Thursday, 12 July 2012
Surabaya Food Court at High Point Appartments
Bec ordered this at the food court. Who can guess what it is?
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Wednesday afternoon on Gili Air
Hired a bike each after snorkeling this afternoon. So after a swim, we headed out to circumnavigate Gili Air by bike. We decided to go clockwise so that we would finish on the north western coast where we could have a fruit juice while watching the sun set over Bali. We also took a pack of cards with us and when ever we felt thirsty stopped for a juice and a game of cards. Bec found a card game perfect for 3 people which we all love - black maria.
The first part of our plan went well and by the the time we got close to the north eastern coast, we'd had 3 juices at 3 different places along the way - banana (bec), papaya & lime (me), and coconut, pineapple & banana (Kate). The sun was setting when we headed off again to find somewhere to eat dinner when suddenly the dirt track around the island became a deep sandy track and bike riding became impossible. Walking the bikes through sand was exhausting and we became so hot & bothered and then to boot, the cloud cover was so thick, there wasn't going to be a sunset worth sitting down for, so we pushed on and went straight back to Sejuk's to offload the bikes and cool down.
We then headed back out for dinner by foot and found somewhere that made the best coconut curry. It was easily the best meal i've had on Gili Air so far.
The first part of our plan went well and by the the time we got close to the north eastern coast, we'd had 3 juices at 3 different places along the way - banana (bec), papaya & lime (me), and coconut, pineapple & banana (Kate). The sun was setting when we headed off again to find somewhere to eat dinner when suddenly the dirt track around the island became a deep sandy track and bike riding became impossible. Walking the bikes through sand was exhausting and we became so hot & bothered and then to boot, the cloud cover was so thick, there wasn't going to be a sunset worth sitting down for, so we pushed on and went straight back to Sejuk's to offload the bikes and cool down.
We then headed back out for dinner by foot and found somewhere that made the best coconut curry. It was easily the best meal i've had on Gili Air so far.
Snorkeling around Gili Meno
We have just returned to our hotel after an amazing day out. It cost us each Rp80,000 and covered everything except lunch. We left about 9:30 this morning after choosing flippers, masks & snorkels and altogether on the boat there were 10 people; half Aussie & half French with one American.
We headed out firstly to where we could see turtles. We saw many turtles, much more than we saw 6 years ago which is just lovely. We then headed closer to Gili Trawangan and snorkeled almost exactly where we snorkeled 6 years ago. Sadly the coral was nowhere near as good as it was 6 years ago- only very small patches here and there of live coral. The fish swim mostly over dead expanses. We then headed back to Gili Meno where the coral was just as i remembered it to be off Gili Trawangan, so it made me wonder how it will be in another 6 years time.
We had lunch at Gili Meno - gado gado, kangkjng plecing & tepeh/tahu with peanut sauce - on bamboo benches right on the edge of the sand before heading up the beach to look at baby turtles in a nursery setup. 4 small ponds of 5 month old turtles due to be released next month.
Our return to Gili Air included one more stop for snorkeling off Gili Meno at a place which didn't boast much live coral however the number & variety of colourful fish was the best so far.
All up it was a great day and has given me the confidence to just rent flippers & snorkels and head out ourselves in the waters off Gili Air.
Bec took her camera & got some great underwater shots which i will upload later onto the blog. One photo of a turtle swimming in particular.
We headed out firstly to where we could see turtles. We saw many turtles, much more than we saw 6 years ago which is just lovely. We then headed closer to Gili Trawangan and snorkeled almost exactly where we snorkeled 6 years ago. Sadly the coral was nowhere near as good as it was 6 years ago- only very small patches here and there of live coral. The fish swim mostly over dead expanses. We then headed back to Gili Meno where the coral was just as i remembered it to be off Gili Trawangan, so it made me wonder how it will be in another 6 years time.
We had lunch at Gili Meno - gado gado, kangkjng plecing & tepeh/tahu with peanut sauce - on bamboo benches right on the edge of the sand before heading up the beach to look at baby turtles in a nursery setup. 4 small ponds of 5 month old turtles due to be released next month.
