There were just too many photos to fit in with the text, so they are here in slideshow format.  If they go too fast for you, pause as needed.  :)  Thanks for "tuning in."

Indo3: Java Island, Volcanoes, and Buddhists

We had to say stern nos to the hawkers who were offering us taxis to anywhere and everywhere, and finally got directions to the train station.  We got there just as the office was closing, but the lady was kind enough to help us before she left.  All trains were sold out the following day, most likely because it was Indonesia’s Independence Day and everyone was visiting their families in villages.  We couldn’t buy tickets with her because she was closed, but she gave us a flyer of a hostel that would be helpful and told us we could buy tickets at any IndaMart.

Indo2: Lombok, Gili, and a bit more of Ubud

Once we docked at Lembar on the east coast of Lombok, we were hit with waves of really intense hawkers.

Indo1: The Wonderful Island of Bali

Our flight was the cheapest of the cheap, meaning that we were arriving in Bali at 3:00 in the morning.  We knew we were going to try to head to Kuta, which was the really touristy area, but we didn’t know much after that.

OZ10: Kakadu, Waterfalls, Mozzies, and Burning Hair

Darwin gave us a chance to rest (other than the 3am fire alarm that had us standing out on the street for an hour).

Waiting on the street as the firemen checked the building

We slept in, did laundry, and made an appointment for me to see a doctor the next day. We spent a good part of the day exploring the city. 

OZ9/11: Darwin, Finally

Bleh, so three waterfalls and a mental breakdown out of the way and we were pretty exhausted by the time we started the drive to Darwin.  I booked the cheapest hostel we could find in the city on the way there.  We stopped at a little Indian restaurant on the way to help stave off the hangry.  Soooooo good.

OZ9/10: Litchfield, Waterfalls, and Breakdowns

The next morning when we got up, Marco was already packing.  He thanked us for standing up for him and we thanked him for being such a good dude.  We all worked hard to make sure when the other two got back that they couldn’t find any faults with our packing job.

OZ9/9: Robyn Falls, Arguments, and a Lot of Climbing

The next morning we were up at a reasonable hour (the three were hung over, which pushed the wake-up time out, but Jojje and Gwen NEEDED to touch rock again, so it was not too late) and headed up the trail.  We spent the best part of the day on climbing, headed to Robyn falls, which was a lovely straight-down falls that had shrunk considerably with the dry season.