Monday, 1 July 2013

Bali Holiday

The. Best. Holiday. Of my life...  Yet.


Mini-Movie Summary




The sunset view from the airplane.
Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 Islands.  Each Island speaks their own language, but everyone has a common language as well.  We have been staying on the main Island of Java.

My first day in Bali, I spent scuba diving.  We explored USS Liberty shipwreck located in the north of the island (Tulamben).  It was the most beautiful dive I have yet experienced.


On Gili-T Island, a man trims his Bonsai Tree.  This tree is 12 years old.  He owns a collection of 7 trees.  He refused to sell a single tree when a foreigner offered 1,000,000 rupia, because he would rather sell the entire collection as a whole.


The coral that washes up on shore has beautiful shapes and textures and are usually a dull colour compared to the live coral under the surface of the sea.


This young man (I'm so bad at remembering names) is fixing up this old boat.


The dedicated boat repair crew working into the night.  There are many bicycles on the Gili Islands.  There are no motorized vehicles, only horses, bicycles and the foot express.
While here, I ran around the WHOLE island.  (It wasn't that big)
We also danced alot :)


The day I walked through a cloud.  This is Mt. Rinjani on Lombok Island.


The view from part way up by day.


The same view at sunset.


Rinjani is an active volcano.  It last errupted in 2011.  The volcano is 3,726 metres (12,224ft) making it the second highest volcano in Indonesia.  The volcano is surrounded by a crater lake known as "Segara Anak".  The climb to this point took us one day.


Porters carried food, bedding, water and firewood up the mountian using two weaved baskets tied to either end of a bamboo stick.  It was hard enough climbing with a small backpack, so I couldn't imagine how tough it would be to balance that much weight on one shoulder.


We set up camp here for the night at an elevation of 2600 metres.  It was only about 10 degrees and rained a little over night.  


After our climb, my legs were dead.  So, here I am on a pink scooter with a Super Mario helmet.
Photo courtesy of my travel friend, Kim, from Germany.


Exploring Lombok Island on my little scooter was one of my favourite things to do.  The island was free of traffic and full of nature, beautiful beaches, animals and rice fields.


Sometimes along the way I would need to stop and wait for animals to cross.  I also had a rack for a surfboard on the side of my scooter, and spent lots of time on the waves.

In Ubud, Bali I visited a "Monkey Forest" with my friend Kanny.  Here are two females picking things out of eachothers hair.


The little guys were just so cute!!  Kanny held his hand out to one, but the protective mother scared us away.


They were play-fighting.  awwww!


Monkey face.


Some rice fields.


We visited a rice field where a series of pools were created down a hillside, each draining into eachother.  We had some fresh coconut milk on the hillside.



Back in Bali, most of my time was spent on the beach.  The locals were very friendly and so fun to hang out with.  I ate lots of local food, ran along the beach, and went surfing lots!


Some of my travel friends from Frace and Germany.  They were great!



Thanks to my mom and dad for this holiday!  They must really love me :)



























The sunsets were breath-taking.



Thanks for the memories to everyone I met!!









2 comments:

  1. Dear Anita,

    Nice to see all of your pictures and films.
    We will follow your blog.
    We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year and a very warm holiday with your family.
    We were very glad we have met you in South Africa, the last day of our holiday at the Franschhoek hotel & spa.
    We wish you good luck!

    Kisses,
    Kris Campo & Ingrid Crauwels (the Belgian Couple of Franschhoek)
    When you will visit Belgium, you are very welcome here!
    Please, let us know.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ingrid and Kris!
      How could I ever forget that day when our cancelled flight landed us in the nicest hotel with delicious food (and ice cream for dessert).
      It was an absolute treat to have met you both and to share some stories with you.
      Thanks for connecting to my blog, I hope you enjoy it.
      I'm glad to know you arrived home safely.
      Please ask if you'd like a recommendation for your next travel destination.

      Merry Christmas to you and your family.

      Delete