Our return to Gili Air included one more stop for snorkeling off Gili Meno at a place which didn't boast much live coral however the number & variety of colourful fish was the best so far.
All up it was a great day and has given me the confidence to just rent flippers & snorkels and head out ourselves in the waters off Gili Air.
Bec took her camera & got some great underwater shots which i will upload later onto the blog. One photo of a turtle swimming in particular.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Gili Air - Sejuk Cottages
It is absolutely wonderful being on Gili Air again although I can't believe how much things have changed and how much more developed it is.
However part of the trip getting here was not so pleasant. Thankfully Febi organised the bemo to bring us to Bangsal, however the bemo was stopped about 100 meters from the dock by a police man so as to force us to get a cidomo for the remainder of the trip at a further cost of Rp50,000 for 2 cidomo. The cidomo then stopped on the way at a 'ticket office' where the fellow tried to convince me to charter a boat to Gili Air for Rp350,000 which he promised could leave immediately otherwise we'd have to wait at least 2 hours for the public boat which would he reluctantly informed me would cost us only Rp8,000 per person. By this point it felt like it was one more scam targeting tourists who didn't know any better. Annie agreed with me that we should be skeptical and that we should chance going by public boat They were not impressed that we didn't buy their spiel and waved us on dismissively to the dock!
We continued on to the dock where i was dropped off at another office and easily bought 5 tickets for the public boat which luckily enough was able to leave straight away with our group of 5. However the next issue was getting our luggage from the dock down to the boat which was moored by the waters edge. I was so fed up by this point as it had seemed that ever since we had been forced to leave the bemo, it had been a steady stream of people insisting on payment for this and that. However it would have been very difficult to get our luggage down to the boat by ourselves before the boat left. I was so relieved they only wanted Rp5000 per piece that i gladly accepted.
The trip on the boat over was lovely and cool however there was yet another fellow in another cidomo waiting at the dock hoping to relieve us of yet more money. He asked for Rp100,000 to take us to our hotel and and the lowest he would drop to was Rp60,000. On principle, i refused his greedy claim that it was the going rate and that there is a limit of 2 people allowed per cidomo. We grabbed our suitcases and struggled pulling through the sand for a while and then tried carrying them. We didn't get far before we ran out of steam. Thankfully another cidomo arrived and we gratefully agreed to his offer of Rp50,000 without haggling. This is the point from which the truly unpleasant part of our journey here finished.
It was just lovely in the cidomo; having
a chance to sit back and truly look at Gili Air, letting the horse do all the work. It was actually quite a distance to our hotel, so in retrospect there was no way we could have lugged our luggage all the way ourselves.
Our arrival at Sejuks was fantastic. We were taken straight to our room and then given an iced coffee slushy. It so hit the spot.
After filling in the check in log, we jumped into their beautiful pool. So good.
I am now lying in a hammock on our verandah with a very placid tabby cat for company while the girls cool off again in the pool. We had lunch at a nearby warung run by a European lady who i remember from last time. (annie/marg - next to where the fish were brought in that morning!) Then while the girls checked out the shops, i headed back with Ann & Tom to see where their place was. They are staying in a place called unzip (surely not!) which is also in the same style as our place here at Sejuks and back on Lombok at Santai. Small chalet styled off the ground with thin woven bamboo walls and an enclosed bathroom out the back.
While out i put a deposit on a snorkeling trip heading out tomorrow morning on a glass bottomed boat. I just hope the girls don't get too sunburnt. Encouraging them to cover up their beautiful bathers has fallen on deaf ears so far.
However part of the trip getting here was not so pleasant. Thankfully Febi organised the bemo to bring us to Bangsal, however the bemo was stopped about 100 meters from the dock by a police man so as to force us to get a cidomo for the remainder of the trip at a further cost of Rp50,000 for 2 cidomo. The cidomo then stopped on the way at a 'ticket office' where the fellow tried to convince me to charter a boat to Gili Air for Rp350,000 which he promised could leave immediately otherwise we'd have to wait at least 2 hours for the public boat which would he reluctantly informed me would cost us only Rp8,000 per person. By this point it felt like it was one more scam targeting tourists who didn't know any better. Annie agreed with me that we should be skeptical and that we should chance going by public boat They were not impressed that we didn't buy their spiel and waved us on dismissively to the dock!
We continued on to the dock where i was dropped off at another office and easily bought 5 tickets for the public boat which luckily enough was able to leave straight away with our group of 5. However the next issue was getting our luggage from the dock down to the boat which was moored by the waters edge. I was so fed up by this point as it had seemed that ever since we had been forced to leave the bemo, it had been a steady stream of people insisting on payment for this and that. However it would have been very difficult to get our luggage down to the boat by ourselves before the boat left. I was so relieved they only wanted Rp5000 per piece that i gladly accepted.
The trip on the boat over was lovely and cool however there was yet another fellow in another cidomo waiting at the dock hoping to relieve us of yet more money. He asked for Rp100,000 to take us to our hotel and and the lowest he would drop to was Rp60,000. On principle, i refused his greedy claim that it was the going rate and that there is a limit of 2 people allowed per cidomo. We grabbed our suitcases and struggled pulling through the sand for a while and then tried carrying them. We didn't get far before we ran out of steam. Thankfully another cidomo arrived and we gratefully agreed to his offer of Rp50,000 without haggling. This is the point from which the truly unpleasant part of our journey here finished.
It was just lovely in the cidomo; having
a chance to sit back and truly look at Gili Air, letting the horse do all the work. It was actually quite a distance to our hotel, so in retrospect there was no way we could have lugged our luggage all the way ourselves.
Our arrival at Sejuks was fantastic. We were taken straight to our room and then given an iced coffee slushy. It so hit the spot.
After filling in the check in log, we jumped into their beautiful pool. So good.
I am now lying in a hammock on our verandah with a very placid tabby cat for company while the girls cool off again in the pool. We had lunch at a nearby warung run by a European lady who i remember from last time. (annie/marg - next to where the fish were brought in that morning!) Then while the girls checked out the shops, i headed back with Ann & Tom to see where their place was. They are staying in a place called unzip (surely not!) which is also in the same style as our place here at Sejuks and back on Lombok at Santai. Small chalet styled off the ground with thin woven bamboo walls and an enclosed bathroom out the back.
While out i put a deposit on a snorkeling trip heading out tomorrow morning on a glass bottomed boat. I just hope the girls don't get too sunburnt. Encouraging them to cover up their beautiful bathers has fallen on deaf ears so far.
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Juanda International Airport - Surabaya, Java
Here we are at the international Airport waiting for our gate to open. About to head to Lombok for our next holiday break before our next & final work commitment. 
Sidoarjo Mud Vocano (Lapindo)
Up early this morning to find a taxi to take us to desa Porong to see the mud volcano which is said to be caused by a mining company and has been erupting mud for almost 7 years now and has totally swallowed up 15 villages and continues to erupt mud and shows no signs of slowing down. The taxi driver we talked to insisted on using his meter and said he would be sacked if he did not use it. His estimate of Rp200,000 was spot on.
The drive to Porong/Sidoarjo was very quick with the amazing freeway however i definitely wouldn't feel comfortable driving it myself. While it was a 2 lane highway, the stopping lane ensured it became a 3 lane highway!
As the mudflow has split this highway in half, it was very easy to find. Along the sides of the embankment are several crudely constructed stairways to take tourists up to the top and up there waiting are groups of people waiting to sell dvd's, ojek (motorbike taxi). Waiting at the base of the stairs were 2 guys who demanded an 'entry fee' (Rp40,00 for 3 people) to use their stairs. All the guys touting around
the mudflow had been displaced by the mudflow and their employment now relied on tourists.
We grabbed 3 ojeks and they took us to Porong River where at 9am, the pumps would start pumping the mud from the volcano into the river to try to move it out to sea. They pump something like 120 tons per hour.
It was so desolate there and the vastness of the flow is incredible. Mud for as far as you could see. Have a look on google earth and you will see just how vast an area the flow has covered. The height of the embankment above the road was at least 20m tall. Along the edge of the embankment we saw house shells missing their rooves, doors and windows because the gas leaking from the volcano had caused explosions. One house amongst it all had washing drying in the garden!
I am so glad we did get out there and saw it for ourselves. Could easily stay in Sidoarjo and see More of it.
The drive to Porong/Sidoarjo was very quick with the amazing freeway however i definitely wouldn't feel comfortable driving it myself. While it was a 2 lane highway, the stopping lane ensured it became a 3 lane highway!
As the mudflow has split this highway in half, it was very easy to find. Along the sides of the embankment are several crudely constructed stairways to take tourists up to the top and up there waiting are groups of people waiting to sell dvd's, ojek (motorbike taxi). Waiting at the base of the stairs were 2 guys who demanded an 'entry fee' (Rp40,00 for 3 people) to use their stairs. All the guys touting around
the mudflow had been displaced by the mudflow and their employment now relied on tourists.
We grabbed 3 ojeks and they took us to Porong River where at 9am, the pumps would start pumping the mud from the volcano into the river to try to move it out to sea. They pump something like 120 tons per hour.
It was so desolate there and the vastness of the flow is incredible. Mud for as far as you could see. Have a look on google earth and you will see just how vast an area the flow has covered. The height of the embankment above the road was at least 20m tall. Along the edge of the embankment we saw house shells missing their rooves, doors and windows because the gas leaking from the volcano had caused explosions. One house amongst it all had washing drying in the garden!
I am so glad we did get out there and saw it for ourselves. Could easily stay in Sidoarjo and see More of it.
Surabaya Stopover
Our party divided in half yesterday on arrival into Java. The Mann's have continued onto Lombok (after a 3 hour delay/5 hour layover in Surabaya airport) for some well deserved family time on Gili Trewangan while the rest of us stay here in Surabaya hoping to either finally see the mud volcano in Sidoarjo or shop (Bec & Kate!)
Our hotel is absolutely luxurious - by comparison to the one we stayed at in Pangkalan Bun. However it didn't start well when we realised that the bedrooms which purportedly could sleep up to 8, on reality could only sleep 2. I explained to the 2 guys on the reception desk that i had booked this hotel solely on the fact that it could comfortably sleep 3+ people & showed him my booking confirmation on the ipad. He said that it was a mistake on the website. So i asked for a 3rd room and was given one 3 floors down and had to pay standard rates which worked out to be more than the total cost of other 2 rooms combined ($15 each)! As Bec keeps saying to me, "It's only $30", so i paid up. A short time later while walking the streets looking for a warung selling nasi pecel, i got a call from the hotel saying that their manager has given me a complimentary upgrade to deluxe! This room is even more absolutely amazing and it does sleep 3, so we could have all stayed in this room! So i am all by myself in this huge suite feeling totally spoilt and enjoying the novelty.
In retrospect though, the upgrade probably has more to do with my promise to write a not so complimentary review about the hotel on the agoda website on my return home. Now, i will ensure i write a glowing review!
Our hotel is absolutely luxurious - by comparison to the one we stayed at in Pangkalan Bun. However it didn't start well when we realised that the bedrooms which purportedly could sleep up to 8, on reality could only sleep 2. I explained to the 2 guys on the reception desk that i had booked this hotel solely on the fact that it could comfortably sleep 3+ people & showed him my booking confirmation on the ipad. He said that it was a mistake on the website. So i asked for a 3rd room and was given one 3 floors down and had to pay standard rates which worked out to be more than the total cost of other 2 rooms combined ($15 each)! As Bec keeps saying to me, "It's only $30", so i paid up. A short time later while walking the streets looking for a warung selling nasi pecel, i got a call from the hotel saying that their manager has given me a complimentary upgrade to deluxe! This room is even more absolutely amazing and it does sleep 3, so we could have all stayed in this room! So i am all by myself in this huge suite feeling totally spoilt and enjoying the novelty.
In retrospect though, the upgrade probably has more to do with my promise to write a not so complimentary review about the hotel on the agoda website on my return home. Now, i will ensure i write a glowing review!
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